A False Choice Between Deficit Reduction and Jobs

A recent Des Moines Register poll shows that Democrats and Republicans have very different opinions on the relative importance of the federal deficit versus unemployment and jobs.

Among likely Iowa caucus-goers, 23 percent of Republicans ranked the deficit as the top issue while only 11 percent saw unemployment/jobs that way. Among Democrats, the numbers were nearly the reverse — 21 percent put jobs on top while 9 percent ranked the deficit first.

A recent Des Moines Register poll shows that Democrats and Republicans have very different opinions on the relative importance of the federal deficit versus unemployment and jobs.

Among likely Iowa caucus-goers, 23 percent of Republicans ranked the deficit as the top issue while only 11 percent saw unemployment/jobs that way. Among Democrats, the numbers were nearly the reverse — 21 percent put jobs on top while 9 percent ranked the deficit first.

But Concord Coalition Executive Director Robert L. Bixby suggests that the two sides may just have different ways of expressing concern over the same issue: our nation’s economic future.

He urges people in both parties to “reject the premise that concern about the deficit implies indifference to unemployment and jobs, and vice versa.” The two issues are, in fact, intertwined.

It may be too late in the 2014 campaign season to expect a change. But as the 2016 campaign ramps up, Bixby says, candidates “have an opportunity to reject the false choice between deficit reduction and jobs.” He suggests they present plans to deal with both problems as one:

“A sensible fiscal policy and a responsible campaign platform would recognize that deficit reduction can be phased in to accommodate any lingering sluggishness in the economy  while directing the bulk of the savings to future years when the deficit is projected to resume its upward climb.”