Republicans Propose Another Recession

By Brent Budowsky, smirkingchimp.com

Listening to Republican leaders discuss the awful and miserable jobs report today, I am reminded why most recessions are caused by Republican policies, from Herbert Hoover to George W. Bush.

Republicans want to lay off more state workers, they want to lay off more city workers. They want to lay off more federal workers. They want to cut spending that would lead to more layoffs of private-sector workers.

When they are not calling for average Americans to pay much more for Medicare, so wealthy insurers can make more money, Republicans are calling for no programs to create jobs, proposing more policies that will destroy jobs and suggesting less help for those who have no jobs while they fight for tax cuts for millionaires, and special benefits for oil companies and oil futures speculators.

There are reasons that the Great Depression followed Herbert Hoover and the Great Recession followed George W. Bush and in between there were little recessions during various Republican years.

Now, make no mistake, I have criticized Democrats as well as Republicans, as recently as my column Thursday. It is too bad I could not write a follow-up jobs column Friday, and another Tuesday, and another Wednesday, until Washington figures out that the No. 1 issue is jobs. I suspect after today's jobs disaster this will change.

The big problem with Democrats is they don't fight hard enough against Republican policies. I am in the Democratic wing of the Democratic Party. It amazes me, with historical evidence that Republican policies so often cause recession, that some Democrats are so relucant to stand up as Democrats, for Democratic policies.

It is an outrage and tragedy that there is no major jobs program being seriously considered in Washington today. I predict this, too, will soon change.

Unfortunately, there is not even an intelligent discussion in the media, including all cable channels, most newspapers and even the network news, about the urgent need for a major jobs program.

Of course, cable has far more important matters to discuss at length, such as Weiner's alleged underpants, Arnold's love-child, Trump's birtherism, Gingrich's jewelry, Edwards's love-child and other idiot nonsense by some in the media who believe that Americans are idiots interested in this stuff.

Ladies and gentlemen, look at the jobs numbers today and understand that huge swaths of the American people face their own personal recession, and many of them face their own family Great Depressions, and few in politics or media seem to care.

Republicans keep causing recessions, Democrats keep failing to fight them, voters keep suffering the pain, and the demand for change is greater than ever.