It's time now to clear the air, and as the nation slumps into its second day of the government shutdown, we are at least grateful for one moment of absolute clarity: today, we are finally able to draw a line under the relentless deceit and deliberate chicanery offered by Speaker John Boehner who, for the last few years, has been telling us that the sole interest of Republicans is the issue of employment.
"As you know," Speaker Boehner said at a weekly press briefing in July, "House Republicans have been focused on economic growth and jobs since day one."
Oh really? You could have fooled us, because here are some facts: this Republican-provoked shutdown is going to wipe at least $300 million off our economic output every single day. And a survey conducted by an important business school finds that almost half of employers with less than $5 million in annual revenue say that a shutdown of more than three months will reverse their plan to create new jobs.
But none of this is new to us...do you remember what happened during that first episode of Republican hostage taking, back in 2011, when they decided to fight the president over raising the debt ceiling? They were so focused on jobs that here's what happened:
Consumer confidence collapsed—and look at the figures for monthly job growth. It was disastrous for the economy, detrimental to the recovery, and the nation's credit rating was downgraded.
But, again, according to Speaker Boehner: "House Republicans have been focused on economic growth and jobs since day one."
Then we had the ludicrous sequester at the beginning of March this year, which imposed a series of brutal spending cuts. And here's another incredible truth:
The congressional Budget Office in July said that if the sequester was cancelled, it would boost employment by up to 1.6 million new jobs for the fiscal year 2014.
So guess what Republicans have just done? Speaker Boehner proposed making the sequester cuts permanent, with all their disastrous effects on jobs and the economy. But, of course, "House Republicans have been focused on economic growth and jobs since day one," right?
So let's be done with their steaming garbage about being focused on economic growth and jobs. From the debt ceiling to the sequester to the current government shutdown, the Republicans have not done a single thing to promote job growth. In fact, Speaker Boehner and his caucus have been systematically sabotaging the economy, and all because they couldn't get their hands on the one job that they really wanted.