Romney is doubling down on his his plan to create jobs by destroying jobs. Yes, he'll put people back to work by laying them off. Anyone notice something is missing there? Logic perhaps?
The differences between Obama and Romney on this have the potential to drive the presidential campaign: does it help or hurt America when hundreds of thousands of school teachers and first responders lose their jobs?
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Keep in mind, Obama's Jobs Act intended to protect or create 400,000 jobs for school teachers, police officers, and firefighters. A CNN poll taken at the time found that 75% of the public -- and 63% of self-identified Republicans -- endorsed this jobs proposal. It would suggest Romney has a tough case to make to the nation.
But he planted a pro-layoff flag anyway, which clearly deserves some follow-up. The question for the GOP candidate seems pretty obvious: Dear Mr. Romney, please explain why America will be better off when more teachers, cops, and firefighters are unemployed.
Steve Benen, Maddow Blog
The Obama campaign has a new web video in which they make it clear:
Mitt Romney’s economic plan? He wants to cut jobs for firefighters, police, and teachers.
It didn't work in Massachusetts and it won't work now.
Romney declared war on teachers, firefighters and police officers on Friday.
He wants another stimulus, he wants to hire more government workers. He says we need more fireman, more policeman, more teachers. Did he not get the message of Wisconsin? The American people did. It’s time for us to cut back on government and help the American people.
Obama's weekly address touched on this issue:
The key part:
New jobs and new businesses will take root wherever they can find the most highly-educated, highly-skilled workers. And I want those workers to be American workers. I want those good-paying, middle-class jobs to take root right here.
So it should concern everyone that right now – all across America – tens of thousands of teachers are getting laid off. In Pennsylvania alone, there are 9,000 fewer educators in our schools today than just a year ago. In Ohio, the number is close to 7,000. And nationwide, over the past three years, school districts have lost over 250,000 educators. Think about what that means for our country. When there are fewer teachers in our schools, class sizes start climbing up. Our students start falling behind. And our economy takes a hit.
The point is: teachers matter. One study found that a good teacher can increase the lifetime income of a classroom by over $250,000. A great teacher can change the course of a child’s life. So the last thing our country needs is to have fewer teachers in our schools.
Now, I know states are still going through some tough times. I realize that every Governor is dealing with limited resources and many face stark choices when it comes to their budgets.
But that doesn’t mean we should just stand by and do nothing. When states struggle, it’s up to Congress to step in and help out. In 2009 and in 2010, we provided aid to states to help keep hundreds of thousands of teachers in the classroom. But we need to do more. That’s why a critical part of the jobs bill that I sent to Congress back in September was to help states prevent even more layoffs and rehire even more teachers who had lost their jobs.
But months later, we’re still waiting on Congress to act.
Romney is the pro-layoff candidate. He wants jobs destroyed. No teachers, firefighters, police officers. Cut them in order to cut taxes on the rich.
We have to spead this word. Romney will destroy jobs.
What do you expect from the King of Bain, who made a fortune destroying companies and jobs, and the self-proclaimed man "who likes to be able to fire people."