Republicans are obsessed with their ideology of small government, cutting taxes, and austerity in spending. Never mind the data that show this is exactly the wrong way to go in a recession. Because anything that smacks of Keynesian economics (stimulus, deficit spending) undercuts their ideology.
Their budget darling, Paul Ryan, was a disciple of Ayn Rand until it was pointed out that she was also a militant atheist; so he had to disavow her in name, but he kept her economic philosophy.
Public opinion polls show that the American people are more concerned about jobs (an argument for stimulus spending) much more than they are about the deficit (the reason given for austerity). That didn't make a dent in their adherence to ideology.
Then a few weeks ago, a bright graduate student cut the legs out from under the principle academic book that preached austerity, pointing out glaring methodological errors that made their whole conclusion wrong. Still they didn't retract and turn around.
Now, the latest figures of a declining Gross Domestic Product, a measure of economic growth, show a declining GDP even lower than anticipated for the first quarter. This correlates with decrease in government spending, which comes from the austerity measures Republicans insisted on.
Now will they listen? I doubt it. Probably nothing short of electoral defeat in 2014 will make them listen.
Ralph
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