5 Ways Republicans Have Sabotaged Job Growth

[one...two...tree 2,762]

New numbers released on July 6 by the Bureau of Labor Statistics show that the economy added a mere 80,000 jobs in June. That's down from an average of 150,000 jobs a month for the first part of the year, and far too little to keep up with population growth.

Republican intransigence on economic policy has been a key contributor to the sluggish recovery. As early as 2009, Republican fear-mongering over spending and their readiness to filibuster in the Senate helped convince the White House economic team that an $800 billion stimulus was the most they could hope to get through Congress. Reporting has since revealed that the team thought the country actually needed a stimulus on the order of $1.2 to $1.8 trillion. The economy's path over the next three years proved them right. Here are the top five ways the Republicans have sabotaged the economic recovery since:

1. Filibustering the American Jobs Act. Last October, Senate Republicans

killed

a

jobs bill

proposed by President Obama that would have pumped $447 billion into the economy. Multiple economic analysts

predicted

the bill would add around two million jobs and

hailed

it as defense against a double-dip recession. The Congressional Budget Office also

scored it

as a net deficit reducer over ten years, and the American public

supported

the bill. 2. Stonewalling monetary stimulus. The Federal Reserve

can

do

enormous

good

for a depressed economy through

more

aggressive

monetary stimulus, and by

tolerating

a temporarily higher level of inflation. But with everything from Ron Paul's

anti-inflationary

crusade

to Rick Perry

threatening

to lynch Chairman Ben Bernanke, Republicans have

browbeaten

the Fed into not going down this path. Most damagingly, the GOP repeatedly

held up

President Obama's nominations to the Federal Reserve Board during the critical months of the recession, leaving the board without the institutional clout

it needed

to help the economy.

3. Threatening a debt default. Even though the country didn't actually hit its debt ceiling last summer, the Republican

threat

to default on the United States' outstanding obligations was sufficient to spook financial markets and

do real damage

to the economy.

4. Cutting discretionary spending in the debt ceiling deal.

The

deal

the GOP extracted as the price for avoiding default imposed around $900 billion in cuts over ten years. It

included

$30.5 billion in discretionary cuts in 2012 alone, costing the country 0.3 percent in economic growth and 323,000 jobs, according to estimates from the Economic Policy Institute. Starting in 2013, the deal

will trigger

another $1.2 trillion in cuts over ten years.

5. Cutting discretionary spending in the budget deal. While not as cataclysmic as the debt ceiling brinksmanship, Republicans also

threatened

a shutdown of the government in early 2011 if cuts were not made to that year's budget. The deal they struck with the White House

cut $38 billion

from food stamps, health, education, law enforcement, and low-income programs among others, while

sparing

defense almost entirely.

There have also been a few near-misses, in which the GOP almost prevented help from coming to the economy. The Republicans in the House delayed a transportation bill that saved as many as 1.9 million jobs. House Committees run by the GOP have passedproposals aimed at cutting billions from food stamps, and the party has repeatedly threatened to kill extensions of unemployment insurance and cuts to the payroll tax.

According to the Congressional Budget Office, those policies — the payroll tax cut, food stamps, unemployment insurance, and discretionary spending for low-income Americans — have the highest multipliers, meaning more job boosting potential per dollar.

http://www.alternet....ged_job_growth/

Edited July 16, 2012 by Mister Fancypants

[The Nature Boy 4,224]

http://www.alternet....ged_job_growth/

So more spending, Food Stamps, and Welfare are great job creators. That's so insane that I won't waste the time, but I will start another 70 work week so that I can help sustain it.

Edited July 16, 2012 by Run Herschel Run

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

Republicans only have one goal - to take back the White House. If the way to achieve that means that the economy, the American people and the country have to be sacrificed, so be it. Remember, contrary to what they put on their campaign signs in 2008, it's party first for the Republicans.

[Obama 2012 1,714]

Only a left wing loon would argue that more and more government spending is the key to job growth.

[kytwell 179]

Only a left wing loon would argue that more and more government spending is the key to job growth.

Obama thinks so. He just stated these gems the other day: “If you’ve been successful, you didn’t get there on your own. I’m always struck by people who think, well, it must be because I was just so smart. There are a lot of smart people out there. It must be because I worked harder than everybody else. Let me tell you something -- there are a whole bunch of hardworking people out there."

“If you were successful, somebody along the line gave you some help. There was a great teacher somewhere in your life. Somebody helped to create this unbelievable American system that we have that allowed you to thrive. Somebody invested in roads and bridges. If you’ve got a business, you didn’t build that. Somebody else made that happen,”

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

Oh noes! Republicans!

[Dan J 277]

Only a left wing loon would argue that more and more government spending is the key to job growth.

What company is going to create jobs out of the goodness of their hearts?

[Harsh_77 718]

What company is going to create jobs out of the goodness of their hearts?

Just spending is not going to create jobs either, better regulation, better tax benefits, availability of skilled workforce etc are required for the job creation.

Govt handed out nice chunk change to Solandra..... what happen? How many jobs did it create?

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

If you want to create jobs, you have to let the job creators make money. Remove all this perversity from the system, and let greed run the market, as God intended.