So what exactly does a Republican Jobs plan look like - and what would it do to our economy?
That's a question President Obama asked yesterday:
Here's a good question. Here's a little homework assignment for folks.
Go ask the Republicans what their jobs plan is if they're opposed to the American Jobs Act, and have it scored -- have it assessed by the same independent economists that assessed our jobs plan. ... Have those economists evaluate what over the next two years the Republican jobs plan would do.
Well - we got an answer to that question this week from Florida.
There - Republican State Representative Ritch Workman introduced House Bill 4063 - legislation that repeals a law that bans... dwarf-tossing in Florida.
Workman thinks it will help lower the Sunshine State's crippling 10.7% unemployment rate.
As he said:
To me it's an archaic kind of Big Brother law that says, 'We don't like that activity.' Well, there is nothing immoral or illegal about that activity. All we really did by passing that law was take away some employment from some little people.
Mind you - this is the same Florida Republican Party that refused to take federal high-speed rail money that Obama offered them, which would have created tens of thousands of LEGITIMATE new jobs in Florida.
Instead - they want to create a few dozen new jobs for dwarf-tossers...and tossees.
Watch for Eric Cantor and the Tea Party to seize on this idea and push for a tax credit for sword swallowers and federally subsidized job training for snake handlers.
Under the Republican job creation plan - instead of a nation of manufacturers - we can be a nation of carnies.
But stepping away from the absurd for a moment - there's Texas Governor Rick Perry's "miracle of job creation" in Texas.
And by miracle - I mean minimum-wage jobs.
As his own wife bragged:
Anita Perry: We have 1,500 people moving to Texas every day to find a job. I’m not going to tell you they’re all high-paying jobs, but they’re a job, even if they’re a minimum wage job. And that’s what people are hungry for.
Right... Americans are hungry for minimum wage jobs - they're hungry to be janitors and dishwashers - just like dwarves are hungry to get tossed around.
The simple fact is - Republicans aren't really all that interested in creating good-paying jobs for the majority of Americans.
That's why they're against the President's American Jobs Act - because it would put millions of people to work, rebuilding the nation's crumbling infrastructure.
That's why they're against clean technology that would put millions of scientists and engineers to work, building the energy grid of the future.
That's why they're against unions and tariffs, that would put millions of manufacturers back to work.
That's why they're against government spending that employs teachers, firefighters, cops, and mailmen - you know - those professions that our kids grow up wanting to work in when they grow up.
Instead - Republican policies mean our kids can aspire to work for Barnum and Bailey - walking behind elephants with a shovel.
The America we once had - a nation of manufacturers, scientists, and teachers - is quickly becoming a thing of the past.
Replaced by the Republican vision of a nation of burger-flippers, janitors, and dwarf tossers.
Not exactly the line-up you want when you're trying to compete in the global economy - but the line-up we'll have unless we kick these Republican bums out of office.
And I know just the way to do it. As the old saying goes - if you can't beat 'em - you might as well join 'em!
That's The Big Picture.
