>Upside Down Economics In Nevada GOP Rhetoric: Angle, Heller, Ensign and the Unemployed

>If you happen to be a Nevadan who is (1) rich (2) employed, and (3) pretty close to being the epitome of selfishness — what’s mine is mine and I’m not about to share, then the GOP is representing you quite well. Should this statement sound a bit extreme, then please consider some of the recent statements made by Nevada Republicans:

Congressman Dean Heller (R-NV2): [LasVegasSun] 2/23/10

Heller said the current economic downturn and policies may bring back the hobos of the Great Depression, people who wandered the country taking odd jobs. He said a study found that people who are out of work longer than two years have only a 50 percent chance of getting back into the workforce. “I believe there should be a federal safety net,” Heller said, but he questioned the wisdom of extending unemployment benefits yet again to a total of 24 months, which Congress is doing.

And then he voted against extending unemployment benefits, when it was included with highway construction funding and other job creating projects. Heller’s vote was among the “no’s” for H.R. 2847 (Hiring Incentives To Restore Employment Act) roll call # 90.

Rep. Heller voted against consideration of H.R. 1568, (H.R. 5893) to amend the IRS code to encourage more infrastructure spending, and to eliminate loopholes by which corporations can off-shore their jobs. Heller voted against H.R. 1150 calling for agreement with Senate version of H.R. 4213 extending unemployment insurance benefits. To Rep. Heller’s credit, he did vote in favor of H.R. 5618, Restoration of Unemployment Benefits Act on July 1, 2010.

However, it really doesn’t make much sense to oppose those bills that create jobs in the private sector (especially in the construction industry) and then have to pick and choose when, or if, to support extensions of unemployment benefit insurance payments.

Senatorial Candidate Sharron Angle:

“Angle: Unemployed Nevadans Who Depend On Unemployment Insurance Are “Spoiled.” During a May 2010 interview on KRNV, Angle said, “You can make more money on unemployment than you can going down and getting one of those jobs that is an honest job, but it doesn’t pay as much. And so that’s what’s happened to us is that we have put in so much entitlement into our government that we really have spoiled our citizenry and said you don’t want the jobs that are available.” The shorter version – It’s not my job if you don’t have a job.”

Quick fact check: No, you cannot make more money on unemployment benefit insurance than you can when you were working because UI benefits are based on what you were earning when you were employed. However, that fact doesn’t cover the part wherein Angle adopts the theme that unemployed people are lazy, unmotivated, slothful, parasites upon the Body Politic. This, in turn, doesn’t quite work when there are 4.7 people for every job available.

Senator John Ensign:

Senator Ensign tried his version of the “stimulus didn’t work” argument concerning unemployment: “It’s incredibly important that we put the focus back on job creation by incentivizing the private sector to actually create jobs which will not happen if they continue to be burdened by new taxes that stem from a growing debt. The stimulus bill has had little effect on our state but has done wonders to increase the size of government in Washington, D.C.” Translation: If we lower taxes on the richest 2% of the population, and decrease corporate income taxes, while lowering the national debt, then the private sector will create jobs.

Even in translation this statement doesn’t make a bit of sense. First, totally contrary to Republican fairy-tale economics, tax cuts cause declines in revenue. If revenues decline, and spending for big ticket items — like, say, The Pentagon — remain the same then obviously the Debt increases. Secondly, what new taxes? The Obama tax cuts in the Stimulus Bill (ARRA) were targeted at the Middle Class. Is Senator Ensign saying that the Stimulus Bill didn’t do any good in Nevada because it gave tax cuts to Middle Class Nevadans instead of the ultra-rich ones? Third and finally, if low taxation rates equate to more job creation then with the current levels of taxation why aren’t we wallowing in jobs? “Federal, state and local income taxes consumed 9.2% of all personal income in 2009, the lowest rate since 1950, the Bureau of Economic Analysis reports. That rate is far below the historic average of 12% for the last half-century. The overall tax burden hit bottom in December at 8.8.% of income before rising slightly in the first three months of 2010.” [USAT] (emphasis added) Evidently, fairy-tale, voodoo, supply side hoax economics doesn’t work.

However, it doesn’t matter if fairy-tale, voodoo, supply side hoax economics is credible or not. The Republicans believe it. In their magical land of highly generalized carefully massaged statistical arguments from Beltway Conservative Think Tanks, their hoax is their reality. The sad part is that average Nevada workers have to live in the real world where the laws of supply and demand still apply.