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Jobs is Job #1

By Larry Doyle on November 30, 2009 at 7:00 PM in Economy, Sense on Cents (Larry Doyle blog), Unemployment/Jobs

“Kiss me!!”

“What?”

That’s right, I said, “Kiss me!!”

Many a businessman is familiar with the basic principle of “kiss me,” that is “Keep It Simple, Stupid.”

Regrettably, Washington is not familiar with that simplest of business principles. Legislative bills that run into the thousands of pages and admittedly go unread by our lawmakers prior to vote are often an unmitigated disaster for American business. How so?

These bills create an environment of uncertainty. What do business leaders do when they’re unsure of what is coming out of Washington and how it might impact their business? “When in doubt, wait it out.”

I witness increasing evidence of this basic business dynamic and believe it will be on full display this coming Thursday. What will happen Thursday?

President Obama is hosting a Jobs Summit in Washington. Sounds like a reasonable idea given the domestic employment situation is so bad and getting worse, despite assertions to the contrary by a number of public officials and economists.

How convenient that the summit is being held Thursday. Why? This summit will provide plenty of photo ops and media coverage highlighting that Washington is hard at work addressing the employment situation right before the monthly unemployment report is released on Friday morning. Do not think for a second that the timing of this summit was not strategically scheduled to negate the negative impact of another weak report.

What will we learn and hear from business leaders? The environment of uncertainty created by Obama’s attempt to massively overhaul large parts of the American political landscape is anything but conducive for jobs growth. Why? Business leaders see a strong likelihood of their fixed costs headed higher under this adminstration.

President Obama is commander in chief and obviously allowed to set the agenda. He has made no bones that his top priorities are: health care reform, education, financial regulatory reform, and energy under his proposed cap and trade. While Barack and team are hard at work pushing this agenda, emphasis and focus on job creation has languished. Jobs should always be a president’s #1 priority.

If Americans are not at work, then American principles and policies won’t work. I think Barack and team are learning that lesson right now.

One final point, if I may. On the topic of cap and trade, has the entire premise for this legislation and initiative now been brought into question with the news that a trove of conflicting data on this issue has been buried? Is the American public and the world at large being massively hoodwinked on this topic? While so-called experts and global leaders, including President Obama, will soon convene in Copenhagen on this topic, who amongst them will call for a full and thorough airing of this data?

Remember Barack, it’s all about jobs.

“Kiss me!!”

LD

  • I’m a Linda too

    Yeah, it’s KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid)me, first, but when that’s ignored, we go straight to “kiss me, before doing sex to me”. :)

    Obama didn’t think he had to do the work, he swore alighning himself with all his advisers, they would do it for him. ROFL, they are, and it’s turning out as we predicted, that’s the problem.

  • Obama: Dubya 2 Electric Boogaloo

    Yeah, there’s KISS but in Obama’s case he needs SYPADS (Shut Your Piehole And Do Something!)

    Eegad, another speech? Maybe this one will be an epic speech on jobs. Sadly, the guy working on a “jobs” program is someone who’s never held a real “job” in his life.

  • Arabella Trefoil

    Obama has no concept of business. “Business” is stuff people do for him.

    He doesn’t understand profit/loss, never mind “fixed costs.”

    I don’t think we’ve ever had such an ignorant man as president.

  • Ani

    If Americans are not at work, then American principles and policies won’t work. I think Barack and team are learning that lesson right now.

    It is shocking that he would not have known this before now. Odd as it may seem, I don’t think any of this is real to him. He truly does seem to live in an academic bubble.

    In the Politico article that came out today, 7 stories Obama does not want to have told, one of the narratives is that he thinks he is playing with monopoly money. If you look at the Obama’s personal financial records, they have been living beyond their means for a long time and have been helped out in the past. Combine that with the fact that he has never had to run a business of any kind and many on his WH team have no experience in this regard either, the current situation is not surprising.

    Thanks, as usual, LD, for your great insight.

  • Patrick Henry

    You are right on Point here Larry and i always appreciate your insightful articles and comments..

    No one has provided the kind of priority Leadership for job creation you and i expect from Our Presidents like the way Roosevelt did with the CCC camps and other stimilus projetcs..or the way John f. Kennedy did with the Manpower Development Act that created all kinds of Jobs and job training all over america..

    These types of programs should have been created by G.W. Bush immediately after Katrina to train displaced and unemployed folks suffering from that event..instead of throwing billions in Welfare handouts that were Fraudently Wasted and Abused..

    Many could have been trained in Building Homes…..Clean up..Equipment operation..electricians..etc..with the same money being used for Jobs and training that would have carried on for years and benefited society..

    Now, its one wasteful spending program after another…with billion being scammed..
    I agree Larry..its ALL a scam now..thats the way Governments Operate..

  • MBC

    Excellent post Larry, thanks for the reminder. KISS is not a principle that our government lives by, more like HUG – Hell-bent Uber Government.

  • Patrick Henry

    One other thought on how Obama is doing things that make him just another self serving POLITICIAN in the White House running HIS Scam…with HIS Cronys..

    He is PROOF that the “White Mans System”..is not to Blame..All one has to do is look at all the lawyers ..politicians ..wall street types and other guests on Obamas White House State dinner Guest list and one can see the parasites who really are to BLAME…Democrat or Republican..all types and races of people are Involved in Buying Influence and power in the United States..

    They both now steer the Ship of State Radically Left or Right..but never on a Steady Course..

    One of them is going to Wreck her Completely..My Bet is its on Obamas Watch…

  • wbboei

    What will we learn and hear from business leaders? The environment of uncertainty created by Obama’s attempt to massively overhaul large parts of the American political landscape is anything but conducive for jobs growth. Why? Business leaders see a strong likelihood of their fixed costs headed higher under this adminstration.
    —————————
    Good job Larry. That is the bottom line. Obama is the drag on this recovery. It will not improve until he is given his walking papers. Small business produces the jobs in this country, and the effect of his ridiculous policies will be to drive them out of business or to not provide new jobs. If you talk to small business owners as I have that is the consensus.

  • wbboei

    Under Obama, banks are not lending, businesses are not hiring, job losses are escalating, and taxes are increasing. He has taken a bad situation and made it infinitely worse. And for everyone who says give him time, I say the problem will grow worse over time not better because he hasn’t a clue what he is doing.

  • wbboei

    He is the most scripted actor this side of Hollywood.

  • mountainaires

    Egads, Another Speech.

    Yeah. My thoughts exactly.

    It’s really getting tiresome isn’t it? He’s not only the most scripted actor this side of Hollywood; he’s also the most overexposed.

    I am frankly SICK of this man. He’s a menace to society.

    He’s in the pocket of Goldman Sachs and Wall Street. He’s leading us right into the Great Depression 2.

    What a miserable failure.

    Thanks LD. You’re right about Job One:

    Hey, POTUS, It’s the Jobs Stupid!

    • Docelder

      I found the solution quite simple. I disconnected the cable. I made an antenna out of 4 copper wires, shaped them into a Hoverman design and stapled them to the trusses in the attic, soldered in a transformer and now get 30+ channels off air for free. They look and sound great by the way. Plus, That One isn’t played over and over all day on regular TV like he is on cable. When he is coming on we just watch streaming TV off the Internet. I haven’t even seen his face on TV in over a month that way. It is great. Almost like he doesn’t exist anymore… almost. ;)

      • mountainaires

        Clever! :-)

  • Sassy

    Out with the old, in with the new.
    Formerly, businesses liked local employees which led to stronger communities, which led to good employees.
    Now, the bottom line is a scaled-down labor force, and every piece of legislation from Congress is putting more pressure on employers to avoid expansion.
    The business owners we know personally are no longer willing to put in the hours required of them, and are retiring.