In a very weak economy
In a very weak economy, when you say ‘cut government spending,’ what you mean is you’re laying off school teachers and you’re de-funding various programs that put money into the economy. This means you have more unemployed people that then draw unemployment benefits and don’t pay taxes.
– Fareed Zakaria
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- The basic idea that if you increase government spending or you cut people’s taxes that stimulates the economy and lowers the unemployment rate, is a very widely accepted idea. It’s in every economics textbook, that’s what we teach our undergraduates, and I certainly try to teach them the truth. – Christina Romer
- In the middle of a recession, where we’re just climbing out of it, where the economy -unemployment is still at 9.7 percent, the idea of raising taxes and reducing spending is a prescription for disaster. – Joe Biden
- Not only do unemployment benefits help families who are hurting; they also put money into their pockets that they’ll then spend – and their spending will keep other Americans in jobs. – Robert Reich
- I think most people believe success in government is how many fewer people are in government, not because you kick them off of benefits like unemployment but they’ve been able to control their own destiny because private sector employers have created more jobs. – Scott Walker
- I’ve heard the argument that unemployment benefits somehow act as a disincentive to the long-term unemployed when it comes to looking for work, but the opposite is true. Unemployment Insurance serves as a powerful incentive for people to keep searching for jobs, rather than drop out of the labor force altogether. – Thomas Perez
- More People On Unemployment Benefits Is Not Success In America, Fewer People On Not Because We Kicked Them Off But Because They Have Been Able To Get a Job In The Private Sector, Because Government Got Out Of The Way. – Scott Walker
- My father was unemployed and I was the eldest of seven children. We were very poor. And when you ask how did we support ourselves, the only funding that we had was unemployment payments. – John Hume
- More people on unemployment benefits is not success in America, fewer people on not because we kicked them off but because they have been able to get a job in the private sector, because government got out of the way. – Scott Walker
- Because what happens is, as the economy suffers, tax revenues go down. But unlike businesses, where at least your variable costs go down, in government your variable costs go up: unemployment insurance, workmen’s compensation, health care benefits, welfare, you name it. – Meg Whitman
- I mean, the reality is unemployment today – over 14 million Americans are unemployed. That’s exactly what it was a year ago. I mean, this – the American people know we can’t borrow and spend and bail our way back to a growing economy. – Mike Pence