Republicans Have Created The Economy They Want

There's been a myth in this country for quite a while now that American workers have it pretty good, and that the government does a good job of protecting workers. It's not true and never has been. As the chart above clearly shows, of the richest 21 nations in the world, the United States is dead last in benefits required of companies by their respective governments. While all these other developed nations require companies to give their workers at least 10 days of paid leave (and many require paid holidays), the United States government doesn't require its businesses to give workers either one.

These other government also require businesses to pay workers a decent livable wage. The United States has a minimum wage, but it is only $7.25 an hour (or about $15,000 a year) -- a poverty wage even for a single person. The fact of the matter is that the United States is a business-oriented government and has little or no respect for workers.

For a while, the union movement was strong in this country. Unions (not government) helped all workers to get higher wages and at least some benefits. But starting with the Reagan administration, the unions and workers' right to join them have been seriously weakened. While there was near full employment (less that 5% unemployment), this didn't seriously hurt workers (except to cause wage stagnation while the income of business rose to record levels -- causing a vast inequality of wealth and income).

But then the Republican policies caused the current recession and millions of jobs disappeared from the economy. Some have estimated that 12 to 15 million jobs were lost, and companies continue to outsource good jobs to other countries. The government says there are 14.5 million workers unemployed, or about 9% unemployment (8.7% for whites, 12.9% for Hispanics, 15.8% for African-Americans). But even this doesn't tell the whole story. The government knows there's at least an additional 4.9 million workers out of work that aren't included in the official statistics -- those who are so frustrated they have given up. This brings the number of Americans unemployed to at least 19.4 million.

Both the Republican and Democratic politicians claim they would like to create jobs for Americans, but so far neither party has done so. I think the Democrats are serious about the desire to create jobs for workers -- they are just too spineless and incompetent to do what is necessary. But the Republicans couldn't be happier with the current situation, and that's why they are pursuing policies that do not create jobs.

Cutting the budget will not create jobs, especially cutting the social programs that are keeping the out-of-work people afloat. It will only increase the hurt and desperation. Cutting taxes for the rich won't do it either. That just fattens the bank accounts of the rich. And continuing the job outsourcing (including tax breaks for corporations that outsource) only makes the plight of workers even worse. So why do they continue the policies that keep people out of work?

Because they are the party of business interests -- not workers. And this recession economy is just what the businesses want. They are not only doing great (especially the corporations), but they have millions of desperate workers wanting the few jobs they are offering. And those desperate workers are willing to work for less pay and less benefits. The only thing that could make it better would be to abolish the minimum wage and social security. That would be absolute heaven for the business interests and their Republican political lackeys.

I don't know that the Republicans intentionally caused the recession, but I believe they would have if they had known how good it would turn out for their corporate masters. They have, whether intentionally or not, created exactly the economy they wanted -- and it would be foolish to expect them to do anything that would put most workers back to work (because that would drive up wages and benefits again).

Republicans (and business interests) have the economy they want. Don't expect them to fix it. I think the excellent blogger Griper Blade put it very well. He said:

"It's basically supply and demand. If unemployment is high, then this drives wages down. Since the Republican Party represents businesses, not workers, unemployment is good for their constituency. But you don't get elected by promising high unemployment and low wages, so you make up some crackpot economic theory that immediate employment by government -- even if that employment is in the private sector -- is bad, but potential and hypothetical jobs down the road are good. Then, with the help of a rightwing media noise machine and a mainstream media completely uninterested in facts, you convince everyone that supply and demand is bass-ackward -- that employers, not consumers, are the "job creators" and that everything you have must be sacrificed on their altar. And presto chango: you've just been talked into giving away a little of your Social Security, a little of your Medicaid, to give a big, juicy tax break to the rich. Because this is going to create jobs. Never mind that it never has in the past -- this time for sure. Kick that football again, Charlie Brown."