In the currently battered U.S. economy, with high unemployment and bleak growth prospects, politics has become a contest of dueling jobs plans: politicians of every stripe have them. Their motivation may be sincere, but their concept is wrong – and they are just perpetuating the myth that government can create jobs. It can’t. It can only maintain conditions that are conducive to economic growth. That is the real engine of job creation, and it’s where policymakers should place their focus. Job creation is a function of producers meeting the demands …
Yesterday at the White House, President Barack Obama faced the media to once again plug the American Jobs Act–his plan for more stimulus spending, paid for with even more taxes on America’s job creators. And this morning, not a day later, America received a reminder of why a continuation of the President’s tried-and-failed policies is not a prescription for success: In September, the U.S. unemployment rate held steady at a dismal 9.1 percent with 14 million Americans still out of work. About 103,000 jobs were added, but 45,000 of those …
The House Rules Committee advanced three proposals Wednesday that may help curb a growing problem for the nation’s economy: stagnant job growth in the technology sector. The three pending free trade agreements with Columbia, Panama and Korea are up for full House approval next week. Senate Republican Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) also said that the Senate will vote on the agreements next week as well. 115, 800 U.S. hi-tech industry jobs were lost in 2010-the second straight year of decline for the industry- according to a report released by …
President Obama’s speech to the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) this weekend was another rallying cry to pass his new jobs bill. Meanwhile, the country is losing faith in the “hope and change” people voted for less than four years ago. Some CBC members were upset with Obama after he told them to “stop complaining” about the country’s bad economic situation and high unemployment rates. The African-American unemployment rate stands at 16.7 percent—a 27-year high that is up 11.5 percent since Obama took office, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. …
Solyndra’s bankruptcy has put federal spending for green projects under the microscope—and rightly so. Green jobs programs have been a profoundly wasteful use of taxpayers’ money and are doing more harm to the economy than helping it. They don’t even provide the promised grand environmental benefits. It’s important to keep these points in mind when discussing green jobs. 1.) Government spending does not create jobs. Government spending will “create” jobs in the sense that subsidies will allocate labor and capital to build windmills and solar panels. But the government is …
Think big government unions affect everyone equally? Think again. Union contracts often hurt workers who need more flexible schedules or less traditional work arrangements. The Independent Women’s Forum (IWF) recently published a policy paper regarding this unfair arrangement. IWF’s Carrie Lukas points out that, like many big government ventures, unions assume that one-size-fits-all work and compensation packages will satisfy everyone. Unfortunately, they don’t take into consideration working mothers, part-time workers, and the low-skilled or entry level. Union contracts are negotiated through collective bargaining, where one master contract covers all the …
In recent interview, doctor and former Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean tried to make the case that Obamacare will boost small-business job growth. “But the fact is [Obamacare] is very good for small business. It’s incredibly good for small business,” said the one-time Democratic presidential candidate. Incredibly, Dean breaks away from his liberal colleagues and the White House by backing the results from a recent McKinsey & Co. survey. The survey was vilified for reporting that 30 percent of companies said they would drop employee health coverage once the …
According to new data from the FBI, violent and property crime rates fell in America last year, despite continued high unemployment rates. Unlike previous press reports that said criminologists are puzzled by declining crime rates during times of high unemployment, the Associated Press ran a story quoting University of Cincinnati professor John Eck’s conclusion that “The connection between crime and the economy is an illusion.” Criminologists should not be surprised at this conclusion, because the social science literature on the relationship between unemployment and crime rates is mixed. Studies tend …
Catching you up on clips, commentary and news of the day. Sign up for the daily email update from Scribe Obama to propose $1.5 trillion in new tax revenue – Jim Kuhnhenn, Associated Press Google Preparing for Senate Hearing – Diane Bartz, Reuters Obama’s Urgent Jobs Plan: Right Now, ‘Right Now’ means sometime next month – Andrew Malcom, LA Times U.S., European Diplomats Scramble Ahead of Palestinian U.N. Bid – Associated Press, FoxNews.com Leaders with Ginni Thomas: Tim Chapman and Michael Needham from Heritage Action – Ginni Thomas, The Daily …
Today, President Barack Obama is expected to announce his latest plan for reducing the deficit, and central to it are $1.5 trillion in new taxes, aimed predominantly at wealthy Americans. Unfortunately for the 14 million unemployed Americans, the President is continuing down his steady path of ushering in big spending policies, then turning to even higher taxes in order to pay for them. Who ends up paying the price? America’s job creators and those on the unemployment line. It’s a “glut the beast” strategy the President has employed before–increase spending …
