Republicans Who Refused to Do Their Jobs Are Complaining About Getting Nothing Out of Shutdown

Most Americans consider earning a decent wage for their labor a fair exchange between them and their employer, and likely their employer feels their outlay for wages in return for a day’s work an expense worth making. It is difficult to imagine an employee refusing to do their job while still drawing their salary and then complaining that they were disappointed they were cheated out of something over and above their salary. In the real world, an employee who refuses to do their job would be summarily terminated and certainly would not be paid. Over the past two days, Republican members of Congress and their conservative talking heads angrily complained they did not get anything for shutting down the government and attempting to crash the nation and world’s economy.

Republicans consider their work in Congress warrants greater recompense than their bloated salaries, and generally consider taking something from the people, retarding economic growth, and killing jobs as a fair exchange for them and their corporate employers. Extremist Republicans asserted they did not get anything for doing their jobs of funding the government and paying their bills, but they did receive their taxpayer-funded salaries, healthcare, and expenses while they held the nation hostage. However, they also got what they cherish most of all; causing Americans economic pain, and as a value-added bonus were able to inflict  more damage to the economy and kill more American jobs.

Republicans always regarded taking things from Americans part and parcel of their dog-given duty as conservatives, but it became their raison d’être early in 2009 after the people elected an African American as President. After taking control of the House in 2011, instead of creating jobs like they promised throughout the 2010 midterm election season, they immediately began taking away women’s rights, constitutional protection from evangelical domination, social programs, and various protections from predatory corporations and financial institutions. Still, it was insufficient for Republicans and they manufactured a serious fiscal crisis in the summer of 2011 that was such a bonanza they had to repeat it again in 2013.

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The results of the first Republican debt-ceiling crisis was assessed by a former Republican Commerce Secretary and fanatical fiscal hawk, and his very comprehensive study revealed the high “cost of crisis-driven fiscal policy” Republicans have practiced since an African American man is the President. According to Peter G. Peterson, the perpetual manufacturing of partisan fiscal crises have created sufficient uncertainty to reduce growth since 2009 by as much as 0.3 percentage points annually that killed as many as 900,000 potential jobs every year. Add to that nearly one-million jobs lost to Republican’s cherished sequestration President Obama paid as ransom during the 2011 debt crisis coupled with reduced annual growth by 0.7 points since 2010 and they successfully increased unemployment by almost a full percentage point that meant another 1.2 million jobs lost that should have been sufficient payment for even the greediest Republican.

Peterson’s report examined two possible economic scenarios that a Treasury default would have produced, and at the least it would create a recession that would see unemployment rise to 8.5% and cost 2.5 million jobs, and a longer, deeper, “more volatile recession in which joblessness would rise to 8.9% and kill more than 3 million jobs.” Republicans are looking forward to their next assault on the economy with an eye toward slashing discretionary spending more regardless their cuts have already reduced annual GDP growth by 0.7% since 2010, and raised the unemployment rate 0.8% that represents 1.2 million jobs lost to Republican crisis-driven economics. The full effects of the latest “crisis” will not be fully known for months, but thus far it cost the government $24 billion, cut GDP by nearly a percentage point, and killed as many as 400,000 jobs. One economist claims the shutdown will have “trimmed fourth-quarter growth by 20%;” an outcome any business would “consider a disaster.” Republicans complain their deliberate “disaster” did not give them anything that they really wanted.

The extremist Republicans and teabaggers in the House and Senate feel so personally affronted they were forced to do their jobs without a big bonus, their leader Ted Cruz promised to lash out at the American people and their government again. According to the seditious conspiracy’s de facto leader Cruz, “this was going to be a multi-stage, extended battle I think is going to bring back jobs and economic growth.” However, for 44% of Americans who said the shutdown had hurt their families, including 19% who said it hurt a lot, Cruz’s reassurance can only mean the next crisis is going to be even more painful and for Republicans who measure “winning” by the level of pain they wreak on the people and the economy, the people should be quaking.

For Republicans to complain they did not “get anything” out of their government shutdown and damage to economic growth including killing jobs is an outrage. It is true that Republicans measure their success by the harm they cause the American people and the economy, but even the greediest Republican should be pleased they drew their congressional salary, cost the nation $24 billion, cut nearly a percentage point off of GDP, and killed hundreds-of-thousands of jobs adequate recompense for shutting down the government. However, it was not enough for Republicans and they intend to make up for it by heading into the next stage of their “work” resolute they will get “something big” for not doing their jobs when government funding runs out and the debt ceiling needs to be raised.

An overwhelming majority of Americans worried about the Republican shut down’s impact on the nation, with 71% saying the shutdown hurt the economy, and 73% saying it had hurt the country as a whole, and various economists’ assessments demonstrate the people’s worries are well-founded. What Americans should really be worried about is how much damage the next stage of Cruz’s extended battle will inflict on the nation, because if Republicans think costing the nation $24 billion, a drop in GDP, and hundreds-of-thousands of jobs lost was “not getting anything,” the people are in for a world of hurt because although congressional Republicans’ are employees of the people, they cannot terminate them for a year.

Rmuse

Audio engineer and instructor for SAE. Writes op/ed commentary supporting Secular Humanist causes, and exposing suppression of women, the poor, and minorities. An advocate for freedom of religion and particularly, freedom of NO religion.

Born in the South, raised in the Mid-West and California for a well-rounded view of America; it doesn’t look good.

Former minister, lifelong musician, Mahayana Zen-Buddhist.