Tag Archives: Unemployment

Commentary

New Heritage Foundation study says cap-and-trade will kill jobs and the economy

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New study from The Heritage Foundation, my favorite think tank! (H/T Hot Air)

This image tells all:

Job losses per year if cap and trade passes.
Job losses per year if cap and trade passes.

Summary of the effects: (adjusted for inflation to 2009 dollars)

  • Cumulative gross domestic product (GDP) losses are $9.4 trillion between 2012 and 2035;
  • Single-year GDP losses reach $400 billion by 2025 and will ultimately exceed $700 billion;
  • Net job losses approach 1.9 million in 2012 and could approach 2.5 million by 2035. Manufacturing loses 1.4 million jobs in 2035;
  • The annual cost of emissions permits to energy users will be at least $100 billion by 2012 and could exceed $390 billion by 2035;
  • A typical family of four will pay, on average, an additional $829 each year for energy-based utility costs; and
  • Gasoline prices will rise by 58 percent ($1.38 more per gallon) and average household electric rates will increase by 90 percent.

FYI, current GDP is around 14 trillion per year. The current labor force is around 130 million (non-farm).

News

Understanding why Democrat policies don’t create jobs

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Before we take a look at why Democrat policies don’t crate jobs, let’s first make sure that Democrat policies don’t create jobs. As it stands, Obama policies have lost 3 million jobs and driven the unemployment rate to 9.7%. But let’s take a look at an example to show that his socialist policies failed to do what he promised (and I think he sincerely believed) they would do.

New Hampshire gets $413 million, creates 34 jobs

Now! Hampshire reports:(H/T ECM)

The stimulus package is working and has already “improve[d] the number of jobs” in New Hampshire, according to Rep. Carol Shea-Porter (NH-01) in a recent radio interview with WGIR radio personality Charlie Sherman.

“New Hampshire certainly has seen some jobs come and, actually, we grew jobs. We’ve actually had improvement in the number of jobs,” said Shea-Porter.

Shea-Porter’s comments notwithstanding, New Hampshire has lost roughly 16,000 since the beginning of the year and the New Hampshire Union Leader reported recently that the stimulus plan has thus far created only thirty-four fulltime jobs despite the $400 million plus dollars that have come into the Granite State from the federal government.

Obama is very surprised by this unintended consequence of his anti-growth, anti-business policies. He meant well. Aren’t good intentions enough to create jobs?

Democrats in Michigan

The American Thinker writes about how Democrats plan to create jobs to alleviate Michigan’s over 15% unemployment rate.

  1. “Hiking the minimum wage to $10 an hour for all workers.
  2. Imposing a blanket moratorium on home foreclosures for 12 months.
  3. Cutting utility rates 20% across the board.
  4. Requiring all employers to provide health care to their employees.
  5. Hiking, by $100 a week, and extending, for six months, unemployment benefits.”

Let’s take a look at these one at a time.

  1. If you force employers to pay more for each employee, and employers are still getting the same amount of production from each employee, then the employer will lay off the least productive employees and fewer employees who can offer better productivity for the higher salaries they are required to pay. Raising the minimum wage RAISES unemployment.
  2. If you force banks to not foreclose on homes, then banks will take huge losses and have less money to lend anyone else. Small businesses, new home buyers and existing homeowners will suffer, as well as bank shareholders.
  3. Cutting utility rates by 20% across the board will make consumption increase while supply decreases, causing a shortage. This would lead to blackouts, which is exactly what happened in California when the Democrats tried to do the same thing.
  4. If employers are forced to provide health care for all employees, they must pay more for each employee for the same amount of productivity. This will result in increased unemployment and reduced hiring as employers reduce their number of employees. The least productive employees are the first to go.
  5. Raising unemployment benefits will create a budget deficit that has to be filled by spending cuts or, more likely, tax increases. Tax increases cause the most productive people like investors and business owners to dial back their productivity. That raises unemployment.

Michigan is probably one of the worst states in the Union in terms of being run by Democrats who have no idea how jobs are created. You might as well give the job of running the state to a four-year old. Democrats just don’t understand anything about economics. Democrats are trying to fix problems on the basis of what makes them feel good about themselves and what makes people like them.

News

Democrats say they rescued the economy, Republicans ask where are the jobs?

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Barack Obama will announce today “We rescued the economy”. (H/T ECM, Breitbart TV, Hot Air, Gateway Pundit)

Gateway Pundit adds:

President Disaster will quadruple the US budget deficit his first year in office. He will reportedly spend $23.7 trillion to “fix” the economy… or bankrupt it by next year.

…Government Motors sales drop 22%. (H/T ECM, Gateway Pundit,

Meanwhile, 134 House Rebublicans ask “Where are the Jobs?”.

Gateway Pundit adds:

President Obama and democrats in Congress, of course, promised that their stimulus would prevent unemployment from rising about 8%. Today it is at 9.7% and House Republicans who unanimously opposed the Stimulus Bill want to know where are the jobs?

The unemployment rate during the Bush years was 5.27%.
President Disaster’s unemployment rate is averaging above 8.6%.

Jim Demint contends with the leftist media trying to get the word out.

Pundit and Pundette give him a gold star!

They’ve got the transcript, too!

Excerpt:

LAUER: . . . But over the past couple of days, I don’t have to tell you, you’ve ignited a firestorm, and people are saying that you are playing pure politics with this issue. How do you respond?

DEMINT: Well, it has nothing to do with politics or it’s certainly not personal. But, but the President’s policies have not matched up to his promises so far. We saw that in this giant stimulus, his trillion dollar stimulus that has stimulated the government, but really cost American jobs and, and, and loaded lots of debt on top of future generations.
LAUER: But, but sticking to health care reform, let, let me, you know, give you your own words here. You, you were addressing the group Conservatives for Patients Rights about the health care debate and you said quote, “If we’re able to stop Obama on this, it will be his Waterloo. It will break him.” Now are you rallying conservatives to the cause of health care reform? Or are you rallying conservatives to the cause of breaking a president?

DEMINT: Oh, we need to put the brakes on this President. He’s been on a spending spree since he took office. And we need health care reform. Unfortunately, when the President was in the Senate, I’ve probably offered more health care reform proposals than anyone in the Senate. And the President voted against every proposal that would have made health insurance more available and more affordable to people. His goal seems to be a government takeover, not making insurance more available. So I do think we need to stop the President on this. We need to stop his policy, because if we allow him to continue to ram things through Congress before we even get a chance to read them.

LAUER: But-

DEMINT: Matt, I just brought one of the bills this morning. I mean, if you look at this bill, it’s one of the three bills that we’re gonna have to look at.

LAUER: It’s a complicated issue. There are a lot of details in that bill.

DEMINT: Well why do we need to pass it in two weeks before we go home in August?

LAUER: Well that’s, that’s a good question. And I’m gonna get to that in a second. But, but the words you chose were very specific. “It could be his Waterloo, it could break this President.” I, I guess the obvious question is, it wouldn’t break your heart if you break this President, would it?

DEMINT: Well, again, it’s not personal, but we’ve got to stop his policies, Matt. The policies are not matching up to the promises. They’re loading trillions of dollars of debt onto the American people. And the thing is we need real health care reform. I’ve introduced proposals that would help individuals own their own health insurance policies if they don’t get it at work.

LAUER: Right.

DEMINT: There are a lot of ways to do this without a government takeover and a government plan.

LAUER: And I read, I read some of your plan. You wrote it in an op-ed, and I, and I did read that, and would encourage people to go see that. Is the deadline dead, Senator?

DEMINT: It appears to be, and I hope it is. And that’s what I mean, the Senate is supposed to be the body that deliberates and debates and actually reads bill, bills. You know, I hear that more than anything else, as I go around the country. Why don’t you guys read the bills before you pass them? There are a lot of things in these bills that are gonna alarm the American people. I’m afraid the President knows that. He wants to push it through before we’re able to take a look at what’s really in it. And that shouldn’t happen in Congress. This doesn’t take effect for four years, Matt. We don’t need to pass it in two weeks. It’s 20 percent of the American economy.

LAUER: Right.

DEMINT: It’s one of the most personal issues that we deal with as Americans. The government shouldn’t take it over and we shouldn’t pass a bill in two weeks.

LAUER: Senator Jim DeMint. Senator thanks for joining us this morning. We appreciate your time.

DEMINT: Thank you Matt.

Worst. President. Ever.