GOP Plans to Destroy 1 Million Jobs

And this comes from Forbes, a conservative publication. Not some "liberal rag" GOP Budget Cuts Lead To One Million Lost Jobs – But Protect Boehner’s Congressional District Fair enough. As luck would have it, Washington Post’s Dana Milbank did take a close look at the end result of the proposed GOP cuts – a net of $59 billion in the last half of fiscal year 2011 – and discovered that they would... [more]

And this comes from Forbes, a conservative publication. Not some "liberal rag" GOP Budget Cuts Lead To One Million Lost Jobs – But Protect Boehner’s Congressional District Fair enough. As luck would have it, Washington Post’s Dana Milbank did take a close look at the end result of the proposed GOP cuts – a net of $59 billion in the last half of fiscal year 2011 – and discovered that they would mean the direct loss of 650,000 federal government jobs. Factoring in the ‘indirect losses’ – those who would lose their employment due to the loss of the money put into the system by the 650,000 federal workers who will no longer have much cash to spend - the total approaches one million jobs lost. In the interest of full disclosure, Milbank acquired these projections from budget expert Scott Lilly of the Center for American Progress, a liberal think tank with close ties to the Obama Administration. So, if it makes you feel any better – make whatever adjustments you think appropriate. However, if you are at all familiar with the cuts to agencies of the federal government proposed by the GOP, pretending that there will not be a dramatic loss of employment would simply be kidding yourself. While there is no guarantee that the loss of these one million jobs will throw us back into the recession we are struggling to climb out from under, it sure isn’t going to help. Any rational assessment of the impact must result in the expectation that so large a loss of employment will throw a shock into the already wobbly recovery. It also takes a pretty cynical Speaker of the House to accept and promote the loss of one million jobs while blatantly acting against the best financial interests of the nation for the purpose of protecting jobs in his own congressional district. Meet the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, a single-seat jet powered by a single engine manufactured by Pratt & Whtney – an engine the Pentagon is pleased with and more than happy to continue in use. Still, GE and Rolls Royce have been developing a second engine that is interchangeable with the one currently in use that they have been foisting on the government. Because the expenditure for this engine totals $450 million this year and about $3 billion over the next ten years, the engine is, in the opinion of the Pentagon, a redundant option that is a waste of money. Defense Secretary Robert Gates has called it ” an unnecessary and extravagant expense, particularly during a period of fiscal contraction.” For this reason, the President (and President Bush before him) have sought to cut the project from the budget. Yet, the House Republican leadership continues to support the project despite its professed desire to save money wherever possible. Why? Because the GE plant that develops this engine happens to be on the fringe of Speaker John Boehner’s congressional district where many of the 7,000 plant employees reside. [less]