Americans could be ready to "absorb" increases to the deficit if it means higher employment, Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said Tuesday.| 'Absorb' means leave it to the grandkids ... |
"So if somebody has the idea that the percentage of GDP of what our national debt is will go up a bit, but they will now -- and their neighbors and their children will -- have jobs, I think they could absorb that," Pelosi said in a conference call with liberal bloggers on Tuesday, audio of which was posted by ThinkProgress.
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) has said that the lower chamber hopes to move a jobs package by the Christmas holiday recess. Democrats have begun exploring different options for creating jobs, especially as unemployment continues to rise while 2010, an election year for lawmakers, quickly approaches.
| Oh, a jobs package! I got one: 1) make the 2002 and 2003 income tax cuts permanent 2) pass a 3 month holiday on personal tax withholding 3) stop the stimulus spending right now 4) don't pass the health care bill 5) don't pass the cap and tax bill 6) allow energy companies to drill for oil here at home and off our shores 7) start construction of 200 nuclear powered electrical generating stations 8) sell federal shares/warrants of banks, GM, Chrysler to highest bidder 9) convert all public employee pension funds to defined contributions plans 10) return all TARP funds to the Treasury There. That oughta do it. |
"We don't subscribe to the idea that some are for deficit reduction and some are for job creation; we think, again, as I said at the beginning, that's a false choice," she said. "We're never going to decrease the deficit until we create jobs, bring revenue into the Treasury, stimulate the economy so we have growth."
The Speaker said Democrats must also "shed any weakness" about being confrontational on the issue out of fear that the party would be labeled as insensitive to the deficit.
Pelosi suggested, too, that if lawmakers are reluctant to spend for job creation, similar problems that plagued the U.S. during the Great Depression may strike again.
"If we pull our punch, as they did in the mid-'30s, we shouldn't be surprised if history repeats itself," she explained.
| FDR didn't pull his punches, that was the problem. The more he and Hoover meddled, the worse things got. |