Sixty percent of Americans want “additional government spending to create jobs and stimulate the economy,” according to a new Gallup poll. This shouldn’t be surprising given that people consistently rate the economy and the jobs as the most important problem facing the country. Of course, Republicans and conservative Democrats are tone-deaf:
President Barack Obama’s plea for more stimulus spending as insurance against a double-dip recession hit a roadblock in the Senate on Wednesday, the victim of election-year anxiety over huge federal deficits.
A dozen Democrats joined Republicans on a key 52-45 test vote rejecting an Obama-endorsed, $140 billion package of unemployment benefits, aid to states, business and family tax breaks and Medicare payments for doctors because it would swell the federal debt by $80 billion.
The swing toward frugality runs counter to the advice of economists who support the bill’s funding for additional jobless benefits and help to states to avoid layoffs of public service jobs. They fear that the economy could slip back into recession just as it’s emerging from the biggest economic downturn since the Great Depression.
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke warned last week that while lawmakers need to come up with a plan for tackling the nation’s long-term deficit crisis, the U.S. recovery is still fragile. It’s too early for large, immediate spending cuts, Bernanke said.
“We’ve got to do more to build on the existing jobs momentum and that’s what these targeted measures are about,” said White House economist Jared Bernstein.
Thanks to these so-called “fiscal conservatives,” only a scaled-down version is likely to pass now. What’s most interesting is that the Senate had earlier passed a bigger bill, but that was before tea partiers started showing influence in the primaries. But, as the poll points out, the voters at large – many of whom are also very concerned about the federal debt – think that getting out of our current economic/unemployment situation should be the top priority (and it should be pointed out that a stronger economy and more jobs would lead to higher revenue, and thus, lower deficits). Yet politicians are allowing a small minority of angry, anti-government bozos to get in the way of recovery.
Of course, as more jobs are lost (or fail to be produced) and people’s unemployment benefits run out, Republicans will blame President Obama and pro-stimulus Democrats in Congress (even as they take credit for projects in their districts paid for by that money). And sadly, so will a lot of voters. And thus, their true agenda is clear.
