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On October 20, the Chamber of Commerce sponsored an all-day discussion at the American Enterprise Institute titled “A Balancing Act: Federal Debt, Deficit, and Economic Recovery.” In actuality, the event proved overwhelmingly concerned with debt – almost zero about recovery.
David M. Cote, the CEO of Honeywell International made the discussion’s priorities explicit. He warned that the debt had to be resolved “now, proactively and thoughtfully.” Alan D. Viard of AEI said that the controversial value-added tax might be worth discussing as a way to reduce the deficit.
But the only panelist to address at all the issue of jobs and recovery was liberal economist Dean Baker. Baker said that he had heard a lot of people warning that something bad might happen. Baker noted though that something bad “has already happened.”
The lop-sided imbalance of the discussion sends a disturbing message: do conservatives really have so little to say about the economic problems facing most American families, such as their low incomes or lack of jobs?
do conservatives really have so little to say about the economic problems facing most American families, such as their low incomes or lack of jobs?
Yes.
Conservatives are not really interested in the common man. The only people they care about is the top 2% who have made out like bandits over the past 20 years and particularly under Bush.
The crying and whining about a 3% tax reversion is pitiful to those whose wages have stood still for 10 years!
The people at that conference, especially from the Chamber of Commerce make their money primarily through the market as opposed to wage earning labor. I suspect their attitude is some mixture of ignorance about the actual labor market, coupled with contempt for workers. Since capital has largely won over the last thirty years, they probably feel that as victors they get to write the rule book. Nothing will change until that attitude changes.
Conservatives Talk Debt, Forget Jobs
Because they don’t care about the middle class and jobs for them, because they also don’t care about the debt. They are using the debt as a talking point to try to regain power in our government so that they can continue to decimate both our economy and the government. Simple.
Conveniently forgetting Dick Cheney’s mantra: “Deficits don’t matter” In fact:
(From Forbes.com)
If you care to bash Republicans over this issue you need look no further than former Vice President Dick Cheney who told former Treasury Secretary Paul O’Neill that “deficits don’t matter” when the latter voiced concerns about the size of the federal bill. Cheney later fired O’Neill, presumably for thinking deficits actually mattered.
Cheney was true to his word, as the White House of George W. Bush raised the federal deficit every year it was in office. When Bush started his presidency, the national debt as a percentage of gross domestic product hovered at 60%. By the time he exited, it was closer to 80%
What does ANYONE say about jobs…nothing. To do anything about bringing our American jobs back would completely alienate the multinational corporations whose largess we are all dependent on. Americans should either get used to this level of unemployment and underemployment or take to the streets and shout louder than the Tea Party.