Jobs Bill Defeated, Every Republican Voted Against It
While economists and an overwhelming majority of Americans wanted the "Jobs Bill" passed, the bill was defeated with every Republican voting against it. An emerging consensus is that the strategy of the Republicans is to make the nation fail, make the economy suffer, in a belief that the pain of the economy will motivate people to elect Republicans.
The logic is kind of like this: "I don't like my dad's new wife. So let's undermine her and fight everything that she does.If she dies or goes away, then we can have a mom that we control." The only problem with the logic is that it leaves out an important equation. The pain and loss it causes. If a bank decides not to lend to it's community because it doesn't like Obama, it is failing people, it is destroying lives, because of dogma. If a corporation refuses to hire people because it doesn't want to do anything to make Obama look good, it is destroying people. If the Republicans continue to say: "We will do whatever it takes to make this President fail", they have become blind to the fact that they are failing the nation in the process. There is a word for that. It strarts with T and ends with n, and rymes with reason. The dogma has become more important than the nation or the nation's people. If that is where we are as a nation, then we are doomed for disaster.
Whether or not the American people will identify and recognize this as a sordid, destructive policy is unknown. What we know is what is happening. Many bankers and corporate executives have stated that they will not lend money or invest in new growth projects, "Because we don't want to do anything to help this President's economy." They may misread the American people who may just conclude that it is the Republicans who got the nation into this mess and they seem poorly qualified to get us out of a recession. Most of the rhetoric is that the government should stop spending, just as Republicans said the year before the GREAT DEPRESSION. The government stopped government spending, and tightened the money supply, and the nation required 25 years and a world war to recover.
So it is not surprising that the "Jobs Bill" failed. What is surprising is that most Americans, and especially those 9.1% (is that 20,000,000 or 30,000,000 Americans?) who are unemployed, didn't seem surprised or particularly angry. It seems that they are resigned to the fact that the obstructionist "Nay Sayers" on the right are destined to stop anything that helps working class families.Perhaps the only voice they have is to demonstrate in front of big banks and big business. But, as loud as that is, it is doubtful that any meaningful solutions will come out of "Mad as Hell" signs and yelling.
We hope the American people have the judgement to give the ball to progressive and helpful politicians who understand economics and good governance. The ideological and cultural split has relegated Americans as slaves of dogma, and caught on a ship where one side is rowing forward and the other backward. Americans surely know, Democrats are seeking progress and jobs, while Republicans simply say: "Let the rich get more wealthy, but don't provide any support for the rest".