My Fellow Texans,
We have been lied to, mislead, and bamboozled. We were told that if Republicans were given control of local, state, and federal government that they would create jobs and cut spending so that businesses would suddenly have the confidence to hire more workers. None of this has happened. Not a single promise made by newly elected Republicans has been kept. Now the people of Texas are paying the price.
Republicans ran demanding to know "where are the jobs?" while promising to focus on creating jobs. The first bills filed in the Texas Legislature were for forcing women to get invasive sonograms, allowing guns on campuses, and making it harder for minorities and low income Texans to vote. In Washington, the first bill voted on by the newly Republican controlled House of Representatives was to deny access to affordable healthcare to millions of Americans. After that Republicans in Washington voted to privatize Medicare and Medicaid. None of these bills have created a single job. We were promised job creation but instead got right wing social agenda.
We were told that we must cut government spending in order to save our economy. It was said that if businesses believed that government would cut spending they would magically have the confidence to increase hiring. So, Washington cut spending and so did state and local governments. Since then we have gone from adding over 220,000 jobs a month, for three straight months, to only 58,000 jobs in the most recent jobs report. The "confidence fairy", to borrow from Paul Krugman, has not appeared to magically restore confidence to businesses.
When America has been faced with dire economic circumstances progressive policies have always righted our course. During the Great Depression programs like the Work Projects Administration, Tennessee Valley Authority, unemployment assistance, and Social Security helped Americans pull ourselves up. President Roosevelt faced pressure to cut spending and when he gave into that pressure unemployment spiked again. While we must reduce our deficit, we must also learn from our past. Cutting too much too fast will not only hinder our recovery but will not reduce the deficit in the long term. The loss of revenues caused by a double dip recession will only increase our deficit.
If we want to come out of this as a stronger nation, we must use the tools that have always worked. We must protect programs like Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid that keep our seniors from falling into poverty. We must give assistance to emerging industries. We must also fund our education system so that we can supply the workforce for those emerging industries. We must put people back to work rebuilding our roads and bridges and building high speed rail systems. We must do these things because a job is a job whether it is a government job or private sector job. Anyone who says that government jobs do no count should go ask a teacher, police officer, or fireman if their job counts for their family.
I am going to the Senate as a Democrat because I believe in what works. I believe in the same progressive policies that FDR, JFK, and Lyndon Johnson used to strengthen our nation and our economy. Like those men I believe that people who need a job do not care if it comes from a private company or the government. I believe that most Texans and Americans just want to be able to support their families and to provide a better future for their children. I am going to the Senate as a Democrat because I believe that in America we can create jobs.
Sean Hubbard
Democratic Candidate for U.S. Senate
www.hubbardforsenate.com
http://www.hubbardforsenate.com/...