Jobs in America

Well, here we are, late January 2010. President Obama has been with us for a year now. Many dreams and lots of promises later, life is not getting better in the U.S. of A. Health care reform is coming apart at the seams, and it should. Back room deals and outright bribery just won't cut it any more. People are unhappy. I keep hearing the word 'anger' being thrown around, which implies emotion. Sure, people are emotional but, they are also intelligent enough to know when things just don't add up. The money being spent and the sheer volume of borrowing is foolish and dangerous. We need to cut back and save some for future generations.

I'm not blaming Obama. He's just another politician. Sorry. He's not the One. Every recent president has tried to make the economy look good during his administration. Or, they made promises to 'turn around' a poor economy. You can hardly blame them. We don't like bad news. We don't like big numbers.

What we need is someone, anyone, to be honest with us. Someone to tell us we are not All That. I'm not talking apologies to the world. I'm talking about reality. There are millions of people just wishing to have what Americans already have. We can either give up and fold our tents or we can compete. We can't just hide our heads in the sand. Save the planet? Fine. Respect others? Fine. How about some self-respect? Yes, I'm still talking about jobs.

The government doesn't create jobs any more than it creates money. Printing money doesn't count. Money doesn't grow on trees, either. Business creates wealth and jobs. Real, honest to goodness jobs.

We have been on a long path of destroying manufacturing in the U.S., moving instead toward a 'service-based' economy. We're to snooty for blue-collar work. It's white-collar or nothing. Dumb. Look at all your belongings. Try to find something Made in the USA. I'm not an isolationist or protectionist. I like open-markets and Capitalism. Fair markets is what I'm after, not manipulated currencies. Buying the cheapest thing on the market has all kinds of hidden costs. The energy wasted to deliver those cheap goods is astounding. Imports/exports is a huge part of the jobs problem. We need people employed. Now!

The federal government itself is sucking up all the money. I'm pretty sure the size and scope of the government prevents it from being efficient. Taxes are the largest cause of inflation. When the cost of doing business goes up, we all pay more. (Don't get me wrong! I'm no fan of big business.) When prices go up, the people at the bottom are hurt the most. A few bucks to the well-to-do is nothing.

You want jobs? Lower taxes across the board. Cut the size of government. Make some sacrifices of your own and stop spending your hard-earned money on junk. Stop re-electing known criminals even if they bring home the 'pork'. You're smart! You know when you're being lied to! You know when the numbers don't add up.