海角大神

Does Mitt Romney want to reduce the number of firefighters, police, and teachers in America? That鈥檚 what the Obama reelection campaign is charging. They鈥檝e got that asserts local government jobs shrank dramatically in Massachusetts while Mr. Romney was governor, and that he plans similar reductions if he wins in November.

鈥淢itt Romney鈥檚 economic plan? He wants to cut jobs for firefighters, police, and teachers,鈥� says the campaign spot.

Romney鈥檚 not turning the other cheek on this one. On Tuesday, Romney said in a Fox News appearance that this charge is 鈥渃ompletely absurd.鈥�

鈥淭he federal government doesn鈥檛 pay for teachers, firefighters, or policeman,鈥� the hosts of Fox & Friends.

Hmmm. The two sides are pretty far apart on this question. Who is right here? What鈥檚 the context?

We鈥檇 say this: A Romney statement this week did imply that he believes the nation needs fewer of these particular categories of public servants. But the comment might be better understood as a variation on the continuing Republican theme that government as a whole needs to be smaller and less intrusive in US life.

First, the original statement: At a campaign stop last Friday Romney seized on President Obama鈥檚 controversial statement that the private sector is 鈥渇ine鈥� and that employment as a whole is soft because public sector jobs are down.

Romney said of Mr. Obama that 鈥渉e says we need more firemen, more policemen, more teachers. Did he not get the message of Wisconsin? It鈥檚 time for us to cut back on government and help the American people.鈥�

Generally speaking, Republicans are for smaller government at all levels. But they don鈥檛 typically move on to imply that the nation needs fewer of its more popular types of public servants 鈥� particularly those involved in public safety.

奥颈蝉肠辞苍蝉颈苍鈥檚 Republican Gov. Scott Walker, who just survived a recall attempt sparked by his bill that stripped many public sector workers of bargaining rights, made just that distinction. Police and firefighters were exempt from his cutbacks.

That鈥檚 why Governor Walker distanced himself from Romney鈥檚 remarks in an appearance Sunday on CBS鈥檚 "Face the Nation." His crackdown 鈥渁llowed us to protect firefighters, police officers, and teachers. That鈥檚 not what I think of when I think of big government.鈥�

Now, Romney is literally correct to say that Washington doesn鈥檛 hire firefighters, etc. Those are local or state employees.

But Obama鈥檚 stimulus bills contained billions in subsidies for state and local government to keep their employees on the job. Much of that stimulus spending has run out, which is one reason why public sector employment is declining.

That鈥檚 what we think this whole economic discussion of recent days is mostly about. Obama would prefer that Congress pass more stimulus spending to help heat up public sector hiring. Romney thinks that is failed Keynesianism that just runs up debt. This is a basic distinction between the Democratic and Republican parties.

In closing, we鈥檒l make a couple of other points. Walker may not think of firefighters, police officers, and teachers as part of big government, but they are. As liberal economist Tuesday on his blog, 鈥渢eachers鈥� and 鈥減rotective services鈥� together account for the majority of state and local employment.

However, despite public sector job losses, the unemployment rate for government workers is low, writes conservative American Enterprise Institute fellow Marc Thiessen. It鈥檚 just 4.2 percent, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Contrast this with the unemployment rate for construction, which is 14.2 percent, or with the rate for leisure and hospitality services, which is 9.7 percent.

鈥淚f the rest of Americans enjoyed the same unemployment rate as government workers, Obama would be cruising to reelection,鈥� in a Washington Post opinion piece.