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Health & Fitness

No More Bailouts!

Obama is pushing money for public employees as a jobs program that is more like a another bad bailout attempt.

Now that it is clear there is little support to copy the failed stimulus programs of his first year, Obama still wants to push his bad ideas forward one piece at a time.

Obama has chosen to pull out the second worst part of the ”jobs bill” and push it as a separate bill. They are pushing the state bailout plan, calling it a public sector jobs program. The only worse part of the bill was the idea to subsidize unemployment to create jobs.  

Let’s be honest here, the point of money for public sector employees is not a jobs program; instead, it is a way to bail out states that refuse to confront the source of their budget problems. The plan is to give money to public sector unions so they can fund Democrats' campaigns just as they did with the first stimulus in 2009 and that “Cash for Democrats” plan passed in August of 2010.

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I don't think a majority of the Democrats in the Senate are dumb enough to believe this is a good plan for jobs, but they all know it would be good for their campaign funds. The new bailout bill now proposed is designed to prevent cutbacks to Democrat supporters, which is hardly a proper role for the federal government.

In addition, any rational entity providing money for a bailout fund would demand fixes to eliminate or reduce the need for future bailouts. For example, at a minimum, states should be required to limit collective bargaining at least as much as we have in Wisconsin, to qualify for any bailouts. Given the budget issues the federal government faces, it is ridiculous to suggest they bail out states.

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Scott Walker has shown how states like Illinois and California can resolve their budget issues without the layoffs we have seen in states like Michigan and New York. Of course that is the point, if the corrupt system of public sector unions are dealt with in a responsible way, like Wisconsin has done, Democrats would lose a lot of money. 

One important point of any stimulus would be to create private sector jobs, despite what Harry Reid and the Democrats think.  Harry Reid stated, “… private sector jobs are doing just fine. It’s the public sector jobs where we’ve lost huge numbers, and that’s what this legislation’s all about.”

The reality is if the government is going to try to stimulate the economy to create jobs, it must be to create private sector jobs. Public sector jobs depend on the private sector to fund them. Taking money from the private sector to prevent states from solving their budget issues will only make things worse. If we want more jobs in the public sector we need a more robust private sector to fund it.

Obama has spent a lot of money stimulating government with almost nothing to show for it. Eventually, the states will have to deal with their issues with or without this bailout and they should follow Scott Walker’s lead.

We do not need another bailout program.  

I assume the point of pushing this as a jobs program is the same reason for the entire jobs bill. Put out a plan so stupid, the GOP will have to act like the adults in the room and vote it down. Then Obama will claim the economy would be fixed if the GOP would just voted for his plan. If that isn't their plan, the Democrats would have tried to build a plan that had hope of creating jobs instead of the same failed ideas from the first stimulus plan. Fortunately, I do not think the American people will be a dumb as Democrats hope.

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