Congratulations to the Republicans and the new House Speaker, the Honorable Representative John Boehner.
It can be argued that most Republicans campaigned on job creation, and that led to their election and the reversal of the roles of Majority and Minority party in the House. Indeed, job creation is an important goal – although prior to the campaign numerous conservative commentators opined that the government couldn’t create ‘real’ jobs – but the Republicans vowed to undertake this Herculean feat, if only we would vote for them. But, how well have they done?
Well, halfway into their first one hundred days (the de facto standard, apparently) the Republican-led House has produced this legislation:
HR 2 – Repeal of “Obamacare”
HR 3 – Ensuring Federal funds don’t go for abortions
HR 514 – Patriot Act reauthorization
HR 519 – United Nations Tax Equalization Refund Act of 2011 (A tax refund from the U.N.)
HR 359 – End public financing of presidential election campaigns (Thanks, Rep. Cole)
Total number of jobs created – zero. Perhaps those conservative commentators were right.
Now they tell us that the REAL problem is that government is just too burdensome – falling back to Reagan’s (posthumous, belated happy birthday) “government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem.”
The shifting goalposts already in evidence from the current crop of Republicans reminds me of the sliding goals we had with Iraq – involvement in 9/11; WMDs; Evil dictator; freedom – followed by “Mission Accomplished” – yet we still have good men and women in harm’s way there.
Well, back to the (new) matter at hand – government interference. With job creation apparently out-of-reach, the House has turned it’s attention to what they call “job-killing” regulations – you know, the ones that ‘stifle’ businesses. I suppose I’m wrong if I were to call them “life-saving” regulations – I mean, I really wish I could work in a coalmine without Union or OSHA regulations, and gloriously perish on the job when the mine caved-in.
I must tell you, I am impressed. I’ve been reading the Congressional Record and I’m really impressed with the dedication these public servants have – such strenuous devotion to HR 72. Our Republican representatives want to pass legislation that ensures Congress has oversight on various government Agency regulations. They’ve spent a good deal of time debating it. Of course, Congress already HAS that authority and responsibility, so all the debate could be condensed to: We resolve to do the job that we are supposed to be doing – really, we mean it!
Well, while not exactly ‘creating’ jobs, it does save jobs – after all, the representatives should be doing something to ‘earn’ their $174,000 per year.
March 11, 2011 at 10:43 pm |
[...] = IMPORTANT!… By okiepoli When I last posted on this subject I was expressing my doubts about Republican commitment to jobs. I didn’t understand the link [...]