One thing
that was supposed to be clear was that the one issue everyone should be focused
on in this post-recession economy is jobs.
You heard
it all during last fall's mid-term elections. Americans don't want to hear
about health care or wars or crime or education. Americans wanted someone to
articulate a coherent message about job creation. Americans wanted President
Barack Obama or Congress or somebody - anybody, to get them jobs.
Instead,
Obama got bogged down with debt reduction and debt ceilings. Congress became a
one-note band, hijacked by Tea Party loyalists, who valued spending cuts above
any other policy initiative, to the point of holding all other initiatives
hostage until cuts were to their liking. And even then, when they had wrung all
they could from debt “negotiations,” they still balked.
In the
meantime, no one was creating any jobs. In fact, the protracted and public
battle over the debt ceiling served to have Standard & Poor's reduce the
country's credit rating, a slide that makes borrowing money even more
expensive. That scenario caused a stock market slide that erased some of the
money corporations could have set aside for jobs or expansion or research and
development.
And
still, no one created any jobs.
It is
amazing that many who wish to reduce the size of government don't realize that
also means cutting jobs. Municipal governments reduce their workforce, idling
taxpaying workers. State governments slash spending, sending workers home,
where they swell the unemployment ranks. The federal government cuts spending
on social programs and other safety net agencies, and those workers get laid
off, creating even more jobless.
Meanwhile,
the jobless rate hovers above 9.5 percent, discouraging workers, scaring
businesses and actually reducing government and corporate revenue.
While
those who wish to reduce the size of government say that government should get
out of the way, it is not that simple. Removing government from the economy -
either as an employer or a regulator - does not strengthen the economy.
President
Obama has given his blessing for the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) “For the
People” Jobs Initiative, which includes nationwide job fairs and town hall
meetings.
The CBC
hopes to encourage the House of Representatives to immediately consider and
pass critical jobs legislation to address the growing jobs crisis throughout
America.
The CBC
has introduced 40 job creation bills since the beginning of the 112th Congress,
because they know that residents in the communities they represent struggle
with an unemployment rate at 16.2 percent. Most of those pieces of legislation
have been dead upon arrival, as Congress was busy wrangling over whether a two
or three trillion dollar cut in spending would satisfy those rabid voters who
would rather see the country fall into a financial morass than actually
negotiate a package that would strengthen the country.
We stand
with the CBC members who want to see the dialogue swing back to job creation -
not creationism or climate control or even abortion rights. Our communities are
crying out for jobs. Saving our communities from despair and neglect is best
accomplished when the people in those communities are employed, able to make
purchases and, oddly enough, paying taxes. We applaud the president for trying
to refocus his energy, and the national spotlight, on this most important
issue.
Copyright
2011 Chicago Defender
