Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Where are the jobs?

My column for the West Bend Daily News is online.  It’s called, “Where are the jobs?”  Here’s a bit:

Primarily, the stimulus bill was passed on a promise. That promise was made by President Obama when he said, “the single most important part of this Economic Recovery and Reinvestment Plan is the fact that it will save or create up to 4 million jobs – because that’s what America needs most right now.” America had been shedding jobs for months and the stimulus bill offered the promise of reversing that trend.

   Let us set aside for a moment the weasel language used in that promise. The President intentionally said “save or create” because it is impossible to verify how many jobs the stimulus bill might “save.” That’s the political relief valve for Obama when things go wrong. Still, the Americans who supported the stimulus bill did so largely on the promise of jobs.

   So how is it working? The stimulus bill was signed on Feb. 17. It’s been nearly five months. What is the result? America has lost an additional 2,619,000 jobs since the bill was signed. This has thrust the national unemployment rate to 9.5 percent – nearly 19 percent higher than the 8 percent unemployment rate that the stimulus bill was supposed to prevent us from exceeding.

   Clearly, the stimulus bill is not working as advertised.

(7) Comments
Posted by Owen at 0658 hrs
Economy + Politics + Politics - General + Politics - Wisconsin

  1. I know where the jobs are: local, state and federal government.

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on July 14, 2009 at 1450 hrs


  2. I agree with MPP. I know most of the money has yet to hit the ground but I’m pretty confident that little will reach those in the private sector who could actually create productive jobs.

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on July 14, 2009 at 1520 hrs


  3. I have a friend that works in HUD. They had a job posting and got over 500 applicants.

    Just a wee bit up from the norm!

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on July 14, 2009 at 1631 hrs


  4. Oh, and don’t forget ACORN.  They got billions so no doubt added a few fraudulent vote getters.

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on July 15, 2009 at 0433 hrs


  5. don’t forget ACORN.  They got billions

    Is this actually true? I would be very surprised if voter registration activities were eligible.

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on July 15, 2009 at 1517 hrs


  6. Come on, we all know that another stimulus will make this one work. If you want jobs you must be willing to pay for them or they will continue to ship them over seas.


    Kind of reminds me of the bully in school that took kids lunch money everyday because they were afraid to get punched in the nose.

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on July 15, 2009 at 1716 hrs


  7. Concept shared nicely with good theme and serious talk.

    Posted by botox glasgow on July 25, 2009 at 0103 hrs


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