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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region Forums"Why deliberately bring up one of your more colossal failures?"
Posted with permission.
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/john-boehner-tilting-economic-windmills
John Boehner, tilting at economic windmills
Steve Benen
Exactly six years ago yesterday, President Obama signed something called the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 into law. Most folks probably know it as the Recovery Act, or even more simply, the stimulus.
Theres plenty of room for discussion about the presidents legacy, but if were creating a list of his most important accomplishments, this law, which rescued the nation from the grips of the Great Recession, has to be near the top.
And so, on its anniversary, Recovery Act proponents may have been inclined to take another victory lap yesterday, though that didnt seem to happen much yesterday, probably because it would seem gratuitous and ungracious. At a moment of great crisis, Republicans were wrong; Obama was right; and theres probably no real benefit to pointing and laughing at one of the GOPs more spectacular recent failures.
What I didnt expect was this message from House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio).
I feel like Im listening to a Seahawks fan arguing that Seattle really did win the Super Bowl, reality be damned. Retweet if you agree: scoring more points than the other team isnt the answer.
Look, I dont really expect John Boehner, or any other Republican, to own up to their mistakes. Its just too embarrassing. Whats the beleaguered Speaker going to say, With the economy on the brink, my entire party was wrong and Obama was right? Its unrealistic to expect this kind of candor.
But if youre Boehner, on the sixth anniversary of the economy-saving law, why say anything at all? Why deliberately bring up one of your more colossal failures? (In 2009, the Republican leaders big idea was a five-year spending freeze a remedy even David Brooks labeled just insane.)
Kaili Joy Gray joked, Yes, Speaker Boehner, you are definitely correct that Obamas stimulus plan has made everything worse, except for how everythings better, but thats kind of the same thing, except for how its the opposite.
This isnt even a close call. Remember this from 2012?
In a survey conducted by the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, 80 percent of economic experts agreed that, because of the stimulus, the U.S. unemployment rate was lower at the end of 2010 than it would have been otherwise.
Almost immediately after the Recovery Act became law, economic growth improved. Job growth improved. The stock market improved. Everything improved, setting the stage for sustained growth.
The economy was failing, then the Recovery Act started spending, then conditions quickly improved. In the Speakers mind, how is that possible? Was it magic? Was it a coincidence? How does he explain the fact that every relevant economic metric improved, quickly, immediately after Obamas stimulus took effect?
The truth matters, not simply as a political exercise in which partisan players point fingers and thump their chests, but for entirely practical reasons. Republican leaders want to be taken seriously on economic policy. If they remain convinced, six years later, that the stimulus failed, their credibility is a sad joke.
randys1
(16,286 posts)babylonsister
(171,066 posts)by any means necessary. Hopefully we can at least try to counteract their assholedness.