PERINO: There was a CEO, Peter Schiff today, talking about how as a job creator, he is the CEO of Euro And Pacific Capital — Euro Pacific Capital — that he was actually penalized by the government for hiring too many people. Check this out.
SCHIFF (video clip): You’re looking at somebody who is sitting here, who was actually fined, and I would be happy to talk my experience. I was fined $15,000 by security regulators because I hired too many people. Because I hired too many people, I incurred over $500,000 in legal bills defending myself because I hired too many people. Because I hired too many people, I’ve been on a hiring freeze, ordered by regulators, for three years.
PERINO: Andrea, that doesn’t seem add up, but he’s testifying under oath. So —
TANTAROS: It doesn’t, but that’s the message of this administration. They really want to crush the job creators. Look, you can’t hurt — you can’t stick it to Joe Six Pack’s boss without it trickling down and eventually hurting Joe Six Pack. OK, the rich guy is the one that does the hiring. These rich millionaires and billionaires are the ones giving everybody jobs in this country. I don’t know why that’s demonized. And it’s not going to be a winning message in the end. It’s not, because we need employment.[Fox News, The Five, 9/20/11]
Schiff Himself Says The Fine Was Issued During The Bush Administration
Schiff Testimony To Congress: I Was Fined For “Hiring Too Many Brokers In 2008.” During a September 13 testimony before the House of Representatives Subcommittee on Regulatory Affairs, Stimulus Oversight and Government Spending Schiff stated that the fine was issued in 2008, when George W. Bush was president. From Schiff’s testimony:
Regulations have substantially increased the costs and risks associated with job creation. Employers are subjected to all sorts of onerous regulations, taxes, and legal liability. The act of becoming an employer should be made as easy as possible. Instead we have made it more difficult. In fact, among small business owners, limiting the number of employees is generally a goal. This is not a consequence of the market, but of a rational desire on the part of business owners to limit their cost and legal liabilities. They would prefer to hire workers, but these added burdens make it preferable to seek out alternatives.
In my own business, securities regulations have prohibited me from hiring brokers for more than three years. I was even fined fifteen thousand dollar expressly for hiring too many brokers in 2008. In the process I incurred more than $500,000 in legal bills to mitigate a more severe regulatory outcome as a result of hiring too many workers. I have also been prohibited from opening up additional offices. I had a major expansion plan that would have resulted in my creating hundreds of additional jobs. Regulations have forced me to put those jobs on hold.
In addition, the added cost of security regulations have forced me to create an offshore brokerage firm to handle foreign accounts that are now too expensive to handle from the United States. Revenue and jobs that would have been created in the U.S. are now being created abroad instead. In addition, I am moving several asset management jobs from Newport Beach, California to Singapore.[Testimony by Peter Schiff, 9/13/11, via Business Insider]
Schiff Has Also Acknowledged That He Wasn’t Actually Fined By Government Regulators At All
Schiff Says FINRA Is Actually Responsible For $15,000 Fine And “It’s Not Technically The Government.” During the September 20 edition of On The Record with Greta Van Susteren, Peter Schiff explained the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), not the government, was actually the party responsible for the $15,000 dollar fine in 2008. From the show:
GRETA VAN SUSTEREN (host): Let me ask you a couple quick questions. Who are the regulators? What division of the government?
SCHIFF: Well the government — well the SEC is part of the government. But the securities division which I’m a part of —
VAN SUSTEREN: FCC or SEC?
SCHIFF: is regulated by FINRA —
VAN SUSTEREN: OK.
SCHIFF: — which is a private self-regulatory organization, but the government requires me to be a member. So it’s not technically the government, but the government requires me to be a member of this organization in order to be a broker and a lot of the regulations though that FINRA is enforcing come from Washington.
One of the worse ones was the Patriot Act. The anti-money laundering provisions of the Patriot Act cost me a fortune. And basically they turned me into an unpaid IRS agent and FBI agent spying on every one of my customers and if any of my customers looked like they’re doing something suspicious I got to turn them into the government, and if I don’t turn them in, that’s a crime.[Fox News, On The Record with Greta Van Susteren, 9/20/11]
Fox Has Been Echoing GOP’s War On Regulations
AP: “The House Republican Agenda This Fall Will Focus On Repealing Environmental And Labor Regulations.” On August 29, the Associated Press reported that repealing regulations would be a priority for the Republican Party. [Associated Press, 8/29/11]
Fox News: “Regulation Nation” Programming Will “Expose How Excessive Laws Are Drowning American Businesses.” [Media Matters, 9/12/11]
Fox’s Assault On Regulations Has Taken On Child Labor, Workplace Safety, And Civil Rights Laws. As part of its week-long special targeting government regulations, Fox’s “straight news” program, Special Report with Bret Baier, listed “jobs regulations” that supposedly “adversely impact … small business owners in a real-time way.” However, the regulations listed by Fox include vital statutes that are the bedrock of 20th and 21st Century worker protections in the United States. [Media Matters, 9/17/11]