Behind the national debate on the economy are two opposing economic ideologies: One says the government should spend money to stimulate the economy in a recession, the other says the government should cut taxes and the budget and let the market work itself out.Those positions have become major campaign issues this year. Democrats have generally supported the stimulus plans; Republicans largely have not. In Nevada, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid championed short-term stimulus legislation to address this recession, and his Republican challenger, Sharron Angle, embodies the opposing view, against government involvement.
Republican leaders in Congress have made the stimulus package a wedge issue. They have argued that the stimulus failed to revive the economy — pointing to the unemployment rate — and only put the nation trillions of dollars in debt. They even say that the government plan only prolonged the economic woes — and some Republicans argue that it made them worse.
But consider this: The stimulus plan has saved or created up to 2.8 million jobs and pumped billions of dollars into the economy, helping millions of Americans. Yet the economy is still slow to recover. So what would have happened had the Republicans gotten their way and done essentially nothing?
It would have been catastrophic. The economy would have faced a meltdown, unemployment would have been significantly higher and millions more Americans would be suffering.
Many of the nation's leading economists say the stimulus was necessary to help the country and prevent a disaster, as Delen Goldberg and An-
jeanette Damon reported in Sunday's Las Vegas Sun. Economists Mark Zandi of Moody's Analytics and Alan Blinder of Princeton University issued a paper last month making the case, stating, "it is clear that laissez faire was not an option; policymakers had to act."
"Not responding would have left both the economy and the government's fiscal situation in far graver condition," they wrote, adding that had nothing been done, the nation's unemployment would be near 16 percent and there would be 8.5Êmillion fewer jobs.
Still, despite the fact that the stimulus helped, GOP leaders complain that it added too much to the federal deficit. Their newfound infatuation with the deficit is interesting considering they were never really concerned about it when they were in charge. Certainly the deficit is important, but that can and should be dealt with by Congress as the economy improves.
The GOP's attack on the stimulus and the party's position on the economy have polarized the debate, making progress tougher to come by. What may be worse is that the Republican position fails to take into account the reality of the current situation: People are still hurting. And doing nothing won't help.
It's beyond time that the Republicans shelve the disingenuous rhetoric and start working with Democrats to find ways to improve the economy and help people.
Copyright 2010 Las Vegas Sun
