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January 29, 2010
If Obama gives good speeches then it is the follow-through that is generally problematic. In his 2010 State of Union speech he said that everything begins with the economy and then said that the most urgent task was to shore up the same insolvent banks that helped cause this crisis. So it is Wall Street not employment on Main Street that needs shoring up, even if the US is a consumer-based economy.
How then does Obama jump start the engine of job creation, given an unsound financial system calling the shots, a 10 percent unemployment rate and little sign of a vigorous economic recovery?
Steve Bell
Obama's 'jobs and economy' section of the speech acknowledges that the aftermath of a severe financial crisis has led to mass job destruction and that the only thing that’s keeping things from getting worse is deficit spending.
Obama says that:
...the devastation remains. One in ten Americans still cannot find work. Many businesses have shuttered. Home values have declined. Small towns and rural communities have been hit especially hard. For those who had already known poverty, life has become that much harder. This recession has also compounded the burdens that America’s families have been dealing with for decades – the burden of working harder and longer for less; of being unable to save enough to retire or help kids with college.
Obama plans to jump-start job creation through tax cuts for businesses and to provide needed relief for families through tax cuts for middle-class households. The strategy is one of growing the economy in order to reduce the budget deficit over the long term. This is then tied to American innovation and investments in clean energy and education.
What if the current recession has has more to do with problems deep in the structure of the American economy than with the ups and downs of the business cycle? What if America's unemployment tends to be structural rather than cyclical in the sense that that the job and industry just go? Doesn't that mean searching harder to find a job that meets a current skill set, or the need to get new skills for new industries?
There was an appeal to export-led growth creating jobs but the U.S. manufacturing sector is on the skids. If (net) exports don't lead the way, then consumption or investment must fill the void. If the private sector fails to act then that means that the government either hires people and puts them to work or induces businesses to hire more people. Congress is not keen on any major new job-creation efforts.
So how does Obama plan to achieve export-led growth?
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Shame,shame on we spoiled greedy Americans. Why, our greedy ancestors should have conceded American interest to The Chinese long ago. Why, if they had, our grandparents and parents wouldn't have had to work either! You see, if they had, we would have gotten used to small social problems like poverty and destitution much sooner. We would have learned to responsibly accept the lack of modern medical care like other populations who are also learning the joys of the equal sharing of misery.
Why just this morning I went out and made myself a lawngrass poltice to go on my forehead to ease my synthetic Pepsi plastic headache. The grass stains will soon go away, besides I can't afford soap anyway and the wonderful part is, I am so obese, my friends that are still living don't know me anyway!! The more important thing is to go to Walmart and get rid of the money. They say it is evil, don't they? Who are we to mind if we become obese and diabetic from drinking all those wonderful sugar beverages that are so good for us! And if it wasn't good for us, Congress wouldn't let 'um sell it! N' that's right! We are helping the economy. Oh, I'm so excited!!! I just found a dollar in the pocket of the coat I found at a rummage sale!!! I can go get another liter of Mountain Dew and watch another wonderful rerun of Bevis and Butthead!! Life has been good to me. Got to go now. I have to be at the Methadone clinic by eight!! I wouldn't want to disqualify myself for disability, I have to have that money to help America's economy!!