Hodes = Jobs....Not! - Granite Grok

Hodes = Jobs….Not!

Washington, D.C. – Today, Paul Hodes released the following statement on the announcement that in May, the US economy created 431,000 jobs:

“This month, hundreds of thousands of Americans were able to return to work, earn a paycheck, and provide for their families,” said Hodes.  “But today’s numbers also make it clear that more must be done to encourage the private sector job growth that will put this recession behind us.  As our economy continues to grow, our focus must remain on the Granite Staters who are still looking for work.  We must move forward with job-creating policies that give our small businesses the confidence to expand, hire, and create a stronger New Hampshire economy.”

What Mr. Hodes alludes to but does not dare say, is that 95% of those 431,000 jobs were temporary census jobs.  In reality, almost no jobs were added.  So when he says more must be done to encourage private sector job growth what he means is we’re still at 10% unemployment.  What he’s also saying, but not revealing, is the forty or so press releases he’s issued since January of 2009 that mention creating jobs.  You know… jobs.  The good kind.  With fair wages for American families.  Fat jobs, skinny jobs, jobs that climb on rocks.  Jobs! In fact, you’d be hard pressed to find a statement from Hodes in the past 16 months that does not have the word “jobs” in it.

How about a quick trip through the not so way-back machine?

We start of course with…

1/28/09 Stimulus?

This legislation creates millions of jobs.

2/13/09 Stimulus again

"Today the House took decisive action to pass this important piece of legislation to create thousands of jobs for New Hampshire.

 2/17/09 Stimulus yet again

"Today, President Obama signed into law his historic plan to create and save 3.5 million jobs and start to get the American economy back on track," Congressman Paul Hodes said. 

2/23/09 jobs summit

"We face one of the most perilous economic crises in American history. We need to take swift action to save millions of jobs and to rebuild our economy for the 21st century. But, we also cannot continue to run up the nation’s debt without cost to our economy. 

(Then Hodes added trillions to the budget and the deficit)

 2/26/09 

"The President has released his preliminary budget. I look forward to working with him and other members of Congress as we make critical decisions to create more jobs;

 There are more..I’m just skipping ahead

4/29/09

It will create jobs and grow our economy with targeted investments and reforms

 

6/26/09 How about Green energy Jobs?

 

And of course Health Care reform will create jobs, weatherization programs will create jobs, and how about Trade?

12/14/09  Renegotiating trade deals will…create jobs.

 

3/4/10 Oops another jobs bill

On top of providing tax breaks for New Hampshire’s small businesses who create middle-class jobs, the proposal will fund billions of dollars in new infrastructure projects by cutting senseless tax handouts for companies who move American jobs overseas 

 

3/20/10 And even more enabling (not to be confused with encouraging)

“..enabling small businesses to create jobs,”

 

3/23/10 Finally, Health Insurance reform will create jobs

Hodes said, “Insurance reform will help New Hampshire’s small businesses create jobs for middle class families.

And we’re back to May 2010 and Hodes is, well, Hodes.  The US Census added anywhere from 390,000 to 411,000 temp jobs but of course these are all sucking resources out of what Mr. Hodes—ever the keen economic observer—reminds us is the need to encourage private sector job growth. 

But after all that enabling and creating we are still hovering near 10% unemployment.   We have 291,000 more people who have stopped looking for work than we had 12 months ago.  The same numbers of people (2.2 million) are underemployed or marginally attached to the workforce as there were 12 months ago.  Most job gains in the few emerging sectors like construction have dropped off.  Which means the trillions of dollars Hodes has spent on programs and budgets, and transforming the entire liberal agenda into a defacto jobs program, has cost us jobs.

Hodes and the democrats did what democrats do.  They created or saved government jobs.  They inflated a government jobs bubble with debt and deficit spending that makes private sector job creation near impossible to sustain.   Near impossible because each government job needs a busload of taxpayers to support it. But with less resources to do it, and the lingering burden of more taxes and regulation, none of those ‘small businesses, are going to add jobs unless they’ve managed to do so despite the work of Paul Hodes.   

Last month the democrats added 400,000 more leeches to the body of the private sector.  So the government jobs bubble is just getting bigger.  So fewer real jobs are on the horizon because until that bubble bursts and we find parity at the state and local level with what the under and unemployed public can bear, there will be no new jobs in the private sector, and if they are, they will be fleeting. 

Hodes has not created anything but debt and deficit, and a future promise of stagnation and as long as he’s in Washington we can expect more of the same.

Cross Posted at NH Insider

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