The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act put between 1.4 million and 3.6 million to work in the third quarter of this year, a time when more than 15 million Americans were unemployed, CBO said.The R's, aka the Party Of No, either found another way to spin it or just fucking ignored the CBO's report. What they would rather do is make damn sure that those lazy fuckers on unemployment don't get another government handout...aka another unemployment check, starting at midnight tonight. That's why you have assholes like Rep. John Shadegg (R-AZ) actually arguing that unemployment checks don't do shit for our economy:
It also boosted national output by between 1.4 percent and 4.1 percent during that time, the CBO said.
During the third quarter, the economy grew by an annual rate of 2.5 percent. Economists say a rate faster than 3 percent is needed to make any noticeable dent in unemployment.
The CBO's estimates have consistently shown that the $814 billion package of tax cuts, state aid, construction spending and enhanced safety-net provisions has blunted the impact of the worst U.S. recession since the 1930s.
*snip*
Not all elements of the Recovery Act got the same bang for the buck, the CBO said.
Direct spending on highway construction, water-system upgrades and energy efficiency were among the most effective, the CBO said, while tax breaks for businesses and higher-income people cost more in lost revenues than they made up for in increased economic activity.(emphasis mine)
According to calculations by the Congressional Budget Office, Moody’s Economy, and myriad other economists, unemployment benefits are the single best way to pump money into the economy and generate economic activity, as the unemployed are very likely to spend all of the benefits they receive (thus moving money into local businesses). But during an interview with MSNBC’s Mike Barnicle today, Rep. John Shadegg (R-AZ) scoffed at the notion that unemployment benefits help the economy. “Unemployed people hire people? Really? I didn’t know that,” Shadegg jeered:
BARNICLE: What about the fact that unemployment benefits pumped into the economy are an immediate benefit to the economy? Immediate…
SHADEGG: No, they’re not! Unemployed people hire people? Really? I didn’t know that.
BARNICLE: Unemployed people spend money Congressman, ’cause they have no money.
SHADEGG: Aha! So your answer is it’s the spending of money that drives the economy and I don’t think that’s right. It’s the creation of jobs that drives the economy…Actually, the truth is the unemployed will spend as little of that money as they possibly can. Job creators create jobs.
BARNICLE: Have you ever been unemployed? Have you ever been unemployed?
SHADEGG: Yes, I have.
BARNICLE: What did you do with the money? Save it?
Any moron with two brain cells to rub together knows that people on unemployment spend those checks as soon as they get them. They spend them on rent, food, gas, clothes for the kids, heating their homes, all kinds of friggin things they need to survive, something Rep.Shadegg is obviously very unfamiliar with. Again, from the ThinkProgress link:
As The Wonk Room noted, some economists estimate that allowing benefits to expire could cause economic growth to “fall by one half to nearly 1 percentage point,” as well as throw hundreds of thousands of people into poverty. And while Shadegg joked that he will be unemployed come January since he is retiring from Congress, next year he will be eligible for a federal pension (if he opted for one), as he is turning 62 and served on Capitol Hill for more than five years.We can only hope that John Shadegg takes a very long fucking walk on a very short pier...real soon, before he can collect one friggin dime of that federal pension.What. A. Fucking. Douche Nozzle. Stupid fuck just drove my blood pressure through the roof.
Jesus H. Christ, I hate stupid lame-ass arguments that make no sense what so ever, I despise Republicans and I despise John Shadegg with every fiber of my being.
