An economics, investment, trading and policy blog with a focus on Modern Monetary Theory (MMT). We seek the truth, avoid the mainstream and are virulently anti-neoliberalism.
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Thursday, March 3, 2011
Republicans admit that their jobs "plan" is to destroy jobs
The Republicans were elected by a landslide last November on a promise to create jobs. Just the other day John Boehner's spokesman, Michael Steele, said that House Republcians' top priority is helping to create jobs."
Oh really?
Well, what exactly is their plan to create these jobs?
Spending cuts?
A number of economists (including myself) have recently pointed out that the proposed GOP spending cuts could result in the loss of up to 700,000 jobs. Even Fed Chairman Bernanke, trying to be conservative, estimated that at least 200,000 jobs are likely to be lost as a result of the spending cuts.
And what did Speaker of the House Boehner say when he was questioned about these job losses? "If that happens, so be it. We're broke."
That's right, he's now ADMITTING that there is no plan in place to create jobs and making a pathetically ignorant comment about the country being "broke."
At least we can say that the truth is out in the open. It's really not about creating jobs and it never was about creating jobs. All of this is just about one thing: a misguided ideological zeal to cut spending at any cost, even if that means destroying jobs in the process.
The fact is, a majority of Americans are against these spending cuts. This is the same party that castigated president Obama for "ramming" health care down the throats of American and now they're doing the exact same thing with their spending ideology.
It's time to say, enough is enough.
Mindless ideology. Let's hope the public doesn't buy it or the country is in big trouble economically. Like a redo of 2008 with the TBTF's even bigger. Now they are TBTS — to big to save. With housing headed into a double-dip and mortgage debt high, the threat the debt deflation is still looming.
ReplyDeleteThe "good news" is that 97% of the mortgages are now held by government, so government will directly bear the brunt of the trillions involved this time, and the government has a printing press, which the banks don't, so it can't run out of money. But there is no way to put a good face on this.
The core problem is that Republicans (and their equivalents in other countries) are frightened of ever expanding national debts. I don’t actually blame them. What they need to be taught is that instead of letting deficits accumulate as debt, defi cits can perfectly well accumulate as additional monetary base (which was actually Keynes’s and Abba Lerner’s preferred option).
ReplyDeleteRepublicans will respond to that with the obvious knee jerk reaction: “inflation”. They then need to be taught that inflation won’t rise significantly till demand has risen significantly, and rising demand is the solution to a recession.
That is not a difficult message to get into their heads is it?
Ralph,
ReplyDeleteI've recently been introduced to the concept of "Mathematical Maturity". The inflationistas dont have it.
Link_http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mathematical_maturity
This is I believe a major part of their inability to get your point. It will be hard to overcome but I believe it can be overcome by "super teaching"...
Resp,
sorry Ralph, this is the
ReplyDeleteLink_http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mathematical_maturity
All right now they are pis___ing me off!
ReplyDeleteLink here!
Resp, ;)
Read below to see more Fox Media hypocrits. When it comes to the Wisconsin union fights, right-wing pundits Bill O'Reilly, Sean Hannity and Rush Limbaugh have a couple of things in common. For starters, have all voiced their opposition to the plight of public employee unions in the state. On Feb. 18, Limbaugh said on his radio program, "We are either on the side of the Wisconsin protesters or we are on the side of our country." Hannity has featured several guests critical of the union and its supporters, including Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, on his Fox News television and radio shows.On the Feb. 18 edition of "The O'Reilly Factor," O'Reilly stated, "Governments can't afford to operate" because of "union wages and benefits." But it turns out that opposing workers' rights isn't the only thing these blowhards have in common.
ReplyDeleteAs it turns out, all three of them belong to the American Federation Television and Radio Artists union (AFTRA), which is the AFL-CIO affiliate for television and broadcast workers.Yes, you read that right. While Hannity, O'Reilly and Limbaugh have been railing against union workers in Wisconsin, all three of them belong to an AFL-CIO affiliate union.
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Musgrave is right. The problem here is the perception of being broke. We know it's not true, but they don't. Their actions make sense when you accept that we are going broke. I know because I used to think like them. The left made about as much sense to me as my wife does when she insists on spending money she doesn't have. The Left doesn't care about going broke, and the Right is too stupid to understand it's not an issue.
ReplyDeleteThe Left doesn't care about going broke,
ReplyDeleteI think that is more that the Left figures the money is there aplenty, in the pockets of the wealthy, who are too stingy to part with any.
Both sides think erroneously that the federal government has to either tax or borrow to fund itself, or else sell assets by privatizing the commons.
It comes back to confusing the currency issuer with currency users.