Even Conservatives Think GOP is Sabotaging the Economy
July 2014 - For anyone who follows national politics, it isn't news that the Republicans in Congress haven't wanted the economy to get better. Given the possibility that the President and the Democrats would get the credit for an improving economy, the GOP has:
- Failed to pass any jobs legislation in the House since the Republicans won control in 2010 and John Boehner became Speaker
- Consistently opposed Democratic measures that would help put people back to work (for example, money to repair our country's crumbling roads and bridges)
- Voted for measures that actually will hurt the economy (for example, economists estimate that the GOP's recent vote not to extend unemployment insurance will cost our economy 200,000 jobs)
The following article is from prior to the 2012 elections, but we haven't seen any legislation coming out of Speaker Boehner's House or Minority Leader McConnell's side of the Senate since that time to make us think anything has changed. So when you go to the polls this fall, are GOP candidates who have deliberately slowed the economic recovery worthy of your vote? We think not.
the Atlantic wire: what matters now
By Alexander Abad-Santos | The Atlantic Wire
Asked, "Do you think the Republicans are intentionally stalling efforts to jumpstart the economy to insure that Barack Obama is not re-elected?" a poll found that 34 percent of Florida conservatives said yes. Conspiracy, political posturing, savvy strategy-- call it what you want, but the Suffolk University poll gives evidence that the theory is not just a partisan position. As Peter Scorsch, from SaintPetersBlog points out, it's the Republican answers that surprised:
...49 percent said they believe that the Republicans are intentionally hindering efforts to boost the economy so that President Barack Obama will not be reelected. Thirty-nine percent disagreed. As expected, most registered Democrats (70 percent) agreed that Republicans are intentionally hindering the economy and hurting Obama, but independents (52 percent) and even some Republicans (24 percent) also agreed.
Kevin Drum from Mother Jones expands on the point:
What's interesting isn't just that half of all voters think the answer is yes, it's the breakdown: a quarter of all Republicans and a third of all conservatives also think the answer is yes. In other words, this isn't just a liberal conspiracy theory. Even a lot of conservatives recognize what's going on. I wouldn't make too much of a single state poll, but those numbers are high enough that they might represent a glimmering recognition of something that's only been Beltway chatter up to now.
Drumm's figures on conservative answers were gleaned from the poll's breakdown of the numbers. But it's also worth nothing that there weren't any follow-up questions if (perceived) Republican subterfuge would sway a vote. Questions like "Is this going to change your vote?" or "Doesn't that just make you really depressed and mad that they'd harm American jobs just for political gain?" or "Is this a brilliant strategy?"
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