The Republicans' Economic Triumph

The administration gave the GOP tax cuts for the rich and a freeze on domestic spending. That's total victory.

By Eliot Spitzer
Posted Monday, Feb. 7, 2011, at 11:16 AM ET

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Last Friday was our economic Groundhog Day. The horrendous job numbers that came out prove that we're stuck in the same old script of bad policy and bad economics that got us into the mess we are in.

Remember the rallying cry from Republicans and business leaders last December? If you extend the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy, then we will open the floodgates to hiring and the $2 trillion in retained earnings—cash—that we're sitting on will pour into the economy. Well, it hasn't happened. The gears of the job creation engines have ground to a halt. The paltry 36,000 jobs created in January (50,000 in the private sector—government shrank by 14,000 jobs) are a harsh reminder that we're stuck. (Remember, just to accommodate population growth, we need 150,000 jobs every month just to break even.)