The Errors.
It’s been pointed out that Obama screwed up his understanding of Lincoln’s role within the Republican Party. In the grand scheme of things, that’s not that big a deal.
This Is! From Reuters:
Georgia jobs program cited by Obama has big flaws
Quote:
“This jobs plan builds on a program in Georgia that several Republican leaders have highlighted where people who collect unemployment insurance participate in temporary work as a way to build their skills while they look for a permanent job,” Obama told Congress.
But Georgia Work$ is being restructured to overcome significant flaws. Even within the state, it is seen as “not a marquee program,” said state Labor Commissioner Mark Butler, the Republican elected official who oversees it.
More than 30,000 people benefited from the program in the past, but in its current form, Georgia Work$ is tiny. Only 12 unemployed people signed up in August and 92 have done so since February, according to state Department of Labor statistics.
The voluntary program places unemployed people with firms for eight weeks of job training similar to an internship. Participants receive unemployment insurance plus a small stipend and have the chance of a job at the end of it.
Butler said the program he inherited in January was virtually bankrupt and “fraught with problems,” so he is surprised it has attracted so much national attention.
Doesn’t anyone in the White House believe in fact checking anymore?
PS. I do love the way the President demands that we pass the bill before there even is one.. is that so we can see what’s in it?????
If you’re going to go after Palin for her inaccuracies concerning history (and I have, oh have I ever)… What’s good for the goose should be good for the gander!!!
Hat Tip: Althouse
Now that Obama had laid out the latest clarion call to implement the uninspiring and already proven useless same ol’ same ol’, here is my three point Five… Five plan to get us back on the road to recovery:
- Problem One – Lack of Manufacturing Infrastructure. Look at every strong growth economy in the last 300 year. All thrived when manufacturing was at least 20% of the economy. Ours is somewhere around 10 to 12 percent of GDP. That’s not nearly enough.
- Problem Two – Bizaare Tax System. You know things are horrific when the guy you chose as your Treasury Secretary can’t even do his taxes correctly! Stop playing fiddling-faddle with the tax code and just have a three tiered system. Period. That would drop the annual rate down three to ten points, or more. Ditch most all of the deductions and subsidies and just have a simple one page report. That bold dynamic change right there would greatly reduce payroll and accounting expenses, and put a spur into money generation, investment, and jobs creation.
- Problem Three – High Corporate Taxes. This is tied to both problems one and two. If you lower… Or, dare I say, eliminate this tax, that would be a HUGE incentive for companies to bring back many jobs that have been shipped overseas! Lets face it, not all environmental regulation is bad, though much of it needs a review to make sure it is efficient and effectively implemented with out putting undue restraint on business. If corporations could offset those environmental costs with less or no taxes, then they would come back. Maybe we’d see a purely American product like Levi’s 501 Blues manufactured here in the states once again.
- Problem Four – Corporations are NOT people! This is an absurd notion solidified during the Railroad Barron days. Here’s what we should do. Remove Corporations from “person-hood” status. This will have a boon for both political parties. Since Corporations are no longer people, they shouldn’t have extra taxes, which would please Conservatives. Liberals will like that they will no longer be able to claim the free speech right, and will not be able to donate bazillions of dollars to political candidates… Which ties into …
- Problem Five – Campaign Donations. No company OR union should be able to donate to politicians or funding to support legislation. That should only be a strictly human endeavor. Now.. If a bunch of like minded people want to form a PAC and donate that way. No problem… As long as that is completely open to scrutiny.
Look, we can’t keep doing what we’ve been doing for the last thirty years. The economy is immune to it. We need to do something bold, something grand that will capture the collective imagination of the consumers at large – Something that stirs the economic soul!
Thoughts anyone????
The plan.. or what-ever that was? As far as fixing the economy… I won’t do much. It’s will add a few more jobs, but will do nothing to fix the underlying structural problems that are weighing down the economy like an anchor around the neck.
Politically though, it’s a good move.
By throwing everything and the kitchen sink out there, knowing full well there is no way even half of this can get through Congress, Obama now has his campaign weapon against the Republican congress = That they didn’t work hard enough to implement Obama’s wonderful plan, and if the economy is still in the pits, he’ll be able to blame it on Congress.