Remember the "Economic Stimulus" bill? Americans were told that if they didn't get their politicians to pass it, that unemployment would be 8%. It was supposed to be "shovel ready" projects, that had been planned and was only awaiting money to enact. It was supposed to repair our infrastructure. It turned out to be a massive pork project that funded everything from monkey houses for 7 to turtle tunnels to condom research and research on the washing of foreskin PR campaigns to South African men. It tore up good highways and boosted the roadsign industry. Politicians paid for signs advertising their deeds everywhere they tore up a good road, out of OUR pockets.
Unemployment soared from 7.8% when the POTUS took office to 9.7% a year later. It helped fuel the deficit that tripled the record set the year before. It was supposed to be that tripled record that the POTUS would cut in half, creating a deficit by 2012 that was only 50% higher than the previous record. One thing it didn't do was: create jobs. The current resident at the White House blamed his predecessor. He continues to blame his predecessor. Since then, many have stopped searching for work, and fallen out of the statistics.
Soon the POTUS will propose that new jobs creation legislation be enacted. Supposedly, the new proposal will be what the last was claimed to be: Infrastructure repairs. Perhaps, it would replace the decrepit bridge 8 miles south of the section of I-40 that was needlessly torn up. Perhaps, it would recycle the signs advertising the old pork projects.
But what is the role of government in "creating jobs?" Sure, they can expand government and hire more bureaucrats, but more bureaucrats means a need for more taxpayers. Bureaucrats don't create products. For every bureaucrat, we need 10-20 taxpayers to pay their salaries. And it seems we never fire bureaucrats. Even when we "shrink" government, it is only through the natural attrition of old age.
And swallowing up GM and Chrysler didn't work so well either. Neither did taking over decision making of the financials. Both endeavors resulted in a loss to the average Americans who owned shares and bonds in the companies, and to the taxpayers who were forced to buy in to losing corporations, and then forced to sell at the bottom to foreign entities, through the actions of the Executive Branch of government.
Then came "Quantitative Easing" 1 and 2. Big fancy words for printing more dollars, meaning that all dollars were worth less. They did it so they buy the debts that the Deficit needed to sell. The effect is inflation. It's one reason why it costs more dollars for gasoline, bread, and milk. Printing money is more normally seen in 3rd World countries ahead of rampant inflation to deal with runaway debt. It never has seemed to work out the way the rulers hoped.
The politicians also like to blame corporations and businesses for not hiring with the money they've put in the bank. But companies hire people when they need workers to create the products they sell. Companies that hire workers they don't need going into debt, bankruptcy, and out of business, putting more people in the unemployment lines, than they took out of it. The fewer workers there are, the fewer consumers there are, the fewer products are needed, the less profits there are to expand those businesses, and the fewer taxpayers and taxes there are. And the more bureaucrats there are, the more taxpayers that are needed to pay for the bureaucrats and the buildings to house them.
There were certainly economic challenges under the previous administration. The Tech bubble burst shortly before he took office. 9/11 happened just after he took office. Everyone saw or should have seen the housing bubble. There were challenges in 2003, 2005, and 2007. The world economy was suffering for years, while the US economy maintained slow growth for most of those years. Oil prices soared. The average unemployment rate under the prior office holder was 5.3%. The average unemployment rate under the current office holder is 9.3%.
So, how do we get out of this mess? Individual citizens need to buy American products. Buying Chinese products may save you a dime or more, but it pays for jobs in China and takes jobs away from America. As long as American Consumers are buying products made in China, instead of those made in the US, they are telling the corporations to move to the cheap labor and products the American people will buy. In other words, we, American individuals are buying our way out of a job. Don't blame the corporations for selling you the products you want. When you buy the products they make here, they'll hire more American workers to make those products here. When you buy the products made there, they'll hire the workers there to make the products you buy.
Deport the illegal aliens that are taking the jobs. If there are 14 Million citizens out of work and 18 Million illegal aliens in the country, the math speaks for itself. Immigration to the United States is NOT a right. Immigration should be tied to America's needs for workers and specialities we don't have.
What can the politicians do? Create a legislative framework that is conducive to employers hiring people. Get rid of the excessive bureaucracies and red tape. Make the laws readable and compilable without the necessity of hiring lawyers and accountants to figure it out. Stop demonizing the very people you want to hire. Success is a good thing. As many millionaires as there are in Congress (and the White House), you'd think they'd be more appreciative of those that have joined their financial ranks. The Constitution is written in plain English and is more powerful than the codes Congress writes today. Try it.
Stop playing footsie with countries that are taking advantage of us. If China isn't going to play on a level playing field, end their "most favored nation" status. Impose the same tariffs on their goods as they impose on ours.
Stop paying off your campaign donors on our dime. How does GE get away with selling dual use technology to Iran, paying no taxes, AND getting our green energy tax dollars, while moving their factories to China? Oh yeah, the CEO helped put you in office.
"Government is NOT the solution. Government is THE PROBLEM!" Ronald Reagan, the President who brought this country back to greatness, after his predecessor put us in a similar situation. Yeah, he ran deficits too, but his deficits won the Cold War and were spent on creating a strong National Defense, instead of cutting the equipment and size of the military in a time of TWO wars.
Stumble It!
