It is not really worth arguing the point. As the stimulus wanes in the U.S., so does job growth. As austerity pinches in the U.S., job growth declines.
It is not everyone's fault. Not everyone is to blame. The stimulus countries came out of the Bush recession with growth proportional to their stimulus. China did a stimulus of 14 percent of its GDP ($570B for a $4.5T economy) and grew 9 percent. The Obama administration did a 4 percent stimulus and grew more slowly than China. The austerity countries declined.
In 2010 the Republicans seized control of the House, and decided to become America's economic Death Panel.
Instead of breathing life into the economy by passing the president's modest "American Jobs Act," so that 1.9 million more workers would be working, they have sucked the oxygen out.
No, it has nothing to do with taxes... the lowest they have been in 50 years. Nor does it have anything to do with regulations... employment in the oil patch, where most of the bogus complaints are lodged, is at record highs and has grown more rapidly in three years under this president than in the first six years under Bush/Cheney.
When individuals are tightening their belts, that is exactly the time government should expand, to make up for the lack of individual demand. It is not rocket science.
And, if one does not believe Republicans really believe this too, then ask why they object so strongly to military base closures in their own districts -- they whine and wail and moan about job losses that will occur because of reduced government spending in their district. They support base closures to save money, but not in their own districts.
What about Romney and his 25 years of business experience? Will he do anything about job growth? As we have already shown, Romney's job creation record as governor was worse than President Obama's and much worse than President Carter's.
Why Nations Fail (Acemoglu and Robinson) is a new, widely-hailed treatise describing policies and institutions that lead to successful and failed nations respectively. For 55 years after the Second World War, the U.S. pursued policies that were generally on the successful side of the ledger: strong central authority, wide sharing of political and economic life, protection of property, rule of law.
Now, the Republican Party is attacking the institutions that foster that success and adopting, almost line-by-line, policies that inevitably lead to failure.
It is especially painful to endure because it is so unnecessary.
The remedy is quite simple: either the 99% seizes control of Congress and the presidency in 2012, or forget about any future job, any future prospect, any world-class education, clean air or water, or even a physically beautiful America.
Open and equal access to the Internet? It will vanish.
The 1% will have won -- a failed nation, to be sure, but the top 1% do well in failed nations.
And, once they have power, they will not relinquish it peacefully. Instead, they will systematically destroy opposition by restricting voting rights, employing prosecutorial abuse to silence or oust their opponents, stuff the judiciary with willing pawns, seize local governments, make women second-class citizens, abolish labor unions and despoil the environment.
Want proof? Look at the Republican states.
Remember: The 1% fare quite well in failed nations. They have decided they do not need us, at least not on an equal footing.
And so, they will ignore us.
Because they can.
Sadly, neither the Obama administration nor the Obama campaign will affix blame where it is deserved. They are so cowed by the inevitable first counter-attack ("blaming others!") that they will hope to muddle through by muttering some platitudes about things going "up and down," that recoveries are not smooth trajectories, and cite Europe's financial crisis.
All true. But, they will miss the point. And, so will the American people.
And the radical right-wing will seize power in America.
Because we let them.
Follow Paul Abrams on Twitter: www.twitter.com/pabrams2001
The right are to the right of John Birch, and brainwashed to the extreme.
This country's success depends on how many informed citizens are out there, and alas, that’s the rub.