In Washington, both the Democrats and Republicans seem to have forgotten about the average American and have omitted the dire unemployment problem from their discussions except for sound bites used to attack each other. Whether it is President Obama, who looks to take care of Wall Street before the ubiquitous Main Street, or Speaker Boehner and Paul Ryan who desire to cut spending before creating jobs, both groups of politicians ignore tackling unemployment head-on through job creation methods.
They disguise their inability to do anything through the habitual proclamation of “uncertainty,”which they create. In fact, read any publication or watch any news program in which politicians speak about the economy, and they will always say the word “uncertainty.” In addition, all they do is incessantly pass the buck back and forth across the aisle like a game of hot potato until the last minute before they pass a bill.
The reason this is the case is because the reality of all within the beltway, regardless of party affiliation, is because unemployment and the average citizen is not what they are interested in. There is no political will to make job creation a priority. Instead, both parties promote slashing spending even when they know it will not lead to job creation.
Obama said he would implement programs that would provide debt relief for homeowners. In fact, such a program, if the President had given it teeth, would have gone a long way in helping our economic quandary, but this has fallen off the agenda. Overwhelmingly, both parties protect the interest of creditors, those that hold bonds. I can say this without reservation since all economic policies over the past six years are deflationary and hurt small-business owners and the average family, but benefit bankers, the wealthy, large corporations and folk who make large campaign contributions.
Just recently, a study documented the aforementioned. A new study found that 80 percent of President Obama’s campaigners, who collected more than $500,000 for Obama, were rewarded with “key administration posts,” as well as White House access. They also got a lot of the so-called “stimulus money” and lucrative government contracts. Telecom executive Donald H. Gips of Colorado-based Level 3 Communications LLC received $13.8 million in stimulus money. Still, more than 20 of these big funders have been appointed ambassadors to foreign countries.
The record shows neither the present administration nor members of the House desire to create jobs; instead, they want to fill their own pockets on the backs of the people for the selfish purpose of just staying an elected official – all which hurt the middle class and poor, especially African Americans. –torrance t. stephens, ph.d.