The Leader's Ledger

Pro-Growth: Republicans Move Forward On Pro-Growth Measures

House Republicans Ready Patent Reform Bill To Come To The Floor. House Republicans were hopeful Monday night that they had put their jurisdictional fights behind them and could move ahead with a landmark patent reform bill this week. Under the compromise, funding for the Patent and Trademark Office would still be subject to the annual appropriations process, but greater care would be taken to ensure that the fees collected are used for their designated purpose and not diverted to other accounts. If fees are higher than the budget anticipates, the excess would be deposited in a newly established reserve fund in the Treasury. Politico

• Patent Reform Will Encourage Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Boost Economic Growth. A bevy of private sector organizations, including the Coalition for 21st Century Patent Reform, was on Capitol Hill on Monday pressing for passage of the legislation. Gary Griswold, a spokesman for the coalition, which includes big pharmaceutical and manufacturing corporations, said the measure is “a very important bill for the economics of the country.” CQ

Economic Outlook: Instead Of Putting Forward Pro-Growth Solutions, Democrats Continue To Focus On More Failed Stimulus Spending

Memo To Leader Reid & Senator Schumer – Stimulus Style Spending Plans Aren’t Going Anywhere. With no money to spend, lawmakers talking about job creation aren't likely to accomplish anything unless a plan is swept into the deficit talks dominating Capitol Hill. ... "I guess their goal is, 'Let's make things as bad as we can, and hopefully the American people won't see through it, and maybe we'll get somebody elected to replace President [Barack] Obama,'" Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Monday on the Senate floor. The Nevada Democrat complained Senate Republicans were blocking modest small-business and economic development reauthorization bills, while accusing House Republicans of letting pension reform and the Federal Aviation Administration reauthorization languish. But none of those bills would dramatically affect the unemployment rate in the short term, and with the debt limit deadline looming, big new spending plans aren't likely to go anywhere in either chamber. That leaves tax cuts as the most likely suspect for addressing job growth. Roll Call

• Tax Reform Needed - Boeing Executive: We Need To Get Rid Of The Complexity In The Tax Code and Lower The Overall Rate. But Boeing executive James Zrust, the company’s vice president of tax, told Ways and Means this month that the company would abandon support for the credit in exchange for lower overall corporate tax rates. “In return for simplicity, we would like to get rid of the complexity,” he said. Politico

The Obama Economy: President Obama’s Economic Policies Have Stifled Economic Growth and Innovation

President Obama’s Economic Policies Have Exacerbated The Nation’s “Growth Gap.” Unless there is a dramatic reversal in tax, regulatory, spending and monetary policy, the recovery we have so far may look good compared to the pace of growth we will experience in the future. According to the Congressional Budget Office projections and Federal Reserve estimates, the growth gap will widen even more. CBO’s latest economic projections have real GDP rising at an average annual rate of only 2.8 percent during the coming decade. The Fed is even less sanguine, projecting a “sustainable pace” of economic growth to be a meager 2.5 percent annually. ... If this is the growth path we choose to follow, no amount of federal budget cutting or programmatic reform will salvage entitlement programs. Under President Obama’s ill-conceived Keynesian policies, the growth gap today is far worse than it has ever been. Not only is it larger than any time in the past, a cursory look at the nearby chart reveals the most ominous sign of all: For the first time in the recorded history of the U.S. economy, the trend growth path of the economy has declined a second time after falling below trend without regaining the long-run-trend growth path. The growth gap is now verging on a growth chasm. Forbes

• Senator Rubio: President Obama’s Anti-Growth Agenda Is Making It Increasingly More Difficult For Businesses To Grow and Create Jobs. This economic malaise is not a “bump in the road” for my constituents. It is a direct result of the anti-growth, Washington-centric policies that are fueling uncertainty for those who wish to start a business or expand an existing business. And it has real-life consequences for the future of our nation. ... The president has done nothing to ease the burden of our 70,000-page tax code on families and businesses. Instead, he has signed into law over $670 billion of job-killing tax hikes, with another huge tax hike set to hit in just a year and a half. ... Instead of reducing the red tape that is strangling our economy, the Obama administration has proposed over 34,000 new pages of regulations this calendar year alone, meaning higher costs for job creators and consumers, and more obstacles to economic growth. The Daily Caller

Despite President Obama’s Massive Spending Spree There Has Been “No Net Increase In Full-Time Jobs.” The Great Recession has now earned the dubious right of being compared to the Great Depression. In the face of the most stimulative fiscal and monetary policies in our history, we have experienced the loss of over 7 million jobs, wiping out every job gained since the year 2000. From the moment the Obama administration came into office, there have been no net increases in full-time jobs, only in part-time jobs. This is contrary to all previous recessions. ... The real job losses are greater than the estimate of 7.5 million. They are closer to 10.5 million, as 3 million people have stopped looking for work. Equally troublesome is the lower labor participation rate; some 5 million jobs have vanished from manufacturing, long America's greatest strength. U.S. News

• The Average Period Of Unemployment In The Obama Economy Is Nearly 40 Weeks. Don't pay too much attention to the headline unemployment rate of 9.1 percent. It is scary enough, but it is a gloss on the reality ... they count only those people who have actively applied for a job within the last four weeks. Include those others and the real number is a nasty 16 percent. The 16 percent includes 8.5 million part-timers who want to work full time (which is double the historical norm) and those who have applied for a job within the last six months, including many of the long-term unemployed. And this 16 percent does not take into account the discouraged workers who have left the labor force. The fact is that the longer duration of six months is the more relevant testing period since the mean duration of unemployment is now 39.7 weeks, an increase from 37.1 weeks in February. U.S. News

Getting To Know The Freshmen

Reid Ribble: Rep. Reid Ribble represents Wisconsin’s eighth district. Before being elected to Congress, Reid was a small business owner for over 30 years, operating a successful commercial roofing company in Kaukauna, WI that grew from a handful of employees to over 100 at its peak. Reid was also highly involved in his industry association, serving as President of the National Roofing Contractors Association in 2005. Reid has been married to his wife DeaNa for 35 years, and they have two children and two grandchildren. He is an avid reader, and devoted Green Bay Packers fan…as all good Americans should be. Little known fact: both Reid’s sons are professional musicians and Reid volunteered as a ‘drum tech’ (roadie) for his son on a recent concert tour in Japan. (Courtesy of The Whip’s Office)

Off The Beaten Path

Ballers! The RNC Destroys The DNC 21-7 In Their Annual Softball Game – The Hill

Aircraft Carrier For Michigan State Basketball Game Undergoes Inspection – The Associated Press

Mini Darth Vader ... Not So Scary – The Wall Street Journal