Wednesday, July 6, 2011

Republicans are stifling recovery


The nonpartisan National Bureau of Economic Research said that the recession ended in June 2009. Over the last 15 months, our economy has added a net of 2.1 million jobs in the private sector. The Department of Commerce reported a 1.3 percent increase in exports since March, our auto industry is thriving and we expect to see a modest increase in the GDP. We are moving in the right direction, but 9 percent of Americans are still unemployed, almost half of them for a year or more.

Jobs are the issue. The single most important thing that would reduce the deficit is to have more people working and paying taxes. So why are Republicans deliberately trying to tank the economy by killing every single jobs bill that comes up? Maybe because high unemployment is their best chance of winning the 2012 election. They rivet public attention on deficits, budget cuts and the evils of spending—instead of focusing on people. When confronted with the projected loss of 700,000 jobs due to their planned budget cuts, John Boehner said coldly, "So be it."

Our federal taxes are at their lowest rate since 1950, lower than in Canada, Japan, Britain, Germany and other European countries, yet Republicans want to cut taxes even more, especially for the rich. We need that revenue. Does anyone still believe the lie that tax breaks for the wealthy create jobs? We need to invest in America's crumbling bridges, roads, and schools to create more jobs. They refused to help Obama loosen tight credit on small businesses, and despite being for tax cuts, just voted down a payroll-tax holiday for workers and their employers.

Stand up with Democrats to demand that we put a balanced package of cuts, revenue and growth on our nation's economic table.

Sherrie Goff

Pocatello




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