What America Wants on Labor Day

When I was a young man (about 100 years ago) I was working on a construction job when a friend saw me and stopped to say “hi.” He asked me why I was working on the Labor Day holiday. I told him I was just glad that I had work to do, since at that time jobs were scarce in the construction industry.

I didn’t realize how good I had it. Compared to the 23 million Americans today who are looking for any kind of job, who have stopped looking, or can only find part-time work, the job market back then was actually very good.

In just two months, the United States is going to elect a new Economist-in-Chief. Whether Obama likes it or not – and he clearly doesn’t – that’s what this election is going to boil down to: which candidate is best qualified to manage the largest economy in the world, and which will create a climate that will encourage job growth.

Please note that I didn’t say which one will “create” more jobs, because I don’t believe that job creation is a function of government. Let me explain…

Obama claims that he “created or saved” 4 million jobs. Let’s set aside his ridiculous allegation that he “created” or “saved” jobs, because that means nothing. If it actually were a legitimate claim, then the supposed 4 million jobs could be in either of those categories.  Since there is no way to demonstrate that a single job has been “saved” (in other words that it would otherwise have been lost if Obama hadn’t spent almost a trillion dollars of our money on his failed “stimulus”), his words are nothing more than an attempt to fool non-thinking people.

As far as the number of jobs supposedly “created,” this too is questionable. The fact is that the claim of “4 million jobs” actually falls short of the number that should have been created in the usual and customary way, i.e., keeping in step with population growth. So, in actuality, the nation has lost jobs under Obama.

It is true that there have been net gains of jobs in one particular sector – government jobs. But those have been far out shadowed by the loss of jobs in the private sector. You may ask, “What’s the difference? A job is a job, isn’t it?” No, there is a huge difference.

Public sector jobs, or government jobs, produce nothing. Worse, they drain resources (in the form of taxes) from productive, private sector jobs. So the addition of government jobs actually weakens our economy. 

Then there is the cost of job creation. Using Obama’s own paradigm, each job “created or saved” cost the U.S. taxpayer well over $200,000. The average cost of a job created in the private sector is about one tenth of that - $20,000.

So the far more expensive government jobs drain the economy, while the relatively inexpensive private sector jobs help improve the economy. Do the math.

Of course, government workers pay taxes, too. In fact, in some cases they pay more taxes than private sector workers, since in almost every job category, government workers are paid significantly more – as much as 50% more – than private sector workers are paid for doing exactly the same job.

But that is not the point. The point is that bureaucrats produce nothing of value. They add nothing of substance to our economic health. Of course, a small number of bureaucrats are necessary to run the constitutional functions of government. But 75% of what government does today is not constitutional (and that number is generous). As more government employees are added, the more crippled our economy becomes.

Here are some sobering facts. Obama claims to be the great champion of the middle class. But the majority of jobs that have been lost on his watch have been middle class jobs. And – with the exception of high-paid government employees – most of the new jobs are low wage positions.

Presidents can only create government jobs. These are not the kind of jobs America needs, but this is where Obama has set his sights. He continues to focus on the government as the solution, because he believes that will gain him more votes. This is how he has failed abysmally in his role as Economist-in-Chief. 

Mitt Romney understands that the job of the Economist-in-Chief is to create a climate in which job growth can take place. That means a business-friendly climate. The Obama administration has been rabidly hostile towards job creators. The Romney administration will encourage the growth of small businesses, which create more than 70% of all new private sector jobs.

Romney’s 5-point plan to make our economy roar is simple:

1) Develop our own energy resources to make the U.S. independent of foreign oil. In addition to starving terrorists of money (yes, many of our oil dollars support terrorist regimes), this will put billions of dollars into our economy by creating hundreds of thousands of jobs. Obama blocked the Keystone Pipeline to make his “green” voters happy, losing at least 20,000 jobs. Romney will approve it.

2) Romney will put education dollars where they belong. Instead of meddling in local school boards, his plan will increase job-training for adults.

3) He will open up foreign trade, and will crack down on cheaters like China. China’s unfair trade practices and manipulation of their currency steals American jobs. Romney will stand up for America

4) Mitt Romney is committed to reducing our National Debt, which Obama has increased by a staggering 50% in less than four years. (No president in history has even come close to such an appalling betrayal of the American people.) Obama’s budget was rejected 99 to 0; it was so terrible that not one Democrat voted for it. Romney will balance the budget for the first time in decades

5) Romney will be a champion for small businesses. Obama has proposed increasing their taxes from an already unbearable 35% to a crushing 40% rate. Romney will lower taxes, reduce the regulations that strangle business growth, and repeal Obamacare. Business owners are quick to give us the reason for not hiring new employees, that being the enormous burden Obamacare places on them.

In the 233 years before Obama became president, our nation grew into the strongest economy in the world. Obama has managed to diminish us to the point where the average family income is actually $4,000 per year less than it was when he took office. His brand of “leadership” is quite simply destroying our country. If given four more years under the Obama administration, we could evolve into a third-world banana republic.

By contrast, Mitt Romney is a patriot who is also a multi-millionaire. I mention this because, unlike Obama, he doesn’t need to become president to live in a nice house, ride in limos and fly around in private jets. He’s had all that for years. He wants to serve our nation, a concept that appears to be foreign to our current Economist-in-Chief.

More importantly, he knows how to turn this economy around and make America strong again. As I wrote recently, his choice of Paul Ryan was a master stroke that shows that he understands that the economy and jobs are the key issues in this election. As I watch Obama’s campaign, it’s clear that he thinks all America cares about is whether the taxpayer should pay for single women’s contraceptives or whether homosexual marriage should become the law of the land. I believe he will find that he was dead wrong when voters elect a team that will reverse Obama’s economic devastation.

Help Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan save America.