5 Ways Republicans Have Sabotaged Job Growth

http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2012/07/06/511940/5-ways-republicans-sabotaged-job-growth/

5 Ways Republicans Have Sabotaged Job Growth

By Jeff Spross posted from ThinkProgress Economy on Jul 6, 2012 at 12:52 pm

New numbers released today by the Bureau of Labor Statistics show that the economy added a mere 80,000 jobs in June. That’s down from an average of 150,000 jobs a month for the first part of the year, and far too little to keep up with population growth.

Republican intransigence on economic policy has been a key contributor to the sluggish recovery. As early as 2009, Republican fear-mongering over spending and their readiness to filibuster in the Senate helped convince the White House economic team that an $800 billion stimulus was the most they could hope to get through Congress. Reporting has since revealed that the team thought the country actually needed a stimulus on the order of $1.2 to $1.8 trillion. The economy’s path over the next three years proved them right. Here are the top five ways the Republicans have sabotaged the economic recovery since:

1. Filibustering the American Jobs Act. .....
2. Stonewalling monetary stimulus. .....
3. Threatening a debt default. .....
4. Cutting discretionary spending in the debt ceiling deal. .....
5. Cutting discretionary spending in the budget deal. .....