The Big Tease

From election 2008 to election 2010, seems that the nation (as reported by the handful of corporations controlling virtually all major media in this country) has gone from "Yes We Can," to "No You Don't."  The Republicans successfully ran on 3 issues:

• Jobs
• the stimulus spending was a waste because it did not generate enough jobs
• the size of the federal defecit will make it difficult to create jobs

The running theme of course, is jobs.  When there's a recession, people look for jobs.  The Republicans and Tea Party candidates "promised" jobs.  The Democrats were unable to make the case they had created jobs.  So, the Democrats got exactly what they deserved. 

"Throw the rascals out, and let's vote in some new rascals," said the electorate.  Such is the state of mind of most voters who are not hard-core one party or the other.

Now, I did say the Republicans and Tea Party candidates "promised" jobs. It's a bit of a stretch to say they "promised" anything.  They would say things like "we need to put America back to work," or "keep taxes low so small businesses can hire workers."  But, as much as Republicans are traditionally pro-business, they are oddly not pro jobs.  The proof is right not there in the Republican National Committee platform discussion of issues.... jobs is not one of them!

Well, you say, what about the Pledge to America?  Isn't there something about jobs there?  You can google it, like I did, and let the word processor find every occurrance of any word containing "job," and copying the entire sentence.  If you get bored, just skip past the bullets.  My results:

• Rising joblessness, crushing debt, and a polarizing political environment are fraying the bonds
  among our people and blurring our sense of national purpose.
• Our economy has declined and our debt has mushroomed with the loss of millions of jobs.
• A plan to create jobs, end economic uncertainty, and make America more competitive
• We will end the attack on free enterprise by repealing jobkilling policies and taking steps to assure
  current businesses and future entrepreneurs that the government will not stifle their ability to compete in the global marketplace.
• By permanently stopping job-killing tax hikes, families will be able to keep more of
  their hard-earned money and small businesses will have the stability they need to invest in our economy and help grow our workforce.
• We will further encourage small businesses to create jobs by allowing them to take a tax deduction equal to 20 percent of their income.
• We will rein in the red tape factory in Washington, DC by requiring congressional approval of any new federal regulation that may add to our deficit and make it harder to create jobs.
• We offer sense solutions focused on lowering costs and protecting American jobs.
• Joblessness is the single most important challenge facing America today.
• Jobs are the lifeblood of our economy, and for our workforce, there is no substitute for the pride and dignity that comes with an honest day’s work and a steady paycheck.
• Private sector unemployment remains at or near 10 percent, jobless claims continue to soar, and the only parts of the economy expanding are government and our national debt.
• We need private sector jobs, not more government.
• We have a plan that will help create jobs, end economic uncertainty, and make America more competitive.
• The trillion-dollar “stimulus” spending bill has made “where are the jobs?”
• Undeterred by dismal results, Washington Democrats continue to double-down on their job-killing policies.
• “An economy constrained by high tax rates will never produce enough revenue to balance the budget, just as it will never create enough jobs.”
  – President John F. Kennedy
• The longer our government refuses to wake up and abandon its jobkilling agenda, the longer it will take to turn things around and get people working again.
• WHERE ARE THE JOBS?
• Our Plan
  to End the Uncertainty and
• Permanently Stop All Job-Killing Tax Hikes
• That means protecting middle-class families, seniors worried about their retirement, and the entrepreneurs and family-owned small businesses on which we depend to create jobs in America.
• Excessive federal regulation is a de facto tax on employers and consumers that stifles
  job creation, hampers innovation and postpones investment in the economy.
• If a regulation is so “significant” and costly that it may harm job creation, Congress should vote on it first.
  Repeal Job-Killing Small Business Mandates
• We will repeal this job-killing small business mandate.
• Economists have warned that all this borrowing runs the risk of causing a damaging spike in interest rates, which would cripple job creation.
• We will curb Washington’s spending habits and promote job creation, bring down the deficit, and build long-term fiscal stability.
• Jobs.
• Employers large and small coast-to-coast have announced that they are considering laying off employees or dropping their health care coverage in response to the new law, despite President Obama’s boast that it is also a jobs plan.
• Instead of bringing the full weight of the government to bear in enforcing this jobkilling health care law, Washington Democrats should listen to the American people and stand down.
• Our Plan to Repeal the Job Killing Health Care Law and Put in Place Real Reform
• Because the new health care law kills jobs, raises taxes, and increases the cost of health care, we will immediately take action to repeal this law.

And that's it.  Somebody stop me if I'm wrong, but all that is simply the plan that was being followed in the years leading up to the Great Recession!  The Bush tax cuts were enacted in 2001 and 2003, the Recession started in 2007 and hit big time in 2008.  If it was such a great plan, there would not have been a Great Recession!  I suggest that in terms of an actual plan to generate jobs, the Pledge to America is best read while listening to the old James Brown song "Talking Loud, and Saying Nothing." 

The same old tax policies in the Pledge to America do little if anything to actually create or bring back those lost middle-class jobs that are essential to an economic recovery.  The jobs the middle class lost over the past 10 years, the jobs lost to outsourcing because businesses got a tax break from your federal (much of that time Republican) government, the jobs lost because businesses were encouraged to import foreign workers while fully-qualified American citizens were overlooked, the jobs other American small businesses and individuals winked as they hired illegal immigrants at low wages and no benefits rather than to hire their fellow American citizens at a higher wage with benefits.  But its "ok" if the Pledge to America doesn't deliver any jobs, because the Pledge to America is not promising any jobs. 

It's just all a big tease.  A come-on.  A gimmick.  Hype. In other words, the voters got had.  You know, it's like when your older sibling (usually a brother) would stand over you and hold his/her right hand up high to get your attention, and then punch you with the left hand.  You fell for it again and again until you realized how the trick worked and then you learned to keep an eye on what your sibling's left hand was doing.  So, the politicians, who are for the most part very wealthy and have their own interests at heart, will keep pulling the national version of that trick until you and alot of other voters realize what to look out for.

 Again, I'm not taking sides... because ultimately, the NATIONAL problem is not about liberals versus conservatives, or Republican versus Democrat, or people of color against whites, but it's the very wealthy versus the 80 percent of us who are not. 


 The "champions" for middle class America, probable Speaker of the House John Boehner, and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, are as far removed from understanding life in the middle class as the average American is removed from understanding life in the slums of Haiti.  Rep. Boehner has a net worth about $6 million or so, and Senator McConnell has a net worth of around $32 million.  Even rising Republican star Eric Cantor is worth $6-7 million.  (All the net worth figures I'm stating here exclude the primary home).  In contrast, the median net worth of American households, excluding their home, is about $34,000.   The tax cuts they want to keep or enhance help their income levels, not yours.  And as for health care, they can easily afford whatever health care they need, plus the U.S. Congress has a free health care plan superior to that of most Americans anyway. 


Oh, in the interest of fairness, Nancy Pelosi is worth at least $25 million, perhaps much more.

Finally, a parting thought. Congress could lead by example with its Pledge to America by doing at least the following:

1. Forfeit their free congressional health care coverage
2. Transfer their health care coverage to an American family that currently has no health insurance
3. Take a pay cut from $174,000 per year to $34,000, which is about the annual pay of the average school teacher
4. Transfer the remaining $140,000 of their salaries to reducing the national debt