Posted on 01/11/2014 7:36:55 AM PST by Kaslin
Washington is in the middle of another debate about redistributing money.
But that’s hardly newsworthy. Politics, after all, is basically a never-ending racket in which insiders buy votes and accumulate power with other people’s money.
The current debate about extending unemployment benefits is remarkable, though (at least from an economic perspective), because certain politicians want to give people money on the condition that they don’t get a job. Needless to say, that leads to a very perverse incentive structure.
There is a problem with joblessness, to be sure, but it’s misguided to think that extending unemployment benefits is the compassionate response.
Senator Paul and I wrote a column for USA Today about a better way of helping the unemployed. Looking at the empirical evidence, we argue that it’s time to unleash the private sector by reducing the burden of government.
We started with an assessment of the labor market, which has been dismal under Obama’s reign.
The nation is enduring the weakest recovery since the Great Depression, 11 million people remain unemployed, and millions more have dropped out of the labor force. For minorities, it’s even worse. The black unemployment rate is more than twice that of whites. And the weak job market means that even those who are employed are having a hard time climbing the economic ladder.
We explain that more unemployment benefits is a misguided approach.
There’s a lot of talk about helping those down on their luck, but there’s a big divide on the best approach. Our view is that America needs a growth agenda based on reducing the burden of government. The unemployed need a strong job market, not endless handouts that create dependency. …There’s an understandable desire in Washington to “do something,” and extending benefits once again certainly is the easy route for policy makers. But if we are serious about keeping workers out of the long-term unemployment trap, we must have a debate about which policies cause unemployment and which policies create jobs.
Enthusiastic bump!
“Job creation” by the private sector will be perhaps one of the toughest things to do in the country with the highest rate of corporate taxation on the planet. (Never mind the government sector.)
Thanks
‘Politician’ and ‘Compassionate’ are two, mutually exclusive words. If one wanted to be more appropriate in their comments, it would be ‘Politician’ and ‘Self-serving, power hungry liar’...
There, fixed that mess right there.
I appreciate the sentiment, but government exists to secure our rights, not create jobs.
In talking to others, I find that most people now recognize that Congress is occupied by amoral, power-hungry, self-serving Elitists out for themselves at any cost. Pray that the American people wake up and send these amoral Elitists home in 2014 and 2016.
No, politicians should repeal 3/4 of the laws on the books and GET OUT OF THE WAY. This country would go gangbusters just like it used to do.
If a politician “focuses on job creation,” it simply means they will pass more incomprehensible legislation that only gums up the works even more. They are, by and large, all clueless idiots totally unqualified for their jobs.
Right! Anyone campaigning on MADE IN THE USA got my vote.
Politics is not compassionate! Greedy, manipulative, and ego trip come to mind.
Our American government has a large role to play in protecting America’s commercial system.
For more than 20 years, our government has stood aside.
China has now taken over the global economy.
(they are the world’s premier exporter now)
American government needs to start protecting American businesses.
How that is done, to keep the government out of the business of actually picking winners and losers is a huge consideration, but our government needs to get very involved in protecting American businesses, at home.
We have exported far too much.
Time to bring home, American businesses.
How to do that, without the government getting involved and completely messing up everything, is critical.
(which is how the Dems would do it)
America really, really needs jobs though. Now.
Government can create jobs be repealing those laws that have driven jobs away.
Job creation to a politician means a new bureaucracy for a new program that needs obscene amounts of money.
I’ll take Rand Paul’s “Enterprise zones” over Obozo’s “Promise zones any day of the week.
The premise is based upon faulty reasoning. The politicians want to foster government dependency, not independence from their rule. And it is a characteristic of both democrips and republicants
You nailed it! Perfect summation
Totally correct. These lowlifes are the new elites. They have unbelievable salaries, incredible pensions, lordly benefit packages and secure this exclusive power after less than ONE TERM!!!
And WE keep RE-ELECTING these parasites!!!
I twist the truth, I rule the world, my crown is called deceit
I am the emperor of lies, you grovel at my feet
I rob you and I slaughter you, your downfall is my gain
And still you play the sycophant and revel in my pain
And all my promises are lies, all my love is hate
I am the politician and I decide your fate
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