Tonight’s address by the President to promote a supposed “jobs” plan, sounded eerily similar to his failed “stimulus” plan, and still is yet to be found anywhere in written form. While the President avoided mentioning his trademark spending plan by name, he continued to promote the same failed policies that have stunted economic growth, no matter what they are named:
- Aid to States—Rather than cut spending during a recession, the “stimulus” bloated state budgets, creating permanent programs financed by temporary funds. With these funds running out, states will be compelled to increase revenues by at least $80 billion to extend “stimulus” promises made, after President Obama has already signed into law $725 billion in permanent tax increases. Congress passed a $26 billion state bailout just one year ago; now the President is promising more spending with strings attached that will come with more federal strings attached.
- Extending Unemployment Compensation—Currently, recipients can receive up to 99 weeks of federal assistance. This explains part of the consistently high unemployment rate; federal payouts are more lucrative than working. Almost half of the unemployed have been jobless for over six months, proving the year-long extension Obama proposed will only prolong the dismal jobs picture.
- “Infrastructure” spending—These “shovel-ready” jobs were supposed to be a large component of economic recovery under the first “stimulus.” If the initial trillion dollar spending and debt plan was supposed to “save or create” 3 to 4 million jobs and keep the unemployment rate below 8 percent, what is almost $200 billion supposed to do after the economy has lost almost 2 million jobs and unemployment remains at 9 percent?
- “Modernizing" Buildings and Schools—With $20 billion spent on “green” jobs initiatives, millions have gone to politically-connected companies that have since gone bankrupt, despite their transfusion of taxpayer cash. Modernizing initiatives are necessarily expensive since they are subject to Davis-Bacon laws that run up the cost of projects by 10 percent and inflate wages by 22 percent. While Obama promised millions in new “green” jobs under the “stimulus” plan, they account for just 2 percent of employment nationwide.
“President Obama never stopped campaigning for president to take the time to actually be president,” Said Americans for Tax Reform President Grover Norquist. “The question President Obama didn’t answer tonight is why he would propose more “stimulus” after almost three years of it has made the economy worse.”
on Thursday, September 8, 2011 7:39 PM EDTTo follow Mattie Duppler's RSS feed click here. To follow them on Twitter, their handle is @MDuppler