Modern Mythology: Fiscal Responsibility and Job Creation

Modern Mythology...

Myth:

Conservatives are Fiscally Responsible ...

Fact:

Fiscal responsibility is about managing money.

If you manage money responsibly, debt is minimized.

If you manage money irresponsibly, debt increases.

Fact:

Every Republican administration since Nixon's second term has managed to INCREASE the National Debt ... in most cases, not by a little ... but by a lot.

Fact:

Every Democratic Administration

since the Second Wrold War

has REDUCED the National Debt.

Myth:

Tax cuts create jobs.

Fact:

If tax cuts were an efficient job creation tool, then when conservatives held office and cut taxes, we would see more jobs created during those administrations.

Fact:

Clinton's two terms in office saw more jobs created than

• Reagan's two terms
• Bush I's single term
• AND Bush II's two terms ...
• combined!

Myth:

The policies of the current administration are only making things worse.

Fact:

The bigger the entity, the harder it is to turn it on a dime. The U.S. economy is about as big as things get... So, expecting instant results from any change in policy is just a little unrealistic.

Question 1:

Given the chart we just saw and the trend it represents, where would we be now if the policies of the previous administration were kept in place?

Question 2:

If the current policies aren't working; if they are making things worse, then why has the job loss trend reversed?

Truth is a hard commodity to come by. What we hear is not always a good representation of what is real. If one "cherry picks" numbers by looking at short term comparisons, you don't always get a clear picture of reality.

It's much better to take a longer term view with more data points ...

... if you want to see what's really going on.

(Relative to the previous term.)

Fact:

Fiscal responsibility deals with managing money.

If money is managed well, then debt goes down.

If money is managed poorly, then debt tends to increase.

Jobs Trend

Previous

Administration

thru 2008

Current

Adminsitration

2009 thru present