At a campaign stop earlier today in Council Bluffs, Iowa, Mitt Romney criticized President Obama for “want[ing] to hire more government workers,” including “more firemen, more policemen, [and] more teachers.”
“Did he not get the message of Wisconsin?” Romney added. “The American people did. It’s time for us to cut back on government and help the American people.”
Steve Benen has a post at The Maddow Blog explaining why these comments are significant, and what they say about the difference between the two candidates: I can’t stress the importance of this enough, because it underscores so much of what the 2012 presidential campaign is all about. President Obama’s American Jobs Act intended to protect or create 400,000 jobs for school teachers, police officers, and firefighters. A CNN poll taken at the time found that 75% of the public — and 63% of self-identified Republicans — endorsed this jobs proposal. Romney isn’t just against these jobs; he’s bragging about his opposition, assuming this line is popular.
Ned Resnikoff is an urban policy analyst, researcher, writer, and editor. His byline has appeared in a variety of publications, including the New York Times, San Francisco Chronicle, Dissent, and The Nation. He writes the newsletter Public Comment, which can be found at publiccomment.blog. Recommended
