The Wall Street journal is out with an article today in which newly elected Republican governors made it quite clear if it wasn't already: their primary objective as governors of their states over the next two years is to purposefully butcher their economies and decimate jobs in an attempt to win the presidency for the GOP in 2012.
While language has in general jumped the shark as of late, especially with the traditional media unwilling to call the GOP on their rank hypocrisy and lies, this kind of direct statement - that purposefully destroying lives and families in their own states is what they most want to do as governors - is still shocking. From the article:
Newly elected Republican governors are preparing to wrestle with huge budget gaps in states already struggling with foreclosures and high joblessness. If they succeed, they say, that could alter the political hue of the Rust Belt, which Barack Obama swept during the 2008 campaign, and it could complicate President Obama's bid for a second term.
"This is put-up-or-shut-up time for all of us," said Mr. Walker of himself and the other Midwest Republican governors-elect, who gathered here for a meeting of the Republican Governors Association.
"If we do what we said we would do in the campaign, there is no doubt it will be harder for Obama" to carry states such as Wisconsin and Ohio in 2012, Mr. Walker said.
These political terrorists then went on to note that if they succeed in trashing their states via the budget process, Democrats up and down the ticket will suffer. Insofar as this statement regards Democrats who are not the President, this logic is clearly delusional. While voters are happy to have a balanced budget, they aren't interested in having a balanced budget at the explicit expense of the entire economy.
Further, as anyone can see plainly, cutting jobs and services now will only lead to inevitable job losses in the future in a never-ending cycle of job loss. Layoffs now means less state revenue, which means fewer jobs next year. And the cycle will repeat. It will certainly make their own attempts at reelection more difficult.
As for the President, this is a tactic that will work if these shenanigans are not widely covered. Though the canceling of high-speed rail lines by new GOP governors in Wisconsin and Ohio have received plenty of coverage, the simple fact of the matter is that an economy still depressed in 2012 will seriously hamper the President's ability to get reelected. The public will - right or wrong - blame the President for the state of the economy. These governors know this, and they are attempting to leverage their collective willingness to kill livelihoods in order to help whomever ends up being the Republican nominee in 2012.
As of now, the economy seems to be on the rebound, with private job growth in October being stronger than expected. The car industry is on the mend. The holiday season looks to be better than it was over the last two years. Unless housing plunges us into a "double-dip" recession, we are likely to continue to see job growth in 2011. That said, the ravaging of jobs by Midwestern governors would keep unemployment higher than it need be in those states.
This means that Democrats need to hammer Republican governors in the Midwest every time they purposefully attempt to cut jobs and destroy lives for political gain. Unfortunately, the statement by a DNC flack was pathetic:
Democratic National Committee spokesman Hari Sevugan responded: "The election was about economic anxiety and not a larger shift in voting preferences. Working families across the country, and certainly across the Midwest, understand that the president and Democrats will put their interests ahead of Wall Street special interests, and that hasn't changed."
Obviously we need stronger language than this. And we need to be vigilant over the next two years, regardless of where you stand on the President vis-a-vis the pragmatism vs. progressivism debate. Many, many jobs are on the line, and an angry citizenry is one way to try and save the jobs that GOP governors will gleefully axe if they can get away with it.
Let's not let them.
Update: In the comments, foggycity pointed out an important diary from today that did not get the attention it deserved. Please give it a look.
Update #2: For those who don't see the direct connection between what I quoted (& their plans) and the conclusion that I drew, please keep in mind that Mitch McConnell has said that his #1 priority is to make sure President Obama is a one-term president. Further, keep in mind the GOP governing strategy -
- Get elected.
- Screw everything up.
- Get thrown out of office, and
- Then point to your own screw-ups as proof that government can't work.
In this way, the Democrats who get elected are sabotaged before they even take office because the well is poisoned insofar as people have been led to believe that government is only capable of screwing up everything it touches.
In my next diary, I will discuss why Obama has done what he has done since 1/20/09, and it explicitly involves attacking the above-noted GOP strategy. He outlined his plan in his inaugural address in a sentence that specifically rebutted Ronald Reagan's famous inaugural statement.