Congress may actually pass an economic stimulus bill this week, which is good news for the short-term needs of the country. There is no question the economy is tottering, and could easily tip over from recession to depression, so a bill that focuses on saving jobs and creating jobs is desperately needed. The good news is that the bill will definitely help achieve some of those aims. The bad news is that it will lay a crushing debt burden on taxpayers for the future, which can only be addressed if government becomes far more efficient in the use of tax dollars than it has in the past. That could very well force, down the road, what many of us have wanted for years, a smaller, more efficient government. But somehow, that doesn't seem likely. Because Congress hasn't figured out that the model for government is, and should be, changing. And the best example is the stimulus package. Despite billions of dollars in cuts, it still contains way too much pork. And some of the cuts (to make way for that pork) seem to make no sense, such as dropping $40 billion to help keep schools from having to fire teachers. That's counter-productive. The bill is supposed to save or create jobs, not leave them threatened. Both sides of the aisle bear the blame. The Democratic leadership rolled over on way too many pet projects among its members, losing sight of the long-term goal of the bill. And Republicans kept insisting on sticking to the same failed policies of the past, and playing the same old games where personal and party political power carried more weight than the needs of the nation. One GOP leader actually admitted his goal for the bill, and the amendments he introduced, were designed to divide the Democrats and make them look bad. So much for caring about the people of this country. Both parties should be ashamed. It is time for Congress to look up from its myopic and petty party power games, and its proclivity for pork, and look at the desperate state of the nation, focusing solely on programs that stand a good chance of meeting the goal of keeping people working. Making things work should be a bipartisan issue. This bill should be about America, not the Republican or Democratic parties. -- Kelly Everitt

It's jobs for us or their jobs

Posted Wednesday, January 26, 2011, at 8:45 AM

At this writing, President Obama is a few hours away from his annual State of the Union speech to Congress.

Obama is expected to stress the need for job creation.

Nothing could be more important.

The original Bush/Obama stimulus packages and tax breaks kept this country from going under, but did little to truly jumpstart the economy. Major corporations took advantage of all the tax breaks to pile up near-record reserves of cash (so much for trickle-down economics). So far, that hasn't translated into jobs.

But there are hopeful signs. Economists say nearly half of all major businesses are planning on expanding their workforce this year. By the end of the year, unemployment should begin to fall, although it is unlikely it will return to pre-meltdown levels. In major cities, where the major corporations will do most of the hiring, there is reason for prompt hope. But it takes a while for a sour economy to recover and trickle down to the main street level of small towns.

Congress must act quickly to provide tax incentives for small businesses to begin hiring again. It wouldn't take that much. If every business in Idaho added just one job, it would almost wipe out the state's unemployment. The same applies to Mountain Home. Just one job at every business in town would put most of our unemployed back to work.

That doesn't mean the heady days of the early '60s are ever going to return. There has been a Darwinian process at work in the marketplace, as surviving businesses have learned to do more with less -- and at lower wage levels (when you're desperate for a job, you'll take anything, even at much lower wages than you had before).

So it's a new age of economics out there right now. But in the end, every new job is a plus, and if Congress is smart, it will focus its efforts on helping small businesses expand the workforce. It must, however, do so quickly.

Now is not the time for partisan politics and positioning for the 2012 elections to get in the way of prompt and effective action.

Respond to this blog

Posting a comment requires free registration:

If you already have an account, follow this link to login
Otherwise, follow this link to register