House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) will hold an economic roundtable on Thursday that will serve as a counter to President Barack Obama’s jobs summit taking place at the White House on the same day.
A spokesman for Boehner said the purpose of the meeting is to give a platform for economists who have a different perspective on how Obama’s agenda has affected the economy.
Republicans have argued that the Democratic agenda has killed more jobs than it has created and that the 10.2 percent national unemployment rate is proof that the $787 billion economic stimulus bill has failed.
“How can out-of-touch Washington Democrats hold a ‘jobs summit’ with a straight face while backing this job-killing agenda?” said Michael Steel, a spokesman for Boehner.
The Republican roundtable will feature a panel of economists including Larry Lindsey of the Lindsey Group, Doug Holtz-Eakin, a former policy director for Sen. John McCain’s (R-Ariz.) 2008 presidential campaign, Ethics and Public Policy Center’s Jim Capretta, Hudson Institute’s Diana Furchtgott-Roth as well as American Enterprise Institute’s Kevin Hassett, Tom Miller and Alex Brill.
Obama is expected to meet with more than 100 business, union and nonprofit leaders and economists to discuss how the government can help reinvigorate the economy so that businesses can begin to hire again.
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