To Save Or Create Jobs
Since his inauguration, President Obama hasn’t talked about job creation. Instead, he’s talking about the stimulus creating some jobs and saving other jobs, thereby giving him an out when the stimulus bill doesn’t create jobs or lift us out of this recession.
It’s important that people not lose their jobs. That’s never been the benchmark for whether the economy is heading in the right direction, though. In the first place, how do you measure jobs that aren’t lost?
More importantly, how does not losing one’s job translate into a growing economy? Most importantly, how does not losing one’s job translate into a prospering economy?
Shouldn’t the creation of jobs and the expansion of the economy be the biggest determining factor on whether a president’s economic policies are right policies? When President Reagan took over the disaster left by the Carter administration, he didn’t talk about treading water. He didn’t talk about saving jobs. He had a vision of a robust America because he knew that we’re a country of doers. He spoke about letting America achieve by getting government out of America’s way.
By contrast, President Obama has told us that we’re in a crisis, that massive government intervention is the only thing that can lift us out of this crisis and that, even then, our future is uncertain without even more amounts of government intervention.
That message is sure to inspire the true believers. His uplifting rhetoric obviously won over people in the middle. One wonders, though, how long President Obama will keep the independents on his side.
The popularity of President Obama’s and Speaker Pelosi’s stimulus package shrinks almost daily. Each time another batch of pork is exposed, people start scratching their heads wondering why we’re wasting money instead of making the popular parts of the Bush tax cuts permanent. (The dirty little secret that President Obama won’t admit is the fact that the best of President Bush’s policies are still quite popular.)
Now President Obama is at a crossroads. If he starts pushing a more moderate bill and strips out the pork, the Nutroots will villify him. More importantly, they’ll dry up the contributions spigot to Pelosi and Reid. If he pushes a bill that spoils the Democrats’ special interest allies, he’ll be crucified for catering to radicals.
President Obama wouldn’t be in these dire straits if he hadn’t surrendered much of his opening agenda to Nancy Pelosi and David Obey. President Obama wouldn’t be in these dire straits if he understood how to put a real agenda together. Thus far, his only known skill is delivering a great speech. The thing about delivering great speeches is that a day after it’s been reviewed, people get right back with living their lives.
If people only have time to think about all the things that have them depressed, the downward spiral continues. That’s why putting a real agenda together is vital. An agenda that people trust will create jobs and lift an economy out of a recession is vital in lifting a nation’s spirits.
Thus far, President Obama has botched the two most important things in creating a positive first impression. He’s botched a bunch several cabinet appointments. The stimulus bill loses support daily. Unless I miss my guess, people will soon start noticing that he isn’t the postpartisan politician he claimed to be on the campaign trail.
How does this impact President Obama’s ability to create jobs? Simple. If people don’t trust the people setting economic policy, they won’t put their money at risk. Without people wondering if he’s a bungler, it’s easy picturing President Obama’s policies not leading to job creation.
Technorati Tags: Economy, President Obama, Recession, Job Growth, Jimmy Carter, Malaise, Stagflation, Cabinet, Incompetence, Democrats, Ronald Reagan, Confidence, GOP
Cross-posted at LetFreedomRingBlog