We need a jobs bill, Mr. President
There is no question that our circumstances qualify as extraordinary and demand a laserlike focus by the president on job creation. At the pace of job growth we’ve seen over the past three months, we will never, not ever, reach normal levels of employment in America again. We know now that only 58 percent of American adults are employed, the lowest number in nearly three decades. We know that, as of last month, 6.2 million Americans have been out of work for more than six months. Forty-six million Americans are on food stamps, a national record.
What exactly do we consider a “jobs bill”? This whole article just amounts to “the economy sucks, somebody do something!”
We need him to start doing something about jobs — something that will capture the attention of the American people and the media, something that will change the debate in a city that has lost its way.
… such as? I mean what do you expect? It’s not like we can make unemployment illegal or force employers to hire.
There simply is no way to create jobs without more government spending in one way or another. There are a lot of small things you can do to incentivize hiring but you still won’t see any substantial growth for years upon years, and arguably the time we waste arguing over those small things wastes more tax dollars than might be worth it.
Historically there is only ONE way the government can create a lot of jobs at once… and well, you’re not going to like it. That one way is you vastly expand the scope of government, create new divisions, and put a ton of new people on the federal payroll. Even though you’ve increased government spending those people with jobs will spend their money elsewhere, create more demand in various markets, that demand creates further jobs and then your economy starts rolling again.
Now that is my mostly uneducated perspective, I’m sure an economics major can explain why I’m wrong (in fact I’d welcome that) but at least it’s an idea or at least a perspective. Which is better than whining “Where’s the jobs Obama!?”
-Joe
Things need doing, our infrastructure needs rebuilding, people need work. Lets rebuild for the future.
