Has Congress made the recession worse? - Feb. 23, 2012

Has Congress made the recession worse? Well, they haven't helped solve the problem. That's for sure. Where are the jobs, jobs, jobs? They promised. They lied. It's now time to send members of Congress to join the ranks of the unemployed.

Although not funny in the least, three years ago you would have been charged with blasphemy for uttering the words "policy uncertainty."

Now, all of the sudden, the Fed and Bernanke have long acknowledged the effects of policy uncertainty? B.S.

Well, I was wrong, one need only go back 6 months on the same website.

finance.fortune.cnn.com/2011/08/29/more-certainty-insanity/ (note: put the h t t p in front of that.

"All I'm asking is that Cantor -- and everyone else -- stop talking about how "uncertainty" over government action (or inaction) is preventing American business from hiring. It is simply untrue, as I've discussed here and here."

Sorry AJ, not trying to hijack you here. Having a hard time walking away from this one today.

newsvine.com/_vine/search?q=uncertainty&sa=Search&cx=012943277593349087480%3Axx9wfuef0se&cof=FORID%3A11&searchIn=x

Again, Newsvine won't let me link. not savvy enough perhaps. Type the http and www in front of the above. If that doesn't work, because the vine removed what I typed above, just go to the top of this page and type "uncertainty" in the search box. Should yield the same result.

Bottom line. Political expediency from the left here. Clear diversionary tactic. Take the focus off of the president, the policy maker, the trend setter, the BOSS. Let's direct everyone's attention to Congress, which BTW I agree establishes the positive law. Problem is, almost all of the policy that is scaring business away is established by the headless fourth branch of the government. The unaccountable and unelected federal regulatory agencies. Guess who the boss of the executive branch and the agencies is.

As an aside, don't think I am unaware of the same games played by the right, or equally disgusted. It does disturb me that you can point to so many examples of people getting down right nasty defending this stuff. Anyway, I digress. Good seed. Obviously, I liked it.

Yes, they have made it worse. One of the reasons is the focus on spending cuts (and the deficit) in a severe recession. Those cuts are directly responsible for some of the higher unemployment numbers and anemic recovery.

http://www.cbpp.org/cms/index.cfm?fa=view&id=711

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/20/opinion/krugman-pain-without-gain.html?_r=1

There is growing evidence that policy uncertainty has contributed to the slow pace and extended length of the current economic recovery,
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The single most important thing we want to achieve is for President Obama to be a one-term president." -- Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY)

However, Senate Minority Leader, McConnell rallied the troops by telling them if we just stick together and say 'no' to everything…

republicans in congress have no desire to do anything to help obama look good and if a failing economy is part of the process they will continue to promote that..

We lowered our long-term rating on the U.S. because we believe that the prolonged controversy over raising the statutory debt ceiling and the related fiscal policy debate indicate that further near-term progress containing the growth in public spending, especially on entitlements, or on reaching an agreement on raising revenues is less likely than we previously assumed and will remain a contentious and fitful process. We also believe that the fiscal consolidation plan that Congress and the Administration agreed to this week falls short of the amount that we believe is necessary to stabilize the general government debt burden by the middle of the decade

The political brinksmanship of recent months highlights what we see as America's governance and policymaking becoming less stable, less effective, and less predictable than what we previously believed.

The statutory debt ceiling and the threat of default have become political bargaining chips in the debate over fiscal policy.