Republicans Reveal Pathetic "Jobs Plan"

It looks like the Senate Republicans finally read some polls and figured out that the number one issue for Americans is unemployment. This is an issue they haven't been looking too good on either. Their main action regarding unemployment has been to block any effort by President Obama and the Democrats to stimulate new job creation. It seems to have occurred to at least some of these Republicans that simply blocking job creation might not look very good to the voters next year.

In an effort to avoid criticism, the Senate Republicans have now unveiled their own jobs plan -- or at least that's what they are calling it. The plan is being pushed by Senator Rob Portman (Ohio), Senator Rand Paul (Kentucky) and Senator John McCain (Arizona). If you are thinking there's no way these three right-wing nut-jobs could come up with a viable plan, then give yourself a gold star. There are only two things wrong with the plan -- there's nothing new in it and there's nothing in it that will actually create any new jobs.

The plan is nothing more than a re-hashing of the old Republican "trickle-down" economic theory that has been given a new title -- the Real American Jobs Act. But giving the same old failed policy a new title is not going to magically make it work. Here's what they are proposing:

* Roll back labor and environmental regulations. (This will reduce the rights and wages of American workers and likely produce more dangerous working conditions. It will also endanger the health of all Americans by allowing corporations to more easily pollute the nation's water and air. But one thing it won't do is create jobs.)

* Pass a constitutional amendment requiring a balanced federal budget. (While this may sound good to some teabaggers, even many conservatives this this is a bad idea and would be unworkable. And the massive cuts it would require would significantly reduce demand, resulting in massive lay-offs, not job creation.)

* Lower corporate and individual tax rates. (They have already said they oppose payroll tax cuts that would help the bottom 90% of Americans. The only tax cuts they want are for the richest Americans -- the 1%. They are still trying to convince people that giving the rich more money will create jobs, but it won't. Jobs are created by increased demand for products -- not increased bank accounts for the rich.)

* Encourage more energy production. ("Drill baby, drill". While this might create an insignificant amount of short-term jobs, it is certainly no solution to massive job creation. The Republicans seem to think the supply of carbon-based fuels is endless. It is not, and in fact, we have probably already reached the point of peak oil. Even the U.S. military admits that soon oil supplies will dwindle worldwide. In any case, there are not enough reserves in the United States to achieve either energy independence or massive job creation.)

* Expand free trade. (NAFTA and CAFTA have already shown us that this is not a good job creator for this country. It would create jobs, but they would be in foreign countries as corporations are encouraged to outsource more American jobs.)

That's it. That's all they have to offer. And when I call it pathetic as a jobs creation program, I think I'm being kind to them. The truth is that this program would not only not produce any jobs, it would further damage the United States economy and deepen the recession -- resulting in many more job losses. They ought to be embarrassed to even call it a jobs program.