With due apologies, "It's the jobs stupid." It's also the economy which takes in a myriad of sins and sinners, but how much can or should government handle either at one time or in a lifetime? I'm beginning to think this whole thing is a clever scheme to keep us off our guard. The more things "They" attempt to do, the less we concentrate on how badly everything is done or, more precisely, not done.
That's just one reason why I'm so disappointed with this administration, not to mention this congress. I was complaining a few years back about the last "do-nothing" congress. Well, now I'm stuck with one that wants to do everything and a president who seems to either instigate it or at least backs it.
This is multitasking taken to its limited limits. You all know what I think of multitasking and, for those who don't, I'll repeat: multitasking is the now proven faulty assumption that you can, not only do two things at once, but you can do them well. Well, you can't. It's like texting and driving which is the new "walking and chewing gum."
The president is pushing, no, shoving health care down our throats. Why? Because a bill might be passed by the end of the year, and he becomes a hero? I don't know, but if that's the reason, it's just plain wrong. First, it starts from a thousand page bill that no one has read. Second, the bill has provisions that are not only not cost effective, but lead to another debt of trillions of dollars. Third, while no one would argue that many Americans need health insurance, perhaps the root is that insurance companies don't play fair and hospitals charge way too much to a few to carry the too many who can't afford it. Then again, just who can afford a stay in the hospital when, with medical advances, even though they can kick you out in two days after a heart attack, the bill could still reach $100,000 and then becomes a pre-existing condition? Stupidity is a pre-existing condition and thank your lucky stars that the treatment can't be charged for. (Stupidity, not ignorance. Ignorance we pay for our whole lives.)
So, while they have his puzzle that no one can solve, they push for it I suppose because something is better than nothing, a notion I would contest. But that isn't the issue. The greatest issue in the country today is the loss of JOBS! And soon it's going to be the lack of money for unemployment insurance. And the loss of jobs is deeply rooted, not just in the housing debacle, but in the loss of manufacturing that has been going on for 20 or more years. The dot-com bubble was a service-sector bubble which masked the fact that we don't make anything anymore. Can a country which is 90 percent service have a robust economy that isn't exactly like the "Emperor's new clothes?"
Furthermore, and I don't care if I've been harping on this for 25 years (yes, 25!), unemployment statistics are notoriously political and misleading or is that one and the same? California says it has 12 percent unemployment, but the real figure is somewhere around 18.2 percent. (God knows what it is in Michigan.) Remember, unemployment stats do not include those whose benefits have run out (which means there will be extensions), those who have stopped looking, those who have "started their own businesses" even though 19 of 20 will fail and are really temporary DBA's, or those who have part-time jobs, no matter how little they bring in.
Why did the president go to Copenhagen? Because if we had gotten the Olympics in 2016, it would have meant 35,000 jobs. Yeah, but Oprah could have lost the bid by herself. Mr. Obama should have stayed home and pounded away at Congress to come up with ideas as to how to create jobs. Here's one idea - just one: start building nuclear power plants, and I mean a lot of them. The spent-fuel-rod problem has almost been solved (see Lawrence Livermore Labs own conclusions), and safety is not the issue. The same people who are against nuclear power are those who don't want fluoride in their water.
Instead, we've turned this thing on its head. Californians voted to build a bullet train from San Francisco to San Diego and then Harry Reid said, well Nevada should build one from Vegas to Disneyland. What the hell? Californians decided to spend $65 billion - that's B - even though we're already $80 billion in debt. Don't they think it costs money that we have to pay back? But they fell for the ads that said that California is the "eighth largest economy in the world," and the bullet train would keep us there. What a crock. Two years ago, the ads said we were "the sixth largest economy in the world." Well, that's what debt and the loss of business and jobs will do to you.
So, back to Washington. Do one thing and do it right. You've got 80% of the first stimulus package left. I don't know where the shovel ready jobs are, but I think somebody was shoveling it to us last year. And watch out! The more you get used to "trillions" when dollars are referenced, the sooner trillions will take the place of billions which took the place of millions as real money.
I don't know where else new jobs are going to come from. Congress isn't going to let us all become employees of the federal government although, lord knows, they have enough committees and sub-committees and sub-sub-committees to accommodate most of the unemployed. Green only goes so far, and as Kermit says, "It's not easy being green." Still, it must pay. Al Gore has made a killing talking about it. Then again, maybe we should have bullet trains that go coast to coast and border to border. How do we pay for them? Well, you could take it out of Social Security which, by the way, was doing fine until Congress "invaded that trust" some 50 years ago. Knowing Congress, it'll probably job it out to Europe because they have the experience. I'm frustrated and angry. If frustration could fuel the economy, we'd be good until 2090.
To be continued. The dog needs his walk and has a job to do.
All Rights Reserved. Copyright 2009. Ethan A. Winning