Slog

News & Arts

The Stranger Suggests

Critics' Best Bets
Music Arts & Food


Line Out

Music & the City
at Night

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Wait, You Republicans Do Care About Creating Jobs, Right?

Posted by on Wed, Feb 16, 2011 at 10:00 AM

Right, guys? You want to decrease unemployment by getting America back to work again, right?

Not so much.

During his weekly news conference on Tuesday, Mr. Boehner claimed that Mr. Obama had added 200,000 federal workers since he took office (a figure that has been disputed), and shrugged at the idea that Republican efforts to slash government spending would put many of them out of work.

“If some of those jobs are lost in this, so be it,” Mr. Boehner said.

 

Comments (17) RSS

Oldest First Unregistered On Registered On Add a comment
COMTE 1
Well, we could start with cutting Mr. Boehner's job - after all, one tax-sucking public-sector gubbamint employee is just as much a parasite as any other, right?

Right?
Posted by COMTE http://www.chriscomte.com on February 16, 2011 at 10:04 AM
laterite 2
What a boehner.
Posted by laterite on February 16, 2011 at 10:10 AM
Sudden Nut 3
Not American jobs, no.
Posted by Sudden Nut on February 16, 2011 at 10:17 AM
Kinison 4
Cant raise taxes, it will kill jobs.
Cant create new programs, it will raise the deficit and will new kill jobs.
Cant eliminate taxes to bil oil companies, it will kill jobs.
Cant create a single payer insurance plan, it will destoy the insurance industry and kill jobs!
Cant repair this bridge because we need to raise taxes to pay for it and that will kill jobs!

Republicans often dangle "Job Killer" as a hostage for the reason to refuse to do a number of things that society has deemed "broken". Then a guy like Boehner comes alone and says "I dont care if it kills jobs", basically doing a 180' from the short form GOP Talking Point Memo. Hilarious, but also sad.
Posted by Kinison http://www.holgatehawks.com on February 16, 2011 at 10:26 AM
Westlake, son! 5
Yeah because the republicans will ultimately blame Obama for the job loss. They're better at politics.

"We cut the budget, Obama lost the jobs."
Posted by Westlake, son! on February 16, 2011 at 10:37 AM
6
That 200,000 number for jobs added is total crap. BLS for Jan 2009 - Jan 2011 is 58,000 jobs added, *mostly in security agencies*. Via Ezra Klein.
Posted by RL is too lazy to log in on February 16, 2011 at 10:39 AM
7
Well they DO care about the jobs of shady investers, corporate lobbyists, mega-corporate execs, GOP staffers and cheap laborers overseas. Other ones...yeah not so much.
Posted by Vadt on February 16, 2011 at 10:51 AM
Will in Seattle 8
Hiring 500,000 mercenaries and support staff overseas to keep up the Two Foreign Wars of Republican Adventure is hard, m'ok?
Posted by Will in Seattle http://www.facebook.com/WillSeattle on February 16, 2011 at 10:52 AM
9
Sp. correction: investOrs
Posted by Vadt on February 16, 2011 at 10:53 AM
blip 10
Tax cuts >> ??? >> Jobs! The economy practically fixes itself, you see.
Posted by blip on February 16, 2011 at 11:24 AM
Urgutha Forka 11
First, his number is way off. The bureau of labor states that 58,000 gov. jobs were created by Obama, not 200,000 (where the fuck did boner get that from?).

Also, the high unemployment rates that the Republibaggers have been wailing about for the last two years are driven primarily by government workers losing their jobs.

So boner and the Republicants are criticizing Obama for the loss of government jobs while at the same time, trying to eliminate more government jobs themselves, saying they're unnecessary.

Figures. Standard horseshit from the republibagger party.
Posted by Urgutha Forka on February 16, 2011 at 11:44 AM
Vince 12
@8 What you said.
Posted by Vince on February 16, 2011 at 12:54 PM
13
For Democrats, creating a job means getting someone a regular paycheck.

For Republicans, creating a job means that there is market demand for the services a person is offering at the price at which they are offered.

While hiring additonal government workers clearly fufills the D definition, it's not at all clear that it fufills the R definition.
Posted by David Wright on February 16, 2011 at 1:44 PM
14
@13: This is actually almost a legitimate point. I guess the question is, if there is insufficient market demand to provide employment for everybody, what do we do about the remainder? Lower the work-week to 35 hours and distribute the work evenly? Government-provided jobs repairing infrastructure, in the vein of the TVA? Welfare state?

Oh, wait. I remember: Let 'em starve, and blame it on them for being lazy. Spend more money on cops and prisons to keep the scary starving people at bay. Gated communities.
Posted by Proteus on February 16, 2011 at 5:08 PM
15
yeah paully the government should hire ALL the unemployed that would solve the problem, eh?...
Posted by you're a dumbass on February 16, 2011 at 5:48 PM
Free Lunch 16
@13 - for Republicans, creating a job means creating one in China. What do you think this union busting is about?
Posted by Free Lunch on February 16, 2011 at 8:02 PM
17
Creating government jobs generates zero economic growth. Someone in the private sector has to fund the government jobs. Economic growth by definition comes only from the private sector. Mfg data released today is the worst in the last 19 months. GDP growth is anemic (1.5-1.9%) and much worse than what most economists predicted. What has government spending (stimulus) accomplished? Forcing tax-payers to fund uneconomic alternate energy projects like wind and solar. And now on top of it, the average family is going to see thier taxes go up by another $1600 to continue funding the nonsense.
Posted by netprophet on July 24, 2012 at 8:59 AM

Add a comment

Advertisement
 

Want great deals and a chance to win tickets to the best shows in Seattle? Join The Stranger Presents email list!


All contents © Index Newspapers, LLC
1535 11th Ave (Third Floor), Seattle, WA 98122
Contact Info | Privacy Policy | Terms of Use | Takedown Policy