Republican Tom Coburn sez Government jobs in the military don't create wealth
By John Amato Friday Feb 06, 2009 4:59pm(h/t Heather)
On MSNBC, Senator (R) Tom Coburn said that government jobs are bad because they don't create wealth. He wants "wealth jobs" created. He's proposing a plan that is half of President Obama's. When he was asked if getting a job in the military as an example of a government job isn't' creating wealth, he answered no. I guess he thinks getting a job in the military is a bad thing then.
I don't think unemployed people share those same values. When he talks about wealth he's talking about the "rich." Most Americans just want to live with dignity and support their families. I think if an unemployed person was hired with a government job and put food on the table and paid the rent, I think that person would be a happy camper indeed. Especially one of the nearly 3.6 million people that have just lost their jobs.
Does he not see how ridiculous he sounds?
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He just gave himself away.
Screw wealth
Do these jobs create wages and salaries?
A little known fact about Supply-Side economics vs. Keynesian economics is that Supply Siders believe wealth, per se, is more important than average salary levels, or employment levels. And that it doesn't matter how the wealth is distributed. (The underlying argument being that more wealth leads to more savings, more savings leads to more loans, more loans leads to more innovation, and ultimately to more employment.)
Furthermore, since wealth (and savings) accumulate faster for high income earners (as a snowball effect), from their point of view, it makes sense to let the wealthiest people keep more of the income they generate, since that's the quickest way to generate more wealth. Richer people tend to save more. (Poor people don't save as much. Gosh-I wonder why?) Hence the reason behind constantly cutting taxes for the rich, while giving only minimum, TOKEN tax breaks to the middle and lower economic classes.
Most people tend to think that the skyrocketing wealth of the top 1% of income earners, while middle income earners have not seen an increase at all was an UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCE of 30 years of Supply Side tax cutting policy. It was not an unintended consequence. It was part of the plan.
The fact that Republicans are obsessed with the folk-populist version of supply side economics is why they're constantly obsessed with generation of "wealth." When they REMEMBER, they might mention something about employment, or the average, middle class salary. But from their point of view, the amount of wealth in the system, regardless of how uneavenly it's distributed, is all that's important.
Community infrastructure is a form of wealth. Building that infrastructure creates individual wealth through jobs. Individual wealth creates the marketplace. The marketplace creates the need (and taxes) for infrastructure.
Rinse and repeat.
In accounting, infrastructure would be counted as an asset. So when you debit an asset account by making a payment that is seen as a credit on your books (eventual ownership of the asset.)
All government work while honest good work is a liability on the books, there is no positive cash flow, no profitable business model. Assets feed you, liabilities eat you. A business is an engine that creates cash flow, it accelerates the velocity of money and allows for additional investment in which one may capitalize on their success. That is good capitalism. The government is a dependent of the people and therefore an expense and burden to the tax payer. Government work does not itself create wealth.
All derived prosperity resulting from government work comes at greater expense to the tax payer. Essentially the back pocket is paying the front pocket, there is no new external wealth. It’s only revenue stream is from our tax dollars and as of late deficit spending, borrowing against our future from foreign countries whom we cannot ever repay. While Wall Street and banks are fleecing the country today our government has been a damn good job to the tune of $10, Trillion before all this craziness broke out.
The solution is to reduce spending, foreign debt is the problem. You don't fix debt with more debt.
What do ya think of this harsh theory?
"We the people" start/form/shape an entity/business aka government. >>>
"The mission and vision statements set the tone for not only your business plan, but also for your company."
[mission and vision] Prosperity
How much for the staff/domicile/miscellaneous necessities'?[Debit]
Human Resources > yeomen/clerk/secretary, <> legal/justice <> finance etc.? [Debit]
[Governing States] To oversee "We the people" as directed by the Constitution to produce "see mission statement"
Where it "Grows" nobody knows? How much will it cost when one colony is trashing it's peeps and or a neighboring colony? [Debit]
Fed steps in to do it's job.
At the same time an individual or groups starts a newspaper, needing all relative materials. [Debit+Income] But hold on, the Ink maker is dumping stale ink into the river that flows through many jurisdictions, whose gonna pay?
Please expand upon this hypothesis.
I believe it is impractical to claim an entity is to big or small without putting every fact on the table. I myself believe it is bloated with unnecessary resources. Though things change! I believe the expenses of government should change with necessity, the best it can and budget accordingly.
So many things, effect so many things and they bring on challenging times. I tend too believe, the only way to prosper is too make mistakes and go forward from there, hoping not to make the same mistakes again.
"How many times did Thomas Alva Edison fail while inventing electric bulb?" >>> Thousands, and he expected to. :-)
PS. Me... I think our Banking system has failed again!
and a tax base?
Senator (R) Tom Coburn was never an especially bright individual.
Take all the military installations in South Carolina, Alabama, and North Dakota -- just for starters -- and move them all to blue states. Then we'll see if his fellow Republicans might just agree with you, Loonie.
But do you trust anyone in government?
but she works for a tribal government.
This guy is an idiot.
Once again, Coburn PROVES he is an idiot !
His constituents must know this by now OR they are as stupid as he is !!
I don't know where he's coming from. Tinker AFB is based here in Oklahoma City. It's a major employer in the area. What the heck is he talking about????????
He doesn't see it. So remind him of what he said...
Label him "The Military isn't a job, Coburn" and see if he likes it.
Every time one of these asshats says something outrageously stupid such as this, I get to sucker punch them hard. I don't care what party they're in. You can pay me per punch.
If you had that job during the Bush administration you'd be the richest man in the world.
I think I'll be kept in business regardless of what administration is in power. I'd be tired, but I'd be getting exercise.
Which is better: drawing an unemployment check or working in a government-created job?
Duh!
this guy is a knob to the end. spent plenty on military in the recent past some of it pure waste. now it's bad......wow.
.
Dear Senator Tom Coburn(R),
Tell that to the Brass...
.
comes to mind. What a total ass hat.
These pricks have no shame. I guess cornyn is their new point man for being a political hack above country in the fascist party.
The good people of TX sure had their heads up their asses when they voted this dumb ass back into Congress. Nice going!
The man was NOT unanimously elected. Please do not paint with so broad a brush. Lots of liberal Texans, just not enough.
I voted for Rick Noriega.
He's a war hero and a Democrat.
But he couldn't run against the cornyn machine.
He also the surname of a Panamanian General/dictator and enemy of our Nation.
And I'm sure anti-illegal immigration (which I'm also against) played a part, so a Hispanic surname couldn't have helped.
And cornyn was running folksy commercials on how he's against the gridlock of Washington
And Noriega if he had any commercials were hardly running at all.
.
Let me guess, Senator Tom Coburn(R) also supports an increased military budget...
.
so does Obama.
We just spent 8 years creating wealth for a few already rich Republican assholes...how could anyone who actually works or did work or wants to work for a living, be a part of this despicable party. (I know you're out there..because you know rich people, does not mean you will get rich) Be real.
No, the only thing he can see is his bowels.
government services, including the military, out of the budget, what would be left? The reason why governments worldwide are going bankrupt, is they have to keep borrowing money to provide government services as well. The tax (revenue) has never kept up with the expenditures. So if everybody that was unemployed right now worked for the government, where would the money come from to pay for all these services?
Tax and spend. That is it. If we as a society have to look to our corrupt elected officials to provide jobs, we are truly f*cked.
but they're not corrupt,
they're Democrats.
Can we please keep internet chat and 4chan speak out of the articles? Every time I see "epic fail" and these clever mispellings, I get very annoyed. Sorry.
You're fighting a losing battle ... Duuuude.
And wealth creates money hoarding, greed, hubris, crooks, selfishness, war mongers, liars, oh and Repubs. I'm just naming the bad stuff.
That's all I hear from these jerks and the press lets them get away with it. When they talk about the $1trillion we are going to saddle our children with why doesn't the press ask them where they were when Republicans saddled our children with over 5 trillion plus interest under them and Bush . I am really beginning to hate the sorry excuse for main stream press of today
Really? What about all the ex military that go to work for Eric Prince?
Its the same dickhead who had singular holds on 150 bills the Dems were
trying to get through in last Congress. The GOPS designated shithead obstructionist. No one noticed though.
Play them back and apply what he says to the Iraq war.
John Amato disagrees with Coburn's apparent thinking that having a job in the military would be a "bad thing." As a Vietnam veteran, I am not as sanguine as John A. is about the military. It should never be forgotten that the main objective of those who are in the military is to kill other people especially, as George Carlin correctly pointed out in one of his routines, brown people. Yes, ads for the army will tell potential recruits that they, to use their current slogan, can be part of Army Strong. What they conveniently do not tell those patriotic Americans is the unvarnished truth which is that they're main job is to occupy and kill citizens of third world countries. If they actually put that obvious truth in their ads, there is little doubt that their enlistment rates would soon [justifiably] plummet. There are other ways for young people to seek employment besides relying upon the bogus word of the government to help them out.
I though they were referring to civil servants?
Truth Critic
It is unclear if your query is directed at me but my comment was written in relation to what John Amato was implying which was that having a job in the military is something good [as when he says that "I guess he {Coburn} thinks getting a job in the military is a bad thing then".]. As I tried to point out, the main job of the military is to kill people and inevitably those people getting killed for no justifiable reason end up being innocent civilians. As I also stated, "there are other ways for young people to seek employment besides relying the bogus word of the government to help them out."
Wealth to them is over 5 million a year.
John McCain (2008 presidential campaign.)
"Government jobs in the military don't create wealth"
vs
"Government jobs in the Government don't create wealth?"
When "We The People" created Government! "We The People" created the need for jobs...
What is prosperity worth too you?
Ever hear of the phrase "Blood & treasure"?
He may never get it?
Is it possible Coburn is using the term wealth to mean something other than monetary wealth?
Not likely. Have you ever heard a GOPer refer to wealth in any other way?
Though I thought the issue was $$$?
you had corrupt buddies in the Bush administration and had stocks with Halliburton, blackwater and others.
I'd LOVE one of those government jobs! I'm officially sick & tired of being unemployed after 3 1/2 months. As long as it pays more than the unemployment checks, I'd be thrilled!
"Wealth" is overrated. If I had one of those "wealth jobs", I'd just have to have my bathroom redone, buy a new jet and throw a big ol' party at Ceasers in Vegas. Oh, wait, it looks like THAT'S already been done -- Ugh !
Back to the drawing board, then.
Congratulations Senator Coburn, you are the master of sweeping generaliztions.
Those public servants (you say 1 in 5) in Oklahoma support businesses in their communities and many of those PS work second jobs to support their families.
If your 1 in 5 that you site is correct then you must be including: Teachers, Firemen, Police, etc....
PSSST! Coburn.......They ALL support the community........got it........take a civics class sometime.
yup, they like handing out nobel prizes to guys who know nothing about the economy
i think coburn went the wayne allen root school of economics
that is where you learn, after failing at every real job you ever had, how to become a somewhat successful prof gambler, then create infomercials where you sell your tricks to suckers, then go on wingnut talks shows and tell them how you create jobs
Isn't this one of the assholes who said that Terri Schiavo was just taking a nap and was in good enough condition to be a Senator of something like that?
Colburn is an excellent example of how Republicans hate working people.They simply hate them. It is really amazing how many working people vote Republican.
im glad that coburn now sees the need to fix and build infrastructure, but that fucker thinks expanding welfare will help the american people???
these guys are fuckin confused
wasnt generational theft...was it?
He and too many more like him in the senate is the reason this country is in the shape it is in. He doesnt have a clue. We voted to throw the bums out...so ..lets do it.
If these aren't "real" jobs, let's close Fort Sill.
And when Lawton shrivels into nothing Coburn will blame the evil Dems.
thats the problem with all these bastards. they are more interested in creating wealth instead of jobs. Pres Obama needs to quote this dirtbag in his next speech. The President needs to make sure that ALL of America knows that the Repubicans want him to fail and are willing to sellout every working class american to do so.
are soon going to be bankrupt, good luck funding all those extra millions of parasitic non productive jobs.
Gov employment jobs are also a lot more costly than your normal productive jobs, bigger salarys and more benefits, and they expect fancy pensions too.
Its cradle to grave in gov employ.
Not necessarily, state jobs are among the least paid, but those who have them usually factor the job security highly.
Ballpark date-year? voluntary or invoked? Is it definitely irreconcilable, Ferro? Who is gonna administer for the creditor(s)?
or simply "Chaos"?
that I do not like; there are Repubes that I cannot stand. Coburn falls into the latter category. He is an idiot.
If I an unemployed, I am going to not spend much more than my basic needs. If I have a job, including a government job, I will have extra money to spend.
Idiot. Plain and simple.
...no matter where they work.
Republicans are obsolete, sociopathic, pig capitalists who should be pushed out of U.S. society.
I guess he never heard of General Electric. (Rim shot off High Hat)
Bobbq
Excellent point. Nick Turse expands upon this topic and how the military is so pervasive in American society in his most relevant book The Complex: How the Military Invades Our Everyday Lives.
It was a joke. General Electric, like a general in the army sort of thing, and a rim shot is a....tired, so very tired. Bed now, to bed I go.
My question is why are all of these republicans appearing on the cable networks???????
They build and maintain many of our reservoirs, providing watersheds for flood control, supplies for drinking water and a means of generating hydroelectric power. How do you create wealth without water and energy?
Here's a sure-fire way to create some wealth...stop offering $20,000 sign-on bonuses to lure young people into the military...that's a LOT of wealth...& all to avoid reinstating the draft...hmmm...
He says government jobs don't create wealth. Well, they may not produce wealth, but they do create JOBS and give some people some kind of security. What about that doesn't this dork understand? When 6ook people just lost jobs in the last month and Coburn is railing against the government creating jobs, who's side is he on anyway? The people who just lost their jobs? What a fucking dork.
Tom Coburn deserves respect as a fiscal conservative, even during the Bush years... so more insight into his stance needed.
Simply creating govt jobs, with full pensions, limited taxable status, etc. is not a solution for this country. We need govt-independent job growth. So what is behind his comments? why be so dismissive...
The President is soliciting open opinions, evaluate their merit openly too...
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