They tell us we can "create jobs" with (1) tax cuts, (2) expanding the wealth of the richest and (3) gutting checks and balances on corporate power (also known as regulations.)
In the Bush II administration, we had (1) huge tax cuts, (2) huge redistribution of wealth to the richest and (3) huge cuts in regulations.**
So our economy and job growth should have been soaring during the Bush administration, right?
And so let's look at the results:
Over the eight y
ears of the Bush admin, in aggregate we lost jobs. (The orange line.)
There were a few years - from the end of 2003 to the end of 2006 - where job growth (the bottom dark blue annual job growth line) was slightly above that needed to just keep pace with the growth of the workforce population (the horizontal green line.***) That was when the Bush deficit spending was at the highest.
The yellow line shows the aggregate number of jobs needed to keep up with populations growth.
The only significant job growth we have seen since 2000 was in 2009, the year the Obama Stimulus package was at work (the sharply rising cyan/light blue line.) The GOP pretty much shut it down and stopped any extension of the proven economic policy of "pump priming, and job growth has dropped back.
As is said, people are entitled to their own opinions, but they are not entitled to their own facts.
And the facts are that GOP economic policies result in massive transfers of wealth to the rich and no job growth (or economic growth) for the rest of us.
And so let's look at the results:
Over the eight y
ears of the Bush admin, in aggregate we lost jobs. (The orange line.)There were a few years - from the end of 2003 to the end of 2006 - where job growth (the bottom dark blue annual job growth line) was slightly above that needed to just keep pace with the growth of the workforce population (the horizontal green line.***) That was when the Bush deficit spending was at the highest.
The yellow line shows the aggregate number of jobs needed to keep up with populations growth.
The only significant job growth we have seen since 2000 was in 2009, the year the Obama Stimulus package was at work (the sharply rising cyan/light blue line.) The GOP pretty much shut it down and stopped any extension of the proven economic policy of "pump priming, and job growth has dropped back.
As is said, people are entitled to their own opinions, but they are not entitled to their own facts.
And the facts are that GOP economic policies result in massive transfers of wealth to the rich and no job growth (or economic growth) for the rest of us.
= = = =
* The 2011 figures were extrapolated from the first 5 month's figures
** Over the past couple of years, we have also seen corporation running up record profits and savings, but not creating jobs, at least not here in the US. See http://rjw-progressive.blogspot.com/2011/06/economic-wrong-turn.html for a discussion of the effects of unthinking support of corporate powers.
*** I have found figures for the job growth needed to keep up with the growth of the workforce population ranging from 125,000 new jobs a month to 137,000 a month. This chart uses the higher figure
* The 2011 figures were extrapolated from the first 5 month's figures
** Over the past couple of years, we have also seen corporation running up record profits and savings, but not creating jobs, at least not here in the US. See http://rjw-progressive.blogspot.com/2011/06/economic-wrong-turn.html for a discussion of the effects of unthinking support of corporate powers.
*** I have found figures for the job growth needed to keep up with the growth of the workforce population ranging from 125,000 new jobs a month to 137,000 a month. This chart uses the higher figure
.
Republicans and their Tea Party supporters will simply accuse you of making up the numbers. After all, they've proven repeatedly that their motto is this: "My mind's made UP! Don't confuse me with the FACTS!!!" (And they may add, "It's unCHRISTIAN!")
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