Phantom Jobs Bill

Last night President Obama addressed a joint session of congress and the nation and implored Congress, multiple times, to pass his jobs bill immediately.  Usually, presidential addresses before joint sessions of Congress are reserved for the most serious issues such as acts of war or other national emergencies.  Not many would disagree that our current economic situation including the high unemployment rate is a serious national issue and repeatedly Mr. Obama  instructed Congress to “pass his bill now”, “pass this bill immediately”, “pass this bill now”.   The only problem is that Congress was not presented with a bill.  In the past, before a President would initiate a nationwide campaign to have Congress pass a bill, Congress would have had the opportunity to view an actual written bill complete with all the details, not simply general ideas read from a teleprompter.

Many of the members of Congress feel that the current Executive Branch has not always acted in a respectful way in dealing with Congress, and they are correct.  In fact, in recent years, there has not been much respect shown in either direction.  It would be far better if all members of government demonstrated more respect for each other.  According to our Constitution, the Legislative Branch of our government has equal standing to the Executive Branch and it is not appropriate that they be lectured to and reprimanded like disobedient school children by the President.   In addition to the present case , Mr. Obama’s arrogance in bypassing the will of Congress with a deluge of Executive Orders and leading an army of czars to impose his will on the country, this President is behaving more like King Obama than like President Obama.

Nevertheless, this is the environment within which this serious issue must be addressed.  My feeling is that jobs will follow, if government can successfully deal with the following three key impediments to economic growth.

• First and foremost put an end to our growing national debt.  Stop the debt clock from advancing and put in place a detailed plan to shrink that debt to a level where the U.S. can actually afford to pay the interest.  I feel that this will require passage of a Balanced Budget Amendment to the Constitution.

• Totally revamp our tax system to make it more simple, inclusive and fair.  A system that allows nearly half the population to escape paying income tax altogether while also allowing the richest and most powerful to benefit from massive loopholes is flawed at both ends of the spectrum.  Combining a flat tax with a small consumption tax is an example of the kind of restructuring that might be considered.

• Dial back the size of our Federal Government.  Retain only the essential controls but get government of the backs of business.  It’s Free Market Capitalism that has made this country great not Socialism and it’s Free Market Capitalism that is needed to lead our country back, not Big Government.