Is It About Jobs and Economics, Or Still All About Politics?

Apparently our nation’s leaders didn’t learn much from the street fight that doubled as the debate over the debt/deficit in Washington. Not only did the professional politicians wind up embarrassing themselves and the nation during the finger-pointing, the name calling, and the brinkmanship this summer, they also managed to lose the country’s AAA credit rating for the first time ever in the process.

Don’t worry, this article is not intended to be another rehash of the chapter in our nation’s history that I would prefer to forget. No, based on the way things are going it looks like we will get plenty more opportunities to relive the so-called political debate before the elections can finally be held in 2012.

In all honesty, I wanted to believe that when Congress finally returned from their more than month-long vacation there would be a new spirit in the beltway. I wanted to believe that the Republicans would be willing to look at the situation we’re in, put aside some of the more extreme ideology, and do what’s best for the country. I wanted to believe that the Democrats would come back to work with a newfound interest in finding compromise so that the economy didn’t sag any further. After all, that’s what the politico’s have been saying. And I wanted to believe that the White House had listened to all of those advisors from the private sector on how best to stimulate jobs for the country.

So far at least, I am sorry to report that I am more than a little disappointed. Although I am a registered Republican (and a card-carrying member of the glass-is-always-more-than-half-full club on the subject of the USofA), I was actually anxious to hear what President Obama’s plan for job creation and economic stimulus would look like. I was optimistic to hear about that the likes of Jeffrey Immelt had helped the President come up with over the past month.

After listening to the speech, I do have to say that the plan came in a little shy of my expectations. However, there were some bright spots. Unfortunately though, more than half the proposed spending in the President’s plan appeared to be what I would call “more of the same.” And I was a bit disappointed that there wasn’t more in the way of long-term stimulative measures.

From my perspective, the President’s plan clearly misses the mark in terms of long-term economic stimulation and job creation. In short, the plan merely puts a little more money in workers and companies pockets for a year. And while there is a small amount of money in the bill allocated toward tax credits for hiring new workers (something that is actually stimulative in nature), the President felt compelled to put strings on the credits and tell corporate America who they should hire. While my heart goes out to the unemployed and the veterans who served their country, the bottom line is this is not a stimulative measure.

Then today we learned how the President plans to pay for the $447 billion in spending that he so desperately wants Congress to pass – and pass quickly. Based on the rousing speech the President gave last week, it sounded to me as if the Super-Committee would be tasked with finding spending cuts to pay for the new Obama jobs bill. In fact, I believe he referred to that idea in the speech.

But instead of the idea of spending cuts, the President announced on Monday that the bill will be paid for by an oldie-but-a-goody: taxing the rich. Frankly, I didn’t see that coming.

To be sure, I’m all for ending tax breaks for the likes of Exxon Mobil. No, this doesn’t stimulate jobs but the bottom line here is that XOM doesn’t need any help from the government. And the idea that the uber-rich like Warren Buffett and the hedge fund elite get to pay capital gains rates on their income because it qualifies as “carried interest” is idiotic. But I’m sorry, Mr. President, Americans making $200k a year really don’t qualify as “rich” and they aren’t the enemy.

My key point here isn’t about “fairness” in the tax code or what is “right” and wrong. No, my point is this jobs bill looks to be just another foray into the game of politics in Washington.

Like me, Speaker Boehner reportedly had been cautiously optimistic about the President’s new jobs plan. The bottom line is the plan does have some merits. And the plan “sounded” like a way to get Washington going in the right direction again when it was introduced. But then the game went right back to being about elections and politics.

Instead of sticking with the original plan (well, the way I heard it, anyway) of having the Super-Committee come up with spending cuts to pay for the bill – something that the Republicans could have gotten behind – the President has apparently decided to play politics by going back to the well on the “taxing the rich” theme.

Apparently the idea is to make the Republicans “say no” again (and again, and again) on the idea of increased taxes. Again, this isn’t about right or wrong, or about the best way to stimulate the economy and hiring. No, it appears that this remains a game designed solely to make your opponent look bad.

Please understand that I am not saying that I’m right and the President is wrong. I am not writing about what “should” have been done. I’m not even offering an opinion on the validity of the President’s plan. No, I’m merely trying to point out that if you enjoyed this summer’s debate on the budget deficit and the debt ceiling; you’re likely going to love what comes next. And as I said earlier, frankly I’m disappointed because I was hoping for something more from our leaders.

 

Editor's Note: You've heard Dave's view. Feel free to let us know what you think about what is happening in Washington by posting a comment below.

 

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