IT’S OFFICIAL — GOP TANKING ECONOMY

The GOP is deliberately trying to tank the economy. We’ve held off making this declaration, but sadly the GOP’s accumulated actions all finally add up to this realization — The GOP doesn’t want the economy to recover under a Democratic President.  And we can’t continue to give the GOP a pass on their multiple attempts to slow the growth of the American economy.  For the past 5 years we’ve repeatedly excused their actions because we held out the hope that, “They just have differing opinions on what to do to spur growth in the economy.”

But, the facts just don’t seem to support continuing that hope.  Taken as a whole, the Republican/Teapublican positions and legislation have seriously hampered an economic recovery, and as long as they continue to thwart logical, historically-proven methods for growth, our nation’s economy is going to be held back.

It’s time to move the economic debate away from the short term fixation of deficit obsession versus stimulus spending, and on to a bigger discussion about how government can help spur long term growth and begin to address the widening chasm of income inequality.

Here’s a list of positions that are almost universally acknowledged by economists on the left and right, to spur economic growth, yet are opposed by the GOP :

• Investment in Infrastructure: “Businesses depend on our transportation systems, on our power grids, on our communications networks,” President Obama said. “And rebuilding them creates good-paying jobs right now that can’t be outsourced.”  And rebuilding and expanding our infrastructure lays the groundwork for future business growth.

• Unemployment Checks: Cutting off unemployment checks for the long term unemployed is estimated to eliminate 240,000 jobs, according to the National Employment Law Project — because the money won’t be available to be spent in stores, economic growth and job creation will contract.

• Government Hiring, not Firing: Reducing government employment, particularly during recessions, adds workers to the unemployment rolls. In addition, fewer workers means  fewer paychecks, which dampens consumption and further spreads through the economy, magnifying the effects of the recession.  The Conservative Washington Times newspaper further explains why cutting government jobs, both federal and state governments, harms the economy.  A boost in government hiring normally occurs during a recession — including under George W. Bush.

• Eliminate Austerity Programs: Austerity cuts, cuts, cuts government spending: Austerity has been a total failure in Europe as a response to this Great Recession. Those countries that initially tried austerity programs, have moved away from them because they were causing their economies to contract.  Conservatives want to continue cuts in education, medical research and infrastructure in order to give even more tax cuts to the rich and huge corporations, in the hopes that it trickles down to the rest of us — which is the totally discredited “Trickle-Down” economic theory that the GOP still clings to.

• Raise the Minimum Wage: A new study by the Economic Policy Institute tells us that a $10.10 minimum wage would actually create new jobs.

• Address Income Inequality: Raise taxes on the top income earners to fund growth programs, and create  breaks like the ACA for the middle class, so they can better save for retirement.  President Barack Obama, July 24, 2013 said the following:
  

  “This growing inequality isn’t just morally wrong; it’s bad economics. When middle-class families have less to spend, businesses have fewer customers. When wealth concentrates at the very top, it can inflate unstable bubbles that threaten the economy. When the rungs on the ladder of opportunity grow farther apart, it undermines the very essence of this country.”

• Reform Immigration: An immigration overhaul will bring workers out of the shadows and into the mainstream workforce, where their labors and taxes can help pay retirement costs that threaten to bust the long-term federal budget—and ruin retirement for middle-class couples.  According to the New York Times, immigration reform “would improve the budget picture (see this helpful chart) and stimulate economic growth. The immediate effects are good and the more lasting effects even better.”

• Fund jobs training: Employers who want to hire often complain that the jobless don’t have the jobs skills that are needed.  When the jobless get new training they are ready to join the workforce and contribute to the country and the economy.

• Eliminate the sequester cuts: The Gross Domestic Product declined 1.3% in the fourth quarter last year due to the government’s sequester cuts — defense spending alone dropped by an annual rate of over 22% that same quarter.  The economy contracted because of the drastic cuts in government spending, and these cuts are estimated to cost our country over 240,000 jobs.

• Fund Americorp and Peace Corps: These programs should be expanded, in order to provide opportunities to young people (who may be having difficulties finding a job) to have meaningful work to do in the service of others, to gain experiences which will enhance their resumes as well as to grow and mature.
• Invest in technology, research, innovation, and energy: The private sector has gained immeasurably from government spending on research.  Many products and sectors of the economy have been developed in government labs — with the Internet at the top of the list!
• Grow manufacturing in USA: Clearly, we need to bring manufacturing jobs back to the US, as well as support the development of new industries.  Many companies are rethinking their decisions to move their factories out of the country — quality control is an important factor.
• Control inflation in college costs: The future economy is dependent on our nation educating our workforce.  With college tuition spiraling out of control, an advanced education is more and more out of reach for the middle class.  An uneducated workforce will doom our economy to a second rate existance.

The GOP claims that the deficit is the major drag on the economy, and that they must cut discretionary spending now in order to bring the deficit down.  Both parts of this assertion are wrong.  The major drag on the economy is the dysfunction coming out of Washington, due to the GOP gridlock and their commitment to deny the President any opportunity to implement his jobs plans.

The budget deficit will shrink again this year to $642 billion, down from a high of $1.4 trillion in 2009.  Relative to the size of the economy, the deficit this year, at 4% of GDP, will be less than half as large as the shortfall in 2009 at 13% of GDP.  By comparison, the deficit averaged 3.1% of GDP over the past 40 years.

Clearly, the deficit is rapidly coming into the normal or average category for federal deficits, and will be below the 40 year average by an entire percentage point by 2015 — from a 3.1% normal range, to 2.1% of GDP.  The president recognizes that the deficit is coming under control as the economy is recovering — while the GOP describes the deficit as a catastrophic danger.  And, the GOP asserts that in order to avoid that danger the country must slash our current budgets by gutting our social safety net today.

The deficit is coming under control.  The deficit was not caused by government spending on our social safety net.  It was  caused by the Wall Street economic disaster in 2008, by two unfunded wars, an unfunded prescription drug plan, and unfunded massive tax cuts — all under the leadership of George W. Bush.

Our economic woes are real; the GOP prescription for healing them are not.  It’s official — the GOP is deliberately tanking the economy.

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