85,000 More Jobs Gone – Thanks Obama!
85,000 More Jobs Gone
For weeks, increasing numbers of forecasters have been predicting that the December employment report would show net job gains. Alas, those hopes were dashed this morning when the Department of Labor reported that the economy lost another 85,000 jobs.
In President Obama’s first year in office, more than 4.1 million Americans have lost their jobs, and the unemployment rate has gone from 7.7% to 10%. Many analysts believe these numbers may be underestimating the real figures and, of course, there are millions of “underemployed” Americans.
While per month job losses are improving, the improvement has come at a cost of trillions of dollars of additional deficit spending. (Remember, Obama promised us that if we passed the $800 billion stimulus bill, unemployment would not exceed 8%.) Congressional liberals and the president are facing a gigantic problem. Beginning with the upcoming State of the Union address, they want to emphasize deficit reduction and fiscal responsibility. But with unemployment still so high, their socialist instincts tell them to endorse more “stimulus” spending.
The real solution is right in front of their faces, but Obama’s leftwing ideology blinds him to the solution. To spur economic growth, Obama should promote tax cuts – not tax hikes. The Bush tax cuts should be made permanent, not repealed. Capital gains taxes should be eliminated and marginal tax rates should be lowered. Obama should drop job-killers like cap and trade and socialized medicine. He should start promoting American free enterprise instead of constantly demonizing American industry and profit.
But none of these ideas are likely from the crew in the White House, which is modeling its plans after FDR. (Or is it Hugo Chavez and Chairman Mao?) With the billions being spent, I believe the odds are we will get job growth in the months ahead. But I also believe that growth will lag behind previous recoveries and leave us “underwater” for many months to come.
Related posts: