Four million jobs created in the last two years is progress, but we need more growth and leaders committed to getting there. Republican politicians admit their top priority is defeating Obama. That’s why they’ve done everything they can to sabotage the recovery on his watch.
They started the Republican Recession by letting Wall Street crash the economy, sustained it with spending cuts that threw Americans out of work, and by their own admission, they’d bring it back.
Even Mitt Romney admits that more massive job-killing spending cuts will “throw us into recession or depression" — but he supports them anyway because he’ll do better if Americans do worse. So when they now talk about unemployment not improving faster, they’re not complaining — they’re bragging about their sabotage success.
ATTACKS AND RESPONSES
ATTACK: "Unlike Obama, Romney knows how to create jobs in the private sector."
RESPONSE:
- Does Mitt Romney know how to make himself and Wall Street investors very rich? Absolutely. Is he a voice for working families? No way.
- When Romney was governor of Massachusetts, he claimed his corporate experience would help him create jobs. It didn’t. In fact, under Romney’s governorship, Massachusetts dropped to 47th out of 50 states on job creation.
- Here’s what Mitt Romney knows about our economy: how to help Wall Street make millions off of businesses that fail and make working families pay more so millionaires like him pay less.
- Americans need a president who fights for an economy that works for everyone. That means putting jobs ahead of maximizing profits for corporate executives and their wealthy investors.
ATTACK: "Let’s repeal jobs-killing regulations that are costing the economy billions."
RESPONSE:
- Republicans are seriously claiming that in order to create jobs, we need dirtier air and water, more reckless Wall Street banks gambling with our retirement, and more dangerous workplaces.
- What our businesses need are more customers — that’s why employers aren’t hiring — not regulations. And asking businesses to meet higher standards can put people back to work and spark new breakthroughs and industries.
- Freedom doesn’t mean playing the game without rules or a referee — that’s just the freedom to cheat. The laws we put in place hold reckless corporations accountable and help responsible businesses succeed by doing the right thing.
ATTACK: "All the uncertainty is harming the economy."
RESPONSE:
- What’s creating uncertainty is Republicans promising a repeat of the default crisis that rattled our markets and brought the Tea Party Downgrade — and there’s no doubt that sabotaged the recovery and did more damage to America’s credit worthiness than our debt ever has.
- Cutting spending means cutting American jobs, and we can’t cut our way back to prosperity. In tough economic times we should be hiring Americans, not firing them. Cutting jobs also takes away customers from our stores — and that means less hiring everywhere.
- Washington Republicans aren’t serious about deficits. They’re the ones who fought tooth and nail for the tax giveaways and two unfunded wars that exploded the deficit. Now they’re pushing a budget to actually increase the debt even more while throwing millions out of work.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
- Half of Americans believe that Republicans are intentionally stalling efforts to jumpstart the economy to ensure President Obama isn’t re-elected.
- GOP Speaker John Boehner recently vowed to hold the federal debt limit hostage again, in order to extract more cuts on the top of the $2.1 trillion in spending cuts they forced into last summer’s debt deal — even though taking more money out of the economy and cutting more jobs will harm the recovery.
- Last summer, the Republicans’ reckless political brinkmanship and threats to make America a deadbeat nation led to the first-ever downgrade of the country’s credit worthiness and a sharp stock market drop.
- Last year alone, Washington Republicans tried to kill over 7 million jobs.
- If Republican politicians hadn’t pushed so hard to lay off our teachers, cops, and firefighters and block efforts to put Americans back to work fixing our roads and bridges, the unemployment rate could be down to 6% already.
- In fact, if public sector employment had grown since the official start of the recovery by the average amount it grew in the three previous recoveries, we’d have nearly 2 more million jobs today.
Viewers are encouraged to subscribe and join the conversation for more insightful commentary and to support progressive messages. Together, we can populate the internet with progressive messages that represent the true aspirations of most Americans.
Rick Hurt says
I see no mention of “Shovel Ready Jobs”… guess in the words of President Obama, “not so shovel ready”… with a chuckle… the comment, I might understand, but with a chuckle… not that funny. I guess with this understanding… someone didn’t look at the job forcast close enough…
I remember during the GWBUSH days we had employment… of course it wasn’t full employment… it included temp jobs, perma-temp jobs, Mcjobs, casuals (like the postal casuals)… these jobs without benefits… and the DEMOCRAT response… “at least you have a job”. I am familiar with the casual postal worker… example union workers in a Philadephia district shared 35 million dollars among 3000 union workers… on the backs of casual workers, yet the USPS could not afford benefits to the casual employees… In Houston, the union shared a half million, amongst it’s employees… all on a broken contract. I approach my congresswoman in the 18th district, she sends me a form letter, so I approached the Chronicle and LM SIXEL writes my whistleblowing story on Thanksgiving day 2004… casuals by contract, where to only work 6 months a calendar year. The USPS service broke that contract by laying us off a week and rehiring us as new employees, instead of hiring us on as a regular with benefits… one casual worked 15 years till she died, and that is called temporary work… at the same pay scale as a new employee off the street, without Holiday pay, vacation pay, sick pay, health insurance like their union coworkers… Then upon leaving the USPS, found out that the USPS failed to report my earnings to the goverment for previous 3 quarters back in May 2005 (all can be documented, I save everything). My congresswoman, last year was concerned about the city pools, but when it came to the working conditions of the USPS casual, she could care less as long as her campaign was funded by the Postal unions. But as the Democrats say, “Rainbo, at least you got a job”… well that response is not good enough for me…
Now I have another job, Direct Care professional… my congresswoman and other US representatives in this state had an opportunity to cosponsor a bill to enhance our wages… only 2 from Texas… a Republican Pete Sessions who has teenage down syndrome child, and Democrat Lloyd Doggett…they care…now my congresswoman on numerous occasions said she cared and after the congressional vacation in 2009 she would co-sponsor… well she didn’t follow through… when the DEMOCRATS controlled the House… the billed died the last day of 2010. A lot of people in her district are Direct Care Professionals… and her district included the medical district… but she didn’t follow through. The other US Representatives in Harris County didn’t care about the employees who are Direct Care Professionals… yet they want our vote… guess it wasn’t what they call a HOT BUTTON issue…
Now today’s REAL STORY BEHIND JOBS NUMBER
as I say, I am a Direct Care Professional… I work with adults with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities… an art instructor. When it comes to JOBS… this week is graduation for many with IDD (special needs). They have reached the magic number of 22 years old, and must leave the school system… HOW MANY, yes HOW MANY parents are going to be required to leave their job to care for their ADULT son or daughter because this great state of Texas is ranked 49th in the nation when it comes to funding for services for those with IDD. The waiting lists are high in each of the state’s Senate Districts. No one is talking about… not the Republicans and not the Democrats… unless something is said now… they will wait till the dead of winter next year for a two week window to speak about the issues… What are these families in Texas going to do… without a job, they most likely will lose their health insurance also… and these families are most likely wondering why are Texans more concerned about Wisconsin, than their issues… So what are the job numbers for those losing their jobs because they must now take care of their adult son or daughter… ????? cya at the Texas Democrat Convention…