Obama announces forum -- a brainstorming session on job creation

[tonysam]

Source: L.A. Times

Reporting from Washington - With economic and political concerns rising as the unemployment rate has broken double digits, President Obama today announced he will hold a high-level forum at the White House next month to try to find new ways to reverse the job loss.

"Even though we've slowed the loss of jobs ...the economic growth that we've seen has not yet led to the job growth that we desperately need," Obama said.

"Given the magnitude of the economic turmoil that we've experienced, employers are reluctant to hire," he continued. "Meanwhile, millions of Americans -- our friends, our neighbors, our family members, are desperately searching for jobs. This is one of the great challenges that remain in our economy, a challenge that my administration is absolutely determined to meet."

Read more: http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-obama-jobs13-2009nov13,0,1759115.story

[kjackson227]

1. Refreshing to know that I have a president who cares about...

the American people for a change.

[rucky]

2. "high level"

that term always cracks me up. it's a favorite in the last corporation I worked at.

translation: dumb it down to the basic stuff - no details, please.

[MindPilot]

22. That means nobody remotely in touch with the real world

will have any input.

[C_Lawyer09]

30. Exactly

Another high level conference, and people wonder why John and Judy blue collar are gravitating away from this administration. High level meetings, Czars, and Keynesian economists. Small businesses are still having problems getting loans from banks.

[liberal N proud]

3. CEO's, small-business owners, economists, labor leaders and others

Others had better include some who have the most at stake, the unemployed.

I have an idea for the group, if they would listen. Public Works Projects, build a high speed rail system across America.
Jobs building the rails.
Jobs constructing the routes.
Jobs building train stations.
Jobs running the system once it is in place.

Long term growth!

[WriteDown]

4. Never happen...

Need long straight, level courses. You would need eminent domain galore.

edited for grammar.

[elleng]

9. Sure, but do you have an idea about how long it would take

to FIRST FEEL ANY effects of such a project?

SMALLER public works projects which are ALREADY in planning stages would be more effective if the goal is JOBS, NOW.

[liberal N proud]

14. Wouldn't planning create jobs as well?

Engineers, survey and others who are out of work.

Of course one thing can't be the only answer, there must be various projects that would put people back to work.

[C_Lawyer09]

32. Shovel ready

This isn't the new deal, it would be great if govt. could start all these programs and administer them like CCC, but look at the impact of all these supposedly shovel ready projects. All I've seen thus far is a boatload of unneccessary road work getting done.

[liberal N proud]

46. True, many of the highway projects are bogus

That is why we need a two fold plan. One to put laborers to work now and one that is a huge public works project that needs thousands across the country working to achieve one huge project.

I realize we are not going to build any Hoover Dams, we have to call it bu$h dam anyway since he put us in this fucking mess.

[wordpix]

54. here in DC, they're finally starting to fix the potholes after 8 yrs. of do-nothing

Unfortunately, in MD they approved the massive Intercounty Connector, which is a huge boondoggle. They could have done public transportation instead but the IC was "shovel ready."

[C_Lawyer09]

31. admirable idea

But where does the money come from initially to kick this off? Who will run it?

[HughBeaumont]

5. Good luck convincing corporations to get on board.

Jobs gotta come from a WPA-type infrastructure overhaul, because as the past decade has shown, the private sector hasn't exactly done a whole hell of a lot of hiring with those tax cuts/breaks/bonuses/salary increases/perks. While their taxes remain low, corporations are going to continue to hoard and concentrate wealth at the top and think the remaining employed "consumers" here and overseas will fix things.

Since wages are only stagnating in real dollars (in terms of being able to afford the skyrocketing cost of living), someone's gonna have to bite some bitter pills and FAST. There ain't gonna be a recovery without gainfully employed workers buying your products or services.

[Auggie]

6. +1

[The2ndWheel]

7. Will they be paying the brainstormers?

[MessiahRp]

8. There are a lot of ways to do this but I doubt he wants any part of them...

Two that come to mind right away:

1. Re-negotiating Free Trade Agreements to force human rights and environmental standards that level the playing field. No way does he ever want to damage NAFTA or any agreements with China or India... however that's where the jobs are going and that's what needs addressing the most.

2. Single Payer health care. Had he pushed this from the start the compromise would have been quite amenable to employers who cannot afford rising health care costs and as such don't bring on new employees (or create layoffs to save money... or outsource).

You could offer tax breaks to companies that have 100% of their employee workforce in America as an incentive and possibly raise taxes for companies that have less than a certain percentage of their workforce outside the border.

Rp

[HughBeaumont]

10. What's hilarious about #2 . . .

. . . .is that the same right wing knuckledragger rich CEOs who bitch about "SOSHULISM!" and "I don't want gubmint-RUN helth cur!" are the same employers that bitch about their OWN health care/legacy costs and don't see the disconnect because it's just easier to call Democrats "communists" than gain IQ points.

[showpan]

12. More jobs

In the southwest, where water is a hot issue, desalination plants and pipelines could be the answer.
More solar, wind and thermal power plants would also create green energy reducing our need for foreign oil.
Repairing the nations crumbling bridges and roadways should be a priority.
Modernizing landfills and building recycling plants would be a huge boon.
All you have to do is look around to see what areas need improvement....without bailing out huge mismanaged corporations and CEO's pay.

[C_Lawyer09]

34. First the tax code

Must be absolutely reworked so the fat cats can't practice tax avoidance. Think about how much revenue we're missing at the expense of John and Judy workabee.

[optimator]

11. public flagellation of Geithner,

Rubin and Summers would be a good start.

[Myrina]

20. I'd rather flog them than flagellate them ...

even moreso than fellating them. Eeeewwww ...

[krispos42]

13. REPEAL NAFTA AND GATT

Institute regular, traditional tariffs on manufactured goods imported.


Institute a carbon or pollution tariff on manufactured goods from countries that make goods from dirty energy.

UNIVERASAL SINGLE PAYER HEALTH CARE

[FredStembottom]

17. Thanks, Krispos for doing it for me.

That's my role here at DU. ;-)

I still want to know:

Globalization:

Why?
Who decided?
At what meeting was it decided?

Why is it still sacrosanct even after all the bad predictions have come true?

If economic boundaries don't fit political boundaries.... are there really political boundaries at all?

Why can't the Chinese sell Chinese-made goods to the billions of Chinese?

Why burn all that diesel to move it to us, instead?

Why can't we force China to develop it's internal demand (being forced to pay better wages to it's own citizens) by once again building American made stuff for Americans?

What, exactly, is wrong with each country building it's own internal demand - and then satisfying it with domestic production thus employing the populations of each country?

Do countries that manufacture virtually nothing of their own teach mechanical, electronic and design skills to their young?

Is it safe to live in a country where no one knows how to do anything practical anymore?

Aren't entrenched oligarchies the real problem in under-developed countries?

Haven't entrenched oligarchies become the real problem here?

Aren't domestic jobs immediately greener than outsourced jobs (picture parked container ships)?

Couldn't tariffs be raised to the point that we not only manufacture here once again but do it just as cleanly and sustainably as we want?


Again.... why put our jobs and skills on a slow boat to China? Is it our goal to facilitate the rise of China in the world? Why?

[C_Lawyer09]

35. I'll give you one big reason

Because most Americans are perfectly content buying crap, as long as it's cheap, and the draw of cheap foreign labor will ensure we won't be able to undo the impact of GATT NAFTA or CAFTA

[FredStembottom]

47. If we raise tariffs to the proper level....

...as most other countries still do..... our products will be more expensive - but we will all be getting paid more as good middle class, union jobs re-appear. Like the 1950's.

With higher tariffs there is no "draw of cheap foreign labor" because products produced by cheap foreign labor arriving at our shores have the tariffs tacked onto them. Up to the level of what it would have cost to pay Americans to do the work. That's specifically what tariffs are for: to eliminate the cheap labor downward spiral.

[C_Lawyer09]

55. So is middle America going to jump on board?

Sorry if I sound cynical but I don't buy it. I don't see the Wally world moms and dads ending their love affair with the biggest chinese garbage purveyor on the face of the earth. I do understand what tariffs are for, however that would entail undoing NAFTA CAFTA GATT and possibly the WTO and IMF as well.

[FredStembottom]

59. I just want answers to my questions......

Getting them would be explosive.
How was it accomplished virtually overnight?
I remember the day that nearly every political speech suddenly began with the words: " of course we must globalize". All at once.
How was that accomplished?

The answer to that would be riveting to most anyone, I believe.

[C_Lawyer09]

62. Couldn't agree more buddy

I'd like to hear the explanation as well.

[rayofreason]

27. Tradition! Tradition....

Tradition!

"Institute regular, traditional tariffs on manufactured goods imported."

With protectionist thinking like that you'll be singing "If I were a rich man...." but it will never come true. (apologies to Topol)

[Psephos]

57. That no imports, no exports thing hasn't worked out so well for Cuba. n/t

[Luciferous]

68. Exactly. Instead, he's off discussing free trade agreements with

China :mad:

[Cha]

15. Brilliant..get everyone

involved..there's going to be some jobs.

[mzmolly]

16. Reinforce infrastructure and fund green jobs, now!

* Build wind turbines in old factories
* Build solar panels in the same factories
* Fund the reinforcement of local infrastructure
* Fund the green remodeling of foreclosed homes and so on...

Perhaps a seperate issue but ~

* Give tax credits to employers that pay a living wage

[C_Lawyer09]

36. You'd need legislation

That actually worked and addressed undoing the cronyism and lobbyists that are running Washington. One reason we're in this fix is because the oil lobby is so rich, ensconced, and supported by both parties. Secondly, how long does it take to get these programs up and running at the fed level. Maybe the states could make some of your ideas work efficiently, but not the Fed Govt. Look at USPS and AMTRAK

[Doctor_J]

18. How about seizing the assets of the Bailout leeches, give entrepeneurs

$5 million and family health insurance policy in exchange for a plan to build a 20-person business in 2 years.

[ozone_man]

63. +1

Only problem is Goldman Sachs was the largest corporate contributor to Obama.

[Myrina]

19. Give the remaining stimulus money DIRECTLY to the people.

People have bills to pay and things to buy. People will spend it. Demand across the board will increase. Jobs will be created. People will then have disposable income to spend and demand will continue to increase. In addition, state and local tax revenues will increase (providing that the companies seeing expanded payrolls and profits actually PAY THEIR TAXES) easing their shortfalls and allowing them to bring back services which are or have been reduced or eliminated, which will also add more jobs etc etc ...

I know this and I'm not even a PhD Economist! :freak:

[C_Lawyer09]

37. Provided

They don't spend all this money at Wal-Mart and like stores, therein the problme lies.

[fasttense]

21. Do you want JOBS? Do you want JOBS right NOW?

If you do, doing all those things listed by DUers above are Good but wont get you jobs quickly.

To get JOBS NOW, you have to go to the people who employ the most people and give them a hand. Who in this country creates the most JOBS? Why the small businessman. He's the one Obama needs to give a leg up to. Obama and his idiot economist along with the Fed have already dumped Trillions of dollars on corporations and look at the JOBS we Don't have.

Despite what Obama wants to do, he has to fix this unemployment problem ASAP or no more Dems are going to get elected. Unemployment is the number 1 historical reason incumbents don't get reelected.

Obama is going to have to spend some money to get JOBS NOW. He has to offer to pick up half the pay for anyone who wants to go to work for a small business. If the gubermint were to pay $5.00 an hour and provide health care, then the small businessman could pay $5.00 an hour for folks who need a job. They could expand the program to include non-profits and government positions. This would give the long termed unemployed experience, a living wage, health-care, and their dignity back.

This is the least the US government should do since they gave million dollar bonuses to Wall Street CEOs. This needs to be done immediately or the 2010 elections are going to be a disaster for the Democratic party.

[C_Lawyer09]

38. Provided

The long term unemployed wanted to work at the available jobs. I agree with much of your argument in theory. One of the problems is the money is and has been spent extremely inefficiently, I don't have confidence in the federal govt. to manage a program like this. One might ask why states like NE and ND are in the black right now.

[rayofreason]

43. You are correct about small business!

Small business is the major engine for job creation, especially at the end of a recession.

But what has happened because of the "stimulus" and the Wall Street bailouts and the takeover of GM in order to provide payback to the UAW? The deficit has ballooned to $1.4 trillion, sucking up capital and crowding out other investment, especially loans to small business. As you sow, so shall you reap. The administration's own policies has driven unemployment up by constricting the ability of small business to create jobs. Every small business owner I know tells me that hiring is the last thing they plan to do, regardless of political view. They tell me that economic uncertainty driven by huge deficit spending, plus a perception that the politically well-connected are feeding at the government trough and that there is no level playing field, means that every dollar than can be hoarded should be - to pay for the huge taxes required to close the deficit or to ride out the inflation storm that will come if the Chinese stop buying our debt.

While your idea about supporting small business is an attempt to address the real issue, without an underlying fix to the perceptions, and fears of the small business owner, your approach would produce no results. In any case, can you imagine the BUREAUCRACY that would be attached to such a program? It would be absolutely required in order to provide the possibility for graft and political meddling.

[C_Lawyer09]

56. I used to be more pro govt. and less pro business

Until I had a lot of first hand experience with inane and ludicrous govt. regulation enacted by people whom had never worked in business. George McGovern whom is one of my favorite Democrats of all time, felt a lot of the same pain, one he and his wife opened up a B&B in Connecticut(I believe it was). I don't champion business at the expense of the environment, but small business is the engine that drives our economy. The big reason to bail out banks is so they'd make the loans required of keeping small business solvent. Have they been? Hell no, they are hoarding assets!

[rayofreason]

60. Assets?

What assets? With government borrowing every (depreciating) dollar in sight, who has money to loan to someone who want to expand from 1 hot dog stand to 3? The strangulation of small business by the deficit the the source of our employment crisis. I blame the Obama administration for this state of affairs.

[peace13]

23. Feed, arm and clothe your military made in USA only!

Made in America! What a novel concept! Alternative energy...fund only made in America. Things may be slow at first but once we get it going things will look up.

[C_Lawyer09]

39. Have you ever heard of the buy american bill?

Check it out sometime and you'll see why we're so screwed.

[MindPilot]

24. There has got to be a fundamental shift in the group-think.

Corporations--CEOs--have to be made to understand that they have not only a fiduciary duty to the stockholders but also a responsibility to the country and her people.

Obama needs to say straight out, "look, major corporations, this is on your shoulders; you have to start the turn-around by hiring people. You are the ones with the financial resources. Pull in your off-shoring, unload your H1-Bs, make your contractors permanent and get people back to work. The rest will naturally follow."

[amandabeech]

33. Actually, you'd need a change in the corporate law for that,

not just a change in attitude for true, lasting change.

[yurbud]

25. How about greater incentives to buy hybrids and electric cars, tax breaks for makers and sellers...

and a public works program to put solar panels on as many houses as possible, and wind turbines everywhere they could gather electricity.

[Ian David]

26. Who will be the first to suggest more tax cuts for billionaires? n/t

[KT2000]

28. I have a great idea!

Enact a law that say consumers should be reimbursed for their time, plus penalty, for products they buy that turn out to be crap and break or do not work or do not last long. The companies that "manufacture" the products will be responsible parties.
Fines would double for manufacturing done overseas, the rationale being that the comapnies sought cheaper labor at the expense of quality and consumer respect.

Maybe then manufacturing will return to the US.

As it stands now, we are just channeling cheap and broken crap into landfills and paying several times what we should to get something that works.

[SF342]

29. My Two Cents....

Jobs are not the problem.....the political will is the problem.

There is plenty to do in the States.

Of the top of my head.

Repair every crumbling piece of public infrastructure(Roads,Utilities,Bridges,Treatment Plants....)

Modernize or replace every school,hospital,nursing home,municipal building,prison.....

Clean up every toxic abandoned industrial site.

Expand and modernize every mode of Public Transportation.

Give a 'TAX CREDIT' to every Business and Individual that modernizes there home and business to be energy efficient.

That should keep us busy for the next ten years.

[C_Lawyer09]

40. Economics lesson

Question: What happens if the govt. pays for the employ of 3 million people, and the federal reserve prints the money to pay those people? This is akin to why the fed minimum wage can't be raised across the board, because a lot of small businesses will close their doors. The reason why so many textile plants, especially (NC) plants, which is where I'm at right now relocated to developing countries is because of the almost endless supply of cheap labor. Our success will come from innovation, e.g. being able to supply something which there is huge demand for that no other country can produce.

[tonysam]

49. That's true of everything proposed in Congress that should help people

The reason there is no political will is because most of our congresspeople are bought off.

[Roland99]

41. Repeal NAFTA, CAFTA, SHAFTYA. Re-instate Glass-Steagall.

Ban offshoring profits.

Sell gov't ownership in GM and banks.


For starters....

[OnionPatch]

64. Hear Hear!!

The only way jobs are coming back is if Americans no longer have to directly compete with desperate, low-wage workers in countries with little or no labor and environmental standards.

[Festivito]

42. Make it an online forum and hire peop;le to read and relay it.

There would be lots of good ideas out here.

[silver10]

44. If anyone can figure it out, he will...

But he's up against some extremely powerful, rich and greedy corporate assholes.

[skoalyman]

45. Heck I'd mow the whitehouse lawn for million a year

heck lot cheaper then what billion dollar toilets and trillion dollar wars

[The Northerner]

48. Rest of the stimulus?

Why can't he focus on job creation by investing the rest of the stimulus on specific areas of the country, such as on civil construction and green jobs?

[Bigmack]

50. FDR is a good model....

about jobs... and lots of other things.

But....

FDR did it in the first 100 days.

[JonQ]

51. How about getting to work on all those construction projects that were promised

when the bill was being rushed through the senate.


Rebuilding roads and public works, hydroelectric dams, a better rail network etc. All those would create jobs for a long time and be useful.

Also start expanding immigration and border patrol. Deporting illegal workers creates jobs for americans.

[Lorien]

52. High speed rail, green energy, investments in public education, universal

health care with State hospitals, there are so many great options, yet each would upset the status quo. And that's something that almost no one on Capital Hill has any intention of doing.

[JonQ]

61. How do those involve paying off special interest groups

in exchange for promises of cash donations and voters come 2012?

See those just aren't viable options as they don't address root problems: getting reelected.

[wordpix]

53. Dear Mr. President, here is my suggestion

While I support high tech - solar, wind, biomass energy and EVs in particular, I also think we can put people to work growing gardens and fixing infrastructure. Gardens will supply people with cheap, nutritious food, and there's lots of infrastructure to fix.

[Honeycombe8]

65. I was disappointed the stimulus didn't focus more on infrastructure. That's what he'd

said during his campaign, I think...that the stimulus would put lots of people to work repairing bridges, building roads, etc., like FDR had done. But that's not what happened.

[zogofzorkon]

58. How about a domestic spending freeze

Yeah that should do it, freeze the budget of every government agency. No increased spending on paper, pencils, computers, travel, or building maintenance. That should help create jobs, no really its a good plan.

[Honeycombe8]

66. Krugman's column said that Germany avoided the big job losses by....

giving tax incentives to companies NOT to lay off, but instead decrease work hours. So although they had a deep recession like we did, they haven't experienced the huge unemployment crisis that we have.

I guess their people suffered pay cuts, but when faced with losing your job or having your hours cut and a pay decrease, which would you choose? Esp. in an economy where it's unlikely you'd be able to find another job?

Sounds like something worth considering, anyway.

[Psephos]

67. Germany also decided against a big government stimulus

as did France. They both said it was too expensive, and not likely to result in long-term gains.

Both of their economies saw less employment loss, and both went into recovery ahead of the US economy.

Krugman is a big fan of giant stimulus actions, but has been pretty reticent on this.

[Honeycombe8]

69. Interesting. He has been critical of our stimulus plan because of lack of infrastructure jobs.

I think he's right. I was led to believe that stimulus would focus on infrastructre, but instead focused on other things, with just a bit of infrastructure thrown in. Saving teachers' jobs, for example. Worthwhile for the teachers. But saving infrastructure jobs also is compounded, he said, because it saves OTHER jobs dependent on infrastructure workers. That's not the case with teachers. You save one teaching job, you save just that one job. You save one construction job, you save several others, as well.

[Psephos]

70. Fully agreed that the money should have gone where the jobs multiplier was highest.

About half of it didn't even go to targeted job creation of any kind.

The waste is shocking, and the unemployment numbers tell the real story.

[bamacrat]

71. I have an idea for either creating new jobs or making wages go up...

Give businesses a ceiling for earning before a large tax is imposed. Say after payroll and expenses a small business earns 1 million in profit then nothing would happen no tax. If a business earned 1.5 million after payroll and taxes the business would have the option of doing one of two things: either take the extra 500K and splitting it up among the employees or deferring it to the next year to hire new employees to soak up the extra. There for businesses would have incentive to make big profits and hire new people or pay their existing employees more. For companies that have a net profit of more than 10 million the extra money to be divvied could not go to the highest 10 % of earners in the company.

I may be crazy but I think this would be a decent idea.

Another would be legalize, tax and regulate weed. That would create tens of thousands of new jobs and create billions in tax revenue. Not only would it create jobs for people to grow and sell it but people to regulate it, and numerous cottage industries would spring up around it. People selling pipes, bongs, books, shirts, seeds, memorabilia etc.