Almost A Record For Limbaugh

It can pass unnoticed, this attack on "excessive regulation" which characterizes the modern Repub Party. Rush Limbaugh on Friday:

The triple threat is higher taxes, more stimulus spending, and federal regulations. All three undermine the creation of jobs.

Let's ask McClatchy about the impact of federal regulations- they "canvassed" small business owners and found

Politicians and business groups often blame excessive regulation and fear of higher taxes for tepid hiring in the economy. However, little evidence of that emerged when McClatchy canvassed a random sample of small business owners across the nation.

"Government regulations are not 'choking' our business, the hospitality business," Bernard Wolfson, the president of Hospitality Operations in Miami, told The Miami Herald. "In order to do business in today's environment, government regulations are necessary and we must deal with them. The health and safety of our guests depend on regulations. It is the government regulations that help keep things in order"....

McClatchy reached out to owners of small businesses, many of them mom-and-pop operations, to find out whether they indeed were being choked by regulation, whether uncertainty over taxes affected their hiring plans and whether the health care overhaul was helping or hurting their business.

Their response was surprising.

None of the business owners complained about regulation in their particular industries, and most seemed to welcome it. Some pointed to the lack of regulation in mortgage lending as a principal cause of the financial crisis that brought about the Great Recession of 2007-09 and its grim aftermath.

During the Clinton Administration, which featured high taxes Republicans cried would prompt a recession, 22.7 million (net) jobs were created; during the Bush administration, while the President. repeatedly cut the income tax rate, 1.08 million (net) jobs were created. Estimates vary, but apparently the stimulus created 1-3 million jobs, net Now, we learn that small business, the primary engine of job creation in the modern economy, is not severely hampered by government regulation.

That puts America's favorite radio talk show host at 0-3 in one sentence. Even for Rush Limbaugh, that's quite impressive.

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