First of all, people need to know that what the GOP is doing is basically implementing austerity measures and they need to know that what that really means is NO GOVERNMENT:
In economics, austerity refers to a policy of deficit-cutting by lowering spending often via a reduction in the amount of benefits and public services provided.Austerity policies are often used by governments to try to reduce their deficit spending and are sometimes coupled with increases in taxes to demonstrate long-term fiscal solvency to creditors.
Supporters of austerity predict that under expansionary fiscal contraction (EFC), a major reduction in government spending can change future expectations about taxes and government spending, encouraging private consumption and resulting in overall economic expansion.
Critics argue that, in periods of recession and high unemployment, austerity policies are counter-productive, because: a) reduced government spending can increase unemployment, which increases safety net spending while reducing tax revenue; b) reduced government spending reduces GDP, which means the debt to GDP ratio examined by creditors and rating agencies does not improve; and c) short-term government spending financed by deficits supports economic growth when consumers and businesses are unwilling or unable to do so.
http://en.wikipedia.org/...
This is the GOP's policy in a nutshell-NO GOVERNMENT. NO GOVERNMENT
We don't have to do extensive research on what it does to a country. We have many examples. More below the pretty orange loop.
We can first look at Greece:
On February 12, 2012, Greece implemented extreme austerity measures to tackle their economy. The package included:
15,000 public-sector job cuts
liberalisation of labour laws
lowering the minimum wage by 20% from 751 euros a month to 600 euros
http://www.bbc.co.uk/...
Well, let's look at the results:
By June, Greece's unemployment was at 24.4%. What does Greece do to fix this? They hammered down on it:
http://online.wsj.com/...
The result? Their economy is expected to SHRINK 7%.
Want another one? How about the UK?
They are also making deep cuts to government spending while providing tax breaks to the wealthy. The results so far?
But a stalled economic recovery, rising unemployment, falling tax revenue and struggling households led Mr. Osborne to offer some concessions in the budget he presented to Parliament.
http://www.nytimes.com/...
In fact, every country that has implemented severe government cuts is having the floor fall from underneath them. From Greece to Italy to the UK to Ireland, Portugal, Spain, you name it. The GOP method has been the solution for the world. The results are in. It doesn't work:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/...
Now, how do we make the argument to the American people in a way it can be understood?
Easy. We focus on our own results:
1. President Obama implemented a stimulus (albeit a reduced one thanks to Congress) that seemed to be getting the economy on track. He also proposed the Affordable Healtlhcare Act, which out of the gate saved 716 billion in Medicare costs.
2. The GOP saw improvements, and immediately went into action. They spawned the Tea Party, which protested the ACA and started a big government rebellion. This was solidified by the GOP takeover of Congress in 2010. They ran on Jobs.
3. The first bills to come out of the new Congress were all about cutting taxes for the wealthy. Then came the abortion legislation, the personhood amendments, the ACA repeals, everything but a jobs bill.
4. Obama proposed another jobs bill, but the big bad government shouldn't be involved. Let the markets create jobs. Let them take control. The free markets have run our economy for the past 2 years because every attempt made by Obama to spur growth has been rejected.
So, what are the results?
Private corporations are sitting on 2 trillion that they refuse to invest. The government has shed 1.8 million jobs. That's right, 1.8 million.
This Douchebag Mitt Romney is claiming that we need a CEO approach to solving the economy. Isn't that what we've been doing?
It's not a question of whether more government solves our problems. The question is how less government magnifies our problems.