In a case of striking similarity, the US Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) echoed the sentiments of Colorado's state Senate Majority Leader John Morse (D-CO Springs) when talking about the need to raise taxes to add more people to the government payroll. On the floor of the US Senate yesterday, in arguing for a tax increase to fund more government jobs Harry Reid said "it's very clear private sector jobs are doing just fine."
When we heard that we couldn't help but think of Senator Morse who said last month that while it was clear increasing taxes through Prop 103 would slow the private economy, we should be focused on the "government economy."
Flashback:
Senator Morse: Raising taxes will slow the Colorado economy. And we heard public testimony that whether it's Keynesian or monetary, or whatever, taking tax dollars out of the private economy slows the private economy. Okay. What about the government economy?
There couldn't be two clearer statements on the real priorities of the leaders of the upper chambers of this state and country. As the biggest donor to Democrats, and the biggest donor in the nation, last cycle was the public sector union AFSCME, who spent a whopping $87 million on the 2010 elections, it's clear favors are being returned.
There's not much to add to this, other than to say how unbelievable it is that John Morse and Harry Reid actually believe that government employment is the most important issue at hand right now. In the midst of the Great Recession, with unemployment stuck above 9% and underemployment approaching nearly 20%, all Morse and Reid can think about is how to put more people on the government's payroll — a payroll funded from the taxes taken from private sector employees.
And no, Senators Morse and Reid, the private sector employment market is not "doing just fine."
Check out Harry Reid's truly idiotic statement in this video clip from the US Senate floor, after the jump: