But on the spending side, the party would take a number of actions that would immediately destroy jobs. Republicans propose a hiring freeze for federal employees — exempting the defense and security sectors. Since the private sector isn’t hiring, a public-sector job freeze would only ensure that unemployment remains higher than it otherwise would have been. The pledge also proposes embargoing any funds from last year’s stimulus bill that have not already been spent — money that is meant to keep construction workers, teachers, firefighters and others on the job.

If Americans who might have been hired by the federal government or paid with stimulus funds are out of work, they won’t have money to spend on goods and services — and businesses, facing lower demand for their goods and services, won’t hire workers or invest in new facilities. Do Republicans actually want to send the economy back into recession, or have they just not read the document issued in their name?…

One funny thing: The “Pledge to America” mentions the phrase “Social Security” just twice in passing. If the GOP were somehow to enact its full plan, one of the only conceivable ways to keep the country out of bankruptcy would be to make radical changes to Social Security — perhaps privatizing the program, which George W. Bush tried and failed to accomplish. Is that what Republicans have in mind?