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This graphic is doing the rounds on the Internet (found on Facebook):

House GOP claim

The claim is:

House GOP: 46 abortion bills, 113 religion bills, 73 family relationship bills, 36 marriage bills, 72 gun bills, 0 jobs bills

Unfortunately, the Progressive Defenders of America do not cite any sources, nor do they define exactly what they mean by bills (supported? proposed? something else?).

Nevertheless, is this a claim made up of thin air, or is it (partly) true for a reasonable interpretation of what they might mean?

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They also don't define what a "job" bill is. The claim - even if it were true (which it isn't as per supplied answer) is totally irrelevant. The job creation function of House Republicans is to prevent even more taxes to be levied which would hurt job growth, not to pass bills to create jobs. Job creation is not a government's proper job. – DVK Feb 24 at 1:53
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Nobody in the government is smart enough to know which jobs should be created. Didn't work out too well for USSR's economy, for some reason. The job of the government is to allow people who create jobs to do so. – DVK Feb 24 at 15:53
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@DVK, works very well in northern and western Europe, though. – gerrit Feb 24 at 18:16
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see DJClayworth's answer: 'this question isn't answerable without a strict definition of what constitutes a "jobs bill"' . And it's a lose lose situation for you, since any definition of a job creation bill you give will be purely political and thus subjective based on our discussion above. From free market perspective, almost any bill spending more money by the government is a job destruction bill in the larger picture, aside from defense/police. – DVK Feb 25 at 20:33
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You can ask "Did the republican party propose any bills which agree with Democrats' ideas of how to create jobs", to be more objective. But that question is, hopefully obviously, not worth asking. – DVK Feb 25 at 20:34
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2 Answers

up vote 12 down vote accepted

As is usual with political claims, it really depends on your viewpoint and your definitions. As Max says in his answer, there are three House Republican sponsored bills that claim to be related to jobs. On closer inspection what they actually mandate is:

  1. a change in the allocation of Federal training funds to focus on employability. Somewhat related to jobs.
  2. a change to the way unemployment statistics are calculated. Almost certainly not a job-creating bill
  3. control of the deduction of labour union dues. Again, almost certainly not a bill that will directly create any jobs

We can of course also check the other statements, and here govtrack lets us check the number of House Republican Family resolutions: it appears to be one (1). Religion doesn't even appear as a topic.

But to be honest, this question isn't answerable without a strict definition of what constitutes a "jobs bill".

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And the definitions are likely skewed toward a progressive understanding of the function of government. Conservatives tend to think that limiting the size and burden of government is the best way to create jobs. However, it is unlikely that any action they took in that direction would be considered a "jobs bill" by Progressive Defenders of America. This is an attempt to turn ideological disagreements (what is the proper role of government, and what actions help the economy) into a moral/character issue (Republicans don't care about helping people). – dan1111 Feb 26 at 8:56
up vote 10 down vote

House Republicans sponsored 3 Labor and Employment bills up to now (February 23) in 2013, and 55 such bills since 2011. http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/subjects/labor_and_employment/6235#sponsor_party=Republican&bill_type=3

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