The Anti-Jobs President Strikes Again



Hold on Sir, The folks are working on getting a new guy in 2012







John Bryson

President Obama’s nomination of John Bryson as the next Secretary of Commerce is like putting Bernie Madoff in charge of the Securities and Exchange Commission. Unfair? Not when you look at Mr. Bryson’s record as the co-founder and chairman of the left-wing environmental group, Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), which has a history of supporting jobs-killing environmental policies and bringing lawsuits at the expense of U.S. economic growth and jobs.

Given Mr. Bryson’s record, the Senate may not confirm him as the nation’s new Commerce Secretary. Nevertheless, the President’s choice is yet another example of hostility to job-creation and pro-business policies.

In his State of the Union Address, President Obama made an appeal to Congress to forget politics and get to work on job creation: “At stake right now is not who wins the next election … At stake is whether new jobs and industries take root in this country, or somewhere else. It’s whether the hard work and industry of our people is rewarded.”

The President’s rhetoric hasn’t matched his record. In addition to his Commerce nominee, consider other recent actions:

In April, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) tried to block Boeing from opening a brand new $2 billion factory for its new Dreamliner plane in South Carolina, which would employ around 1,000 Americans. The NLRB defended this action by claiming that it was looking out for union workers, who would have been cut out of the South Carolina plant. But, really, this is a right-to-work state, job-killing payback to union allies, who will return the favor with millions of dollars of campaign cash and door-knocking campaigning.

Rep. Paul Ryan

Also last month, the House of Representatives adopted the budget proposal introduced by Rep. Paul Ryan, which nobly takes big steps to reduce the deficit by cutting Medicare growth. President Obama’s response was an overly partisan and vicious attack that attempted to kill the debate before it even began. The President’s salvo also provided the opening for Democratic allies to unload misleading attacks without suggesting a solution other than the old canard that increasing taxes on Americans who make more than $250,000 will solve the problem.

It seems many prominent Democrats, including former President Bill Clinton, are concluding that the growing debt, weakening of the dollar, downgrading of our creditworthiness and desire to raise taxes has hurt our economy and discouraged businesses from taking risks, expanding and hiring.

President Obama’s budget proposal failed to get one vote in the Senate as it essentially ignores the American people’s determination to cut government spending and bring back confidence so businesses start hiring.

The hits just keep coming. Now, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates that Obamacare will reduce household employment of 800,000 Americans by 2021. It also reported to Congress that the law will cost $1.13 trillion over the next six years rather than the initial cost of $778 billion. We’ve lost track of how many times the CBO has had to revise its original estimate, which Congress of course exploited to rush Obamacare toward passage. Nevertheless, despite the corrections, the White House clings to CBO’s original deficit-cutting myth.

If all that weren’t enough, after years of saying it wanted to move the free trade agreements, the Administration announced it would not support their passage unless Congress committed to billions of dollars in Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA), a program that has little record of success. So instead of our farmers, manufacturers and workers benefiting from lower tariffs and more jobs, the trade agreements will wither because Republicans will not support such obviously wasteful spending.

Donald J. Boudreaux



As George Mason University economics professor Donald J. Boudreaux lamented, “Would it have been appropriate, for example, for the White House to prevent Americans from buying iPods and Kindles until and unless Congress funded the retraining of workers who lost their jobs at Tower Records and Borders?”

Finally, two weeks ago the President announced he would forgive U.S. loans and give additional cash to Arab countries, countries whose leadership may prove to be hostile to America. So while both political parties strive to save American jobs by cutting spending we are giving away more money abroad.

At some point you have to scratch your head and wonder whether President Obama understands that jobs come from job-creators – not from unions, foreign governments or even from government spending and employees. But that’s what happens when political calculations outweigh the interests of middle-class Americans.

Until and unless the President changes this anti-jobs course we can continue to expect a sullen economy and millions of unemployed and underemployed Americans.