Posted on 09/19/2011 9:47:03 AM PDT by IbJensen
One thing about President Obama — he keeps his promises. He vowed transparency in his administration's dealings, and the motives behind the jobs bill he unveiled Sept. 8 scarcely could be more transparent.
The bill, which he's repeatedly insisted must be approved by Congress ASAP, essentially is Stimulus Lite. Adding up to a little more than half the cost of the 2009 stimulus, it would "jumpstart economic growth and job creation," the White House press office says.
Americans who might be inclined to look askance at skeptical Republican lawmakers should consider the following:
Mr. Obama's vow that the entire package would be "paid for," rather than borrowed, hinges on approval of tax increases affecting job creators, i.e., the wealthy and corporations — increases Republicans have opposed in the past — as well as elimination of deductions used by many taxpayers. Oil companies and the makers of corporate jets also would be targeted for measures that would increase their tax burden and hurt employment.
Mr. Obama wasn't in Washington during the yacht-tax debacle of 1991-93, but surely veteran political operatives who have his ear were around back then. The tax killed tens of thousands of middle-class, blue-collar jobs, including many in New England, before its repeal. The rich kept their old yachts or bought from European boat builders. The tax didn't hurt them a bit. Does anyone imagine the results of the corporate-jet tax would be different?
Going after the "wealthy," oil companies, and people who build and use corporate jets, is an exercise in partisan demagoguery, pure and simple. It hardly matters whether this strategy would actually help the economy; what counts is that it helps Mr. Obama satiate the worst impulses of his liberal base. His tactics couldn't be more transparent.
Speaking of his base, whom do you suppose he's serving when he promises to create and preserve 280,000 jobs for public school teachers? Consider it a reward for services rendered in past campaigns by the teachers unions and a down payment on future services. Similar sops are offered to public-safety and construction unions.
Particularly amusing is the stated emphasis on "infrastructure." How is it possible that the nation failed to make major strides in launching shovel-ready repairs to bridges, roads, railroads, airports, tunnels, sewers, electrical grids and water systems, under the first stimulus? If nearly $800 billion wasn't enough, how could $447 billion do the job? Oh, that's right; there are no shovel-ready projects, as Mr. Obama informed the nation, amid chuckles, 11 months ago.
Competing for the title of "most irresponsible component" of this proposal are extending unemployment benefits (again) and cutting the payroll tax.
It is well known that unemployment compensation slows the return of jobless people to work. As Michael E. Feroli reported in a study for JPMorgan Chase Bank last year, "By softening the blow of losing a job, (jobless benefits) allow unemployed persons to become more selective in what job offer they accept, thereby raising the average duration of unemployment and increasing the unemployment rate." Others, including University of Chicago economist Bruce Meyer, have reached similar conclusions.
Cutting the payroll tax, which supports Medicare and Social Security, borders on lunacy. These programs are in deep fiscal trouble in the short and long term, and politicians have shown no inclination to reform them. Last year, Social Security ran a $49 billion deficit, with worsening balance sheets piling up far into the future. Certainly, it would make sense to consider reducing the payroll tax in response to enactment of cost-saving reforms, but not in the absence of reform.
If the Obama administration really wanted to create jobs, all it would have to do is stand down from its war on fossil-fuel development. The Keystone XL pipeline, bringing Canadian oil to American refineries, would create 15,000 direct jobs and more than 100,000 indirect jobs. But those gains would be minor compared with the burst of job creation if oil and gas drilling were allowed to commence in the Gulf of Mexico, Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and other promising sites. Except ... that would upset the environmental lobby, which already is on the warpath over the likelihood the Keystone project will be approved.
No, the Obama plan couldn't be more transparent. The bill serves the president's major constituencies if it passes. And if it doesn't, it affords him the opportunity to run against a do-nothing Congress, rather than having to take on a Republican challenger and defend his own dismal record. The GOP should be unafraid to revive a famous Reagan line — Nancy, that is, not Ronald — "J
Destroying a nation is hard work, but our 'Who Knows Where The Hell He Was Born' Slim can get the job done. When he's done with his despised America we won't be #5 we'll be #10 and apparently no complacent American knows what's going on.
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