Barack Obama and the Bottomless Bucket

It's All an Illusion

The highly anticipated Obama jobs plan has been unveiled after a tantalizing few days tease. The big news is that the president has decided since lighter fluid is wet, that's what should be poured on this economic fire.


Remember that he said this would be "paid for"? Turns out it will be, ostensibly, by taxes on the "rich"; those making $200,000 per year. Oh sure, it was $250,000 originally, but now it's been lowered by fifty grand. Prime territory for small business owners, who file as individuals. How will that create job incentives? And it's odd that Obama makes this revelation in a speech to a labor-friendly crowd, but in his televised speech to a joint session of Congress, he gave the impression that his plan already had all the bases covered.

Oh yeah, Obama will take the increased taxes and offer a small business a $4000 credit as long as they hire a $50-70,000 employee that they don't really need. That, my friends, is the epitome of insanity.

While all this goes on, our media seems to have forgotten the first "stimulus" program that created nearly no new jobs. In a blushing, faux-mea culpa, Obama giggled and said that those jobs "weren't quite shovel ready", despite his and Joe Biden's insistence that they were at the time. Now he wants to "create" construction jobs, put teachers back in the classrooms, and "get this economy moving".

And Obama is still harping on this high-speed rail boondoggle that will never be self-sustaining -- much less profitable -- in a country like ours.  Oh, and according to David Axelrod, Obama wants to put veterans back to work.

The problem with this "plan" of his is that government never created a job, the private sector always has done that, but when people aren't consuming like they have in the past because they can't afford it -- and therefore companies aren't selling like they used to -- then there is no need to hire anyone, despite all the carrots Obama can dangle.

Pointless Work

Just like the magical "faucet from nowhere" and the "bottomless bucket" it appears to fill, Obama's economic plan is an illusion that creates not a bit of wealth, but rather, attempts to create busy-work for people in order to create yet another illusion of productive employment. In order for the government to pay its workers, it must first take taxes from the people. Then the government worker pays taxes, and receives a check. It recycles money just as the faucet and bucket recycle the same water, over and over.

What government can, and must, do is to create an environment let will allow the private sector -- the American people -- to do that which we do best; create actual jobs and genuine product. That is the surest way to kick-start our economy.

Sadly, this president either doesn't know that or simply doesn't want to believe it, because it's antithetical to the very core of his existence. The only other explanation is that he truly does know precisely what he is doing. I would hope that is not the case.

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