Economic and Political Issues of the November 2010 Elections Essay

Democrats have suffered political losses due to poor decisions in economic matters. According to social polls, 43% of voters in November 2010 called economic problems the most important in the upcoming elections. Unemployment seems to be one of the most distressing topics. In 2010, the number of unemployed Americans exceeded 15 million, according to the Department of Labor. About 9 million were forced to take part-time jobs. In 2009, Congress passed a $787 billion stimulus bill in response to rising unemployment. Support by the Republican Party turned out to be practically zero. Republicans resented the cost of the bill, saying it was full of unnecessary spending. The Obama administration said the bill funded about 3 million jobs, but voter anger still began to mount as unemployment continued to rise. Philip Dennis said the bill was “the crowning moment of decades of irresponsible government financial conduct.” Voters understood that solving the problem requires more fundamental and structural changes rather than an injection of money. It is impossible to know what would have happened to unemployment without this bill, but it became one of the reasons for such results in the 2010 elections.