Republican voters: The job cuts and smaller guv’ment you voted for are coming…soon

“Cut waste first,” said the pre-election signs around Tucson.

“Cut taxes and reduce government,” was the Tea Party rallying cry around the country.

In cash-strapped Arizona, that small guv’ment you voted for is coming quickly– 2 days after the election. Smaller government means fewer government jobs, less or no economic stimulus money from the feds, and higher unemployment– at least in the short-term.

With smaller government, you can expect more of this…
City could lay off up to 400 workers. City Manager Mike Letcher had warned that if the city didn’t raise revenue (with the core sales tax), core services would be cut. Cutting services means cutting jobs.

Propositions’ defeat pokes hole in budget Gosh, the state is $449 million more in the hole than they anticipated because the voters defeated Props 301 and 302, according to the Arizona Daily Star. Yes, “No Plan” Jan didn’t balance the budget as she claimed in her campaign ads. Since the Republican-controlled Arizona Legislature continues to cling to failed trickle-down economic policies and wants to give more tax breaks to the rich, expect more job cuts. Balancing the budget on the backs of children and workers has been their standard procedure. Since Republicans will have an even stronger position in state government after Tuesday, expect more of the same. There will be job losses at all levels–except maybe the upper echelon of government. (Oh, I can hear the whining now!) The only way Governor Jan Brewer created any jobs was with economic stimulus funds from the feds. Heck, even Jesse Kelly– who campaigned against stimulus funds and for smaller government– benefited from the $30 million in stimulus funds that his family business received.

Oct. county foreclosures up vs. 2009 level October 2010 foreclosures in Pima County are up 7.5 percent over October 2009 and are more than 4 times the foreclosures October 2006, according to the Arizona Daily Star. More than 1,000 people received foreclosure notices in Pima County in one month.

No clear path for GOP on health care repeal Oops. It’s time to make good on the soundbites. For the federal job cuts, we’ll have to wait until after the new Republican majority is sworn into Congress. Since they campaigned on giving tax cuts to the rich (with account for 1/3 of the federal budget deficit) + repealing “Obamacare”, which saves money + reducing the size of government, it will be fascinating to see how they work that fuzzy math and how many job losses are attached to it.

And less of this…
Ariz. firms awarded drug-discovery grants, credits Funding research? That’s “elitist”!

PPEP gets funding for rural micro-loans Loans for small rural businesses? Do rural Arizonans need jobs? They can always pick lettuce or work in the Circle K.

Home for vets taking shape A home for Arizona veterans funded by economic stimulus funds? That headline from the Arizona Daily Star must be a lie. Everyone knows the economic stimulus didn’t do anything for Arizona– Ruth and Jesse told us so.

State fund for jobless owes US millions Arizona’s unemployment is one of the worst in the country, and the state government is so poorly run that we don’t have enough money to pay unemployment– so while the governor and Arizona Legislature shake their angry fists at the feds they are taking federal funds with the other hand.

But– those days will soon be gone. No more federal money to create short-term jobs, and no more handouts to the states (like Arizona) that are poorly managed and bankrupt. After January, we will be waiting in the bread lines for economic prosperity to trickle down upon us from the wealthiest 1 percent.