Well OF COURSE the whole debt ceiling debacle was created by the Republican Party!

Americans have very short memories and we allow the press to shape the conversation far too much. Two major, major things happened in the past few months that link directly to both the debt ceiling and unemployment and no one is talking about them...not even the President who would have so very much to gain by repeating them over and over.

First, it is completely unnecessary for the debt ceiling vote to be tied to any budget talks/deficit reduction packages that are by their very nature extremely heated and difficult to resolve in a divided government. Obama called for a 'clean vote' on the debt ceiling throughout the spring. This is virtually always how this matter is addressed and it is done pretty much every year. The Republican party refused and Boehner insisted that any such raise be tied to significant deficit reduction. Therefore, it was the Republican party that created this impasse. The vast majority (if not all) congressional democrats would approve a debt ceiling raise on its own merits today and Obama would sign it. Boehner has just recently begun to acknowledge (as he always has in the past) how critically important this issue is and yet he is allowing the far right wing of his party to hold the entire economy hostage for fear of primary challenges. There are enough grown-up Republicans in the House to combine with Democrats and approve a critical debt ceiling increase in a clean vote. Therefore, if the U.S. defaults because of inaction, the consequences that are sure to ensue will have been caused 100% by self-serving political gamesmanship by the polarized Republican party. This MUST be stressed by the Democrats ad nauseum and a responsible press should allude to it as well. Not for bragging rights but to ensure that the voting public knows what clearly happened before they hit the voting booth in 2012.

Secondly, doesn't anyone remember that only five months ago John Boehner acknowledged that spending cuts DIRECTLY increase the unemployment rate? When confronted with the fact that spending cuts would result in the loss of thousands of government jobs, his response was, "SO BE IT." You can agrue all you want about whether or not government jobs are as healthy to the economy as private sector jobs, but you cannot deny the MATH that a laid-off government employee adds to the unemployment rate on a 1:1 ratio. Why does the media allow him to ask as he did in response to last Friday's spike in the unemployment rate, "WHERE ARE THE JOBS?" without questioning him on his own recent comments and insistance that much more radical spending cuts (translation: layoffs) be implemented?

You can subscribe to any theory you wish about job creation and the effects of tax increases, tax cuts, interest rates, confidence in the economy, etc.. But you cannot deny that the overwhelming reason for an employer to hire is and always will be DEMAND. And it has a direct snowball effect. The more unemployed, the less spending. The less spending, the less demand. The less demand, the less need for workers.

Then you can apply your theories.

-GSW 8/14/11