Earlier this week, Claire McCaskill (D-MO) said she didn't think Congress would pass a
jobs bill this year, and she didn't say it in a "we should, and I'll fight for it, but I think Republican extremists will go to the mat to block it" way. As Joan McCarter writes, people want
jobs, and:
McCaskill seems to be working the wrong crowd as she eyes reelection next year. Yes, the Very Serious People (and the GOP) have "continued worries about the public debt." The rest of the nation wants a job. This is perfectly emblematic of the trap Democrats fell into when accepting the right's narrative that the deficit rules all in an economy that has been carrying high unemployment for far too long.
McCaskill does face a tough reelection, but buying into Republican framing on jobs, debt, and the economy is not the way to win—or to help her constituents. We're joining with Jobs Now PAC to tell her to stand up for jobs creation, not a harmful emphasis on spending cuts. Sign the petition here.
McCaskill knows the people of Missouri want her to do something about jobs. But she's bought into Beltway ideas of what exactly to do. Let her know it's not that complicated: the way to create jobs is to stand up and fight to create jobs, not to pass a corporate wishlist and claim it's about jobs.