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POTUS Book of Jobs

By John Batchelor on November 20, 2009 at 11:00 AM in Current Affairs

Jobs Are the Presidency.

 


great_depression.jpg

POTUS remarks while still in China that he is suddenly aware that the full moon flood tide of spending that his administration has enjoyed the last eleven months has now overrun the beach.  What is to be done? POTUS sounds uncertain.   “…without spending money, there may be some tax provisions,  that can encourage businesses to hire sooner rather than sitting on the sidelines…. we’re taking a look at those…”

 And what makes POTUS uncertain?  “… if we keep on adding to the debt even in the midst of this recovery, that at some point people could lose confidence in the US economy in a way that would lead to a double dip recession….”  

All this lawyerly spin can be translated bluntly.  The trillions spent on the stimulus package and TARP and the various housing/foreclosure/mortgages/rescue plans have not worked to stop the job losses and offer no promise at this time to start jobs growing again.  POTUS is now faced with explaining why his stimulus bill didn’t stimulate (in fact it transferred federal tax money to state coffers) in the first place.

POTUS supposes that if he offers tax breaks to employers that this will create jobs in the private sector.  However POTUS is aware (someone may have briefed him quietly) that the spending has wrecked the dollar and created an asset bubble in commodities (denominated in the shrinking dollar), and that this long term destruction of the dollar puts the economy at risk again of retracting.  


What Is to Be Done II?

jobbureau.jpg

Alan Murray and John Bussey, WSJ, report from the WSJ CEO conference this past week (above) that, they learned, what has gone wrong is that the Obama administration has pushed companies into a job freeze because they cannot plan on costs.

What costs?

The costs of the shrinking dollar.  The costs of the threatened healthcare reform bill.  The costs of the now postponed but not rejected cap and trade.  The costs of the possibility that the EPA will declare greenhouse gasses a pollutant and start to tax by fiat.  The cost of the FCC declaring that all phone users and internet providers must pay for universal free access for all.  The costs of the repeal of the Bush tax cuts. Enough.

Alan Murray, John Bussey and Evan Newmark all reported (above) that the CEO’s uniformly complained that they cannot and will not hire again until they can get firm numbers of the costs of the Obama administration’s wish-list of polices.

Most striking to me was that the Obama White House sent Rahm Emanuel, Peter Orszag and Christina Romer to answer polite, impatient, futile questions from the CEOs.

But Congress did not show up, not Mrs. Pelosi nor Harry Reid nor their deputies.  The implication is that Congress will not speculate about what it will cost to pay for what Congress mandates by Democratic majority legislation the next year.  Murray and Bussey both indicate that Team Obama understands the CEO complaint.  Does Congress?  And who is running that trillion dollar printing press in Washington?  The name on the door is Obama.


Jobs, Jobs, Jobs.

greatdepression-300x224.jpg

No evidence yet that the Obama administration understand the theory that the Federal and State budgets drain money from the economy that would be put to work growing the economy, which means jobs.

No evidence that the Obama administration understands that the government intervention in the marketplace, with TARP, stimulus, mortgage bailouts, GM and Bank of America and Citi zombie status, that all this finagling and manipulating and favor-seeking and plan smoke and mirrors keeps the economy from stabilizing.  You cannot hire if you do not have confidence in the housing and banks and dollar.  POTUS holds yet another Jobs summit at the White House on December 3, and then departs to Allentown, Pennsylvania.  No jobs in Allentown since the 1976 and Jimmy Carter.

This will be a test of POTUS logic.  How does he propose to stimulate job growth in a region that lost growth after Bethlehem Steel cleared out, and that hasn’t sen hiring since VE Day?  SEIU? 


Do Nothing vs Do Something.

David Wessel, WSJ, writes that the Obama administration is uncertain what to do about the joblessness because there is another camp, outside government, that says to Do Nothing at all.  To wait.  (I am in the do nothing camp, with the caveat that I would undo the damage already done by shelving the fevers in Congress, the EPA, strengthening the dollar, shutting off the junk food to the zombies and so forth.)  The Obama administration is in the Do  Something camp.

Even then, the Obama team is uncertain if it should do more and more, such as expensive tax credits for hiring (similar to what POTUS mentions above) or just tinker cheaply (the the recent $250 check to seniors for drugs).  The uncertainty itself is a source of panic, because while the administration waits to make a decision, the damage already done to the dollar by the failed spending makes it difficult for the markets to stabilize and the private sector to budget and hire.

In sum, I do not hear any voice in the White House remark that the problem could be (is) Congress and the White House. 


Meanwhile, the fun story of the day is that the billionaire market giant John Paulson is building a new hedge fund to start January 1 that will buy gold, gold shares, gold-mining and so forth.  Paulson’s opinion is that gold is just starting a bull run, hanging today at $1150.

The market smiled.  This isn’t about gold supply.  This is the dollar, the new Fifty Cent piece of Planet Earth.  Buy gold now.  Sunday night September 14, 2008, the night Lehman Brothers died, I can recall Jimmy Rogers in Singapore telling me that gold was up $23 an ounce.  Around $770.  Buy gold that night, in the panic of the next weeks 0f 2008 when Congress passed the trillion dollar TARP giveaway to the bankers and their cronies, and you are now up better than 40%.

If you think the dollar is going to rally with the Obama administration’s current policy, sell.  If you don’t, can gold go anywhere but up?

  • Docelder

    Do nothing indeed. How I long for the days of the “do nothing” congress. If only we could get those days back. If only. Congress is leading this sled team down the mountain. Even if they quit mushing the dogs now, can this be stopped? Even if Obama sees his errors does he have the mettle to right the mistake? This will be the difference between a double dip recession and the second great world depression. Time will tell.

    • Nancy Peacock

      The days of the “do nothing” Congress are over. Election 2010 will prove to be disastrous for the Democrats. Now, however, it’s official, as per the Federal Election Commission and the Florida State Board of Elections, Larry Sinclair is runnning as the Independent candidate in the 24th District Congressional race. Larry has spoken the truth and has the best interests of the constituency at heart. Cover-ups only go so far, and then, the truth comes out. Larry is all about truth. He is one brave dude, taking on the Obama machine. You can see Larry’s platform at http://www.larrysinclairforcongress.com

      • Scout

        His platform is very right wing.

  • **== SUPER GALT **==

    All this lawyerly spin can be translated bluntly. The trillions spent on the stimulus package and TARP and the various housing/foreclosure/mortgages/rescue plans have not worked to stop the job losses and offer no promise at this time to start jobs growing again. POTUS is now faced with explaining why his stimulus bill didn’t stimulate (in fact it transferred federal tax money to state coffers) in the first place.

    Sums things up nicely. With this HUGE job(less) issue and NO answers because he is inept, incompetent and thus picks bad advisers what is POTUS to do? Why gallivant across Asia of course! And health care for all (with no jobs to pay for it)! Lucking foser.

    We’re really screwed.

  • **== SUPER GALT **==

    Spam monster ate my comment 1278946, please rescue.

    • TeakWoodKite

      Kyptonite?

    • Bronwyn’s Harbor

      I rescued it. If i were you, I’d change my username — it may be a red flag to the programmed spam filter.

      • **== SUPER GALT **==

        Could be, but I think it was some of the language I used. Thanks for rescuing.

  • requiredreading

    In large part because of the jobs numbers, I think, Obama’s combined approval rating (strongly approve/strongly disappove) is -14 for the 3rd day in a row in the Rasmussen daily tracking poll. Wanna bet that we’ll soon have a major “speech to the nation” that is designed to say nothing while getting the numbers back up?

    • **== SUPER GALT **==

      “Designed to” being operative words. It won’t help. America is finally waking up to this poser leader and is asking “Where’s the beef?”

      • requiredreading

        I hope so. It just seems that there have been so many “waking up moments” already and people start snoozing again once the Great One’s sonorous voice starts whispering sweet (absolute) nothings their ears…..

        • **== SUPER GALT **==

          Patience, Grasshopper? :)

          Surely with so many out of work who want jobs and everyone knowing someone out of work, the charade can only continue so much longer no matter what flowery dreck spews out his evil orifice.

          • **== SUPER GALT **==

            I should add criminals all to often think they can talk their way out of arrest and conviction. And we know what a delusion this is, with jails bursting at the seams with convicted felons.

            We tried to warn America…

            • http://deleted BuzzisbackLatte

              All the criminally gifted folks I use to work with fully believed they were smarter than anyone else in the room.

              Tell me where Obama is any different than that! LOL!

  • helenk

    http://moelane.com/2009/11/19/geithner-everythings-peachy-really/

    whatever he is smoking tax it. anything that blinds reality should be taxed.

    With the news about the mammograms and now today about pap smears, backtrack and bunch seem to hoping to create jobs in the funeral industry.

    WOMEN WITH INTELLIGENCE AND EXPERIENCE,MEN WHO SUPPORT THEM AND COUNTRY BEFORE PARTY ALWAYS

    PUMAS,BUBBAS,EQUALISTS AND THOSE PEOPLE RULE

  • **== SUPER GALT **==

    Let me try again and re-post the thoughts I had that the spam monster devoured.

    Its no surprise to this observer the job(less) issue is haunting dear leader. And what is his answer? He’s off gallivanting around Asia and delivering us health care “reform” (we’ll see on that) that folks can’t pay for since they don’t have jobs.

    This is what happens when an inept and unqualified person thus picks bad advisers and ergo makes bad decisions and/or is indecisive.

    • Docelder

      He will be at Camp David before we long… wearing a flannel shirt and chopping some wood. I can’t wait. Legs will tingle in newsrooms across America.

      • **== SUPER GALT **==

        Why isn’t that special.

  • AF catfish

    He either needs to do something or do nothing. He needs to pick a direction and stick with it. Instead, he did a lot of somethings (TARP, stimulus that does not fund infrastructure projects,) and NOW he’s going to do nothing? He is projecting uncertainty, and uncertainty stalls the economy and disempowers everybody while they wait for him to make up his mind.

    He is so much like the narcissist I know it’s bizarre. She is just like this, and she keeps everyone off balance because she’s so inconsistent.

  • AF catfish

    Did you see how people who were laid off since July will not qualify for unemployment extensions, but people who have been jobless for over a year will get a six-week extension on benefits? Who can make any sense of that?

    Normally, in any other administration, you’d think they would catch the error and pass an amendment so the recently unemployed would get extensions. But not this administration – suddenly this administration is concerned with the deficit.

    This is also a characteristic of a narcissist – they focus too much on small things and totally miss huge gigantic icebergs until they’re face-to-face with them.

  • Patience

    I appreciate this article as it states what should’ve been obvious a long time ago: this administration and these legislators HAVE MADE MATTERS WORSE. They’ve prolonged the misery. Their profligate spending to enrich cronies and contributors has come at the expense of middle and working-class Americans. Their excessive borrowing has come at the expense of American business sustainability and growth. Massive government debt is crowding out other borrowers. And in the meantime, the threat of the huge albatross of mandates, regulations, taxes (hidden and overt) and a shrinking dollar looms conspicuously, daunting the very people who could materially improve the prospects of suffering American workers.

    This crowd and its media enablers have f**ked up BIG TIME. It’s apparent to me that the POTUS was at best only equipped to be a mere feel-good figurehead, leaving the inmates to run the asylum.

    • James

      “…this administration and these legislators HAVE MADE MATTERS WORSE.”

      Given the fact that the economy was rapidly stalling out during the last quarter of 2008, and that this coincided with a dangerous crisis in the nation’s financial system, what do you think would have happened if the Obama administration–or any administration–had decided that 2009 was perfect time to drastically cut government spending?

      • http://jbjd.wordpress.com There is credible evidence James

        How has the spending helped? Where are the jobs?

        • James

          Federal spending has helped by keeping money moving through an economy that might otherwise have ground to a total stop. The value of dollars wouldn’t be diminished, they’d be worth less than the paper they’re printed on. We’d probably already be in the first year of the Second Great Depression–but in an era were very few people have the fall back position of a family farm.

          I’m not saying I approve of how the money has been spent. More should have been gone directly into targeted projects. Bridges, highways, modernizing the electrical grid, etc. I don’t favor letting it diffuse through the system, because far too much gets p*ssed away on things without much payback potential.

          I hate deficit spending, btw. I’ve hated it since the Reagan years. That’s not how I conduct my own finances. It’s not just the government, it’s the American credit mentality. The need to have it now, with no regard for later. Years of federal deficit spending and the resultant declining dollar threatens the value of what I’ve worked hard to save. But I understand that a Second Great Depression would blow all of that away overnight. So I recognize the stimulus as a necessary evil of the moment.

          • Obama: Dubya 2 Electric Boogaloo

            So Obama has to drive the country into the ground with Federal spending otherwise the country would have been driven into the ground with spending cuts….

            …that’s Obamabot logic at it’s finest!

            Funny since Obama’s sudden realization that deficits are out of control the Obamabots are suddenly deficit concern trolls.

            • James

              The very serious topic of growing deficits and the national debt isn’t something democrats have recently stumbled onto, but I’ve grown tired of hearing “they’re blame it all on Bush”. (Or Reagan, or George the First, who also ran the debt up like a skyrocket–during good economic times, I might add.)

              The what do you think would have happened? that applies uniquely to this particular administration seems to have gone entirely ignored.

              What would McCain and Palin have done that would have turned this whole situation around by now? I presume they would have somehow balanced the federal budget by imposing more deep cuts to the richest peoples taxes? And kept the financial system from crashing into ruins and taking everything down with it without propping up anything? How, pray tell?

              Some people can’t seem to distinguish between Obamabots and realists.

              • Patience

                Some people can’t accept that Democrats have become the go-to party of corporate fat cats.

                • http://deleted BuzzisbackLatte

                  Yep. I used to live in a uber democratic/union state. They would happily find all sorts of ways to tax your life AND then chastise you for not giving enough at the workplace via the union and any other organization they would let in.

                  Then, the state would happily give grants and incentives for big corporations to move in – the irony? – the very companies that didn’t need the grants and incentives were getting ‘em.

                  But, hey, don’t complain that would be being selfish because it will create more jobs so that we (the state) can tax someone else to death!

                  Gotta love liberal thinking.

                • James

                  They go to whoever they think might be able do them a special favor. Their only true loyalty is to their profits.

                  • http://deleted BuzzisbackLatte

                    I hear they’re having a ping-pong tournament and karaoke at Club Denial this week-end. You should go, James. Really.

                • Obama: Dubya 2 Electric Boogaloo

                  Obama has managed to ring up a higher deficit in 10 months ($1.2 Trillion) than the total spent on the Iran and Afghan war combined in the last 8 years ($933 Billion per costofwar.com). Since the Dems took congress and Obama the WH the debt has skyrocketed faster than Reagan, Bush I, Clinton, & Bush 2.

                  The GOP was bad but the Dems have proven themselves in 2 short years to be reckless and dangerous to our country’s financial health.

                  • James

                    Since the Dems took congress and Obama the WH the debt has skyrocketed faster than Reagan, Bush I, Clinton, & Bush 2.

                    It’s possible that falling federal tax revenues might have a little something to do with that. Falling revenues are one thing you’ve got to deal with when you’re sworn in and find the economy already in the toilet.

                    Someone apparently failed to flush before leaving.

                    • Obama: Dubya 2 Electric Boogaloo

                      HAha, when does Obama and the Obamacrats man up and take responsibility? Dems have been holding the purse strings for 3 years and Obama nearly 1 year. 4 years? 6 years? 8 years? Or will we be rolling into 2020 with the Dems still whining about Bush and his lousy economy? (of course, in reality, the Dems will have lost their power long before then).

                      The Dems and Obama are not delivering and making things worse. People are fucking tired of speeches, and summits and interviews. They want action.

                    • James

                      OK, it’s all Obama’s fault. So long as we agree that as soon as the republicans are back in charge, it’ll all be their fault.

                      It’s instructive to compare increases in the debt with who has been running the show over the past 30 years.

                      Maybe Obama feels some need to play catch-up. If so, he’s still got a long way to go before he gets there.

          • TeakWoodKite

            But I understand that a Second Great Depression would blow all of that away overnight

            It is so big you don’t recognize you are in already in it.

            • James

              My late grandparents told me about the Great Depression. What we’re seeing now is nothing like what they went through, but I can connect a few dots and see how we could easily get there.

              Half of our problem has to do with psychhology. Unfortunately, fueling the flames of negativity is now being used as a primary political tool. I’m afraid that’s likely to have consequences that no election outcome in 2010 or 2012 will be able to reverse.

              • http://deleted BuzzisbackLatte

                Then why is Obama wanting fiscal conservatism for 2010? Could it possibly be that they realize the stimulus was an expensive experiment that hasn’t yielded the projected results???? Why is the economy in the crapper?

                It’s an economic pendulum swing directly correlated to asinine business practices, such as, giving people with no credit the power to buy a house. Bawnee Fwank, Fweddie and Fawnnie, anyone?

                Oh, that’s right. Obama used to sue banks that wouldn’t give loans to credit risks. Hmmmm…

                • James

                  I suspect it’s because they realize that continuing fiscal irresponsibility will bring the whole thing down–”socialist” programs such as medicare insurance and Social Security retirement included–sooner rather than later.

                  The economy is in the crapper because we’ve exported our jobs and our manufacturing industries while using both government and personal credit to maintain our standard of living. We’ve let our infrastructure fall to pieces. We’ve consistantly opted for the cheapest instead of the smartest. We’ve devalued education and creativity and given status to profligate consumerism. We’ve used our resources like there’s no end to them. We build houses that are the equivalent of disposable dixie cups, designed to last for the length of a 30 year mortgage if you’re lucky, and then turned those into chips in a game of speculation. We reward most those who produce the greatest and quick profits, without regard for long term consequences… etc etc

              • TeakWoodKite

                MY DAD told me about the the “Great Depression”, as you put it. Are you aware that more people have been made homeless via foreclosure in ONE YEAR than the entire Great depression?

                James I am not argueing “psychhology”, because the bottomline is that this economic issue is up front and VERY personal to many Americans.

                This one is like a slow boil and the un-knowing frog. Are you him?

  • Onofre’s arm

    During the primary debates, Obama was asked why he wanted to increase the capital gains tax. He was told by the questioner that lowering the capital gains actually increased revenue. Obama still said he would raise the tax, regardless that revenues would decrease, because it’s only fair. It’s about wealth redistribution, it’s not about prosperity, and he has repeated the redistribution mantra for years, in interviews before he was a candidate, in Joe the plumber’s driveway, and so on.

    TARP, and especially the porkulus bill, were nothing more than a combination of political payback and wealth redistribution. Neither one has had a net positive result of jobs and prosperity, and they were never intended to do so. It was Obama promoting himself as a modern day Robin Hood.

    In the past, there were potential recessions that were killed in their infancy with a combination of tax breaks and reduction in government spending. We don’t hear much about those because they were recessions that never developed; they never became news.

    Gold is interesting and glamourous, but if you had bought silver 6 months ago when it was at $12 an oz, and sold it today at $18.53 an oz, you would have made a 54% profit in six months on your investment.

    • http://noquarter foxyladi14

      i would have but i was broke no job ya know

      • Onofre’s arm

        Don’t feel too bad, the Obama administration would have taken a huge chunk of that profit anyway.

    • elaine

      The guy that conducted that interview was Charlie Gibson of ABC. ABC doesn’t ask tough questions anymore. The day I saw that interview I knew Obama was going to be an economic disaster. Just wait for Cap & Trade when your electric bill goes up 96% & your natural gas goes up 48% (but the “poor” will get checks to insure they don’t feel the pain) This administration is about wealth redistribution not just nationally but globally. Progressives could ruin a good dream. Bloomberg reported today now the Dems want people making more than 200K to pay more tax for the additional troops going to Afghanistan.

      • James

        I guess people who are making less than that should be paying more of the bills. After all, it’s mostly their kids who are over there running up the expenses.

  • elaine

    The stimulus wasn’t intended to create jobs, much of that money went to lay the foundation for the new agenda like electronic medical records & software to monitor how much energy we use, etc. In fairness: Cash for Clunkers ate up a good chunk of change & that’s change we don’t have to spare but it was intended to jump start the car makers & it probably kept some UAW members in work for awhile longer.

  • http://jbjd.wordpress.com There IS credible evidence

    Why do people need electronic medical records and software to monitor energy use when they are out of work and can’t afford either?

  • Nancy Peacock

    Larry Sinclair is a brave man.  Despite all of his faults, he has always known the value of the truth.  It was not easy for him to come forward and disclose his relationship with Barack Obama for the whole world to judge. It was not easy for him to disclose intimate details of that relationship to prove that what he said is true.  It’s not easy being Larry Sinclair.  Despite promises to destroy him, Larry has faced unnecessarily harsh and forthright cruelty so that we might all know the truth.  For that we should be grateful, for he is a true patriot.  Now, he’s in a battle to be placed on the ballot in Florida’s 24th District so that he can concentrate on winning the race to go to Washington where his voice will make a difference.  He does not have to win a primary as he is running as an Independent, unaffiliated with any party.  We need Larry and Larry needs us.  March is a critical month for him.  To get his name on the ballot, he needs 3,048 people with enough faith in him to contribute $2.40 to get him there.  $2.40 is such a small price to pay for freedom.  You can make a secure contribution for the campaign for the truth at https://secure.donortownsquare.com/SSL/donate.aspx?sgst=0&amt=0&ai=1130&qs=DDQ6P.  I just made my contribution.
     
    For two years, the truth he has spoken has not been popular.  We’ve helped him to persevere against the Obama Administration and its minions.  We know the retaliation that he has endured because of his quest to bring the truth to the people.  The retaliation is not going to stop and we know what they can do to him.  His contract with Florida’s 24th District is nonpareil with the platforms of other candidates because he has and is willing to put his money where his mouth is.  “Republicans have been licking their chops for the past year to find a candidate who can win back the District 24 Congressional seat from Suzanne Kosmas. But they’re also going to have to face off with one ‘no party affiliation’ guy who is laying it all out there,” Larry says.  Let’s send Larry to Washington and send a message to every other career politician out there.  Send this to as many of your contacts as you can. Larry has served his time; now let’s help him serve his country.  Corrupt politicians have served themselves, instead of our country; let’s help them serve some time.