Issa: We've Known For Decades That The Policies I Called For Don't Work

Saving Hawaii said:

I'm surprised that anybody in the Republican Party can keep a straight face anymore. They can't possibly believe the things they say, unless they're insane.

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Saving Hawaii said:

Mark Thoma on the GOP's credibility:

Republican House member Darrell Issa has an op-ed in the Financial Times complaining that the stimulus did not stimulate...

The abysmal results came as no surprise to those who knew that the Keynesian doctrine of spending your way to prosperity had been discredited decades ago.​

Than it must of surprised him or, as is more likely, he doesn't actually know what Keynesian economics is. This is what [Issa] said around the time when the stimulus package was put in place...

There is bipartisan agreement for emergency spending on infrastructure and tax cuts that will create new jobs and reinvigorate private sector investments. Unfortunately, H.R. 1, the "American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009," falls short on both fronts...

To respond to an emergency, you must act quickly. According to the Congressional Budget Office, only 7 percent of the $355 billion in discretionary spending included in the bill would be injected into the economy by the end of fiscal year 2009. By the end of 2010, only 12 percent of the funds set aside for highway construction will be spent...

An effective stimulus can be accomplished through tax cuts and targeted spending...
​

Targeted spending and tax cuts are effective stimulus, and he supports them, but we've known for decades that such Keynesian remedies don't work? The mystery of the GOP's credibility on economics continues...

Economist's View: Issa: We've Know for Decades That the Policies I Called for Don't Work
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I'm surprised that anybody in the Republican Party can keep a straight face anymore. They can't possibly believe the things they say, unless they're insane.

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jamesrwright3 said:

He is right. They paved my road that didn't need paved as part of the stimulus. They had just paved it 10 years ago, but the money had to be spent or else it would be lost. Spending on projects that produce a long term return can help the economy. Paying people to move a pile of dirt from one place to another is not going to stimulate the economy and will actually hurt it in the long run.

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tulc said:

Did you protest?
tulc(not criticizing, just wondering)

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jamesrwright3 said:

Nothing to protest...I was coming home, and it was being paved.
I did ask about why they paved it since it had just been paved 10 years ago..
They told me stimulus money.

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DeathMagus said:

Sounds like a local problem, rather than a federal. Unless that was the road in worst condition in the area.

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Grizzly said:

(he doesn't remember the positions he used to have).

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Steve Petersen said:

This is Obama lately.

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jamesrwright3 said:

Nothing to protest...I was coming home, and it was being paved.
I did ask about why they paved it since it had just been paved 10 years ago..
They told me stimulus money.

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jamesrwright3 said:

Nothing to protest...I was coming home, and it was being paved.
I did ask about why they paved it since it had just been paved 10 years ago..
They told me stimulus money.

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Steve Petersen said:

This is Obama lately.

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kermit said:

I have a tough time buying this. You live in PA. Every local government in PA has more road repairs than it has money to fix them (the down side to have the most road per capita). So either your local government can't prioritize road repairs or the road was in worse shape than you claim.

I have some friends complaining about similar things. One used 222 from Lancaster to Reading as an example of wasted stimulous money. He conviently forgets that that stretch was more patches than road before the repaving.

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tulc said:

Wow. Don't they usually post stuff saying they're going to be paving or something? Here in Chicago they put up signs warning not to park on certain streets because of construction. It's usually at the worst possible time and takes far longer then originally posted.
tulc(spends a lot of time driving around Chicago)

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jamesrwright3 said:

There was literally nothing wrong with the road. I see it and walk on it every day. It was just fine. It had been repaved around the year 2K. It is not heavily traveled and no large trucks go on it on a regular basis.

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Yesterday, House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-CA) released the responses he received to a request he made last month for business, trade associations, and think tanks to identify regulations that they’d like to see eliminated or reduced. Many of the responses took aim at the Environmental Protection Agency, but there was plenty of concern reserved for regulations from both the Affordable Care Act and the Dodd-Frank financial reform law.

Issa is pitching this product as the manifestation of Congress finally listening to “job creators.” In fact, his new website for soliciting further responses is located at “americanjobcreators.com.” “This project is an opportunity for private industry to put forward detailed and specific examples so that both the American people and policymakers can determine for themselves what actions can be taken to create jobs,” Issa said in a statement paired with the release of the responses.

But who actually responded to Issa’s request? According to a ThinkProgress analysis, more than half his responses came from lobbyists and trade organizations, not actual business owners:

– 106 lobbying organizations, including the American Petroleum Institute, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the Financial Services Roundtable, and the Business Roundtable

– 47 businesses, including American Express, Boeing, Ford, and a group of small businesses

– 26 individuals (18 of them unidentified)

– The Heritage Foundation and George Mason’s Mercatus Center

See a full list below.

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Lobbying/Trade Organizations:

Advanced Medical Technology Association
Aerospace Industries Association
Agricultural Retailers Association
Air Transport Association
Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association
Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers
American Architectural Manufacturers Association
American Beverage Association
American Chemistry Council
American Cleaning Institute
American Coatings Association
American Coke and Coal Chemicals Institute
American Farm Bureau Federation
American Forest and Paper Association
American Gas Association
American Hardware Manufacturers Association
American Home Furnishings Alliance
American Hospital Association
American Iron and Steel Institute
American Land Title Association
American Meat Institute
American Petroleum Institute
American Wire Producers Association
APA — The Engineered Wood Association
Associated Builders and Contractors Inc.
Associated General Contractors of America
Associated General Contractors of Tennessee
Associated Industries of Florida
Association for Manufacturing Technology
Association of Equipment Manufacturers
Association of International Automobile Manufacturers
Automotive Aftermarket Industry Association
Biotechnology Industry Association
Business Coalition for Fair Compeition
Business Roundtable
Center for Regulatory Effectiveness
Commodity Markets Council
Composite Panel Association
Computing Technology Industry Association
Construction Industry Roundtable
Consumer Specialty Products Association
Council of Industrial Boiler Owners
Credit Union National Association
DBA International (debt buyer’s)
Financial Services Forum
Financial Services Roundtable
Forging Industry Association
Free Enterprise Nation
Government Withholding Relief Coalition
Grocery Manufacturers Association
Impact Mortgage Management Advocacy and Advisory Group
Independent Petroleum Association of America
Industrial Energy Consumers of America
Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries
Interlocking Concrete Pavement Institute
International Bottled Water Association
International Dairy Foods Association
International Sleep Products Association
IPC — Association Connecting Electronics Industries
Kitchen Cabinet Manufacturers Association
Manufactured Housing Institute
Mercatus Center at George Mason University
Methanol Institute
Motor and Equipment Manufacturers Association
NanoBusiness Alliance
National Alliance of Forest Owners
National Asphalt Pavement Association
National Association of Chain Drug Stores
National Association of Homebuilders
National Association of Manufacturers
National Automobile Dealers Association
National Black Chamber of Commerce
National Community Pharmaceuticals Association
National Concrete Masonry Association
National Council of Textile Organizations
National Electrical Manufacturers Association
National Federation of Independent Business
National Glass Association
National Lumber and Building Material Dealers Association
National Marine Manufacturers Association
National Mining Association
National Oilseed Processors Association
National Petrochemical and Refiners Association
National Stone, Sand, and Gravel Association
National Telecommunications Cooperative Association
National Tooling and Machining Association
Non-Ferrous Founders’ Society
Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association
Plumbing Manufacturers International
Portland Cement Association
Precision Machined Products Association
Precision Metalforming Association
Responsible Industry for a Sound Environment
Safe and Secure Internet Gambling Initiative
Silver Nanotech Working Group
Small Business and Entrepreneurship Council
Society of Chemical Manufacturers and Affiliates
Textile Rental Service Association of America
The Aluminum Association
The Association of Chief Human Resource Officers
The Brick Industry Association
The Fertilizer Institute (Nourish, Replenish, Grow!)
The Heritage Foundation
The Rural Cellular Association
The Wireless Association
U.S. Chamber of Commerce
US Telecom (The Broadband Association)
Window and Door Manufacturers Association

Businesses:

American Express
At Home Services
Bechtel Property Services
Bob Zales Charters
Boeing
Boys and Girls Club
BumbleBee Foods
Channel Lock Inc.
Charlotte Pipe and Foundry Company
City of Vista
CNC Puma Corporation
ConocoPhillips
D.A. Griffen Financial
Diving Unlimited International
Engagent
Epona LLC.
EternaTile
E-World Recyclers
Fintastic Fishing Charters
Ford
Forest Wood Fiber Products
Gary R. (unidentified)
Glenn Bogart J.D.
Global Stage Systems
Hitchcock Automotive Resources
Hunter 3-D Inc.
Infinity Mortgage Corporation
James Parker, Parker Computing
John F. Burik, Med.
Kern Trucking Inc.
King’s Paddlesports
Lighthouse Construction of North Carolina
Logo Expressions Inc.
Mazda
Mexico Beach Charters
Murray Energy Corporation
Perris Skyventure
Perris Valley Aviation
PSA Insurance Services
Sentak Glabal
Sobie Inc.
Super Soundproofing
The Paradigm Group
Tippy’s Tow Service
Toyota
Van Dinter and Associates

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ImmortalTechnique said:

not surprising, considering Issa's one of the tea party folks, and his entire agenda is selling out the American people to corporate interests.

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