Question for the forum: Can the government "create jobs"?

[Truck Fump / h1b]

Reduce the corporate tax rates, or get rid of them completely, for corporations who provide jobs in America. Reduce or eliminate Capital Gains tax, so that people who have the wealth, will use it as venture capital, or expansion and growth. And as much flack as it will catch, we have to do something about collective bargaining in organized labor. This, more than anything, is what is killing us in competing with low-wage Asian nations, and the impetus behind the bulk of outsourcing. While we can't very well start paying union workers 25 cents a day like the typical Asian, we can reel in the massive benefits packages and costs associated with labor, and come up with something reasonable and realistic. From there, we can establish tariffs and surcharges, and help to 'even the field' even more, but until we can get in the same ballpark, we can't really compete or expect to compete with the Asians.

But really it's allowing slave labor from totalitarian nations into the labor pool and lopsided trade policies due to globalization stupidity which are ruining the lives of free individuals all around the globe. And you love it for some odd reason. Why are you an immoral internationalist fascist?

 

[Rune]

But really it's allowing slave labor from totalitarian nations into the labor pool and lopsided trade policies due to globalization stupidity which are ruining the lives of free individuals all around the globe. And you love it for some odd reason. Why are you an immoral internationalist fascist?

He's not really an immoral fascist. He is actualy an idealist who believes his own bullshit.

 

[Dixie - In Memoriam]

But really it's allowing slave labor from totalitarian nations into the labor pool and lopsided trade policies due to globalization stupidity which are ruining the lives of free individuals all around the globe. And you love it for some odd reason. Why are you an immoral internationalist fascist?

Because the alternative is to watch the useless and needless people being slaughtered by their government who can't afford to feed them.

 

[FUCK THE POLICE]

In some instances. Most of the time it just crowds out the private sector and leads to long term reductions in the total number of jobs.

 

[FUCK THE POLICE]

Bfgrn,

I would much rather see what you described (creating FDR-style workfare programs) than what we currently have, which are unconditional unemployment benefits. Just think of everything that could have been accomplished over the last couple years. The 1 trillion dollar stimulus could have employed 7.5 million workers for three years at $45,000 -- a modest salary, but I doubt any hard-working individual who is out of a job would turn it down.

We could've sent 7.5 million people 45k a year. We couldn't have provided them with jobs without extra money to make what they're doing useful. This is why the current approach of building infrastructure and offering tax breaks (half of the stimulus) is better.

 

[Guns Guns Guns]

Does the government have responsiblity for providing an income to people who don't have employment?

 

[Topspin]

how far did you get in school before you dropped out?

 

[Mott the Hoople]

Does the government have responsiblity for providing an income to people who don't have employment?

To a certain basic degree, yes they do or at least it is in the best interest of the ruling political class to do so. Just look at the history of nations who have not provided social safety nets for it's citizenry.

One of the biggest factors that permitted the rise of fascism in Germany was the fact that under the Weimar Republic there did not exist the needed social safety nets for those who were left in abject poverty when the Great Depression hit and run away inflation made the duetchmark worthless.

Even back in ancient times they understood that the masses could have a huge impact on the ruling political class if their basic needs were not being met (food, clothes, shelter, medicine) and had the power of numbers to eliminate whole political classes. That is why Rome had a grain dole for it's poor capite censi citizens as it created political stability that would not have existed had merchents been free to manipulate grain prices they sold to the poor.

So yes, providing social safety nets is an integral part of government as it creates social and political stability which is in the best interest of the ruling poltical class.

 

[Mott the Hoople]

how far did you get in school before you dropped out?

Now be nice to Root Beer Topper!!

 

[Mott the Hoople]

If the private sector is the panacea, WHAT is stopping them from creating jobs?

Exactly. That's what drives me nuts about "The Free Market Is God" crowd. Our Government should be an active partner in our economic prosperity. They have a vital function and role to play in a Capitalist economy.

 

[Damocles]

Cover the short period making stuff (bridges, dams, electrical power plants, roads..)

Then when the economy kicks back in those dudes get jobs that don't have to hold shovels.

 

[Mott the Hoople]

Long answer, and short answer... Short answer: YES. The government can create a certain number of public sector jobs. The problem is, they can't create enough public sector jobs to compensate for the loss of private sector jobs in the same time frame. It is a completely ineffective way to decrease unemployment in America.

Long Answer: NO. The government can't create sufficient jobs, regardless of how much they try. Even during the Great Depression with the WPA programs, we were at 20% unemployment, and the economy didn't start to rebound until measures were taken to free capital for investment and economic growth. The BEST thing the government can do, is get out of the way. Stop impeding capitalism, stop harnessing economic growth, and let the American free enterprise spirit work, as it always will, to bring back jobs and prosperity for all.

Dixie, you're just plain wrong again. The WPA, TVA and other works programs during the great depression were only marginally succesful as they were quite limited in scope and in the money the received though they certainly had a positive affect. It was when the Government started spending vast sums of money on defense in the ramp up to and during WWII that the depression ended. Not because Capital was freed up. Not because the Free Market saved the day. It didn't. The government borrowed vast sums of money from the American people and raised taxes and then spent trillions in defense spending which created millions of jobs and it did so very affectively in partnership with the private sector.

 

[Bfgrn]

Does the government have responsiblity for providing an income to people who don't have employment?

Unemployment Compensation

The Social Security Act of 1935 (Public Law 74-271) created the Federal-State Unemployment Compensation (UC) Program. The program has two main objectives: (1) to provide temporary and partial wage replacement to involuntarily unemployed workers who were recently employed; and (2) to help stabilize the economy during recessions.

 

[Guns Guns Guns]

Is the Social Security Act of 1935 constitutional?

 

[Truck Fump / h1b]

Because the alternative is to watch the useless and needless people being slaughtered by their government who can't afford to feed them.

How'd you get that notion? you're operating on some sort of false dichotomy paradigm that's making you retarded.