{"id":8816,"date":"2012-09-10T09:50:24","date_gmt":"2012-09-10T16:50:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/?p=8816"},"modified":"2012-09-10T09:50:25","modified_gmt":"2012-09-10T16:50:25","slug":"understand-the-republican-plot","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/2012\/09\/10\/understand-the-republican-plot\/","title":{"rendered":"Understand the Republican Plot"},"content":{"rendered":"

Republicans are trying to turn the conversation from a legitimate comparison of policies to a condemnation of Obama\u2019s so-called failure to undo all the effects of the Republican recession.  This is not a recent approach.  In fact, Republicans were scheming on Obama\u2019s inauguration day to set up this case to return them to power.  To understand Obama\u2019s first term, you must first understand the Republican Plot.  Paul Krugman does.<\/font><\/p>\n

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\"10obstructionism\"Does anyone remember the American Jobs Act? A year ago President Obama proposed boosting the economy with a combination of tax cuts and spending increases, aimed in particular at sustaining state and local government employment. Independent analysts reacted favorably. For example, the consulting firm Macroeconomic Advisers estimated that the act would add 1.3 million jobs by the end of 2012<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

There were good reasons for these positive assessments. Although you\u2019d never know it from political debate, worldwide experience since the financial crisis struck in 2008 has overwhelmingly confirmed the proposition that fiscal policy \u201cworks,\u201d<\/strong> that temporary increases in spending boost employment in a depressed economy (and that spending cuts increase unemployment). The Jobs Act would have been just what the doctor ordered. <\/p>\n

But the bill went nowhere, of course, blocked by Republicans<\/strong> in Congress. And now, having prevented Mr. Obama from implementing any of his policies, those same Republicans are pointing to disappointing job numbers and declaring that the president\u2019s policies have failed<\/strong>. <\/p>\n

Think of it as a two-part strategy. First, obstruct any and all efforts to strengthen the economy, then exploit the economy\u2019s weakness for political gain<\/strong>. If this strategy sounds cynical, that\u2019s because it is. Yet it\u2019s the G.O.P.\u2019s best chance for victory in November\u2026 [emphasis added<\/em>]<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Inserted from <NY Times<\/a>><\/p>\n

Photo credit: FreakOutNation<\/a><\/p>\n

Chris Hayes documented this point well.<\/font><\/p>\n

<\/embed><\/object><\/font><\/p>\n

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news<\/a>, world news<\/a>, and news about the economy<\/a><\/p>\n

I know I\u2019m preaching to the choir here, and repeating something I have been saying, over and over again, since I predicted it before Obama ever became President.  The problem is that far too few American voters understand that this is what is going on, and it\u2019s up to us to spread the word.  So I\u2019m sure I will keep harping on this issue, and hope you do as well.<\/font><\/p>\n

Chris Hayes summarized the solution perfectly: <\/font>"The best way [for voters] to stop Republicans from holding them hostage is to strip them of power in November."<\/font><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Republicans are trying to turn the conversation from a legitimate comparison of policies to a condemnation of Obama\u2019s so-called failure to undo all the effects of the Republican recession.  This is not a recent approach.  In fact, Republicans were scheming on Obama\u2019s inauguration day to set up this case to return them to power.  To […]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8816","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","category-5-id","post-seq-1","post-parity-odd","meta-position-corners","fix"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8816","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8816"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8816\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8816"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8816"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8816"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}