The GOP’s Own ‘Recovery’ Summer
Imagine for a moment if Boston, Denver, or Seattle — cities of roughly 600,000 residents — simply disappeared. Well, since the recession officially ended, about 600,000 public sector jobs previously held by 600,000 real people have disappeared from the economy — consistently offsetting some of the gains made in the private sector. Indeed, today’s stunner headline that ZERO jobs were created in August was the result of 17,000 new private sector jobs being offset by 17,000 more government jobs being axed.
Welcome to your conservative recovery!
Matt Yglesias has more on the dismal economy brought to us by failed conservative economic theory:
The public sector has been steadily shrinking. According to the conservative theory of the economy, when the public sector shrinks that should super-charge the private sector. What’s happened in the real world has been that public sector shrinkage has simply been paired with anemic private sector growth. This is what I’ve called “The Conservative Recovery.” Conservatives complain about the results because the president is a Democrat named Barack Obama. But the policy result is what conservatives say they want. Steady cuts to the government sector, offset somewhat by private sector growth. The reality is that this dynamic sucks, and we ought to be forcefully trying to avoid public sector layoffs knowing that workers are also customers for the private sector. But we’re not.
The folks at Political Correction created a chart that puts the results of the conservative recovery in sharp relief:
In One Sentence: We’re already teetering on the edge of another recession, and continuing down a conservative economic path is likely to take us right off the cliff.
Evening Brief: Important Stories That You May Have Missed
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The story of the Libyan revolution can be traced back to January when 15 political activists, inspired by the Libyan revolution, met secretly to plan their demands for greater freedom.
John Bolton embraces his Pamela Geller and Robert Spencer problem.
Frank Gaffney longs for a new Muslim HUAC: “I think we need, at the very least, a new House Anti-American Activities Committee.”
Whose band is better, Jon Huntsman’s or Thaddeus McCotter’s?
The top 10 right-wing responses to CAP’s Islamophobia report: “Straight out of Mein Kempf.” “A pile of dung.”
An 11-year-old boy in Tripoli died from a bullet fired into the air in celebration, but lead rain might be less of a concern than the general glut of guns in Libya.
The ouster of Col. Muammar Qaddafi from power in Libya has sparked a furious debate in the national security blogosphere about interventions, sovereignty, and the Responsibility To Protect.
Did the White House double-cross its supporters on the smog rule?
VIDEO: GOP Reps Feel Heat of Over 400 Protests During Long, Hot August
