Americans Want Jobs, Not Talk
By John F. McManus
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Source: The New American, August 23, 1993
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According
to the Associated Press, President Clinton intends to call an
international conference this fall to discover reasons for the slow
rate of job growth and to seek ways to stimulate job creation. He is
evidently responding in part to a rise in the unemployment rate from
May to June, a time of year when unemployment normally goes down.
There really isn't any need to gather experts from around the globe for
these purposes. If he would come by my office in Wisconsin, I could
save him a lot of time and provide answers to his questions in a few
words.
Why is the rate of job growth slow? Too much government. How can job
creation be stimulated? Reduce the size, power, and cost of government.
But I don't expect the President to seek my help, and I have little
confidence that he will accept my advice when I send it to him. As far
as I can tell, his goal is to strengthen government's role even more
than it is at present.
Columnist Paul Craig Roberts has stated, "Restoring the primacy of
government is what Mr. Clinton is all about .... His overriding goal is
to reduce the private sector's claim on the income that it produces."
Such an attitude translates into fewer jobs being created by the only
people who can create them -- America's producers.
A Bleak Picture
Economic statisticians tell us that a mere 13,000 new jobs were created
in June. That is hardly enough at a time when high school and college
graduates are entering the workplace.
The executive director of the Crafted With Pride in U.S.A. Council,
Robert E. Swift, recently stated that economically depressed New Jersey
has lost 200,000 manufacturing jobs since 1989. Noting that New Jersey
is not alone, he added that the entire nation has "lost more than three
million manufacturing jobs since 1979." Supporting our own analysis of
the problem, he pointed out that manufacturing jobs in New Jersey "are
now outnumbered by government jobs, service sector jobs, and the
wholesale-retail sector, but the last two pay substantially less than
manufacturing jobs...."
America is being converted into a nation of bureaucrats, paper pushers,
and service providers. Yet real wealth, as any competent economist
knows, is acquired by producing goods, not shuffling paper and
providing services. With government already impeding producers with the
deadly combination of taxation, regulations, and controls, the honest
way out of the worsening job picture has to be less taxation, removal
of regulations, and fewer controls. Sadly, America is speeding in the
other direction.
Private industry not only has to support its own employees, but is
taxed to support the growing army of government employees at local,
state, and national levels. Groaning under this ever-increasing burden,
private entrepreneurs can't hire, can't expand, can't compete with
foreign manufacturers, and soon won't even be able to keep the doors
open.
Absurdity of Government Help
Earlier this year, Mr. Clinton failed to get his $16.3 billion jobs
bill through Congress. The absurdity of his proposal prompted humorist
Dave Barry to offer: "See, when government spends money, it creates
jobs; whereas when money is left in the hands of taxpayers, God only
knows what they'll do with it. Bake it into pies, probably. Anything to
avoid creating jobs."
Another wag commented that he could end unemployment in America
overnight. "All that is needed," he said, "is for Congress to outlaw
farm machinery." It's nice to know that some Americans haven't lost
their sense of humor in the face of a very serious problem. But quips
won't solve the problem either.
Not only are the American people taxed to have government "create" jobs
here at home, but our tax dollars are being sent to Russia and numerous
other foreign nations so their governments can do the creating for
their people. It is as if nothing would ever get done anywhere on earth
if the U.S. government didn't have a hand in it. This is hardly the way
our nation rose to word leadership. Instead, it is the way to tear
America down.
Case in Point
America's petroleum producers are as hard hit by government regulations
as any industry. One after another, they are investing in foreign
nations and creating jobs overseas because they can't do what they'd
like to do at home.
The effect of oppressive government was dramatically shown in 1992 when
the American Petroleum Institute hired a private consulting firm to
determine how many jobs would result if federal restrictions barring
development of the oil fields in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife
Refuge (ANWR) were lifted. The consultants found that 735,000 new jobs
would result throughout the nation because of the immediate need for
oil field workers, pipe and steel fabricators, computer manufacturers,
truck and construction equipment builders, and a host of other
suppliers. The group estimated that 37 jobs would be created outside
the oil industry for every 10 jobs created within it.
Government wouldn't have to spend a dime to create these jobs. And each
job would generate tax revenue instead of consuming it. But ANWR
remains closed because government has bowed to environmentalist
demands. Industry after industry can produce similar woeful tales
resulting from too much government.
Most Americans believe that Congress and the President should carefully
consider the impact on jobs that raising taxes or adding more
regulatory burdens will have. But could it be that many of our
lawmakers do factor in such a consideration, yet unashamedly push for
more taxes and regulations anyway? Could it be that they have a hidden
agenda to bring America down to the level of other nations? Could
crippling America's productive might be a desired step toward the
socialism and world government of the new world order? Think about it.
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