Senate Republicans Block Another Jobs Bill, Face Backlash From American Public
The method Republicans have used to block all jobs legislation in the past two years is the same. A jobs bill comes up, it is filled with positive things for the economy, Republicans filibuster debate, this shields them from having to make floor speeches on why they don't want tax breaks for small businesses... etc.
Why? Well, if the economy recovers too strongly before an election, Republicans will lose power. If jobs numbers look too good, people will want to keep the same party. By Republicans blocking all jobs legislation and keeping jobs numbers from improving they believe this is their ticket to power.
In other words, if you and other Americans suffer just long enough it will pay off for Republicans.
They sacrifice the citizens' jobs with the hopes that they will create more Republican jobs in Congress.
Read Benjamin Feinblum's blog, Team America.
Americans want the jobs numbers to improve and are beginning to wise up to the reality that Republicans are blocking jobs measures that citizens are strongly in favor of. Coverage of Republicans tactic of blocking all jobs bills is increasing because the media has begun to realize what is happening. Now, Republicans face a major backlash from the American public as their power grabbing scheme is becoming more visible.
They knew years ago that the election would be based on the economy and job creation. So, they held it off.
More Americans are realizing that Republicans have worked for several years to undermine the president in every way possible. Americans believe that it requires a complete lack of patriotism to take such actions during a massive economic collapse. They are beginning to ask, "Who in their right mind would block any job creating plan to bring us out of this crisis because they want power?"
Well, that answer is simple - they stated their mission two years ago. Here is the Republican leader of the Senate - Mitch McConnell. Now, the 19th jobs bill has been just blocked.
Congress's approval rating is at record lows and wiser Americans are beginning to become vocal about getting Republicans out of office.
Today that method was repeated for the 19th time in two years.
Note: This article is all inclusive. You can view the entire list of jobs bills blocked. You can view data on the impact of the stimulus and other jobs measures. You can also see why America is primed for job growth that will occur the moment Republicans in Congress allow jobs bills to pass.
Do you think Republicans face a backlash as Americans are figuring this out?
The Bring Jobs Home Act
The bill was called the, "Bring Jobs Home Act." It would have provided a 20% tax break for the costs of moving jobs back to the U.S. It removes tax deductions for the business expenses of jobs moving overseas. Simple enough.
Stop incentivizing jobs leaving the U.S. Start incentivizing jobs returning to the U.S. Fund it within the bill by taking away deductions for companies shipping jobs overeas. This way, it doesn't add to the deficit.
The president can never directly bring the jobs back. However, he and Congress can create the conditions through policy that create job magnetism.
This is the most common sense solution on the planet to create the conditions to draw jobs home.
Americans now realize that Republicans just voted to protect companies that outsource jobs. Maybe, citizens won't want Republican leadership in Congress anymore given how they have used their time.
Note: Four Republicans voted for the law believing it was too good for America to play politics with. 42 Republicans voted to obstruct.
Again, I am not talking about a vote on the merits of the law that were blocked. I am talking about filibustering debate. Jobs measures are too important for Republicans to speak about on record.
The Payroll Tax Cut Renewal
This tax cut reaches 160 million people and stimulates demand by leaving money in consumers hands. Watch the GOP refuse to allow Democrats to propose compromises on the measure. Economists call this one of the most stimulative possible approaches for increasing jobs in the economy.
Watch as the Republican speaker leaves the floor refusing to talk about jobs legislation.
Total List of Legislation
One writer collected all the legislation from 2011 and 2012 that Republicans worked on while blocking jobs bills. On January 27, 2012 Republicans redefined what an "aircraft" is.
The author quotes John Boehner's promise, "We're going to have a relentless focus on creating jobs." This promise won Republicans the majority in the house, but what did they do?
Well view a complete list of legislation for 2011 and 2012.
What About the Slow Down We See in Jobs Reports Today?
Obama saw it coming. The European debt crisis was beginning a trend that would send Europe, our second largest trading partner into a slowdown. Economists stated that a European recession would drag the global economy downwards and wreck the American recovery - potentially throwing us back into recession.
Obama put forward legislation filled with tax cuts to leave more money in Americans' hands. The massive demand increase was estimated to create one to four million new jobs in 2011 and 2012, roughly 80,000 to 333,000 new jobs per month. Take any jobs report, add on this number of jobs, and this is what you get with Obama's policy.
Obama saw the problem. He countered it in a way that would launch us forwards while the world fell backwords. America could have taken a dramatic lead amongst all world economies if Republicans had not blocked all jobs bills.
Some criticize, "The American Jobs Act adds government jobs." Well, this is true. Rather than leaving classrooms with one teacher for 45 kids while we try to be the most competitive nation on Earth, this prevents teacher layoffs. Though, most of the bill is tax cuts for small businesses and employed workers.
Some criticize, "Two Democrats voted against it." This is also true. When it was clear Republicans would block debate on the measure, a Democrat senator from Montana, Jon Tester, and a Democrat Senator from Nebraska, Ben Nelson, both voted against the bill. Notice that both are Democrats in red states. They will face very tight elections and the rhetoric is so extreme that supporting any measure of the president could cause them to lose their seats.
Republicans, by heating up the anti-Obama rhetoric, have literally boxed themselves in. They can't work with the President because of how extreme their language has been against him.
Review my article on how Republicans blocked the American Jobs Act by filibuster and 16 other jobs bills. All were written to be deficit neutral.
But, didn't his stimulus plan fail?
No, it generated the largest turnaround in American history. We were falling off a cliff before it was passed. Then we swung from losing 831,000 jobs a month to gaining 193,000 within a year of the law being passed. That is one million job per month swing in the right direction.
Review my entire article with jobs graphs and analysis of the economic growth.
Some criticize. They will say, "But, Obama lost more jobs since he was elected than he gained." This is nothing, but a math trick. Republicans are hoping you can't read a chart. They begin counting job losses from the moment Obama was sworn in - prior to his first trip to the bathroom in the White House.
The government fiscal year goes until October 1. So, Obama was living under Bush's budget until October. The stimulus, the first measure passed, was enacted in February. It took four months for the money to begin to hit the economy and America went from losing hundreds of thousands of jobs to gaining hundreds of thousands. Look at any jobs chart, anywhere on Earth, they all show the same things.
Republicans believed it wouldn't work. They wanted to do nothing. So they began screaming about how it would not work. Then they yelled louder about how it didn't work. Despite reality that all economic data through the duration of that policy shows a major turnaround.
Look at the graph in my article above as the free fall in the economy slowed as Obama took leadership.
Watch Obama's inaugural address. This act of leadership while the world watched woke up America and began the process of turning America around.
The total job creation from the time Obama's first policy was impacting the economy in the third quarter 2009 until now has been 4,500,000 jobs - Nearly 31 consecutive months of job growth.
The economy is now primed for job creation.
With more than $2 trillion in cash on corporate balance sheets, all CEOs are looking for is a little more demand for products and services before they start hiring. In fact, the lack of cooperation by Congress scares business leaders more than anything else and prevents hiring.
CEOs asked Obama to help generate demand so he created the American Jobs Act in Response. Leaving money in the hands of Americans so that they could spend, which would drive CEOs to begin spending that cash, which sits on the sidelines.
Review my article that includes the a chart of cash on the sidelines and how to get it into play.
Any reasonable jobs measures that stimulate demand for goods and services in the economy today have the potential to rapidly escalate the economy as corporate cash is driven off the sidelines.
Why is it so important to Republicans that Obama and Democrats fail to create jobs?
For 30 to40 years Republicans were in the minority. They held neither house of Congress. After eight years of a Republican Congress through the 2000's and a Republican president, they burnt the house down.
The impact of their policies was literally that America imploded.
Republican policies led to a complete collapse of the bank sector and stock market; lending dried up for businesses and homes, the auto industry crashed, and the housing market faced a complete collapse.
But, hey - who is counting, right?! Maybe, we want Republicans back in power so they can put their successful practices back into play.
If Republicans destroyed the economy and Democrats fixed it then Republicans would be back out in the woods for 40 years wishing to find the way back to the promised land - wishing for power.
So, Republicans blocked all jobs measures that came up. They blocked debate on all of them so you wouldn't see reasons why Republicans did not want tax breaks for small businesses.
Americans are wising up to Republicans' tactic.
After a 19th jobs bill was blocked today, Americans are starting to take notice. CNN.com covered the story as front page news. And television coverage was broad as well.
Republicans blocked all of these jobs measures to make certain the economy was dragging just long enough for them to gain more seats in Congress.
Now, Republicans complain that after they burnt the house down and obstructed all jobs measures, Democrats have not fixed the economy fast enough. They just aren't happy with the results. (Yet, they seem to cheer every time a jobs report comes in lower. They are on every news channel ready to pass blame. After 19 jobs bills blocked, where does the blame lie?)
Now, Americans are getting angry as they see another story about Republicans blocking jobs bills, followed by another story where the jobs numbers come in weak.
Republicans are about to face a backlash.
The seeds of their own undoing have been sown.
What patriots would block all jobs legislation during a financial crisis nearly as deep as the great depression?
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Do Republicans face a backlash as Americans become aware that they have blocked all jobs legislation in Congress in order to keep America suffering through an election?
