A Job-Killing Budget
2011-06-30 - by
Maybe it’s congenital. Democrats love complexity – and loathe simplicity.
So it is with state Democrats’ message about the Republican budget.
Yes, Governor Perdue has pulled up her polling numbers by standing up to the legislature – and saying the Republican budget hurts education.
But it’s hard to prove: that education was “hurt.” And the Republicans say they protected teachers and the classroom from cuts.
There’s an easier argument: It’s a job-killing budget. (As in President Obama’s “job killing health care plan.”)
Former Speaker Joe Hackney captured a whiff of this in a Fayetteville Observer op-ed: The Charlotte-Mecklenburg schools are laying off 500 people. Cumberland, hundreds more. Wake County, at least 200. Kannapolis, 114. Harnett, 88. Duplin, 210. Lee County, 50. N.C. Central, 107.
That’s a thousand jobs. How many thousands more will there be?
But Hackney got off track. His message was that the GOP’s “right-wing social agenda” is hurting North Carolina.
Too complicated.
Make it simple: “We’re in the worst economy of our lifetime. Thousands of North Carolinians are looking for jobs. So what did the Republicans do? They put 7,000 (or whatever it is) MORE people out of work.”
The kicker: “Want to put more people to work? Put Democrats to work for you.”
A Job-Killing Budget
2011-06-30/
Maybe it’s congenital. Democrats love complexity – and loathe simplicity.
So it is with state Democrats’ message about the Republican budget.
Yes, Governor Perdue has pulled up her polling numbers by standing up to the legislature – and saying the Republican budget hurts education.
But it’s hard to prove: that education was “hurt.” And the Republicans say they protected teachers and the classroom from cuts.
There’s an easier argument: It’s a job-killing budget. (As in President Obama’s “job killing health care plan.”)
Former Speaker Joe Hackney captured a whiff of this in a Fayetteville Observer op-ed: The Charlotte-Mecklenburg schools are laying off 500 people. Cumberland, hundreds more. Wake County, at least 200. Kannapolis, 114. Harnett, 88. Duplin, 210. Lee County, 50. N.C. Central, 107.
That’s a thousand jobs. How many thousands more will there be?
But Hackney got off track. His message was that the GOP’s “right-wing social agenda” is hurting North Carolina.
Too complicated.
Make it simple: “We’re in the worst economy of our lifetime. Thousands of North Carolinians are looking for jobs. So what did the Republicans do? They put 7,000 (or whatever it is) MORE people out of work.”
The kicker: “Want to put more people to work? Put Democrats to work for you.”