Government never created a single solitary job … except
Government can’t create jobs. Government never created a single job.
Never did, never can, never will.
Isn’t it odd, though, that you don’t hear that mantra when the subject is, say, building a publicly financed football stadium, or a highly subsidized nuclear power plant or auto plant. All of a sudden we’re swamped with data about the thousands of jobs that would be created if government would just commit taxpayers’ money to the project.
But still, government doesn’t create jobs.
And even though that’s true, and even though Georgia politicians have pledged their total devotion to that concept, they’re also pleading with the Obama administration to ante up hundreds of millions of dollars to dredge the Savannah River to make it accessible to deep-draft cargo ships.
Because that would, you know, create a lot of jobs.
Of course, it’s not like there is any history of that kind of thing around here. It’s not as if Atlanta wouldn’t exist in the first place if the Georgia Legislature, way back in 1836, hadn’t financed construction of the Western and Atlantic Railroad. And it’s not like we depend on water from Lake Lanier — the Lake Lanier financed by federal taxpayers — in order to flush our toilets and sate our thirst and grow our economy. We could support a metro area of more than three million people just fine without it, right?
Oh, and despite what all the experts might say, the City of Atlanta didn’t create jobs when it risked millions, then hundreds of millions and eventually billions of dollars investing in Hartsfield/Jackson International Airport, turning it into the busiest airport in the world and the single biggest jobs generator in the Southeast. Private enterprise could have built an airport that large and efficient, just as it did in … well, somewhere.
Private enterprise also could have built the aqueducts that created Los Angeles, as well as Hoover Dam and Grand Coulee Dam and all the other hydroelectric dams that helped create the modern, utterly self-sufficient American West. It could have, except that, well, it just didn’t.
Other than that, government investment never created a single job.
Well, let me take that back. There were all those jobs created when the government subsidized construction of the railroads back in the 19th century. And when tax dollars built the interstate highway system in the 20th century. And then there are all the jobs created over the decades by all those kids educated in that important American innovation, the public school.
Of course, that’s not the cool thing to call them anymore. Nowadays, they’re “government schools.” And we all know that investment in government schools never created a single job either.
From what I hear, though, the Kenyan Marxist is going to tell us something different in his State of the Union address tonight. He’s going to try to convince us that government investments are necessary to move this country forward and compete with nations such as China. That ought to be fun. We can all sit at home and yell “You lie!” at the TV set, because we all know better.
Anyway, I’ll be live-blogging the speech here on the Internet.
You know, the Internet that was invented largely by government scientists. But other than Google or Yahoo or Facebook or Ebay or little companies like those, that government investment never helped to create a single job either.
– Jay Bookman
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496 comments Add your comment
EJ Moosa
January 25th, 2011
1:05 pm
Amvet,
I was thinking you meant unearned income such as Social Security or unemployment.
You were referring to interest, dividends, and capital gains I am guessing.
The only way I would want to tax these items is if there is an adjustment for inflation in the cost basis of these assets.
Today the government benefits from inflation both by lowering what they owe by paying with dollars that are worth less in the future, and by collecting taxes on inflated prices of items sold. These are not real gains.
Yet the government does not mind collecting a percentage of that phantom gain as real taxes one bit.
Kamchak
January 25th, 2011
1:06 pm
…. where’s my tinfoil hat?
Ask, and it shall be given unto you.
Wolf Ticket
January 25th, 2011
1:10 pm
jm
Why not the best option? The financial meltdown was a global one. Everybody slowed down for a bit. However, the ones who are rising to the top quickly are the ones who were able to set themselves up as major manufacturing powers; i.e. China & Germany. This was a diamond-covered-in-sh*t moment for the US. We had an opportunity to remake, rebuild and rebrand ourselves while the markets were down. Anything we do at this point is just playing catch-up.
This country is the same country that put man on the moon. This is the same country that powers subs and carriers with mini nuclear reactors w/no meltdowns. We are technical cogent people who have been misled by the promise of silver in the hills of the financial markets. What many didn’t realize is that the financial industry had the game rigged from the first roll of the dice. It’s heads they win, and tails we lose. If we don’t jump onto the next growing manufacturing industry, we’re gonna have to wait until flying cars and light sabres make their technological debut.
Redneck Convert (R--and proud of it)
January 25th, 2011
1:11 pm
Also on Monday, a north Georgia legislator filed a bill to remove the restriction on guns in places of worship. House Bill 54, filed by Rep. Bobby Franklin, R-Marietta, eliminates places of worship from the list of prohibited places.
Hot dang! Now we’re talking! Anybody know where I can get holsters for the two machine guns and the antitank weapon I use for hunting and self-defense? I bet the people down at the Church of Holiness would look at me with new respect when I walk in with those babies.
Nice Guy
January 25th, 2011
1:11 pm
“BTW, who granted you the authority to tell anyone else what they “has” to do?”
Ah yes, a favorite past time of the lefty – Bookman bloggers. Asking where the authority comes from.
jm
January 25th, 2011
1:14 pm
wolf ticket – best solution: see deficit reform reduction commission – lower taxes, fewer deductions, stimulative economic policy.
letting existing cuts expire – not optimal
jm
January 25th, 2011
1:17 pm
Nice Guy – first amendment?
jm
January 25th, 2011
1:19 pm
This is heartening, but kind of comical….
Obama Said to Call for Five-Year Discretionary Spending Freeze
“In his address last year, Obama called for a three- year freeze on most domestic spending, not including national security or defense. ”
and that went…. nowhere?
http://noir.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=agNFN7Il9NuA&pos=8
Obama is going to have to cut some, then freeze. But I guess they’re just staking out negotiating ground for now…..
Freeze spending. Then inflate away the dollar. Then, before you know it, we’re back to small government….. yah
Nice Guy
January 25th, 2011
1:20 pm
“first amendment?”
Indeed!
HDB
January 25th, 2011
1:20 pm
For those who say that government doesn’t create jobs…..try this — from the ajc:
Sunday alcohol sales legislation given good odds
For the first time in several years, they think they have a good chance of succeeding.
The first step came Monday in the state Senate, where legislation was filed to allow local governments to ask voters if they want Sunday beer, wine and liquor sales at stores. A similar House bill is expected to follow later this week.
“Perhaps it has a greater chance of passing this year than ever before,” said Senate Majority Leader Chip Rogers, R-Woodstock, a co-sponsor of Senate Bill 10.
However, if the legislation passes, a fight is likely on the local level. It would be up to counties and municipalities to decide if and when to hold the vote.
Jerry Luquire, president of the Georgia Christian Coalition, said with Perdue gone, “there is no question” that the Sunday sales bill will pass this year. He said the coalition is already preparing a grass-roots effort to lobby local governments if the measure gets through the General Assembly.
“We should have one day when people don’t have to buy alcoholic products,” Luquire said.
Depending on where they live, many Georgians can already buy alcoholic drinks in restaurants and bars on Sunday. But Perdue, a religious conservative whose final term ended earlier this month, always fought allowing beer, wine and liquor sales in stores on the Christian Sabbath.
Some lawmakers said they were reluctant to vote on the issue if they knew Perdue would veto any Sunday sales legislation that passed. Perdue always made it clear he would do just that.
New Gov. Nathan Deal has said he supports allowing local governments to make their own decision on Sunday sales.
Daniel Thurman, manager of the Buckhead Kroger on Piedmont Road long known as the “Disco Kroger,” said about 25 percent of the store’s weekly grocery sales occur on Sunday.
On a typical Sunday, Thurman said he winds up putting 40 to 50 beer packs or bottles of wine back on the shelf that customers brought to the register, forgetting or not knowing that they couldn’t purchase alcohol.
“They feel the law is ridiculous at this point, that it’s outdated,” he said. “We hear that mostly from people who only have time to do their shopping on Sunday. With a lot of people working two jobs, Sunday is their day off and the day to get their chores done.”
One of his customers is Kelsi Ve of Atlanta, who was checking out the wine section at Kroger late last week.
“I don’t think it [the law] makes any sense,” she said. “We’re supposed to be a country of freedom. How free is it if you are basing it [the law] on religious principle?”
While past polls showed more than two-thirds of respondents support Sunday sales legislation, there remain solid pockets of opposition, particularly in South Georgia.
Some liquor store owners also oppose the bill because it would force them to open their stores and pay staff for an extra day.
Allow liquor to be sold in supermarkets like is done in Iowa (8a-2a: 7 days a week), in Walgreen’s in New Orleans (24/7/365) or let the liquor stores open on Sunday like in Chicago (10a/6p)…..and more jobs will be created to fill the demand!!
jm
January 25th, 2011
1:21 pm
my kind of talk. but talk is cheap…. let’s see action.
said Obama “would be open to broadening the base and lowering the rate to make American companies that are competing with companies from abroad more competitive.”
http://noir.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aBHJMBurvao8&pos=8
Wolf Ticket
January 25th, 2011
1:22 pm
Stimulate what economy? We have no economy. Our economy and GDP is based on how much we spend. If we have no job to earn spending money, our economy is screwed.
I saw their report, and I agree with a good bit of it. What I don’t see from them or anybody else is how do we get JOBS. Tax rates have been 3% lower for 10+ years. Anybody with a brain knew that Congress and Obama were going to pass an extension of the tax rates. Yet, no major companies have designated any significant funds to expanding human capital within the confines of the United States.
If it’s a corporate plan to lower wages to keep profits booming, then they should be honest about it. I’m sure there are many who would take a pay cut and keep their job vs watching their job sail off on the HMS Titanic.
Without stressing actual, and not theoretical, job creation, all we are doing is kicking the can down the road for the next generation. If we continue to do that, you might wanna invest in a Mandarin translation application for your iPad or iPhone, because the next generation of knowledge is coming from the Far East.
EJ Moosa
January 25th, 2011
1:23 pm
@hdb,
Government is not creating those jobs I am afraid,
These were jobs that were eliminated when government passed the first law banning the sale of alcohol.
So they are in effect jobs being restored that were blocked by government actions.
jm
January 25th, 2011
1:23 pm
I don’t think Goolsbee has met Nancy Pelosi or Harry Reid yet.
“Still, Goolsbee said, “everybody agrees on both sides that for the fiscal situation facing the country over the medium run we need to make cuts.”
http://noir.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aBHJMBurvao8&pos=8
Normal
January 25th, 2011
1:24 pm
News:
http://www.navytimes.com/news/2011/01/ap-russian-parliament-ratifies-arms-pact_012511w/
jm
January 25th, 2011
1:25 pm
wolf ticket 1:22 – because of double taxation of US corporate profits from abroad. Several Trillion US $ sitting abroad in corp cash, ready to invest, if POTUS / Congress will let them bring it home without taxing it again….. talk about stimulus.
the US tax code is killing our economy wolf….
EJ Moosa
January 25th, 2011
1:26 pm
@wolfticket,
The GDP has nothing to do with jobs. Profits do. GDP is at an all time high while the job losses are over 7 million. GDP was still rising when job losses started to mount.
They are chasing the wrong solution.
http://www.nolanchart.com/article8301.html
poison pen
January 25th, 2011
1:27 pm
Tonight you will hear how many standing ovations he got, how many times they applauded and for how long.
Thank God for my DVR, or should I say Comcast.
I have listened to so many Presidents during my lifetime that I am kind of sick of them. He will speak for around 1 hour and they will give the other side a full 60 seconds to respond. Did I miss anything?
jm
January 25th, 2011
1:27 pm
Normal, interesting. Now, will be interesting to see what happens with Missile Defense in eastern Europe. out fo ra bit
Jay
January 25th, 2011
1:28 pm
Dicretionary non-defense spending was cut to $441 in fiscal 2011 from $447 billion in fiscal 2010, jm.
Normal
January 25th, 2011
1:28 pm
Redneck,
I’m amazed that the “Guns in Church” bill didn’t get the thumbs up. Said it wasn’t proven how guns aid worship(?) I don’t understand, Afterall Christianity and Colt both start with “C”…
Scout
January 25th, 2011
1:29 pm
HDB :
“A federal judge has upheld the Georgia law banning weapons in churches, mosques and synagogues, saying gun rights advocates had not shown that carrying a firearm is necessary to practicing any religion.”
What a knucklehead judge.
You don’t need a gun to practice your religion but you do need one to defend yourself from crazed murders.
You know, like when our forefathers had a Bible in one hand and a flintlock in the other?
Geez ………… what ignorance.
Disgusted
January 25th, 2011
1:30 pm
These were jobs that were eliminated when government passed the first law banning the sale of alcohol.
I’m for allowing sales on Sunday, but don’t count on an increase in either jobs or sales because of it—not unless there’s an increase in the amount of drinking.
Heck, we still have states that ban the sale of liquor on election day, a relic of the early 1900s when elections were held in saloons and politicians were accused of passing out pints of liquor to drunks in exchange for their vote.
Scout
January 25th, 2011
1:30 pm
Excuse me: “murderers”
Normal
January 25th, 2011
1:31 pm
Scout,
I’m pretty sure they’d let you bring your flintlock if you wanted….
Scout
January 25th, 2011
1:32 pm
HDB :
P.S.
I carry a gun everytime I go to church (we had a nutcase show up with a sword once) because as a retired law enforcement officer in the State of Georgia I am exempted from that provision.
Thankgoodness for that !
Scout
January 25th, 2011
1:33 pm
Normal:
And I am sure you are authorized to use a quill pen and ink instead of this computer.
That would be a nice thing.
Scout
January 25th, 2011
1:33 pm
Excuse me: “your computer”
USMC dawg
January 25th, 2011
1:33 pm
A great look at the Government’s PONZI schemes:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=inAJVKO1Kkg
Folks, this is a really good short clip, please take a quick look.
Government is not the answer to all of our problems and is actually leading us down a dangerous path.
HDB
January 25th, 2011
1:34 pm
EJ Moosa
January 25th, 2011
1:23 pm
…and who passed the “blue laws: in this state?? CONSERVATIVES!!! Since those jobs were NEVER CREATED originally, they are being created NOW!!
jm
January 25th, 2011
1:25 pm
“wolf ticket 1:22 – because of double taxation of US corporate profits from abroad. Several Trillion US $ sitting abroad in corp cash, ready to invest, if POTUS / Congress will let them bring it home without taxing it again….. talk about stimulus.
the US tax code is killing our economy wolf….”
Not disagreeing about the tax code….but here’s my issue:
Since US-based companies are IMPORTING products that are taxed in the place or origin (Pepsi and Stolychnaya, for example)…and sold in the US, why shouldn’t that corporation be taxed again?? The US government is about 5 years BEHIND in collecting the owed revenue because corporations persist in HIDING the profits made in the US in off-shore subsidiaries!!
That’s part of the problem!!
md
January 25th, 2011
1:34 pm
Well, Cantor has drawn his line in the sand…..no State bailouts.
Watch the masses whine as taxes go up and spending is slashed………..it will not be pretty, necessary – yes, pretty – no. Time for those living the high life and implementing give-away after give-away to pay the piper………..
md
January 25th, 2011
1:36 pm
$447 to $441 – isn’t that considered a rounding error in Congressional terms??
Wolf Ticket
January 25th, 2011
1:36 pm
If it were simply tax rates, I’m sure corporate America has more than enough money to get laws changed in their favor. I think it goes way beyond that. If a company creates a job here, at a bare minimum, it’s going to cost them $7.25 per hour plus hiring and training costs. If they create that same job in a BRIC country, it’s far cheaper. The profits that come back here would probably end up in somebody’s pockets before it creates a job. At a bare minimum, I could see some of those profits going towards R&D, but that’s not going to guarantee job creation here.
EJ
I never said GDP depends on jobs. I said it depends on spending. It doesn’t matter where the money comes from. It can be personal spending, corporate spending, or government spending. In a consumer based economy, spending is more important than building. GDP is rising because the government is still spending like crazy. If the government stops spending, as many want, who’s going to replace that cog in the wheel?
getalife
January 25th, 2011
1:37 pm
“Gilded age on steroids.”
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/1/25/938740/-Feingold:-This-is-The-Gilded-Age-on-Steroids.
jm
January 25th, 2011
1:38 pm
Jay 1:28 – that’s odd. because as I keep reading, we’re 1/2 way through the fed fiscal year without an actual budget, only continuing resolutions…. so might be a bit early to make comparisons…
Bosch
January 25th, 2011
1:38 pm
md,
He’s just yammering so he can get some attention today — I believe there will be “no State bailouts” as much as I believe in the Tooth Fairy.
HDB
January 25th, 2011
1:40 pm
Off-topic — but another government job issue:
Ill. court issues stay; Rahm back on the ballot
From NBC’s John Yang
The Illinois Supreme Court has just issued a stay of the appeals court’s order knocking Rahm Emanuel off the ballot and directing the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners to restore his name to the ballot.
This is a strong indication that the court will accept the case and, perhaps, of which way the justices are leaning.
*** UPDATE *** NBC’s Pete Williams has more:
Less than 24 hours after an Illinois appeals court bumped Rahm Emanuel off the ballot for Chicago’s election for mayor, the state’s supreme court put that ruling on hold and ordered the city to include his name on any ballots being printed.
“The Board of Elections is directed that if any ballots are printed while this Court is considering this case, the ballots should include the name of petitioner Rahm Emanuel as a candidate for Mayor of the City of Chicago,” the Supreme Court said in a one-page, unsigned order.
The court said it acted after receiving legal briefs from Emanuel and from his legal opponents who claimed he was unqualified because he did not meet residency requirements of state law. Today’s order left unresolved whether the state’s high court would take up the entire case on a speeded-up basis, but the order gave Emanuel the rapid relief he was seeking — to keep his name on the ballot.
jm
January 25th, 2011
1:41 pm
hdbb 1:34 – profit transfer is partly a problem, and partly a gray issue for multinationals. if our tax code was more in line with the rest of the world, there would be less of this profit transfer stuff going on…. which is very distortive to our economy. again the tax code is a big big piece of the problem.
Rockerbabe
January 25th, 2011
1:45 pm
detritusUSA: surely you jest?
jconservative
January 25th, 2011
1:46 pm
Cutting spending will not be easy.
In FY 2009 the Feds spent $3.5 trillion dollars. We only had revenue of $2.1 trillion, so we borrowed the $1.4 trillion we were short.
Here is how the $3.5 trillion was spent:
Defense – $782 billion
Soc Sec – $678 billion
Medicare – $676 billion
Interest – $187 billion
TARP – $151 billion – mostly paid back and now gone as an expense
That leaves two items of spending.
Other mandatory – $607 billion – mandates signed into law by President
Other discretionary – $437 billion
If we take Defense, SS and Medi off the table we can cut the two “other” categories to zero. But that would still leave a deficit of $400 billion. So nothing can be off the table.
But if we make substantial cuts to everything, we can probably start to balance a budget in a few years.
Note that the FY 2010 deficit was down to $1.3 trillion, small reduction from FY 2009, but a step in the right direction.
We really need to throw away the “scalpel” and use a “Rambo” knife to make cuts. And everything should be subject to the knife.
barking frog
January 25th, 2011
1:46 pm
HDB
January 25th, 2011
1:40 pm
————————————————
The law is what the last judge says it is. Rahm still has a couple
of judges to go if his opponents want to pursue it, however the Illinois
Supremes could delay it until post election and just let it slide.
HDB
January 25th, 2011
1:49 pm
jconservative
January 25th, 2011
1:46 pm
Remember, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates found $100B is cuts in the Defense Department!! A scalpel is EXACTLY what’s needed!! If all would start from Gates’ initiative, the problem would be en route to being SOLVED!!
Paul
January 25th, 2011
1:50 pm
I wonder how many people read Jay’s piece and thought “He’s right, government doesn’t create a single job!”
LOLOL!
Bosch, there’s a t-shirt in there, somewhere -
barking frog
January 25th, 2011
1:50 pm
We do not have to cut the deficit, We do not have to
reduce the debt. We have to keep the people relatively
happy which means reducing gasoline prices and increasing
employment. The government, Democrat or Repiblican, ignores
this at their peril.
Doggone/GA
January 25th, 2011
1:50 pm
“Supremes could delay it until post election and just let it slide”
I don’t think they’ll let it slide though. He might win and that would open a new bunch of challenges.
jm
January 25th, 2011
1:51 pm
Jay, we’re just operating on continuing resolutions since the Congressional Dems never passed a new 2011 budget. A historical first this far after the fiscal year, I believe.
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1210/46670.html
jm
January 25th, 2011
1:55 pm
Doggone – gotta love how Obama felt compelled to weigh in on the Rahm qualification too. Does the guy ever just mind his own business? Constitutional scholar or not, the guy has other things to worry about for pete’s sake. “Shut up and work on the economy to the extent the government can do something.” A few words one might be inclined to express to him with 15% or so actual unemployment.
jm
January 25th, 2011
1:57 pm
There’s those stalwarts of fiscal rectitude. The Democrats. Not even passing a budget…. they’re one of a kind. Budget? Who needs a budget….
Disgusted
January 25th, 2011
1:58 pm
A scalpel is EXACTLY what’s needed!! If all would start from Gates’ initiative, the problem would be en route to being SOLVED!!
It looks as though it’s going to be the meat cleaver. The word is now out that Obama will propose tonight a five-year freeze on discretionary spending, with defense expect to make cuts too. Over time, that’s going to hurt the bad and the good alike. To appreciate the longer-term impact, just go back and look at your household income and expenses five years ago.
Doggone/GA
January 25th, 2011
1:58 pm
“Constitutional scholar or not, the guy has other things to worry about for pete’s sake”
I guess the concept of multi-tasking is beyond your ability to understand.
Scout
January 25th, 2011
2:01 pm
Doggone/GA:
From last night……………………..
Doggone/GA @ 11:11 pm
“Not everyone who calls me Lord, Lord shall enter the Kingdom of Heaven.”
And do you realize that the correlary to that is that not everyone who DOESN’T call Jesus “Lord” is condemned?
I took the liberty of forwarding your email to Heaven and this is what came back:
“He that believeth in Me is not condemned, BUT HE THAT BELIEVETH NOT IS CONDEMNED ALREADY (emphasis added) because he hath not believed in the Name of the only begotten Son of God.”
jm
January 25th, 2011
2:02 pm
Doggone – I guess you haven’t read recent research on “multi-tasking”. I’m sure Obama is super up to date on Illinois election laws. What with having to worry about all the things the leader of the free world does have to contend with, on a daily basis.
Doggone/GA
January 25th, 2011
2:03 pm
“I’m sure Obama is super up to date on Illinois election laws.”
and you can’t entertain the idea that he might have actually had an aid check it out and report back to him?
Southern Comfort (B.P.O.I.B.W.)
January 25th, 2011
2:04 pm
jcon
I think there’s a lot that could be cut out if Obama, Congress and the cabinet members got together and went over the budget line item by line item. I’m sure there’s plenty of overlapping items that could be cut as well as things that are also done on a state level. It’s just a matter of being practical and getting the job done.
Wolf Ticket
January 25th, 2011
2:04 pm
Gotta run. There’s a few people in DC who have been selling me for a while now. It’s time to pay the piper, and give daddy that big money sandwich!!
jm
January 25th, 2011
2:06 pm
Doggone – “aid” right, a white house aide has a better idea than an Illinois Supreme Court judge?
Come on. Common sense suggests Rahm is not a resident and the judges, whatever their source of opinion, concluded likewise. I own a couple properties in other states. Could I run for office there? Hell no.
Jefferson
January 25th, 2011
2:06 pm
The US taxpayer will bail out CA,IL,and NJ — to not do so would be un-American.
Southern Comfort (B.P.O.I.B.W.)
January 25th, 2011
2:06 pm
jm
If it were friends of yours, wouldn’t you have an opinion? If Obama was a regular citizen, we would not have heard what he had to say about Rahm or Gates, for that matter. Since he’s the president, almost everything he says will be subject to media and citizen scrutiny.
John Birch
January 25th, 2011
2:07 pm
Scout – Please put up a soap box pulpit on Pryor Street and give us a break.
Doggone/GA
January 25th, 2011
2:07 pm
“Doggone – “aid” right, a white house aide has a better idea than an Illinois Supreme Court judge?”
An aid can check into the issue and give info on what they might be. But, you know, the bottom line is that he’s entitled to his opinion…just as you and I are. It’s a tempest in a teapot and you insist continuing to stir.
Real American
January 25th, 2011
2:10 pm
stands for decibels: Hey, Georgia Hick dont be jealous because you still living in your trailor, dont hate on Obama because you date your cousin””’
Southern Comfort (B.P.O.I.B.W.)
January 25th, 2011
2:11 pm
Damn. Eric Cantor can’t even get a date with Nancy Pelosi.
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/44/2011/01/arizona-lawmakers-to-save-seat.html
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on Tuesday rebuffed Majority Leader Eric Cantor’s (R-Va.) invitation to sit together at the State of the Union address, informing the Republican lawmaker — via Twitter — that she had already accepted an invitation from another colleague from across the aisle, Rep. Roscoe Bartlett (R-Md.).
“I thank @GOPLeader for his #SOTU offer, but I invited my friend Rep. Bartlett from MD yesterday & am pleased he accepted,” Pelosi tweeted Tuesday afternoon.
Cantor told reporters Tuesday morning that his office had extended an invitation to Pelosi and that he was waiting to hear back. The invitation came a day after he made an unprompted jab at Pelosi during a pen-and-pad briefing with reporters at which he charged that “it seems that [Pelosi] is continuing to drive an ideological agenda, just the same as she did over the last four years.”
I guess if you talked about me like I was the bride of Satan, I wouldn’t want to sit next to you either. LOL!!!!!!!
Scout
January 25th, 2011
2:16 pm
John Birch:
You know, that’s pretty much what they told “Him”.
“If they hated Me, they will hate you”
jm
January 25th, 2011
2:16 pm
Soco – “Since he’s the president, almost everything he says will be subject to media and citizen scrutiny.”
Of course. Obama has not heard of the term “over-exposure” apparently…. the words of the POTUS carry more weight, when they’re used more sparingly…. now they carry no weight.
jm
January 25th, 2011
2:18 pm
Doggone – of course he’s entitled to his opinion, and he’s entitled to express it ad nauseum. If he wants to go on ABC every morning and swear up and down that Rahm is qualified, then whatever.
But its a stupid move on his part.
jm
January 25th, 2011
2:19 pm
SoCo 2:11 – cause Princess Pelosi is an awful person. Thank heavens she’s gone. Between Pelosi and Obama, they made me a right of center kind of person….
@@
January 25th, 2011
2:20 pm
Eh-scuse me!
jm, I’d say that California’s problems are the result of irresponsible legislators legislating irresponsibly. They have refused to make the tough decisions they need to make.
The most interesting aspect of what’s going on in California is that Governor Moonbeam (D) is following in the footsteps of Pete Wilson’s (R) conservative principles. With age comes wisdom or so I’ve been told.
An honest and straightforward approach to the citizenry. No pain, no gain! GO FOR THE BURN!
Jay
January 25th, 2011
2:20 pm
The only way I’d support a state bailout is AFTER they have made the necessary tough decisions needed to resolve their budget problems, and even then it would only be in the form of loans to tide them over, loans that they would have to repay.
Otherwise, no dice.
New thread upstairs.
Doggone/GA
January 25th, 2011
2:26 pm
“But its a stupid move on his part.”
You’re entitle to your opinion, there is nothing that obligates me to agree with it.
md
January 25th, 2011
2:26 pm
I find that statement @ 2:20 interesting. So, it works for states but not for individuals??
States are merely an exponential equation of individuals…………..
Southern Comfort (B.P.O.I.B.W.)
January 25th, 2011
2:27 pm
jm
You’re right of center anyway. Only when you’re compared against somebody like Limbaugh do you even have a hint of leftism in you.
Southern Comfort (B.P.O.I.B.W.)
January 25th, 2011
2:29 pm
Jay
That 2nd response was meant for upstairs, right???
Southern Comfort (B.P.O.I.B.W.)
January 25th, 2011
2:29 pm
the third one too???
Jeff Ganaposki
January 25th, 2011
2:33 pm
Prosperity is the creation, trade and enjoyment of surplus usable goods and services. Government is a cooperative effort delegated power to secure rights and govern those who consent. Using the government to forcibly extract taxes to fund projects that are not directly involved in securing rights is anathema to the founding principles of American government. It matters not whether jobs were created or not. If involuntary servitude (via taxation) is excused, then was only private sector slavery abolished by the 13th amendment?
I do not think slavery is a viable remedy for the ills of mankind, whether public or private sector.
jj
January 25th, 2011
2:34 pm
OK, the government created the jobs.
Where did they get the money. From citizens and companies, not the Government.
Did the government redistribute the peoples money? Yes they did so I’ll let you decide for yourself who created the jobs.
Mick
January 25th, 2011
2:34 pm
**Between Pelosi and Obama, they made me a right of center kind of person**
Not buying that one for a second….
Jay
January 25th, 2011
2:36 pm
Really, Jeff? So when the Founding Fathers appropriated taxpayers money for building things such as roads and canals, they were violating the Constitution they themselves had recently written and enacted?
Too bad you weren’t around to set them straight.
Conservative
January 25th, 2011
2:48 pm
Sometimes it does indeed take govt to fund large scale projects such as the interstate highway system where its not economically feasible for one private company to do so. That’s no excuse to come up with the faulty logic that govt can or should create govt jobs which are almost impossible to get rid of once a project is finished. That is the major difference between a govt bureaucracy and private enterprise.
Once you have a govt bureaucracy the laws of organizational behavior show that said bureaucracy will naturally grow and its hard to eliminate govt jobs. They become entrenched. Just as the public sector unions that are bankrupting states like California. In the private sector you don’t have these problems to the degree you do in the public sector.
But Jay should keep in mind that in many of these projects he speaks of private companies built these projects. Govt simply funded and bidded the projects and private enterprise built them. It generally wasn’t govt employees who built a lot of the important projects.
And for the record I would have been all for Obama uses stimulus one for infrastructure projects such as repairing the many bridges, roads, levees around the country that need repair. Unfortunately, the vast amount of that stimulus money was flat out wasted. And that is a shame.
Conservative
January 25th, 2011
2:54 pm
The welfare clause of the constitution certainly provides for the funding of these canals, roads, bridges, etc. and even the most diehard conservatives would support something such as the interstate highway system having been built.
But that is a far cry from the depth and scope in which the govt is involved in so many facets of everyday life today with thousands of myriad programs, corporate welfare, farmers farming the govt rather than the land. numerous welfare handouts to people that did nothing to deserve them, etc.
Its too much and as a result this country is bankrupted due mainly to govt, the incredible mismanagement of fiscal resources by both parties, its just a mess.
One thing is certain- If private enterprise managed its books and finances the way the federal govt does then every CEO in America would be in jail.
Adam
January 25th, 2011
2:57 pm
just go back and look at your household income and expenses five years ago.
Considering that my income was higher and my expenses were lower, I’d be cool with that.
Oscar Wilde
January 25th, 2011
2:59 pm
I think porn stars with large hooters should be the only constitutionally allowed Presidents and their cabinets too!. Most guys would pay attention to every single thing they said or did on a daily basis. The SOTU address would be riveting; who cares what she said! Here’s the kicker; when the president went to talk to any of the yahoos she needed to get something done, I guarantee she would get her way 99% of the time. Unless she was talking to the likes of Barney Frank. Then she would have to trade for new underwear. Jobs? There would be millions created every year, just in the hopes she would come to town to praise their creation! The only thing flat in the country would be the TAX!
There would be stimulation everywhere..jobs, the economy, and elsewhere!
HDB
January 25th, 2011
3:12 pm
Disgusted
January 25th, 2011
1:58 pm
” ‘A scalpel is EXACTLY what’s needed!! If all would start from Gates’ initiative, the problem would be en route to being SOLVED!!’
It looks as though it’s going to be the meat cleaver. The word is now out that Obama will propose tonight a five-year freeze on discretionary spending, with defense expect to make cuts too. Over time, that’s going to hurt the bad and the good alike. To appreciate the longer-term impact, just go back and look at your household income and expenses five years ago.”
If they run a cost-benefit analysis to find the overlaps and eliminate them, that would be the beginning!! Five years ago…I was unemployed……victim of the Bush recession!! Better now than I was then!!
Chevelle
January 25th, 2011
3:25 pm
“And it’s not like we depend on water from Lake Lanier — the Lake Lanier financed by federal taxpayers — in order to flush our toilets and sate our thirst…”
Don’t worry, that won’t be for much longer. After the judge shuts off the Lake Lanier water you’ll be lucky if they allow you one flush a day.
pb
January 25th, 2011
4:03 pm
The government has financed jobs and projects through out history. Who where the “owners” of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad? who provided the financing for the telegraph?
Who financed the “discovery” of “America” – in 1492?
Jeff Ganaposki
January 25th, 2011
4:03 pm
Jay, check before 1899 and note that most of the infrastructure was PRIVATELY owned and operated. The great progressive “liberation” of the infrastructure was a 20th century phenomena.
Jeff Ganaposki
January 25th, 2011
4:14 pm
Cooperative effort is the hallmark of civilization, whether in defense of person and property (i.e., law) or in great projects (i.e., civil engineering, canals, dams, harbors, roads). Only by cooperation can we exceed the limitations of the individual.
The question is: should that cooperative effort be the monopoly of government? Especially a government enmeshed in partisan politics, bribery, and corruption.
And if that cooperative effort is not the monopoly of government, what other cooperative means do we have that are not under the control of government?
Finally, what prevents cooperation from building ever greater prosperity – based on the creation, trade, and enjoyment of surplus usable goods and services?
poison pen
January 25th, 2011
4:59 pm
SOCO, don’t insult the Bride of Satan.
poison pen
January 25th, 2011
5:03 pm
HDB, Reid just stated that he doesn’t support stopping the Pork, he must really like BBQ.
poison pen
January 25th, 2011
5:04 pm
Adam, I second that. I was in much better financial shape 5 yrs ago than I am now.
WOODSTOCK MIKE
January 25th, 2011
5:28 pm
This article is quite an exageration. Nobody argues that the govt can’t create some jobs. With that said, obviously the govt is not able to create the number of jobs that are needed to turn around this economy. That can only be done by the private sector. And higher taxes and regulation only make it more difficult for the private sector to create jobs.
poison pen
January 25th, 2011
5:41 pm
Jefferson, I’m an American and I don’t want to bail out those States. They made the mess that they are living in and the people who live there went along with it. How long after they get bailed out do you think they will just go back to the way they were? I’d give it 6 Months. Did it take Wall Street & the Bankers 6 Months???
I’m tired of people spending my money for me, thank you!!
Lil' Barry Bailout
January 25th, 2011
6:29 pm
jt
January 25th, 2011
8:04 am
——————
Haven’t seen a biatchslapping that severe in some time. Nicely done, jt.
Tom Middleton
January 25th, 2011
7:10 pm
There you go making sense again, Jay. You know the righties are going to have a conniption after tonight’s speech, and what’s their biggest worry? They’re afraid they’ll have to lose weight and dress up in black-face just to get noticed.
But they’ll be OK if they do. After living for years and years in their self-imposed jail of mind-terminating racism, they’ll be Free at last! Free at last! Thank God and Obama, they’ll be free at last!
independent thinker
January 25th, 2011
8:51 pm
Let Haliburton take over all government projects – I am sure there will be waste just like in Iraq.
stephen
January 26th, 2011
8:04 am
If government doesn’t create a single job, why do all those folks keep showing up at Lockheed every morning?
Mr. Levy
January 26th, 2011
10:06 pm
Jay –
This is even beneath you. Using your twisted logic, you might as well argue that slave owners created “jobs.” Come on, give me a break.