House GOP leader has his own job summit

WASHINGTON, Dec. 3 (UPI) -- While President Barack Obama held a jobs forum at the White House Thursday, U.S. House Minority Leader John Boehner conducted his own jobs summit as a counter.

"(The) biggest problem that we heard from our economists with regard to why employers aren't hiring is all the job-killing policies that are being offered by this administration and this Congress and creating an awful lot of uncertainty for American employers," the Ohio Republican said after the roundtable.

The White House forum called together a group of business, labor, academic and non-profit leaders to explore ways to stimulate job creation.

Obama's plans for regulation, climate change legislation and healthcare reform would harm the economy, the economists at Boehner's gathering said, The Hill reported.

"(Job) creation in the United States is something that small businesses, entrepreneurs and the private sector will do," said Douglas Holtz-Eakin, a former Congressional Budget Office and Republican adviser. "But they cannot do it if they are burdened by a legacy of debt and the prospect of higher taxes to pay off that debt. And that is the most troubling aspect of the policies this administration is pursuing."

Asked about the absence of representatives of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce at the White House jobs forum, Boehner said, "(The) fact that they're not at the White House gives you some indication that they're considering policies that are not going to help employers be more confident about the future of the economy, and, therefore, put employers in a position where they're not going to hire more people."