OPINION:
States with Republican governors — many of whom began reopening last year and are rejecting President Joe Biden‘s enhanced unemployment bonuses — are leading this nation’s economic recovery.
Seventeen of the top 20 states for jobs recovered from the coronavirus pandemic are led by the GOP, with the top 12 all run by Republican governors, according to newly released data from the Labor Department. Two red states, Idaho and Utah, have more jobs now than they did pre-pandemic.
Only five Democrat-run states have recovered at least two-thirds of their jobs lost, compared to 17 Republican-led states. The 10 states with the highest unemployment rates are all led by Democratic governors, with the average unemployment rate for the nation’s blue states coming in at 6.3%, two-percentage points higher than the average unemployment rate for the nation’s 27 red states.
While President Joe Biden and the Democrats believe it’s better to pay people not to work, Republican governors are realizing the damage the federal government is doing to their local economies with enhanced unemployment benefits. Twenty-four Republican-led states have decided to end the $300-per-week supplemental unemployment bonuses, with no blue states yet opting out. It’s estimated at the $300 level, 37% of workers could make more money on unemployment than returning to work — so why return?
Yet the Biden White House and Democratic governors have repeatedly ignored this simple logic. They have instead blamed the lack of childcare and health-safety concerns as the reason for the nation’s labor shortage, as they continue to press for more government spending.
They have used April’s disappointing jobs report to lobby Congress to pass Mr. Biden‘s $1.8 trillion American Families Plan, which includes child care aid and two free years of universal pre-K. They want the American people dependent on the federal government, and are bound and determined to keep them there, economics be damned.
Press Secretary Jen Psaki has repeatedly said “there is not overwhelming data that suggests [unemployment benefits] is a driving force in people not reentering the workforce, especially at a time where we’re continuing to recover from the pandemic.”
This is a lie — pure propaganda meant to obfuscate the Biden administration’s true priority, more government spending and more American subservience to them.
Even Jason Furman, a Harvard professor who chaired the Council of Economic Advisers in the Obama administration and is a Biden ally disagrees.
He co-authored a study that expressly stated the lack of childcare and school closures are not the reason for April’s disappointing job numbers, enhanced unemployment benefits are.
Republican governors have received the message, are rejecting the federal aid, reopening their states and leading this nation’s economic recovery. Democrats meanwhile continue to ignore the facts, lobby for more federal spending and are weighing our economy down.
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