Three cheap ways for Obama to spur job growth
“We should not have to choose,” President Barack Obama said this past week, “between getting our fiscal house in order and jobs and growth.”
If that sounds unobjectionable, that’s because it’s another of those “false choices” Obama imagines to be filling the minds of everyone else in America.
But the solution is not more public spending now and higher taxes later to pay for it.
Corporate balance sheets are flush with cash. Banks have the problem of a “reverse run”: Instead of a rush of withdrawals, they have too much money coming in (which are recorded as liabilities and raise their deposit-insurance costs).
Private money is available. But capital has gone on strike.
The way to get jobs and growth without adding to the debt is not to seize it through taxes or government borrowing and force it into the economy. Washington has tried that.
What hasn’t been tried lately is encouraging private actors to put their money to work on their own volition. Here are three low- or no-cost possibilities for Obama:
1. Make some phone calls.
Not to business leaders, but to his own Cabinet secretaries.
In a recent appearance on Fox News, a former chief economist for the Labor Department, Diana Furchtgott-Roth, said Obama could “make things a lot easier on employers and on hiring” by telling the bureaucracy to stop making new rules that crimp businesses.
“He could call EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson and say, ‘Why don’t we just hold off on those new ozone rules, or clean air rules, until the unemployment rate is down to 7 percent?’ ,” Furchtgott-Roth said.
“He could call his Interior secretary and say, ‘Why don’t we just allow more oil drilling in the Gulf [of Mexico]?’ Because there’s been a moratorium since the BP oil spill — that’s about a year and a half ago.
“He could tell his National Labor Relations Board acting general counsel, Lafe Solomon, ‘Hey, why don’t you just lay off Boeing?’ Because Boeing wants to open a new plant in South Carolina to build [787] Dreamliners, and [Solomon] says they can only a new plant in Washington state, where they have their existing plant.”
The list, she said, is long. “Each cabinet secretary is doing things that impede businesses from creating jobs.”
2. Temporarily lower the minimum wage.
I don’t mean lowering existing workers’ wages. Rather, allow companies to pay additional hires a little less. To sweeten the deal, the government might continue to pay the new worker a portion of any jobless benefits to which he or she is still entitled, to offset the lower wage. This would save the government from paying full unemployment benefits while lowering the company’s cost.
One of the more ill-timed moves by Congress in recent years was that of the new Democratic majorities in 2007 to raise the minimum wage in three steps. Even after the recession hit, the floor for wages kept rising. The higher wages have only hurt the millions of low-paid workers who lost jobs.
In fact, the jobless rate for high-school dropouts began rising soon after the 2007 bill. By this July, it stood at 15 percent — much higher than any other grouping by education level.
The absolute number of 16- to 19-year-olds with jobs in July was the lowest since 1963 — when there were 5 million fewer Americans in that age range.
3. Tear down some houses.
Normally, I would agree with 19th century French economist Frederic Bastiat’s “broken window fallacy.” You don’t create wealth by destroying wealth.
But hundreds of thousands of foreclosed houses are already destroying wealth by bringing down the value of other homes. And the longer they sit empty, the more likely they’ll become uninhabitable anyway because of mold or other conditions.
The feds own about 248,000 foreclosed homes. They should follow the example of some commercial banks and raze a portion of them. This would create truly shovel-ready jobs in an ailing sector, and perhaps end the freefall of home values.
– By Kyle Wingfield
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357 comments Add your comment
I Report (-: You Whine )-: Thee Magnificent!!! mmm, mmmm, mmmmm! Just sayin...
August 19th, 2011
8:46 pm
Perry, Palin or Bachmann, it matters not to me. Long as we’re rid of obozo.
And that ain’t wild eye you see, that’s a leer.
Republican chicks are hot.
Hillbilly D
August 19th, 2011
8:46 pm
Michael H
Yes, I have noticed that. As you probably know, the Beatles lent a lot of help to Badfinger, George Harrison in particular. If I’m not mistaken, George played guitar on “Baby Blue”. Those walkdowns in that song are pure George. “Badge” by Cream is another example of the walkdowns and George played that lead, too.
Lil' Barry Bailout (Revised Downward)
August 19th, 2011
8:48 pm
Now if we could just get Midori over here, we could have ourselves a little reunion!
I Report (-: You Whine )-: Thee Magnificent!!! mmm, mmmm, mmmmm! Just sayin...
August 19th, 2011
8:48 pm
I used to think all women politicians were grossly overweight, ugly screeching battle wagons, pant suit wearing nagging socialists, but that was when Hillary was the only one.
Bruno
August 19th, 2011
8:48 pm
Speaking of runs, another HD favorite:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GgI5DMVegIk
Michael H. Smith
August 19th, 2011
8:50 pm
Hillbilly D – they referred to laisse faire as “neo-liberalism”
Also called “Classical Liberalism” often associated with the Libertarian Party of today.
It’s probably at this point where I and the Libertarian Party (with some so-called conservatives as well) truly part ways.
josef
August 19th, 2011
8:51 pm
Hillbilly
Did you catch “You Don’t Know Dixie” on History Channel? Thought about you a lot while watching it!
Oh, and that Badfinger…one of my all time favorites…
Lil' Barry Bailout (Revised Downward)
August 19th, 2011
8:53 pm
MHS, I’m pretty sure the “liberals” who believe in things like liberty would more properly be called “paleo-liberals”. It’s been some time since any of the species inhabited the Democrat party.
j$
August 19th, 2011
8:54 pm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-q7Mih69KE
Moderate Line
August 19th, 2011
8:55 pm
I did not believe the stimulus package would work and I don’t believe any of this would work either.
I Report (-: You Whine )-: Thee Magnificent!!! mmm, mmmm, mmmmm! Just sayin...
August 19th, 2011
8:58 pm
I don’t know what Sharon Tate has to do with this song but whatever-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IqwhcqT1FEg
josef
August 19th, 2011
8:58 pm
Michael Smith…
Since I’m over here right now and so are you…you’re still number one in my book…I think about that post of yours that time almost daily…tbanks again…
Michael H. Smith
August 19th, 2011
8:58 pm
Hillbilly D -
Yeah does it ever show through and if George Harrison didn’t play on Baby Blue somebody in the Badfinger group took lesson from George off of the Revolver album.
Someone told me that Badfinger recorded at Apple Studios, don’t know if it is true but it wouldn’t surprise me.
Hillbilly D
August 19th, 2011
9:00 pm
Bruno @ 8:48
Very good. The great Grady Martin on lead guitar. A 4:40 minute song and he never repeats a lead run. Each one is different.
josef @ 8:51
I did see that and it reminded me of what you and I have tried to teach the non-Southerners. The South is by no means one big homogeneous place. It’s many cultures, some as different as night and day from each other. I did like Trace Adkins at the end. “The South is the soul of this country”, he said. I’d agree and I make no claim to being objective about it.
Moderate Line
August 19th, 2011
9:00 pm
Japan has not reached the GDP level it had in 1995 which was because of a real estate bust. I believe that the slump we are currently in will last quite sometime.
Bruno
August 19th, 2011
9:01 pm
Well, we can’t have a HD reunion without some Willie Nelson. If we can’t get Mohammed to come to the mountain, then we’ll bring the darn mountain to Mohammed:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5u5LZ-DN3iA
Hillbilly D
August 19th, 2011
9:02 pm
Someone told me that Badfinger recorded at Apple Studios, don’t know if it is true but it wouldn’t surprise me.
Yes, they were on the Apple label and when the Beatles broke up, the resulting lawsuits pretty much sunk Badfinger’s career. They couldn’t record for several years, due to the legal fallout; it’s a sad story.
Lil' Barry Bailout (Revised Downward)
August 19th, 2011
9:04 pm
Is Bookman’s blog broken or something?
Bruno
August 19th, 2011
9:05 pm
“The South is the soul of this country”
So, the North is the brains??
Just kidding, guys.
Bruno
August 19th, 2011
9:06 pm
Is Bookman’s blog broken or something?
Actually, yes, since we lost Hillbilly Deluxe.
j$
August 19th, 2011
9:06 pm
hey dudes, grab your git-ars!
Mick
August 19th, 2011
9:07 pm
hillbilly d
Wouldn’t have it any other way-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=04gR_ApuM8A&feature=related
Michael H. Smith
August 19th, 2011
9:08 pm
Lil’ Barry Bailout – Somewhere around the Jacksonian era not much longer thereafter but the DEMWITS real downfall started with SOCIALIST Woodrow Wilson.
The thing that really gets me, of course at the time I was too politically unaware but LBJ ( I’ll not send Amurikun boys and girls halfway around the world) and his Great Society – as I look back on that guy, he was more communist than Uncle Ho Chi Minh.
getalife
August 19th, 2011
9:09 pm
Still hating Hillary Andy?
Best SoS ever.
“Former Reagan, Bush Official: Rick Perry Is ‘An Idiot’” Aol.
The idiot will not listen to rove.
It is willard’s turn to lose to Obama this cycle.
Here is his plan:
Stay sane and don’t panic.
Too late for the sane part,
Huntsman was the only one that would never default.
Obama by default.
Four more years,
Bruno
August 19th, 2011
9:10 pm
Another HD favorite, and the Bill Monroe version:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ldLdrZOOWM
Hillbilly D
August 19th, 2011
9:10 pm
Mick
Marshall Tucker (the original lineup) has always been one of my favorite bands. That’s one of their lesser known songs and one of the best, in my opinion.
So, the North is the brains??
Or it could be another body part.
Michael H. Smith
August 19th, 2011
9:10 pm
josef – Good to see you’re still around.
Hillbilly D
August 19th, 2011
9:14 pm
Hillary hasn’t done a bad job as Secretary of State but she’s not the best ever. George Marshall immediately comes to mind on a short list. The Marshall Plan was brilliant, in my opinion.
I Report (-: You Whine )-: Thee Magnificent!!! mmm, mmmm, mmmmm! Just sayin...
August 19th, 2011
9:15 pm
President Bachmann will cut the government to the bone, rid us of the mindless oversight and free us from the parasitical unions.
Prosperity, coming to a hood near you in 2013.
If we still exist.
Bruno
August 19th, 2011
9:16 pm
Better work some Stringbean in:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7wxbVN-wAiI&feature=related
josef
August 19th, 2011
9:21 pm
Hillbilly
Would like to have seen that one! You know how much I get tickled over the so-called “liberal” and their view of laissez-faire, completely unaware that laissez faire is at the very core of what liberal means! Then, here will come the “conservative” spouting philosophies which would make Karl Marx drool!
Me? I’ve decided I want to be a zionist running dog of corporate capitalism and a union thug…that is, in retirement on the taxpayer’s dime…
Bruno
August 19th, 2011
9:23 pm
In the pocket, as always:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n5yyeyLnnoo
getalife
August 19th, 2011
9:23 pm
HD,
Good pick.
He had a bigger mess to clean up.
getalife
August 19th, 2011
9:26 pm
Andy,
We will exist.
Have you ever “cured” anybody like Mr. Bachmann?
Bruno
August 19th, 2011
9:31 pm
This is the group that sold me on Southern Rock way back in the early 70s:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pwbowi-8Yoo
At any rate, HD, do I get any cred for being from South Jersey??
Hillbilly D
August 19th, 2011
9:32 pm
Bruno @ 9:23
I’m still amazed at what George McCorkle (rhythm guitar), Paul Riddle (drums) and Tommy Caldwell (bass) had going on behind Toy Caldwell’s lead guitar and Jerry Eubank’s flute, in that song.
Me? I’ve decided I want to be a zionist running dog of corporate capitalism and a union thug…that is, in retirement on the taxpayer’s dime…
Maybe if you’re in retirement a zionist walking dog of corporate capitalism would suit you better.
moonbat betty
August 19th, 2011
9:32 pm
let it rain
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ebt0BR5wHYs
josef
August 19th, 2011
9:34 pm
Is Bookman’s blog broken? Nanh, but our moral compass has changed sites…
Michael…
You know me, I’ll stick around for no other reason than to stir up the you-know-what!
HILLBILLY
Trace Adkins really impressed me with that comment. Herschel Walker was another one who did…a True Southern Gentleman of Culture and Breeding, he. And talking about our multi-cultural Weltanaschauung and how we have many, many lessons to teach the nation in “how to,” the segment on Southern Jews was just great! And, yes, I’ve had a pig ear sandwich from the Big Apple cafe, too! But I think the one that tickled me the most was the feller who built his own tractor. It was like a visit with my Uncle Ralph, the leprachaun of the hedge school, and when he built the car and the helicopter! It was such a relief to hear “us” talking about “us” for a change. Frankly, I was surprised it ever got made, much less aired….
Hillbilly D
August 19th, 2011
9:36 pm
do I get any cred for being from South Jersey??
Partial credit.
I had ancestors in South Jersey/PA/Delaware area at one time. They had the good sense to head south as soon as they finished that little set to, with the British. I reckon we’ve always been involved in a set to with somebody. When we run out of anybody to scrap with, we scrap amongst ourselves. Things have been pretty calm the last couple of decades, though.
josef
August 19th, 2011
9:37 pm
HILLBILLY
Yeah. Marshall. But we DO know where the Marshall Plan came from, eh? Not something the MAJOR historians want to make a point of…thank you Mama Trumann and the Sons of the Confederate Veterans…
Rafe Hollister
August 19th, 2011
9:40 pm
Kyle, your three might be easier to implement, but I think these three things create many more jobs.
1. Repeal Obamacare
2. Reform the tax code, i.e. something like the Fair Tax
3. Enforce immigration laws by auditing employers and levying fines on those caught employing illegals.
Bruno
August 19th, 2011
9:40 pm
Back at ya, moonbat betty:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NOH3a4ku3xw&feature=related
josef
August 19th, 2011
9:42 pm
BRUNO (and HILLBILLY)
What was that about taking the mountain to…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=44Rwu5yPUrc
Hillbilly D
August 19th, 2011
9:42 pm
josef @ 9:34
While I was watching Herschel, I was just thinking how that would set the excepted notions on their ear. Herschel is every bit as Southern as you or I or anybody else, and he loves being it as much as we do.
The guy who built the tractor reminded me of any number of people I’ve known. “Making do” is what we’ve always called it.
Disclaimer I just got through building a riding lawnmower out of pieces of two lawn mowers. Not the prettiest thing you’ve ever seen but it runs and I got about $3 invested in the conversion.
Bruno
August 19th, 2011
9:42 pm
I had ancestors in South Jersey/PA/Delaware area at one time. They had the good sense to head south as soon as they finished that little set to, with the British.
There’s likely as many Rednecks in South Jersey as any Southern State. You should have seen the outpouring of grief when Dale Earnhardt passed away.
Bruno
August 19th, 2011
9:44 pm
Sushi run–back in a flash.
Michael H. Smith
August 19th, 2011
9:44 pm
Then, here will come the “conservative” spouting philosophies which would make Karl Marx drool!
That I would seriously doubt josef, Karl Marx and most liberals of the marxist obumer type cannot stand being forced to govern from within the confine of the Constitution which extremely limits the actual powers of the federal government. This is what gives these characters their definition of Progressive which means governing outside of and beyond the authority of the Constitution without making amendments to the governing document itself.
Progressives? Not really. Just a bunch of fascist with marxist goals in mind.
True “conservatives” just want to go back to the Constitution, Though I know where your mind goes on that one but believe me when I say this, most “social conservatives” really don’t want nor can they live within the confines of the Constitution either. Why? Because drug laws, gaming laws, looking into someones bedroom, and federal marriage laws simply are not Constitutional. All those powers rightly belong to state governments. If we want to give the federal government more authority it should rightly be grant by the states or amendments and only by this process.
Mick
August 19th, 2011
9:45 pm
hillbilly d
Thanks for introducing me to this song-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t6x_hEfiGgE&feature=related
Linda
August 19th, 2011
9:46 pm
Kyle’s blog has been invaded by Jay’s bloggers. Kyle has unwritten rules on here:
* you must post more than one sentence per comment (incomplete sentences don’t count)
* all words must be spelled correctly & grammar is a must
* no reference to wrestling
* no recipes
* no meanness
Hillbilly D
August 19th, 2011
9:46 pm
josef
Yeah, Marshall and Truman knew the lessons of Radical Reconstruction and the Treaty of Versailles.
Another thing that made me laugh in that Dixie show was when they were talking about what makes up the South and Herschel says, “I’m not real sure Texas is the South”.