Some at town hall don’t buy Rep. Jim Jordan’s tired talking points

Image of US Rep. Jim Jordan (R-4)

Ohio’s 4th Congressional District representative Jim Jordan (R-Urbana) held a town hall meeting at the University of Findlay on Monday September 19th. In the reddest of red areas of Ohio he still had to spar with some unhappy constituents. They peppered him with questions about the failed Republican economic agenda and the continued outsourcing of jobs. Jordan’s unsupported tired GOP talking points didn’t seem to help.

But the evening was not a complete walk in the park for Jordan. A woman questioned his argument that the Bush tax cuts created jobs. After all, unemployment is high, she said.

Jordan said business owners are reluctant to hire because they are uncertain about the cost of coming health care regulations and other federal regulations.

“It’s all that uncertainty that’s making it difficult to create jobs,” he said. “And then the uncertainty about where the tax code’s going to go.”

The former NCAA wrestling champion may have thought he was done, but another woman later called him back to the mat.

“I don’t think you really answered her question … I don’t think (the Bush tax cuts) really created jobs,” Paula Wells said.

She cited some companies which laid off many people and closed plants in recent years.

“So I don’t understand when you tell me that they’re going to lower the corporate tax rate and it’s going to create jobs because there’s no proof of that so far,” Wells said.

Jordan staggered and stalled before making his counter move.

“Well, it may not have worked exactly like they thought it would,” he said.

But “when taxes were lowered in the ’80s, we took off on one of the longest peacetime economic expansions in history,” he said.

He also cited tax cuts made during John Kennedy’s presidency as leading to economic growth.

Jordan went on to say the United States has the highest corporate tax rate in the world.

“But they don’t actually pay it,” Wells countered.

Jordan tried a different move.

“So, remember what I said early on, I talked about this fairness concept. I agree, the way the (tax) code is now, it’s so cumbersome, so ridiculous, that it winds up being unfair,” he said. “Let’s get rid of all of the stuff, but let’s lower the rate.”

Jordan: ‘We should make our stand’

The tired talking point of “cut taxes and regulations and poof – jobs” just isn’t working for Rep. Jordan. 10 years of Bush tax cuts and unemployment has still climbed. Tax bills in 2009 were at the lowest level since 1950 and were extended during the late fight on the budget in Decemeber 2010 and still no jobs. 

Removing the banking regulations in the 1990’s led to the collapse and bail outs of the banks in 2008-2009. Still no jobs

No demand means no jobs – no jobs means no demand. It’s simple math.

What Jordan really means is that big business is waiting for a GOP victory in 2012 by failing to help the country now with the assist of the obstructionist Republicans. Selling out America for political points seems to be the real plan for Rep. Jim Jordan

Economist Paul Krugman wrote:

What should be happening? The answer is that we need a major push to get the economy moving, not at some future date, but right now. For the time being we need more, not less, government spending, supported by aggressively expansionary policies from the Federal Reserve and its counterparts abroad. And it’s not just pointy-headed economists saying this; business leaders like Google’s Eric Schmidt are saying the same thing, and the bond market, by buying U.S. debt at such low interest rates, is in effect pleading for a more expansionary policy.

And to be fair, some policy players seem to get it. President Obama’s new jobs plan is a step in the right direction, while some board members of the Federal Reserve and the Bank of England — though not, sad to say, the European Central Bank — have been calling for much more growth-oriented policies. 

The Bleeding Cure

Cheap labor conservatives like Rep. Jim Jordan, patriots in their own mind, are doing LONG TERM damage to this country.

People need to wake up.


*Update*

Just saw this today on ThinkProgress. It disproves Rep. Jim Jordan’s tired “tax cuts creates jobs” talking point – again:

A quick review of the math, however, hollows out what’s left of this GOP talking point. The Center for American Progress’ Michael Linden noted that “in the past 60 years, job growth has actually been greater in years when the top income tax rate was much higher than it is now.” He points out that while the top five years of job growth “boast marginal tax rates at 70 percent or higher,” the two worst years were 2008 and 2009 “when the top marginal tax rate was 35 percent.” In fact, “in the 13 years that the top marginal tax rate has been at its current level or lower, only one year even cracks the top 20 in overall job creation.” 

More Zombie Lies: GOP Candidates Bring Back False Claim That Higher Tax Rates On The Rich Destroy Jobs