Republicans probably think these numbers are too low. Democrats probably think these numbers are too high. Because these numbers can be spun by politicians on both sides endlessly, they must be "in the ballpark." So, here are the numbers:
The economic nerds at the San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank have estimated that the economic cost of Washington's indecisiveness and gridlock is about two million full-time jobs and even more part-time jobs. Because businesses are paralyzed by fear of the active Washington regulators and the inactive Washington legislators, they are not expanding their workforces fast enough. If they became confident that Washington was no longer a direct threat to them, they would begin hiring, and the unemployment rate would drop 1.3% to just 6.1%, which is almost down to our 20-year average rate of unemployment. In other words, the only thing keeping us from a normal economy is Washington.
Two million people no longer receiving unemployment benefits and actually paying income taxes instead -- that would also be very good for the annual budget deficit as well.
Some pundits have speculated that the President's decision to make Congress decide on a Syrian response would cause so much strife among both Republicans and Democrats that they might accidentally talk to each other again (Heaven forbid) and actually break the gridlock before next month's epic budget battle! That might be the bravest or the dumbest political calculus in history.
Lots of people find it pleasant to hate Washington and blame all our ills on it. I find Washington is just another fact of life, deserving neither to be loved nor hated. However, the two million individuals who are denied jobs, people who are denied benefits, who cannot feed their family or pay their rent -- they are entitled to hate Washington. The rest of us should just count our blessings and our relative immunity from Washington.
The economic nerds at the San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank have estimated that the economic cost of Washington's indecisiveness and gridlock is about two million full-time jobs and even more part-time jobs. Because businesses are paralyzed by fear of the active Washington regulators and the inactive Washington legislators, they are not expanding their workforces fast enough. If they became confident that Washington was no longer a direct threat to them, they would begin hiring, and the unemployment rate would drop 1.3% to just 6.1%, which is almost down to our 20-year average rate of unemployment. In other words, the only thing keeping us from a normal economy is Washington.
Two million people no longer receiving unemployment benefits and actually paying income taxes instead -- that would also be very good for the annual budget deficit as well.
Some pundits have speculated that the President's decision to make Congress decide on a Syrian response would cause so much strife among both Republicans and Democrats that they might accidentally talk to each other again (Heaven forbid) and actually break the gridlock before next month's epic budget battle! That might be the bravest or the dumbest political calculus in history.
Lots of people find it pleasant to hate Washington and blame all our ills on it. I find Washington is just another fact of life, deserving neither to be loved nor hated. However, the two million individuals who are denied jobs, people who are denied benefits, who cannot feed their family or pay their rent -- they are entitled to hate Washington. The rest of us should just count our blessings and our relative immunity from Washington.
