Thursday, March 3, 2011

Gut Check on Republicans and Jobs

All of a sudden, it looks like Republicans are mired in a war of their own making. The Republican Party was catapulted into power in the U.S. House and in State Legislatures across the country. After two months of seeing what Republican power looks like, voters are registering this displeasure for Republican ideas. The first legislative act that Congressional Republicans took was the "Repeal the [Lie About the Affordable Care Act] Health Care Act." Republican efforts to repeal the Affordable Care ACt would have added $200 billion to the federal deficit. Now they're trying to pass a spending agenda that takes 700,000 workers out of the workforce, meaning there will be fewer jobs for every job seeker.

Meanwhile Republican governors have riveted the country's attention on the GOP's crusade against the right to organize. Nationally, Americans disapprove of the Republican positions in Ohio and Wisconsin by a nearly 2-1 margin. The worker-busting agenda is the primary news story associated with the Republican brand at this moment, with a close second being "cutting social security," something that the Wall Street Journal rather blandly said Americans

The current Republican spending plan would depress the GDP by 1.5-2.0%, very likely giving rise to a second, prolonged recession.

Accordingly, Republican House members are starting to worry about their own jobs, blaming their messaging emphasis: