Jobs

Free Money! Why The U.S. Can, But Isn't Putting New Jobs On The Credit Card

Brian Beutler | November 9, 2011, 1:50PM

Dmitry Rukhlenko / Shutterstock

Here in the United States, Republican lawmakers are busy blocking plans to spend money on jobs and infrastructure improvement, while both parties work in earnest to find ways of cutting $1.2 trillion or more from the budget over the next 10 years.

They're doing this at a time when demand for America's debt is so high that investors will essentially pay the U.S. to borrow.

You read that right. Here are the numbers. They may appear hard to parse, but it's pretty straightforward: when you adjust for inflation, the interest creditors get for parking their money here is negative. That's not a deal you'd accept from your bank, but it's the deal we're getting now.

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Barack Obama

Obama's Plan Is The Opposite Of Paul Ryan's Plan -- For Good Reason

Brian Beutler | September 20, 2011, 6:05AM

President Obama's first term has been marked by a tendency to take the liberal policy consensus on any issue, move five clicks to the right, and begin negotiations having already conceded quite a bit to conservatives.

His new push to pass a $447 billion jobs plan, and reduce out year deficits in large measure by raising taxes on the rich marks a significant departure from the status quo ante. And it sets Obama up for a risky, but important and necessary fight with Republicans over the country's future.

Put it all together and his plan would juice the economy in the near-term, and pursue a vision for the country that's just about the opposite of the GOP's. In effect, it serves as a rebuke to House Republicans -- and particularly House Speaker John Boehner -- who walked away from an equally far-reaching plan that would have been much friendlier to conservative interests.

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Jobs

Cantor Nixes President Obama's Infrastructure Bank Idea

Brian Beutler | September 8, 2011, 2:16PM

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA)

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) is striking a gentler tone ahead of President Obama's Thursday jobs speech, and highlighting the areas he says Republicans can work with the administration to grow the economy -- unemployment insurance, payroll taxes, and infrastructure. But the devil is in the details, and there are still significant differences between the parties' approaches.

"I'm wary of the suggestion of an infrastructure bank," House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) told reporters at a roundtable lunch hosted by the Christian Science Monitor. "I am one who agrees with the notion that an infrastructure bank is almost like creating a Fanny and Freddie for roads and bridges."

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Rick Perry

CHART OF THE DAY: *Government* Jobs Led To Perry's Economic Boom

Brian Beutler | August 17, 2011, 2:23PM

Gov. Rick Perry (R-TX)

On the campaign trail, governor Rick Perry will claim credit for the so-called Texas miracle. His state weathered the housing and jobs crises better than many others, and he'll happily tell voters it was the result of his small government conservative approach to running things.

But his state's relative success has a lot to do with things out of his control -- population growth resulting from an influx of immigrants from Mexico and of workers and retirees from other U.S. states, and high oil company profits, to name just a couple. Oh, and also federal stimulus.

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American Action Network

Holtz-Eakin: New Right-Wing Think Tank Staffing Up, Looking For Office Space

Justin Elliott | February 5, 2010, 12:20PM

Former McCain campaign advisor Douglas Holtz-Eakin

A leader of the American Action Network says the Republican "think-and-do-tank" launching this month hopes to have a physical space in Washington very soon, and is working on fundraising and staffing up.

That's according to Doug Holtz-Eakin, the former CBO director and McCain campaign adviser who will lead the policy shop of American Action Network.

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