I was listening to All Things Considered on NPR yesterday and heard some interesting thoughts from the Chamber of Commerce on how to improve the economy. It was the same tired old Trickle Down, Voodoo Economics, No regulations, Lower taxes for the wealthy confabulated drivel. This time it was couched in terms of improving job growth.
How could anyone in their right mind believe that illogical, proven wrong theory any longer. I heard things that any thoughtful, self respecting middle income citizen knows deep inside is pure bunk, as in bunko.
Here is the transcript with credit to National Public Radio, Talk of the4 Nation, Robert Siegel, Michelle Norris and Tamara Keith the interviewer. This transcript can be found here
The following is a transcript with comments in Yellow
Chamber Of Commerce Calls Out Obama On Jobs
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce hosted a jobs summit in Washington this afternoon and posted an open letter demanding that something be done to improve the business climate.
NPR's Tamara Keith reports.
TAMARA KEITH: The U.S. Chamber of Commerce building is virtually across the street from the White House, there's a small park between them, and the building is plastered with these giant red, white and blue banners that spell out the word: jobs. It's a not-so-subtle reminder of what is quickly becoming the Obama administration's Achilles' heel, and it was a rallying cry at today's summit.
Jobs - The Chamber and it's members need to first answer this question. "Do you see jobs or maximization of profits as your first concern?"
Mr. TOM DONOHUE (President and CEO, U.S. Chamber of Commerce): The need to create more than 20 million new jobs for America over the next 10 years, it's why we're here today.
The Real Demands of the Chamber - Is that really why you're here Mr. Donohue or are you here to demand lower or no regulation, no serious efforts to seek alternate energy and deny climate change, or is it lower taxes on the wealthy.
KEITH: Tom Donohue is president of the chamber. In his keynote address, he said the climate for business these days is bad, and recent actions by Congress and the White House are making matters worse. He points to health care reform, financial regulation and talk of climate change legislation.
Mr. DONOHUE: And all of this has injected tremendous uncertainty into our economy, and uncertainty is the enemy of investment, of growth and of jobs.
Uncertainty I - Investor uncertainty isn't about the economy but rather the confidence in the management of the companies they are being asked to invest in. When Steve Jobs illness was in the news it affected Apple. A company I worked for whose stock dropped dramatically was a market leader but when their main money maker had defects from lack of testing the stock went from about $60 to somewhere around $2.
Uncertainty II- is also caused by market demand or perceived demand for a companies products. When people (the average blue or white collar) cannot find work demand drops (as we can see today) and companies layoff more workers. Keeping the Bush tax breaks for the wealthy does nothing to improve demand for products and smart companies will not grow until demand rises with more employment either Private or Public.
KEITH: Of course, Democrats in Congress and the Obama administration don't see it that way. They say these bills and others will create jobs. Donohue is less optimistic. He says small business owners can't get the capital they need to grow. Others are struggling just to stay afloat. Many larger corporations actually have plenty of cash.
Mr. DONOHUE: But they're sitting on it. They cannot in good faith and responsibility to their shareholders incur the heavy obligations of expanding and adding to the payroll at this time.
Expanding Payroll and Responsibility to Shareholders - It isn't just the wealthy that are shareholders anymore but a mix of wealthy & middle class folks who own stock. Corporate responsibility is, if we are to believe the Supreme Court's recent decision, is like any other citizen. First responsibility is to our family and next our neighbors. When a corporation succeeds we all succeed but success is not unreasonable profit but sustaining profit especially in downturns. Of course you can't expand payroll without a well thought out plan but that requires wise management and some effort planning - get with it guys.
KEITH: And that's how you get stagnant job growth. Small businesses are the biggest engines of job creation, but most owners are like Jim Wordsworth. He hasn't hired anyone in two years. Wordsworth owns several small businesses, including a catering company that supplies food for White House events like the Easter Egg Roll.
Mr. JIM WORDSWORTH (Owner, JR's Goodtimes): I don't like the atmosphere in here. They're gray clouds of a business, and it's just a dark day.
Gray Clouds - What better time to plant crops?
KEITH: What is it going to take for you to hire again?
Mr. WORDSWORTH: I guess, if there was one word I would use, I would use confidence. I just have lost confidence in so many things.
Loss of Confidence - We have all lost confidence in a congress built on one group trying to get things done after an administration that put us in two unnecessary wars, increased the deficit beyond even the "Off The Books" wars, and brought this economy (the strongest in the world) to it's knees with lack of regulation and turning a blind eye to the sinking economy. And, by the way at the same time gave away over a trillion dollars in tax breaks to the wealthy, corporations (some Foreign) while not creating jobs in this country but over seas.
KEITH: One thing Wordsworth says would really help is also at the top of the chamber's agenda. A series of Bush-era tax breaks are set to expire at the end of this year, and the chamber wants them extended, at least for a couple of years.
Bush Tax Break Extension - How in he heck will tax breaks for the wealthy help when there is so much uncertainty and lack of confidence and no demand from the masses for lack of money. Wouldn't it be better to extend unemployment and have that money hit the streets. Does this sound familar
Stan Anderson is leading up the chamber's jobs campaign.
Mr. STAN ANDERSON (Legal Adviser, U.S. Chamber of Commerce): We'd like the president to say that that's the policy they're going to follow. We think that would have an enormous psychological impact.
Psychological Impact - Sure Stan that will perk up the economy. Reward the investors in stock while homeowners are losing $20, $50, $100 thousand in their only investment in their homes.
KEITH: The chamber's jobs strategy also calls for reducing the regulatory burden on businesses, cutting the deficit, expanding exports, even allowing more logging in national forests.
Regulatory Burden - Sure like the unbearable burden on BP (A foreign firm) who still cut corners and caused the death of it's workers, wasted a huge quantity of oil, and have fouled the environment for years to come.
Cutting the Deficit - Do they really think extending the Bush Tax Cuts will reduce the deficit? Did they think not putting the "Cost of War" in the budget helped the deficit or just hid it from view.
Expanding Exports - What are we going to export? Goods made in China back to China?
Logging in National Forests - Teddy Roosevelt must be turning over in his grave. Part of what makes this country great has been the conservation of it's wilderness and scenic recreational areas. I've seen "Old growth" forests and believe me it's isn't just the spotted owls that we should save those forests for but for places like the redwoods, or Constitution Grove of trees as old or older that the Constitution and other great parks.
President Obama held his own meetings with business leaders today to talk about what the administration can do to encourage employers to start hiring again.
What President Obama and Congress SHOULD do - If corporations refuse to plan better and invest in this country President Obama should call for major government projects in partnership with companies both large and small to lead us to energy independence just as John Kennedy led us to the moon.
Tamara Keith, NPR News, Washington.
How could anyone in their right mind believe that illogical, proven wrong theory any longer. I heard things that any thoughtful, self respecting middle income citizen knows deep inside is pure bunk, as in bunko.
Here is the transcript with credit to National Public Radio, Talk of the4 Nation, Robert Siegel, Michelle Norris and Tamara Keith the interviewer. This transcript can be found here
The following is a transcript with comments in Yellow
Chamber Of Commerce Calls Out Obama On Jobs
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce hosted a jobs summit in Washington this afternoon and posted an open letter demanding that something be done to improve the business climate.
NPR's Tamara Keith reports.
TAMARA KEITH: The U.S. Chamber of Commerce building is virtually across the street from the White House, there's a small park between them, and the building is plastered with these giant red, white and blue banners that spell out the word: jobs. It's a not-so-subtle reminder of what is quickly becoming the Obama administration's Achilles' heel, and it was a rallying cry at today's summit.
Jobs - The Chamber and it's members need to first answer this question. "Do you see jobs or maximization of profits as your first concern?"
Mr. TOM DONOHUE (President and CEO, U.S. Chamber of Commerce): The need to create more than 20 million new jobs for America over the next 10 years, it's why we're here today.
The Real Demands of the Chamber - Is that really why you're here Mr. Donohue or are you here to demand lower or no regulation, no serious efforts to seek alternate energy and deny climate change, or is it lower taxes on the wealthy.
KEITH: Tom Donohue is president of the chamber. In his keynote address, he said the climate for business these days is bad, and recent actions by Congress and the White House are making matters worse. He points to health care reform, financial regulation and talk of climate change legislation.
Mr. DONOHUE: And all of this has injected tremendous uncertainty into our economy, and uncertainty is the enemy of investment, of growth and of jobs.
Uncertainty I - Investor uncertainty isn't about the economy but rather the confidence in the management of the companies they are being asked to invest in. When Steve Jobs illness was in the news it affected Apple. A company I worked for whose stock dropped dramatically was a market leader but when their main money maker had defects from lack of testing the stock went from about $60 to somewhere around $2.
Uncertainty II- is also caused by market demand or perceived demand for a companies products. When people (the average blue or white collar) cannot find work demand drops (as we can see today) and companies layoff more workers. Keeping the Bush tax breaks for the wealthy does nothing to improve demand for products and smart companies will not grow until demand rises with more employment either Private or Public.
KEITH: Of course, Democrats in Congress and the Obama administration don't see it that way. They say these bills and others will create jobs. Donohue is less optimistic. He says small business owners can't get the capital they need to grow. Others are struggling just to stay afloat. Many larger corporations actually have plenty of cash.
Mr. DONOHUE: But they're sitting on it. They cannot in good faith and responsibility to their shareholders incur the heavy obligations of expanding and adding to the payroll at this time.
Expanding Payroll and Responsibility to Shareholders - It isn't just the wealthy that are shareholders anymore but a mix of wealthy & middle class folks who own stock. Corporate responsibility is, if we are to believe the Supreme Court's recent decision, is like any other citizen. First responsibility is to our family and next our neighbors. When a corporation succeeds we all succeed but success is not unreasonable profit but sustaining profit especially in downturns. Of course you can't expand payroll without a well thought out plan but that requires wise management and some effort planning - get with it guys.
KEITH: And that's how you get stagnant job growth. Small businesses are the biggest engines of job creation, but most owners are like Jim Wordsworth. He hasn't hired anyone in two years. Wordsworth owns several small businesses, including a catering company that supplies food for White House events like the Easter Egg Roll.
Mr. JIM WORDSWORTH (Owner, JR's Goodtimes): I don't like the atmosphere in here. They're gray clouds of a business, and it's just a dark day.
Gray Clouds - What better time to plant crops?
KEITH: What is it going to take for you to hire again?
Mr. WORDSWORTH: I guess, if there was one word I would use, I would use confidence. I just have lost confidence in so many things.
Loss of Confidence - We have all lost confidence in a congress built on one group trying to get things done after an administration that put us in two unnecessary wars, increased the deficit beyond even the "Off The Books" wars, and brought this economy (the strongest in the world) to it's knees with lack of regulation and turning a blind eye to the sinking economy. And, by the way at the same time gave away over a trillion dollars in tax breaks to the wealthy, corporations (some Foreign) while not creating jobs in this country but over seas.
KEITH: One thing Wordsworth says would really help is also at the top of the chamber's agenda. A series of Bush-era tax breaks are set to expire at the end of this year, and the chamber wants them extended, at least for a couple of years.
Bush Tax Break Extension - How in he heck will tax breaks for the wealthy help when there is so much uncertainty and lack of confidence and no demand from the masses for lack of money. Wouldn't it be better to extend unemployment and have that money hit the streets. Does this sound familar
Stan Anderson is leading up the chamber's jobs campaign.
Mr. STAN ANDERSON (Legal Adviser, U.S. Chamber of Commerce): We'd like the president to say that that's the policy they're going to follow. We think that would have an enormous psychological impact.
Psychological Impact - Sure Stan that will perk up the economy. Reward the investors in stock while homeowners are losing $20, $50, $100 thousand in their only investment in their homes.
KEITH: The chamber's jobs strategy also calls for reducing the regulatory burden on businesses, cutting the deficit, expanding exports, even allowing more logging in national forests.
Regulatory Burden - Sure like the unbearable burden on BP (A foreign firm) who still cut corners and caused the death of it's workers, wasted a huge quantity of oil, and have fouled the environment for years to come.
Cutting the Deficit - Do they really think extending the Bush Tax Cuts will reduce the deficit? Did they think not putting the "Cost of War" in the budget helped the deficit or just hid it from view.
Expanding Exports - What are we going to export? Goods made in China back to China?
Logging in National Forests - Teddy Roosevelt must be turning over in his grave. Part of what makes this country great has been the conservation of it's wilderness and scenic recreational areas. I've seen "Old growth" forests and believe me it's isn't just the spotted owls that we should save those forests for but for places like the redwoods, or Constitution Grove of trees as old or older that the Constitution and other great parks.
President Obama held his own meetings with business leaders today to talk about what the administration can do to encourage employers to start hiring again.
What President Obama and Congress SHOULD do - If corporations refuse to plan better and invest in this country President Obama should call for major government projects in partnership with companies both large and small to lead us to energy independence just as John Kennedy led us to the moon.
Tamara Keith, NPR News, Washington.
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