Conservatives in Congress Thwart Economic Growth

Heather Boushey writes in Market Watch how conservatives in Congress are holding up jobs legislation that would help put people back to work.

Building an Economy for All, Worker Rights

Today’s release of the most recent jobs numbers is yet another reminder that conservatives in Congress need to get behind legislation to boost job creation in our economy. At this point in an economic recovery—especially one following such a deep recession—we should be seeing upward of 300,000 jobs created per month, but the economy only added 80,000 jobs in October, although August and September’s data were revised upward by a total of 102,000 jobs. Still, the three-month pace of job creation is only 114,000. That’s woefully inadequate.

So what’s holding back more sustained job creation? The gap in demand caused by the collapse of the housing bubble and Great Recession means that big corporations are still sitting on several trillion dollars in cash, waiting for sufficient customers to spur higher investment, and job seekers are still waiting for investments trickle down into jobs.

But conservatives in Congress—who are determined to slash government spending where it is needed most in infrastructure and in support for state and local jobs, while preserving or enhancing tax cuts for the wealthy—are doing real damage.

The above excerpt was originally published in The Wall Street Journal's Market Watch. Click here to view the full article.

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