Fair / 26° FEditorial: The first priority: helping America’s unemployed
Published 12:11pm Tuesday, February 2, 2010Tuesday, Feb. 2, 2010
After attempting to redesign our national health care system, after taking steps to re-imagine our educational standards, the Obama administration has set their sights on what probably should have been the first priority some time ago: America’s unemployed.
Using the State of the Union as his platform, Obama announced a need to refocus on getting hardworking Americans back to work, announcing a $33 billion tax break package in an effort to give businesses an incentive in hiring new employees. A $5,000 tax credit could be gained by businesses through the package for every worker hired in 2010.
Like health care and education the latest undertaking by the administration will not be an easy one. It will also not be a solitary one. To get those who have been suffering through unemployment – some of them since the recession began – a combined effort will be needed at the local level. Many businesses continue to struggle to keep their doors open at all. These businesses who defy the odds to continue to provide services in their respected industry and are striving to keep themselves running with the hope of hiring in the near future, need the support of local banking institutions, local government and business advocacy groups.
Entrepreneurship has also been championed by this administration. Indeed, it would be difficult to imagine how many of our technological gadgets, convenient and commonly used services and even integral parts of our everyday functions would ever be possible without the first idea, that entrepreneurial spirit. But entrepreneurs are no island unto themselves. Rather they need the support of their communities and the support of others to take a chance on them, to have a little belief in their future.
Local financial institutions have a unique opportunity to gain a personal relationship with their borrowers, to understand the struggles they face trying to stay open during tough economic times and have a hand in the overall success of that small business or company.
It is the hope that the entities needed to make our small businesses successful will come together with the goal of success – and not a succumbing to failure – in mind.
These actions combined with tax incentives and a spirit to forge ahead can only help in getting America and its communities, like the one we live in, back to the headstrong work force that it has been known for, that build its bridges, laid its railroads, cultivated its coal minds, flew its airplanes, revved its engines and built a nation.
Where on earth do these people come from? The “plan” that President Maobama laid out in his State of Confusion speech las week proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that he has no clue about how to foster an economic recovery. First let’s examine the $5,000 tax credit. There are strings attached. These jobs must pay “competitive” (read union) wages, and provide “benefits” (health care etc.) making the tax credit useless. Obama also seeks to tax that small businessman at a higher rate simply because he shows an income of $250,000 or more, ignoring the fact that every dime of that income is returned to the business.
Next, he wants to make $33 billion available to local banks to lend to these small businesses, but of course there are strings attached for both the banks and the borrower imposed by the federal government.
The intelligent choice would be to reduce-permanently-the taxes paid by small and large businesses, rather than increase them, as is planned. The federal government plans to increase taxes over the next ten years by nearly a trillion dollars. That figure was released today. Most of those increases are to be borne by the “wealthy” and corporations. What will the result of those increased taxes? Goods and services will increase dramatically in prices. Americans will be able to buy less and standards of living will correspondingly be reduced. For most of us, that is to be considered bad news, but to the Obama administration, who plans to be here for another seven years, that is great news. There will be fewer middle middle class Americans, creating an underclass that is more and more dependent on government largesse, which is exactly what they want.
The editorial writers at the Star are dead wrong about what is needed. It is time for government to get out of the way and allow the private sector to return to prominence. That is where the jobs are, not in government. Wake up.
There once was a Man in faraway Niles, who wanted to go to South Bend,
So He and His own family headed North on U.S.31
By the Time He got to grand rapids, he had lost a horse,
from a Broken leg, then had to shoot His wifes Man servant Ivan
for saying “are We there Yet” just once to Many.
Then a daughter fell off the Homemade Barge crossing Lake Huron,
she got very Cold, and Ill and had to remain at Poe Reef, Ontario.
They would Pick Her up on their next trip to South bend.
Soon He was at the mouth of Hudson bay,
knowing He was getting closer to South Bend,
he just had to cross the Arctic, Russia to India, the Antarctic,
and when He got to the Andies it would be all uphill from there.
soon He would be in South bend.
He reminds me of my devout Conservative friends
Lets keep on the same road of failure that has ALWAYS
led us down to Economic Ruin, for We do have good days before We fall.
why learn from history, just shout we are right loud enough , long Enough
and others will follow
Sam, tell me one instance where a command and control economy has been successful. Our road to economic ruin has not been caused by the capitalist approach, but by the government attempting to modify capitalism into something where people are allowed to own their own businesses, but are regulated and restricted by the government into mass wealth redistribution at the hands of a central planner (government). We cannot have it both ways. The capitalist typically becomes wealthy, but in doing so, requires people to work for him in order to build, or maintain that wealth. The great thing about that system is, that ANYONE who can devise a product or service that the public WANTS can become wealthy. In today’s world however, the government is making the decisions about who can borrow, who can employ, and who can or must be employed. You can write all of the lame parables you like, but you cannot convince Americans that capitalism is not the way to go.
The exaggeration of your premise is nether is a truism, nor
answerable. You believe in “DEREGULATION” and I
believe in a “REGULATED” Economy.
You believe “INFLATION” should be controlled,and
I believe it is a NATURAL economic pressure.
You believe in shrinking Your tax base, and I believe
it should be increased.
Mike a Drunk Driver desires over anything else,
that the Drunk Driving Laws should be deregulated.
Today economy is a direct result of G.O. P. economic
policies sold to the American people since Nixon.
ABOVE ALL I believe in Remembering history, that is Why
when George W. Bush began to Run for president I warned
on the Old Readers Forum He would
be Hoover, and our economy was
headed for a collapse, because You republicans are
pulling the same stunts that led to the great depression
that stunt was DEREGULATION.