As the Republican Party keeps trying to find something new… anything at all… in their propaganda proclamation, running the numbers reveals that the implementing the Republicans’ proposals well cause economic damage and job losses that are both immediate and severe.
House Republicans’ gimmicky new “Pledge to America” repeatedly refers to itself — including on its cover page — as a “new governing agenda ” [GOP delinked] to “set a different course” for the country. Nonetheless, it has come under withering criticism from right, left, and center for being little more than regurgitated rhetoric and repackaged failed GOP ideas.
While Republican leaders have tried to sell the originality of the proposal, Rep. Mike Pence (R-IN) — the number three House Republican — couldn’t seem to decide whether his party’s Pledge was new or old yesterday during an appearance on Meet the Press. At first, he insisted that the Pledge does indeed have “new ideas.” But just moments later, after being pushed by host David Gregory, Pence admitted, “What we have in this proposal is not necessarily new“…
…Watch it:
As for new ideas, Pence’s citation of “ending bailouts and cutting spending” is pretty pathetic…
Inserted from <Think Progress>
Even with my very limited training in economics, I knew it would do harm, because tax cuts for the rich yield only fifty cents of economic activity for every dollar cut. But I has no idea just how bad, until I sat this Keith Olbermann interview with Heather McGhee.
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That’s right implementing this will result in a first year GDP loss of $171 billion and 1.1 million jobs.
Of course the rich will get richer.
5 Responses to “Pledge or Plague?”
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Tom, why are you up so early? Its 5:30am EST here and I don’t think you work nights.
As for the “Pledge” its depressing that such an empty and stupid proclamation will go unexamined by the Marching Morons allowing the republicans to take the House in November. .
On the wonky side, you got Ezra Klein in your corner when it comes to number-crunching:
Source:
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/ezra-klein/2010/09/the_gops_bad_idea.html
On the fun side, Jon Stewart skewers the Pledge’s “new ideas” on The Daily Show: “It’s not even a sequel. It’s a shot-by-shot remake!”
It’s an instant-classic video clip showing their “new ideas” exactly match their “old ideas” – you know … the ones that got us into this mess in the first place. The good part begins shortly after the 2:00 minute mark:
http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/thu-september-23-2010/postcards-from-the-pledge
Seeing as I doubt the Chinese really want to buy more of our debt who are we going to borrow this 6 trillion dollars from to “pay” for these programs? If the Senate especially will not bring the tax issue up before the recess I think Ol’ Harry has been in the senate for to long and has lost what little political skill he had and become simply said…a coward more concerned for his own reelection than the needs of the nation, same with the DINO’s and Blue Dogs.
One the”marching morons” live through two years of Extreme Right control they will be twice as pissed and then will beck say the anger and violence from the right is justified because the Black president has ed us into a ditch and we are exercising our second amendment solution to take the keys back?
No surprise here. The republicans have shown no concern for either the debt or jobs when they are in power. Debt and jobs are only things that the republicans complain about when Democrats are in power, yet do nothing about, except increase debt and lose jobs, when they are in power.
This new Contract on America is the same as the old one that Newt proposed in 1994. There’s nothing new in here and we’ll drive the economy right into the same ditch we just dug it out of. And we can’t afford another 1.1 jobs lost. Our economy will be doomed simply to have the rich hold their money, and the banks won’t lend. Our economy will go into a tailspin that will make the Great Depression look great.