If you thought Obama’s vote-buying “jobs” scheme was political bilge when he announced it last week, the plan sounds even less appealing now that we know how he’d like to pay for it. For starters, in search of revenues, the president has returned yet again to his cherished notion that anyone making more than $200,000 is “rich” – i.e., in the same category as leftist envy-mongers put hedge fund managers and Big Oil. Reportedly, tax breaks for all who fall in those categories, and in many others from which the government is already extracting more than 90% of its revenues, would be eliminated in order to offset Obamajobs’ supposed $467 billion cost. Is it possible that when the President went to war with Republicans earlier this summer over raising the debt limit, he completely missed the main point of the discussion – i.e., that new taxes were off the table? Op-ed supporters will undoubtedly claim there are no new taxes involved in the jobs proposal, only the elimination of existing tax breaks. This is an argument we thought Obama lost when he tried to hike taxes to pre-Bush II levels a while ago. Say this for the guy: Like the die-hard disciple of hard-left rabble-rouser Saul Alinsky that he is, Barack Obama never gives up. We should have realized as much when he rammed health care legislation down our throats even though most Americans indicated they strongly opposed – still oppose – it.
Concerning the jobs scheme, who could possibly believe that the $467 billion would be well spent? Outside the Keynesian lunatic fringe championed by Paul Krugman, we read mainly about the epic sums expended on each new job associated with Federal handouts. At best, these jobs routinely seem to cost taxpayers many hundreds of thousands of dollars apiece, especially when the dollars are thrown at ostensibly “green” projects and firms. Thus do we read in a report prepared by the State of Illinois that the U.S. was eager to throw $8 million at developers for each and every wind job reported. This particular giveaway fell under Section 1603 of the stimulus bill, but it’s chump change compared to the $535 million Uncle Sam gave solar-energy firm Solyndra. The company recently declared bankruptcy and is under criminal investigation by the FBI, but the most disturbing part of the story — more disturbing, even, than that Solyndra’s founders were big Obama campaign supporters — is that the Department of Energy had been allowed to sit in on the company’s board meetings as it went broke. Under the circumstances, in the unlikely event Obamajobs is enacted, taxpayers will probably get far better value for their $467 billion if the recipients’ business cards are drawn from a fish bowl or selected at random from the Yellow Pages.
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Mava;
We already have tariffs in the form of undeclared currency wars. The present system suits the elite and banking establishment. When the dust settles and free money/counterfeiting operations are suspended, and the only real source of capital is real money savings and real interest paid to foreigners if they deign to lend, then we will have to manufacture here once again.
Free trade with Chindia is a fools game, as they continue to manufacture for increbibly low prices, sell to US off shore company who then prices in US domestic market at just under what anyone else charges for a good. Do you think in the transfer price scheme to the USA distribution network there will be much gross profit left to tax? Not a chance.
The proof that an industrial based economy works well in America, is the 1950s experience where mom stayed home and Dad worked at the plant, and all was well.
Would you not think that with mom and dad now working, or at least trying to, and with all the technological innovation replacing steno pools, etc, that we should be better off now than then as a nation?
Who got the technological dividend?
The free trade scam was promoted partly on the racist idea that our kids would all be doing higher and better skilled work. As if we need more lawyers, banksters, paper shufflers and guv employees.
What is your solution for the average to less than average guy who wants to work under someone else`s direction? If he works for same wages as Chinese workers, how can he pay his way in this cost structure?
Please explain how that would work?
In my opinion, this could only work via Rick A`s crushing deflationary theory where a reset results in abrogation of debt, honest currency, and we set the dollar at the same level as the yuan.