Obama, the modern day Scrooge…
“Are there no prisons?” asked Scrooge.
“Plenty of prisons,” said the gentleman, laying down the pen again.
“And the Union workhouses?” demanded Scrooge. “Are they still in operation?”
“They are. Still,” returned the gentleman, “I wish I could say they were not.”
“The Treadmill and the Poor Law are in full vigour, then?” said Scrooge.
“Both very busy, sir.”
“Oh! I was afraid, from what you said at first, that something had occurred to stop them in their useful course,” said Scrooge. “I’m very glad to hear it.”
A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens
President Obama, in his speech to a joint session of Congress outlined jobs plan that read more like an anti-jobs plan to an individual like Dr. J. who has a rudimentary understanding of microeconomics.
By way of review, between sixteen cries of ‘pass this bill now,’ these were the things that the president wanted passed (gently lifted from www.whitehouse.gov).
- First, it provides a tax cut for small businesses, not big corporations, to help them hire and expand now, and provides an additional tax cut to any business that hires or increases wages.
Targeted temporary tax cuts will not stimulate job growth. Furthermore, small businesses, or any business for that matter, won’t hire a $50,000 employee for a $5,000 tax cut. By helping only the small businessman, the government is again going about the business of picking ‘winners’ and ‘losers.’
- Second, it puts more people back to work, including up to 280,000 teachers laid off by state-budget cuts, first responders and veterans coming back from Iraq and Afghanistan, and construction workers repairing crumbling bridges, roads and more than 35,000 public schools, with projects chosen by need and impact, not earmarks and politics. And, it expands job opportunities for hundreds of thousands of low-income youth and adults through a new Pathways Back to Work Fund that supports summer and year round jobs for youth; innovative new job training programs to connect low-income workers to jobs quickly; and successful programs to encourage employers to bring on disadvantaged workers.
Ah, magical infrastructure, perhaps rebuilding after the most recent Romulan attack will jumpstart things. The reason 280,000 teachers were laid off by state-budget cuts was, by and large, because the teachers unions protected precious and unsustainable benefits such as low or no employee contributions to benefits, gold plated health care plans, and pensions for retired employees, at the cost of jobs for their least senior in their ranks. They made their bed, to be honest they need to lie in it. Dr. J. likes the maudlin touch regarding first responders and veterans, because we all love them and it gets the most steadfast conservative a little weak in the knees quibbling over benefits for those that served us (hence why it’s in there). This is just a series of handouts to core constituencies.
- Third, it helps out-of-work Americans by extending unemployment benefits to help them support their families while looking for work and reforming the system with training programs that build real skills, connect to real jobs and help the long-term unemployed. It bans employers from discriminating against the unemployed when hiring, and provides a new tax credit to employers hiring workers who have been out of a job for over 6 months.
Extending unemployment benefits? The economic downside of this bandaid has also been discussed to death.
- Fourth, it puts more money in the pockets of working and middle class Americans by cutting in half the payroll tax that comes out of every worker’s paycheck, saving families an average of $1,500 a year’ and taking executive action to remove the barriers that exist in the current federal refinancing program (HARP) to help more Americans refinance their mortgages at historically low rates, save money and stay in their homes.
Dr. J. has discussed the political implications of the payroll tax cut before. It is temporary, and thus can be demagogued, causing fear and anxiety in those who most benefit from it (the working poor and middle class), and it has an impact on social security solvency, but that’s another issue altogether. The federal refinancing program is a handout to falsely prop up the housing market which is in dire straits due to government interference in the first place, as it encouraged loans to be made to individuals who cannot afford them, and now the taxpayers have to subsidize their neighbor’s bad choices, rather than enjoying the largesse of their good choices.
- Last, the plan won’t add a dime to the deficit and is fully paid for through a balanced deficit reduction plan that includes closing corporate tax loopholes and asking the wealthiest Americans to pay their fair share.
Dr. J. wants to put his eye towards this one.
First and foremost. Dr. J. and the majority of taxpayers in America pay more than their ‘fair share.’ Just once, Dr. J. would like a straight answer from the White House what their opinion of his ‘fair share’ is. Going after fund managers, corporate jets, oil and gas companies is just more class warfare, and will be passed on to you, the consumer.
What has Dr. J. boiling is that idea that families earning more than $250,000 will face a tax hike because their charitable donations will be deducted at a lower than current rate. Dr. J. donates quite a bit to charity. He gives quite a bit, in the way of gently used goods, to Goodwill, which offers mentally disabled and otherwise difficult to employ individuals a hand up, if also recycles useful items and allows them to find their way into the hands of those who may not otherwise afford them. He contributes to the American Heart Association, Susan B. Komen, Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, St. Jude, his alma maters, his Parish, New Atlantis Homeless Mission, the New Atlantis Jedi Academy (where the lil medstudent and resident are in attendance). These are charities that Dr. J. believes in, and that is the key. The charities that thrive are the ones that resonate with philanthropist. Many of these charities are religious, and Dr. J. believes that they will be hurt the most because the dollars they lose will not be redistributed back to them by the state. the state will pick it’s own charities, and with the Progressives in charge, the charities that Dr. J., fellow Gormogons, and gentle readers embrace will not meet the Progressive muster. The current administration does not care about your conscience. They think the silly taboos imposed by your sky god are wrong!
With this deduction reduced, the potential size and number of charitable gifts will, by necessity, be reduced, as it is all discretionary spending. In other words, if the deduction is reduced, there will be less money left to donate. Ultimately, this hurts the end recipients of these donations. It also hurts those who selflessly give of themselves working for one of these not-for-profits. Mama J., Dr. J.’s mother, runs a thrift-shop that raises money for his old high school. Her ability to generate a gift for the school will be damaged significantly as she relies on charitable donations of goods, much like Goodwill does.
Sadly, with the charity sector weakened, individuals-in-need will turn their eye away from their neighbor and towards the state, worsening the already extant welfare state. Like Scrooge, President Obama believes in state solutions towards the issues of poverty. Scrooge paid for prisons and workhouses. President Obama wants you to pay for the gilded cage of the modern welfare state, unemployment checks, food stamps, medicaid and Section 8 housing for the richest poor in the world. This is wealth redistribution at its finest. If you want a glimpse of the future, turn your eye towards the United Kingdom or Europe.
So not only is this so-called jobs plan wrong for America, the way it is being paid for is far worse, punishing the most generous among us for freely picking charities most aligned with our consciences.
