Daily Clips: July 9th, 2015
Why Jeb Bush Wants You to Work Harder: If you haven’t heard already, Jeb! made his first dumb and consequential statement in his nascent presidential campaign. He was answering a question on tax reform when he said the following:
My aspiration for the country and I believe we can achieve it, is 4 percent growth as far as the eye can see. Which means we have to be a lot more productive, workforce participation has to rise from its all-time modern lows. It means that people need to work longer hours and, through their productivity, gain more income for their families. That’s the only way we’re going to get out of this rut that we’re in.
How tone deaf can he be? Americans already work on average 47 hours per week, as Paul Constant highlighted yesterday, making us the most over-worked Western country in the world. I’m sure this inconvenient fact was pointed out to Bush soon after the interview, as he was quick to backtrack on his comment yesterday, responding to the media’s criticism in this way:
Well I think people want to work harder to be able to have more money in their own pockets and not be dependent on government. You can take it out of context all you want, but high sustained growth means that people work 40 hours rather than 30 hours.
This statement is almost as insulting as the first. Almost. For the love of god, though, can someone ask him about his position on overtime pay! Please?!
Here’s Hillary’s response to the gaffe:
Oh snap.
The Average US Woman Is Saving $255 Per Year On Her Birth Control Pills: According to ThinkProgress, the Affordable Care Act has made birth control more financially accessible “than ever before.” Prior to Obamacare mandate taking effect,
…contraceptive spending accounted for roughly 44 percent of the average woman’s annual health expenditures, but this number has dropped to 22 percent since the ACA provision was widely adopted in 2013.
I’m sure this welcome news has Rush Limbaugh muttering sexist comments left, right and center.
South Carolina House Votes To Remove Confederate Flag: It’s truly amazing how quickly this issue has moved. I only wish Republicans and Democrats had spent as much time discussing the issue of gun violence, as well. Why hasn’t the media directed as much attention to those shameful politicians who quietly renewed a ban on gun violence research?
While I don’t mean to downplay the importance of taking down the Confederate Flag, the media’s obsession with this racist symbol has conveniently distracted Americans from the real root of the Charleston church shooting: guns. One can only hope that after the next, inevitable mass shooting we focus on more pertinent issues.
