Jobs and Debt

The most overused political cliché today is that Washington is wasting time talking about deficits and debt when it should be talking about jobs.
 
But there’s another political cliché that matters here: He who defines the debate wins the race.
 
By that measure, Republicans are hammering President Obama and the Democrats. And it’s hard to see now how Obama & Co. overcome it.
 
Thanks to the Tea Party, Republicans have made the debate about debt the debate about jobs.
 
Rick Perry articulates that best of any Republican presidential candidate.  His formula for jobs and economic growth is simple: cut taxes, cut spending and limit lawsuits.  It’s simple, clear and strong – seven words long.  And he points to the so-called Texas Miracle (which he hopes holds up better than Michael Dukakis’ short-lived Massachusetts Miracle in 1988.)
 
President Obama’s jobs message, on the other side, is … Well, beats me. Some combination, I guess, of research, incentives, fuzzy “green jobs” and – the kiss of death – higher taxes.
 
“Real Democrats” would have Obama full-throatedly endorse higher taxes (on the rich, of course) and gobs of federal stimulus spending. That may well be the right policy answer, but it’s political hemlock.
 
It’s hard to see how even a wordsmith and orator of Obama’s talent can talk his way out of this box.
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Gary Pearce

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Jobs and Debt

The most overused political cliché today is that Washington is wasting time talking about deficits and debt when it should be talking about jobs.
 
But there’s another political cliché that matters here: He who defines the debate wins the race.
 
By that measure, Republicans are hammering President Obama and the Democrats. And it’s hard to see now how Obama & Co. overcome it.
 
Thanks to the Tea Party, Republicans have made the debate about debt the debate about jobs.
 
Rick Perry articulates that best of any Republican presidential candidate.  His formula for jobs and economic growth is simple: cut taxes, cut spending and limit lawsuits.  It’s simple, clear and strong – seven words long.  And he points to the so-called Texas Miracle (which he hopes holds up better than Michael Dukakis’ short-lived Massachusetts Miracle in 1988.)
 
President Obama’s jobs message, on the other side, is … Well, beats me. Some combination, I guess, of research, incentives, fuzzy “green jobs” and – the kiss of death – higher taxes.
 
“Real Democrats” would have Obama full-throatedly endorse higher taxes (on the rich, of course) and gobs of federal stimulus spending. That may well be the right policy answer, but it’s political hemlock.
 
It’s hard to see how even a wordsmith and orator of Obama’s talent can talk his way out of this box.
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Gary Pearce

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