[Peace-discuss] How to win in November: jobs & income
C. G. Estabrook
galliher at illinois.edu
Wed Jul 14 20:36:55 CDT 2010
[And no one believes any more that the Democrats will provide that. People are
beginning to notice that the war is making us poor. --CGE]
Americans Really Care About Jobs; Deficit, Not so Much
By: Jon Walker Wednesday July 14, 2010 8:01 am
While collective deficit hysteria fully grips Washington, what the American
people really care about is jobs and the economy. According to a new CBS News
poll, 38 percent of Americans think the most important problem facing our
country is the economy and jobs. Second is the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan at
seven percent. Health care comes in third at about six percent, and all the way
back in fourth place, with a mere five percent, is the budget deficit and
national debt.
I have said it before, but since members of Congress are descending into highly
destructive deficit insanity, it needs to be said again. The American people
don’t really care about the deficit. They consider it to be an issue that should
eventually get addressed but is a low priority right now. As common sense would
dictate, with almost 10 percent official unemployment and a serious problem of
long-term unemployment, what the American people care about is jobs.
When the poll specifically asked people for the most important economic problem
facing the country, the top response, again at 38 percent, was jobs and
unemployment. That number is even slightly higher when you consider that three
percent chose the issue of jobs going overseas. The collective topic of budget,
national debt and government spending was the top priority for only 10 percent
of the country.
For Washington politicians to obsess about the deficit at the expense of job
creation and protection is clearly not what most Americans want their leaders to
do. Doing the opposite of what the voters want is an even worse political move,
considering that increasing average real disposable income is a significant
predictor of how well the incumbent party will do in the next election. So,
refusing to extend unemployment insurance, continue COBRA subsidies and provide
aid to local governments to prevent massive teacher layoffs right before an
election is a bad move for the party in power. It is even worse because the main
excuse given for the focus on the deficit, bond vigilantes, is nothing more than
a Washington, DC fever dream with no basis in reality. The cost of American
borrowing is still much lower than even a few years ago.
So, this deficit hysteria is not only misguided policy and morally cruel but
also extremely bad politics. The pollsters and political advisers who have
convinced Democrats to focus on the issue at the expense of aiding regular
Americans are either secretly trying to destroy the party or are incompetent.
Either way, they should have been fired yesterday.
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