TJP
THE JETHRO PROJECT
O R G A N I Z I N G F O R E F F I C I E N T O U T P U T
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Christmas is about sharing the gift of Christ; He is the reason for the season. Apparently, Republican legislators are oblivious to the season of giving. They denied extension of unemployment to the jobless, but vehemently advocate tax cut for the wealthy.
The jobless have no clout with Republican legislators. And, these are that same legislators that profess to be Christians.
In Matthew 25:34-36, Christ, the King, says to those on his right, "Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me."
Surely this is not the philosophy of Republican policy makers. Their philosophy is to reward the wealthy. And, they are hypocritical, because they’ve argued for deficit reduction and pay as you go. Advocating tax reduction for the wealthy that is not paid for would increase the deficit by approximately $700 billion dollars.
Extending unemployment compensation would only increase the deficit by about $16 billion dollars. And, the unemployed would immediately spend the money, boosting aggregate demand. Thus, money in the hands of the unemployed would immediate impact aggregate demand, and hence job creation.
It is, indeed, appalling that in the season for given, such as Christmas, Republican policy makers would choose to terminate employment benefits for the unemployed. Some Republican politicians have argued that unemployment benefits keep the unemployed on the dole.
However, they know, or should know, that the number of jobs available at any given time depends on the level of output. Thus, during recessions the national output is low and employees cannot find jobs because they are more people wanting to work than available jobs. And, the jobs are not available because policy makers during the former Republican administration failed to maintain the conditions that facilitated job creation.
When jobs are not available, there is involuntary unemployment. Employees do not create jobs, entrepreneurs do, but only if they perceive that there is potential demand for their product or services.
Thus, in order to revitalize the economy policy makers have to improve aggregate demand. According to M. G. Hayes, “The aggregate demand function (D) relates the total money-income expected by industry as a whole to the total level of employment (N), where the direction of causation runs from employment to income.” Hence, if employment is low, income is also low.
The signals from Republican policy makers are clear, even in a period of low employment, they do not perceive or understand the affliction of the unemployed. As long as Republican legislators are on the taxpayers’ dole and the wealthy get tax breaks, lack of income to the unemployed is of no concern to them.
True Christians are also aware of Matthew 25:41-43, where Christ says to those on the left "Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me."
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