Jobs and Regulation

October 07, 2011 By Florian Schach

Job Creation? With The American Jobs Act, It’s Still A Game Of Chance.

In early September, President Obama asked Congress to pass the American Jobs Act, a bill that would call for $447 billion to create jobs. Immediately Republicans were opposed to the idea as the proposal itself asks for higher taxes on the top earners in the US who are responsible for creating jobs as well.  If that’s not enough, Starbucks has teamed with the Opportunity Finance Network for the “Create Jobs for USA” initiative, which designed to help small business to create jobs and stimulate the economy.

The proposals being put forth are like slot machines, they are aimed to provide the American people with a small gain for a short time. However, employment, economic growth and stability, the proverbial jackpot, is still far away.

The American Jobs Act proposes that we raise taxes on the top earners in the country. While a higher tax on people who earn more seems like a good idea in theory, there are several risks involved.  The biggest of those risks is that while creating jobs on one side, the taxes collected do not allow people, mainly business owners to re-invest in their own businesses. The problem of both job creation and availability could be further exacerbated than it currently is.

The Republican attempt at being prudent in federal spending, is to cut taxes and reduce spending on programs like Medicare and Social Security for debt reduction. However, there are a number of studies that dispute the claim that tax cuts for the wealthy spur job creation. Although they are supporting this view, a recent poll shows that 57%  of Republicans also agree with a tax on people earning over $1M in order to support job creation.

In order to fix the American economy and reduce the debt, the government needs to figure out how they can develop a long-term strategy rather than leave it to chance to decide the best course of action.  Until then, Americans are left pulling the lever with slim odds of real economic recovery.

What do you think?  Is there a chance of real job creation, sustainability or debt reduction in either of these plans? Or, are chances slim to none?  Let us know in the comments.

• Debt

• Debt Ceiling

• Jobs

• Job Creation

• jobs bills

• Employ

Comments