I hear this excuse used by Republican politicians all the time: "I was taken out of context." However, I'd say approximately 9 out of 10 times, that's not the case at all. The latest such example is with regard to GOP presidential hopeful Jeb Bush.
In an interview with the New Hampshire Union Leader editorial board yesterday, Bush said the following:
"My aspiration for the country, and I believe we can achieve it, is four percent growth as far as the eye could see. Which means we have to be a lot more productive, work force participation has to rise from its all time modern lows, means that people need to work longer hours, and through their productivity gain more income for their families. That's the only way we're going to get out of this rut that we're in."
Naturally, the former Florida governor received some backlash for these comments, especially with regard to the bit about people needing to work longer hours. Due to this, they felt the need to follow-up on Jeb's commentary with this:
"Under President Obama, we have the lowest workforce participation rate since 1977, and too many Americans are falling behind. Only Washington Democrats could be out-of-touch enough to criticize giving more Americans the ability to work, earn a paycheck, and make ends meet."
Bush himself added this:
"If we're going to grow the economy people need to stop being part-time workers, they need to be having access to greater opportunities to work. You can take it out of context all you want, but high-sustained growth means that people work 40 hours rather than 30 hours and that by our success, they have money, disposable income for their families to decide how they want to spend it rather than getting in line and being dependent on government."
Granted, if the Bush camp started with one of these follow-up statements, they'd have a point about being taken out of context. However, that's not what happened. Bush initially said this:
"My aspiration for the country, and I believe we can achieve it, is four percent growth as far as the eye could see. Which means we have to be a lot more productive, work force participation has to rise from its all time modern lows, means that people need to work longer hours, and through their productivity gain more income for their families. That's the only way we're going to get out of this rut that we're in."
So when he received criticism for saying he thinks people need to work longer hours, that wouldn't be taking him out of context, as that's exactly what he said, and the surrounding context wouldn't alter that any.
It should also be noted that according to a Gallup poll which was conducted last year, full-time employees in this country are working an average of 47 hours per week. In light of that, expect Jeb Bush to campaign on the following slogan:
"Work hours - 55 is the new 47! Vote Jeb!"
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/07/08/jeb-bush-longer-hours_n_7758294.html
In an interview with the New Hampshire Union Leader editorial board yesterday, Bush said the following:
"My aspiration for the country, and I believe we can achieve it, is four percent growth as far as the eye could see. Which means we have to be a lot more productive, work force participation has to rise from its all time modern lows, means that people need to work longer hours, and through their productivity gain more income for their families. That's the only way we're going to get out of this rut that we're in."
Naturally, the former Florida governor received some backlash for these comments, especially with regard to the bit about people needing to work longer hours. Due to this, they felt the need to follow-up on Jeb's commentary with this:
"Under President Obama, we have the lowest workforce participation rate since 1977, and too many Americans are falling behind. Only Washington Democrats could be out-of-touch enough to criticize giving more Americans the ability to work, earn a paycheck, and make ends meet."
Bush himself added this:
"If we're going to grow the economy people need to stop being part-time workers, they need to be having access to greater opportunities to work. You can take it out of context all you want, but high-sustained growth means that people work 40 hours rather than 30 hours and that by our success, they have money, disposable income for their families to decide how they want to spend it rather than getting in line and being dependent on government."
Granted, if the Bush camp started with one of these follow-up statements, they'd have a point about being taken out of context. However, that's not what happened. Bush initially said this:
"My aspiration for the country, and I believe we can achieve it, is four percent growth as far as the eye could see. Which means we have to be a lot more productive, work force participation has to rise from its all time modern lows, means that people need to work longer hours, and through their productivity gain more income for their families. That's the only way we're going to get out of this rut that we're in."
So when he received criticism for saying he thinks people need to work longer hours, that wouldn't be taking him out of context, as that's exactly what he said, and the surrounding context wouldn't alter that any.
It should also be noted that according to a Gallup poll which was conducted last year, full-time employees in this country are working an average of 47 hours per week. In light of that, expect Jeb Bush to campaign on the following slogan:
"Work hours - 55 is the new 47! Vote Jeb!"
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/07/08/jeb-bush-longer-hours_n_7758294.html
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