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Republicans Will Never Admit that America’s Economic Woes Are Solely Their Fault
Listening to Republicans speak about the shape of the economy, it must be difficult for average Americans to discern whether they are bewildered by finances or just lying to cover over their malfeasance. After the Republican’s shenanigans during past three years regarding fiscal matters such as spending cuts, the budget and deficit , there is no doubt the GOP is lying to promote support for their economic ideology of giving most of America’s wealth to the very rich. So far this week, Republicans have made a concerted effort to pin the nation’s slow-growing economy on President Obama, and they have particularly singled out the nation’s deficit as the biggest hindrance to economic growth and job creation even though their policies are singularly responsible for deterring a robust recovery. On Tuesday, Speaker of the House John Boehner signaled that Republicans will revisit the debt ceiling debacle that nearly shut down the government last year and cost America its first credit downgrade in history.
Boehner promised that Republicans would offset any debt limit increase with larger spending cuts, and to make sure the deficit continues growing, reject letting the Bush-era tax cuts expire or increase taxes on the wealthy. If those comments sound familiar, they were exactly what S&P cited as why they downgraded America’s stellar credit rating. As a quick refresher, President Obama asked for $4 trillion in across-the-board cuts to reduce the deficit coupled with increased revenue, but the Republicans held out for $2 trillion and no increased revenue with all the spending cuts coming from social safety nets and government programs. The Republican plan created no jobs, and besides rejecting increased revenue, would eliminate millions of Americans’ jobs in the public and private sector. It is important to remember that when the Republicans first proposed spending cuts that killed over a million jobs, Boehner said, “so be it.”
Boehner did have some good news for the wealthiest Americans when he announced that Republicans would extend the Bush tax cuts before the November general election in what promises to be another hostage situation, and he called on legislators on both sides of the aisle to reach a long-term deal on spending and tax changes, but promised there would be no additional taxes on the wealthy. The tax changes must be the Ryan and Romney budget plans that raises taxes on the poor and middle class while giving lower tax rates to the wealthy; or as Republicans refer to them, job creators.
The Republicans are not serious about reducing the deficit if they continue stonewalling on increased revenue sources, and as if to belabor the point, there are four different budgets for fiscal 2013 that begins on October 1 of this year and each one serves the same purpose; shrinking the government and giving the wealthy more tax cuts. The Ryan Path to Prosperity (for the rich) privatizes Medicare, cuts social safety net spending drastically, and gives a 10% tax cut to the wealthy while raising taxes on the poor; although Draconian, it is the most liberal of the Republican budgets. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) proposes eliminating Departments of Education, Commerce and Energy, cutting the National Park Service by 30% and NASA by 25%, and totally eliminate Medicare in 2014. Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) proposes cutting government in half, end payroll taxes, and cut investment taxes by 10%. All of the Republican budgets will eliminate millions of jobs that besides sending the unemployment rate skyrocketing, will increase the deficit because of lost revenue from taxes coupled with more tax cuts for the rich.
Republicans are not serious about cutting the deficit any more than they are serious about creating jobs. There is not one Republican who can cite how reducing the nation’s debt will create one job, but they have done their best to fool Americans into believing that deficit reduction and more tax cuts for the wealthy will create full employment; it is stunning in its foolishness. If cutting spending created jobs, then every American who is not filthy rich would be employed and the jobs issue would be moot. Every family in America has had to cut expenses just to survive because of declining wages and higher prices, and yet unemployment has hovered around 8%.
What Republicans will never admit is that America’s economic woes are solely their fault and especially the deficit they created with unfunded wars, tax cuts, and a Medicare prescription plan. Willard Romney weighed in on the deficit and claimed he “will lead us out of this debt and spending inferno. I will bring us together to put out the fire.” It is another lie from the king of liars. Romney’s tax and spending plan will increase the budget with lower tax rates for the top 1/10th of 1%, and expand military spending as well as “broaden the tax base” which is code for increasing taxes on the poor and middle class. Romney also said he would cut domestic programs by 10% and transfer some government functions to the private sector, and “streamline everything that’s left.” Romney’s deficit talk was short on specifics, but based on his sketchy economic plan and endorsement of the Ryan Path to Prosperity budget, he will certainly increase the deficit with his proposed $10.7 trillion tax cuts for the rich and corporations.
Republicans should just be honest with Americans and admit that their goal is an America of uneducated peasants subservient to the wealthy who will own and operate what is left of the government. President Obama gave them the deficit reduction they clamored for last year, and they rejected it to keep the wealthy happy and eliminate more Americans’ jobs. It is growing tiresome to hear them blame the economic malaise on President Obama, and specifically Willard Romney’s contention that President Obama has made the economy worse than when he came into office. Romney could not even acknowledge that convicted war criminal George W. Bush and Republicans caused the world’s economic recession or increased the deficit that will continue costing America for at least a decade regardless of austerity measures and privatizing what is left of the government.
There are three reasons President Obama inherited a devastated economy and they are precisely what Republicans and Willard Romney want to return to. Their propensity for unfunded wars, deregulation, and perpetual unfunded tax cuts for the wealthy created the world’s economic disaster and they cannot wait to drive America into bankruptcy so the ultra-wealthy and their corporations can step in and privatize what is left of the government. They cannot deny it and the proof is in their plans for America if they ever take control of the House, Senate, and White House. It is disheartening that many Americans are stupid enough to fall for the Republicans’ deficit talk this week, and sickening that they will support Republicans when they hold the nation hostage again as Boehner threatened to do when the debt ceiling needs to increase. America will never be conquered by a foreign enemy, but at the rate Republicans are going, this nation will fall victim to homegrown enemies of the state who have as their symbol an elephant bought and paid for by corporate money, and stupid voters who still think giving the rich America’s wealth is the Path to Prosperity.
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sam
May. 17th, 2012 at 10:48 am
Too bad sites like HuffPo and Fox will never show this vital information.
Julia
May. 17th, 2012 at 11:34 am
hahahaha!! I didn’t read this post because I didn’t need to. I can’t believe you are using that long ago thoroughly debunked chart. Seriously, Rmuse…read the news, you make it just too damn easy for me.
Here’s the breakdown from the most liberal newspaper in America, the Washington Post:
www.washingtonpost.com/bl...
Rmuse
May. 17th, 2012 at 1:56 pm
Julia, First, the article was not about the graph. However, there is a consistent error the right makes that on Inauguration Day, the deficit and budget was President Obama’s. It had been set in stone by the Bush Administration. It is unfathomable for some to comprehend, but America runs on a fiscal year, not an Inauguration Day, or December 31st cutoff. There are myriad conservative sights attributing the 2009 deficit to President Obama, and it is fallacious as is the Politifact analysis because they too consider the budget and deficit beginning in Jan. 2009. To repeat; the budget, deficit and spending for 2009 is convicted war criminal George W. Bush’s, not President Obama’s. What is curious, is that so many readers, like 2nd graders, get hung up on images.
Julia
May. 17th, 2012 at 4:11 pm
So what’s the deal here, are you actually deleting my replies?
Shiva (Moderator)
May. 17th, 2012 at 4:15 pm
Only the ones that attack the author. You seem intelligent, use it
Julia
May. 17th, 2012 at 4:39 pm
Uh, nothing I said was a personal attack (unlike Rmuse comparing me to a 2nd grader). I simply replied to his comment and then asked for clarification on one of his previous posts. What’s wrong with that?
Shiva (Moderator)
May. 17th, 2012 at 4:46 pm
Really?
Julia
May. 17th, 2012 at 4:52 pm
Alright, I’ll just post the first paragraph.
Shiva (Moderator)
May. 17th, 2012 at 4:54 pm
I knew you were intelligent. Thank you
Julia
May. 17th, 2012 at 4:53 pm
Rmuse, the fiscal year 2009 budget was signed by Barack Obama on March 12, 2009. This covered spending for the period October 2008 – September 2009. Also, to say that Bush had “set in stone” the 2009 budget is nonsensical. The budget doesn’t set anything in stone, when it lacks a budget for direction, Congress still has the power to spend money and keep the government operating. That is how the government has been running the last few years without a budget. But again, Obama signed the budget in question so using inauguration day as a starting point really is not all that improper. Also, this whole starting point business is not even the main criticism of that graph to begin with. Did you read the links I sent you? What’s your response to the other criticisms?
Julia
May. 17th, 2012 at 11:45 am
Here’s PolitiFact’s take also:
www.politifact.com/truth-...
harris stein
May. 17th, 2012 at 1:05 pm
Please Julia, the fact that this chart has been debunked is meaningless. The truth is as Rmuse says it is,
“What Republicans will never admit is that America’s economic woes are solely their fault and especially the deficit they created with unfunded wars, tax cuts, and a Medicare prescription plan.”
“Republicans should just be honest with Americans and admit that their goal is an America of uneducated peasants subservient to the wealthy who will own and operate what is left of the government.”
Failing to read and understand at a deeper level and just looking at the pictures is what infantile, semi-literate, Fox News watching tea bag and Bible thumpers do.
Julia
May. 17th, 2012 at 1:34 pm
Ah yes, the old fake but true argument.
Yea, we should ignore obvious factual absurdities and instead accept ridiculous unsupported claims such as, “Republicans should just be honest with Americans and admit that their goal is an America of uneducated peasants subservient to the wealthy who will own and operate what is left of the government.”
I mean, come on man. I get that this is a partisan site and I am also obviously heavily partisan, but that quote alone, regardless of the use of that mangled graph, is just laughable. I would never embarrass myself by claiming that liberals literally want the U.S. to look like North Korea, yet you applaud that even more ridiculous statement by Rmuse.
Lastly, did you ever consider that if Rmuse knows so little about the topic he is writing about that he would believe such an obviously distorted graph, that perhaps this calls into question every claim he made in his article?
harris stein
May. 17th, 2012 at 2:09 pm
Word salad.
Who said anything about North Korea. I think Somalia or the tribal areas of northwest Pakistan is more like the republican vision.
sherrie heckendorn
May. 17th, 2012 at 3:21 pm
The truth is that under republican guidence we have now the largest wealth inequality in the world. We can’t continue on the path we are on and not fall into a depression that will make the great depression look mild. We need to bring more revenue into the government, and that means rolling back tax policys to before reaganomics and invest in our infrastructure. In other words you invest in the country and the people, and then you get revenue coming back into the government(that is what pays the deficit down,) But, hey, what are pesky facts to the GOP)
Sugapea
May. 17th, 2012 at 1:57 pm
Thank you, Rmuse…please keep the TRUTH flowing!
It was GWBush who once let it slip out when he said:
“We can fool some of the people all of the time…
And those are the ones we concentrate on”.
The GOP have created the largest propaganda machine we have ever seen in US history and they are ‘fooling’ so many people into voting against their own and America’s best interest!
Shark
May. 17th, 2012 at 2:00 pm
There is a serious problem with both of those fact check sites.
January 20, 2009 (end of George W. Bush and beginning of Obama): $10.627 trillion
April 29, 2011 (closing date of the chart): $14.288 trillion
That looks like Obama added 4 trillion.
One problem. Obama policies have only added a trillion of debt. So 3 trillion of that 4 trillion goes to Bush.
Clinton didn’t leave Bush with two unfunded wars and a depression. Those were left by Bush to Obama.
videocafe.crooksandliars....
Shark
May. 17th, 2012 at 2:01 pm
I guess this chart from the CBO that shows where our deficit is coming from is a fake to. Hun.
talkingpointsmemo.com/ima...
Shiva (Moderator)
May. 17th, 2012 at 3:32 pm
here are some excellent charts straight from the Treasury Department that will show you exactly the same thing that you showed only in more charts
www.treasury.gov/resource...
Doris
May. 17th, 2012 at 2:03 pm
This country cannot expect anymore from the (G)rand (O)bstructionist (P)arty who represent the one percent only and America had better wake up or we are doomed and as sad as it is,the obstructionist who are not a part of the one percent will be left behind too but fail to realize this.
Kimbutgar
May. 17th, 2012 at 2:49 pm
Obviously Julia is one of those paid trolls who will be coming on this site and many other progressive ones with her right wing talking points. I really have a hard time with people like her who are supporting the party who want to destroy this country. We need a Robin Hood as a President. I think they are really scared of a second President Obama term. Julia someday you will regret your support when your are lying in the gutter hungry and homeless because your supported the Gangsters of Politics. How does it feel to be a soulless person with no respect or humanity for your fellow American?
Julia
May. 17th, 2012 at 3:16 pm
Paid troll? Are liberals really that paranoid? Do you honestly think that there are people out there who pay others to go on obscure liberal websites and post comments? I mean, thanks to Obama there are no jobs whatsoever, so there certainly aren’t any as pointless as that. By the way, I’m amazed at how you were able to deduce that I am a soulless person with no respect for humanity or my fellow American, simply from me posting a link to the Washington Post. Astounding!
sherrie heckendorn
May. 17th, 2012 at 3:25 pm
No jobs, julia, because our government was forced by the gop to lay off thousands of public employees, and in case the truth matters in fact thousands of new private sector jobs have been added each month, and the unemployment rate down, the deficit came about after bush blew thru the surplus left by clinton. I take it you are unable to process true facts
Shiva (Moderator)
May. 17th, 2012 at 3:30 pm
I think there are charts on the Internet that show the job production under Obama and under Bush, if you looked at them you would find would’ve fully are making of yourself
reflectionsofarationalrep...
ndn.org/blog/2011/11/trut...
Julia
May. 17th, 2012 at 3:57 pm
Yes, I’m making a fool of myself. You just posted a link, that you either did not read or did not understand because it makes the precise opposite point that you thought it did. Here is exact text from your link:
“President Bush’s overall record continues to look far better than President Obama’s to date. Over President Bush’s presidency, the private sector created a net 141,000 jobs. Surprisingly, this number includes the 3.78 million private sector jobs lost in 2008.In contrast, under President Obama’s administration, the private sector has still lost a net 2.91 million private sector jobs. If I blame Bush and Clinton for the January 2009 and January 2001 numbers, respectively, the private sector would still have lost 2.07 million private sector jobs under the Obama administration. Again, the point of this argument is not to assess blame on either administrations’ policy. It simply puts the numbers into perspective.
For every job that the private sector created under George W. Bush, the private sector eliminated ~21 jobs under Barack Obama. While the private sector job outlook has improved recently, the economy still must create 2.91 million private sector jobs to break even.”
Shiva (Moderator)
May. 17th, 2012 at 4:03 pm
“Everyone knows that unemployment is high today and unlikely to fall by much soon. Yet, a longer view of the official jobs data would startle most people, including virtually everyone in the media. Nearly three years into Barack Obama’s presidency, his record on private job creation has actually been much stronger than George W. Bush’s at the same point in his first term. Whatever the public perception, the real record provides strong evidence for both the relative success of Obama’s economic program and how hard it now is for American businesses to create large numbers of new jobs — as they did once so effortlessly, and without political prodding.”
Obamas record is better than Bush’s even considering that Bush left him a vast unemployment problem. You are comparing 8 years of Bush to 3 years of Obama
Julia
May. 17th, 2012 at 4:18 pm
Look Shiva, I don’t have time for this. Which one of your own articles do you want to believe? Also, unemployment is not the issue that these articles are discussing. They are talking about job creation so the unemployment rate that Obama inherited is not at issue. If anything, starting at a lower employment rate would tend to make later job creation easier since you are starting from a statistical valley. Also, since the article that you linked to me is talking about jobs lost under Obama then comparing 8 years of Bush to 3 years of Obama has the potential to be more favorable to Obama’s numbers. You don’t know what will happen in the next 5 years. More jobs could be lost. For example, if I go to the casino and win $50 in 10 hours and then you go to the casino and lose $200 in 1 hour would you argue that you are a better gambler because I’m comparing my 10 hours to your 1 hour?
Shiva (Moderator)
May. 17th, 2012 at 4:27 pm
If you dont have time, move on.
Deborah
May. 17th, 2012 at 5:25 pm
Actually, yes, there are. Republicans themselves said so:
From the uber “conservative” redstate.com …
www.redstate.com/davenj1/...
First, infiltrate the site. For this, you will have to avoid creating screen names like “GoPalinGo” or “Heartlandredstater.” Also, some websites may actually have you wait a week before you are allowed to comment or blog. Perhaps, they are investigating the e-mail address you give them against whether it is used for a conservative website. Be sure to avoid that tendency; if you use, for example, aol.com screen name for RedState, make sure you use a yahoo e-mail address for Dailykos, or whatever. Once you are there, the second part of the strategy is to gain their trust. For this, you cannot be too overtly gung-ho conservative in your outlook. Instead, you sort of have to be the voice of a moderate liberal. This will take a lot of acting skill, but it could be done. For example, over at ThinkProgress, they had an article about how the folks in Alabama got what they deserved with the recent spate of tornadoes because their legislators did not believe in global warming. It took all my energies not to reach through the Internet and strangle these kooks, but I responded, “Well, that might be going a little too far…” Along the way, I gained the trust of certain posters on that thread.
sherrie heckendorn
May. 17th, 2012 at 3:17 pm
Somehow we need to get the message out about the deficit, so that as many people as we can tell will know that deficit can’t be fixed by eliminating government positions and by gutting social net programs, The deficit can be controlled, by rolling tax policys for personal and coporations, take the ceiling off of ss payrol tax. Then you need to actually beef up the social net programs, spend money on the infrastructure, thereby creating jobs, hire back the teachers and other public employees, that will jumpstart our economy and within a year we will be climing out of the recession and within two years we will be have an increase in revenue to the government. Do the opposit and we fall into a depression that could take decades to get out of, You only have to look to europe to see that austerity cuts do not work. so vote people and spread the word, the deficit figure really doesnt matter, its not like a personal or even a business budget, and thats what the GOP fail to mention, and our defense does not need any more increase, instead decrease, and give all these ‘politicians’ a tax cut today
thommy berlin
May. 17th, 2012 at 3:31 pm
Hm. Another chart. Unnecessary. Republicans installed trickle down wealth redistribution and repealed Glass/Stegall. The rational was they couldn’t compete globally, and that they didn’t need unnecessary government oversight. The result: The rich got richer, the banks became ‘too big to fail’, capitalists nearly caused another depression and the people who actually do the work in this country got screwed. The reason to support the president isn’t that he’s a great choice, simply not being a republican is ample.