Today in the midst of negotiations around the nations deficit we received a dismal jobs report. The story being touted is that 18,000 jobs have been added in the private sector. What has been overlooked is the fact that this is actually a net figure. The actual number of jobs added is 57,000. That number however was offset by the loss of 39,000 public sector jobs. The 57,000 jobs created in the private sector is not a great number in of itself. But it does raise the point that the public sector elimination of jobs is exacerbating an already dire situation. The effect is multidimensional. First is the reduction of tax revenue which is needed to provide services people need. Second it reduces demand of goods and services in the private sector.Third, it increases the amount of money that will be paid out in unemployment benefits. Fourth for those who own homes it puts pressure on the ability to pay their mortgage. Layoffs in a time of slow recovery has a devastating effect.
In the midst of this, we have negotiation around the deficit. Everyone agrees that we have to get control of our spending. Deficit spending however, is not a problem to be dealt with only from a spending perspective. When Republican leaders say that the nation must balance its budget just like the American people there is something that they tend to leave out. I want you to imagine a two income family sitting down to talk about being in debt and the first thing they decide is that one of them is going to give up their job in order to decrease the income that they have. That would be tantamount to financial suicide. But this is exactly what the Republicans are doing by proposing a decrease in revenue by giving massive tax cuts to the top one percent.
Today's jobs report made it clear that while they are working on a problem that needs to be resolved the more pressing issue for the American public is jobs. The American people have made it perfectly clear their biggest concern is not the deficit but jobs. They're concerned about their financial well-being. This is not to say that they are not concerned about the deficit but they do understand that there is a time and a place. Most economists and rational thinking people believe that in a time of a slow recovery this is not the time for severe cuts in spending.
When the Republicans came into office, they promise to work on jobs. Since taking control of the House not one jobs bill has been passed or proposed.
If corporate America is sitting on approximately $1.8 trillion instead of investing a portion of it in creating jobs and demand for goods and services is not as high as it needs to then the place that has to create demand to the best that they can is the government. The government must either create policies will create a jobs program that put Americans back to work.
During the presidents twitter town Hall meeting this week, a tweet was received from Speaker John Boehner in which he asked the president where are the jobs. The question would've been legitimate had it come from an unemployed person and not from someone who's net worth is almost $3 million has a salary of approximately $200,000 and has the best health care insurance plan in the world. On top of that as Speaker he has not engaged his party in any serious discussion about job creation.
His query would have been legitimate if his party would spend less time dealing with cultural issues and attacking unions in order to placate the tea party rather than working on issues that deal with the creation of jobs.
Unfortunately the negotiation between the White House and the Republican Congress have been bogged down by an ideological refusal to deal with the issue of tax revenue. This irrational refusal to deal with the revenue side of the deficit is also a response by the Republicans to placate the tea party. History tells us that many presidents have raised taxes.
In an Washington Monthly article written in 2003 Joshua Green wrote that “It’s conservative lore that Reagan the icon cut taxes, while George H.W. Bush the renegade raised them. As Stockman recalls, "No one was authorized to talk about tax increases on Ronald Reagan’s watch, no matter what kind of tax, no matter how justified it was." Yet raising taxes is exactly what Reagan did. He did not always instigate those hikes or agree to them willingly–but he signed off on them. One year after his massive tax cut, Reagan agreed to a tax increase to reduce the deficit that restored fully one-third of the previous year’s reduction. (In a bizarre bit of self-deception, Reagan, who never came to terms with this episode of ideological apostasy, persuaded himself that the three-year, $100 billion tax hike–the largest since World War II–was actually "tax reform" that closed loopholes in his earlier cut and therefore didn’t count as raising taxes.)”
President Reagan also imposed the largest corporate tax in history. Republicans conveniently forget that piece of history.
The tea party influence on the Republican Party has led conservatives, such as David Brooks to suggest that if the Republicans were a normal party they would accept the deal that was offered by The White House. It is clear that the tea party has intimidated the Republicans. Today even Sen. Orin Hatch of Utah said on the Senate floor that even the poor must sacrifice.
Some Republicans are refusing to acknowledge the seriousness of the debt deadline for getting the debt deficit ceiling raised.
It is clear that we are no longer dealing in the realm of politics but with an irrational ideological viewpoint that could bring the country to another financial crisis.
It is clear that we have a dilemma. Will the majority of the American people allow a small segment of the nation to hold it hostage in order for its ideology to be upheld.
The Republicans tend to have an Edmund Burke view of politics. While the majority of the American public both Republican and Democrat support raising taxes on the top 1% of Americans, Republican Party has decided it will ignore the will of the American people. It seems to me that as we continue this process of getting ourselves out of this financial mess the American people must begin to tell our leaders of both parties in no uncertain terms that they will not balance the books the backs of the people who've already sacrificed the most. That we will not let ideology of a very small base of the nation drive our nation off the financial cliff.
There are some who say that if President Obama and Speaker Boehner were in a room by themselves they would've come to an agreement by now. That may be true but Mr. Boehners party is no longer interested in negotiation and unfortunately, that may lead the United States of America to the abyss of financial crisis the likes of which we've never seen.
Ultimately the American people must force our political leaders to come to the understanding that they are not independent contractors and that their job is to serve the common good of the America people.
Tell the republicans their jobs are contingent on it.
In the midst of this, we have negotiation around the deficit. Everyone agrees that we have to get control of our spending. Deficit spending however, is not a problem to be dealt with only from a spending perspective. When Republican leaders say that the nation must balance its budget just like the American people there is something that they tend to leave out. I want you to imagine a two income family sitting down to talk about being in debt and the first thing they decide is that one of them is going to give up their job in order to decrease the income that they have. That would be tantamount to financial suicide. But this is exactly what the Republicans are doing by proposing a decrease in revenue by giving massive tax cuts to the top one percent.
Today's jobs report made it clear that while they are working on a problem that needs to be resolved the more pressing issue for the American public is jobs. The American people have made it perfectly clear their biggest concern is not the deficit but jobs. They're concerned about their financial well-being. This is not to say that they are not concerned about the deficit but they do understand that there is a time and a place. Most economists and rational thinking people believe that in a time of a slow recovery this is not the time for severe cuts in spending.
When the Republicans came into office, they promise to work on jobs. Since taking control of the House not one jobs bill has been passed or proposed.
If corporate America is sitting on approximately $1.8 trillion instead of investing a portion of it in creating jobs and demand for goods and services is not as high as it needs to then the place that has to create demand to the best that they can is the government. The government must either create policies will create a jobs program that put Americans back to work.
During the presidents twitter town Hall meeting this week, a tweet was received from Speaker John Boehner in which he asked the president where are the jobs. The question would've been legitimate had it come from an unemployed person and not from someone who's net worth is almost $3 million has a salary of approximately $200,000 and has the best health care insurance plan in the world. On top of that as Speaker he has not engaged his party in any serious discussion about job creation.
His query would have been legitimate if his party would spend less time dealing with cultural issues and attacking unions in order to placate the tea party rather than working on issues that deal with the creation of jobs.
Unfortunately the negotiation between the White House and the Republican Congress have been bogged down by an ideological refusal to deal with the issue of tax revenue. This irrational refusal to deal with the revenue side of the deficit is also a response by the Republicans to placate the tea party. History tells us that many presidents have raised taxes.
In an Washington Monthly article written in 2003 Joshua Green wrote that “It’s conservative lore that Reagan the icon cut taxes, while George H.W. Bush the renegade raised them. As Stockman recalls, "No one was authorized to talk about tax increases on Ronald Reagan’s watch, no matter what kind of tax, no matter how justified it was." Yet raising taxes is exactly what Reagan did. He did not always instigate those hikes or agree to them willingly–but he signed off on them. One year after his massive tax cut, Reagan agreed to a tax increase to reduce the deficit that restored fully one-third of the previous year’s reduction. (In a bizarre bit of self-deception, Reagan, who never came to terms with this episode of ideological apostasy, persuaded himself that the three-year, $100 billion tax hike–the largest since World War II–was actually "tax reform" that closed loopholes in his earlier cut and therefore didn’t count as raising taxes.)”
President Reagan also imposed the largest corporate tax in history. Republicans conveniently forget that piece of history.
The tea party influence on the Republican Party has led conservatives, such as David Brooks to suggest that if the Republicans were a normal party they would accept the deal that was offered by The White House. It is clear that the tea party has intimidated the Republicans. Today even Sen. Orin Hatch of Utah said on the Senate floor that even the poor must sacrifice.
Some Republicans are refusing to acknowledge the seriousness of the debt deadline for getting the debt deficit ceiling raised.
It is clear that we are no longer dealing in the realm of politics but with an irrational ideological viewpoint that could bring the country to another financial crisis.
It is clear that we have a dilemma. Will the majority of the American people allow a small segment of the nation to hold it hostage in order for its ideology to be upheld.
The Republicans tend to have an Edmund Burke view of politics. While the majority of the American public both Republican and Democrat support raising taxes on the top 1% of Americans, Republican Party has decided it will ignore the will of the American people. It seems to me that as we continue this process of getting ourselves out of this financial mess the American people must begin to tell our leaders of both parties in no uncertain terms that they will not balance the books the backs of the people who've already sacrificed the most. That we will not let ideology of a very small base of the nation drive our nation off the financial cliff.
There are some who say that if President Obama and Speaker Boehner were in a room by themselves they would've come to an agreement by now. That may be true but Mr. Boehners party is no longer interested in negotiation and unfortunately, that may lead the United States of America to the abyss of financial crisis the likes of which we've never seen.
Ultimately the American people must force our political leaders to come to the understanding that they are not independent contractors and that their job is to serve the common good of the America people.
Tell the republicans their jobs are contingent on it.
No comments:
Post a Comment