Republican were unable to disguise their glee at yesterday’s poor job numbers. They’ve been working to undermine the economy for months, and they must see it as a great success that the recovery is now fizzling out.

I know, I know — both sides always want to blame the other for bad news. But the fact is, one side tried to do something to strengthen the recovery and the other didn’t. Remember when President Obama proposed the American Jobs Act? It would have created between 1 and 2 million jobs, reducing unemployment by as much as a full percentage point. Republicans in Congress killed it.

Why did they do it? Because they’re perfectly willing to sacrifice the economy and millions of Americans’ well-being to knock Barack Obama out of office. Their strategy is working, too. In all the commentary on the deflating recovery, virtually no news outlet saw fit to mention that Obama and the Democrats had pushed for the creation of 2 million more jobs. 

Obama proposed a whole series of ideas that independent economists said could create as many as two million jobs. Republicans filibustered virtually all of them, refusing to allow a majority vote on them in the Senate, even on ideas Republicans previously supported as legitimate job-creation measures, such as more investment in the nation’s infrastructure. Yet today’s news is being discussed almost entirely in terms of what it says about the President, as if Republicans have had no role whatsoever in the events of the past few years. [Greg Sargent, emphasis added]

It’s the successful culmination of years of economic sabotage by the GOP. They’re the big winners, but Barack Obama isn’t the biggest loser. The biggest losers are the millions of Americans who are unemployed or unable to make ends meet. Republicans have sacrificed millions of Americans’ well-being to achieve their goal of defeating President Obama.

Late last week, Mitt Romney has another one of the very-frequent moments when he reveals what a privileged life he has led:

At a “lecture” for students at Otterbein University in Ohio today, Mitt Romney told students that, his friend, Jimmy John, started a business by borrowing $20,000 from his parents at a low interest rate. Romney suggested anyone in the audience could do the same:

This kind of devisiveness, this attack of success, is very different than what we’ve seen in our country’s history. We’ve always encouraged young people: Take a shot, go for it, take a risk, get the education, borrow money if you have to from your parents, start a business.

Yeah, just borrow $20,000 from your parents! No problem.

As always, Romney seems completely oblivious to the fact that not everyone in America has these sorts of opportunities. This time, though, I think the gaffe reveals more than just how out-of-touch Romney is. In fact, Romney’s casual assumption that anyone can just borrow $20,000 from their parents is related to the central fallacy of the Republicans’ economic policies.

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The Violence Against Women Act passed yesterday by a vote of 68-31. All 31 no votes were cast by Republicans.

But the GOP would like to remind you that there is no War on Women. 

Nobody — and I mean nobody — thinks the Republican-controlled legislature is doing a good job, according to a recent SurveyUSA poll.

Mark Dayton has a solid 50 percent approval rating. With 33 percent disapproving, that gives him an excellent +17 net favorability rating. The legislature, on the other hand, has a 17 percent approval rating, and 65 percent disapproval, for a whopping -48 net favorability.

Sure, the usual caveats apply — an executive nearly always does better than a legislative body, people often feel better about their own representative than they do about the entire body, etc. No matter how much you try to stretch it, though, the numbers are ugly. It looks like Republican legislators are going to be getting what they deserve this November.

I’ve written a lot lately about how Congressional Republicans are rooting for the economic recovery to fail — in fact, it’s central to their electoral strategy. Despite their best efforts, though, the recovery appears to be gathering strength. That’s why they’re resorting to desperate tactics like demanding the Federal Reserve stop trying to improve the economy.

But there’s one potent weapon left in the Republicans’ arsenal: they could kill the payroll tax cut that’s expiring at the end of this month, costing middle-class workers money and weakening consumer demand. More and more, it’s looking like they may actually happen:

Top Democrats are openly calling into doubt the chances that Congressional negotiators will reach an agreement to renew the payroll tax cut before it expires at the end of the month. The culprit, they say, is a deep schism within the Republican conference over whether the the tax holiday is a good policy or just a political gimmick to help President Obama win re-election.

The consequences of failure would result in a typical middle-class worker taking home about $1000 less this year, just as demand is starting to return to the U.S. economy and the unemployed are beginning to find work.

As a fiscal stimulus goes, the payroll tax cut is a weak one. However, it has at least had some effect, and our economy stills needs all the help it can get. Taking this money out of consumers’ hands could do a lot of economic damage. Unfortunately, that may be just what the GOP wants.

A new CBS News / New York Times poll shows that by enormous margins, Americans believe the GOP is the party of the rich. Respondents were nearly evenly divided on whether the Obama administration favors the rich, the poor, or the middle class. On the other hand, fully 69 percent of respondents believe the GOP favors the rich.

Finally, Americans are starting to realize that the Republicans have waged class warfare against the poor for decades. And it’s about time. They have done everything in their power to rig the system for the rich and powerful, demanding sacrifice from the 99 percent even as they enrich the 1 percent. And it has killed our economy.

The GOP hasn’t worked for the 99 percent in decades. It’s high time they were held accountable.

The threat of taking even a single nickel from the richest 1-2 percent of Americans.

NOTE: Calling for sacrifices from all other Americans, while specifically exempting the filthy-rich, is by definition not Class Warfare.

BREAKING NEWS: A Republican candidate is willing to entertain the idea of asking the rich to sacrifice:

Jon Huntsman told the NewsHour that he would call on all Americans — including the wealthy — to contribute to fixing the economy. 

Said Huntsman: “As president, I wouldn’t hesitate to call on a sacrifice from all of our people, even those at the very highest end of the income spectrum….”

Okay, so it’s not a real contender for the nomination. Jon Huntsman is widely viewed as far too centrist to win a GOP primary. But at least there’s someone in the GOP field who believes the super-rich should make sacrifices just like the rest of us. That’s big news these days.

Oh, and also, there’s more to that quote:

I’m not saying higher taxes, but there are contributions they can make too.

This is the radical left of the Republican Party.

I’ve been wondering lately exactly what the Republicans’ priorities really are. Looking at some of the positions they’ve taken in recent months, their priorities seem to me to be completely warped. Consider the following:

• They adamantly opposed tax increases on the wealthy, to the point of nearly bringing our government to default.
• They oppose extending a payroll tax cut for the poor and middle class, citing concerns about the deficit.
• They approved an extension of the Bush tax cuts for the rich, which increased the deficit by $120 billion.

How do all of these positions add up to a coherent philosophy? The only way it works is if the Republicans’ priorities are:

• Putting millionaires above ordinary Americans; and/or
• Bringing down Barack Obama, no matter the cost to our nation.

I don’t know which is worse, but I suspect they are both top priorities for the GOP.