Speaking about America’s unemployment problem on November 2, 2009, President Obama expressed a desire for new ideas on how to create good-paying jobs. The President stated that ”if somebody can show me a strategy that’s going to work, then we are happy to consider it.”

I have introduced legislation that the President should be ”happy to consider,” right down to and including the bill’s title — New IDEA. On September 16, 2009, I introduced H.R. 3580, the Illegal Deduction Elimination Act (New IDEA), which will immediately reduce America’s unemployment and result in the hiring of millions of unemployed Americans. New IDEA will crack down on employers and illegal workers and level the playing field for law-abiding American employers and employees.

According to the Department of Labor, the December 2009 national unemployment rate in the United States was 10.0% and Iowa’s unemployment rate was 6.6%. There are 15.3 million unemployed American citizens while the Pew Hispanic Center reports that eight million illegal aliens hold American jobs. In Iowa alone, there are 112,700 unemployed workers while 35,000 illegal aliens hold jobs.

It is inexcusable for American citizens and law abiding immigrants to be jobless while law-breaking illegal aliens hold American jobs. New IDEA clarifies that wages and benefits paid to illegal aliens are not deductible for federal income tax purposes. So if employers hire illegal workers, the wages and benefits paid to illegal workers will be denied as a business expense, resulting in taxable income for employers. [King: American Jobs Should Go To American Workers, Iowa Republican, February 6, 2010]