A Disgraceful Vote

I am outraged.  I am outraged and pissed off and every single person in this country who calls himself an American should feel the same way.  

Why?  

Because yesterday Senate Republicans blocked a vote on the Veterans Job Corps Act of 2012.  What is that you ask?  This was an entirely bipartisan, fully paid for piece of legislation that would have created a $1 billion jobs program designed to lower the high unemployment rate among military veterans by giving grants to federal, state, and local agencies if they were to hire veterans.  But now it's dead at the hands (votes?) of Senate Republicans.  The result of this action is that this bill cannot be brought up for a vote again this year.

What could possibly be wrong with a bill like this that would cause Republicans to block it?  Who in America doesn't feel we have a debt to pay to all vets who have fought this country's wars.  Since the draft was ended and America transitioned to an all-volunteer military less than 1% of the population has been tasked with protecting the remaining 99%.  Honestly, I could write pages but it is easier if you click here to read about it or here to see a video report by Rachel Maddow from her show on 9/19.  Now, there are many people that do not agree with Rachel's politics, but take my word for it;  you NEED to see this.  This story should by the top story on every network and in every newspaper.  All of America needs to know what the Senate Republicans did to our veterans.  

Every Republican - save for 5 that did cross party lines to vote for it - should be ashamed of himself.  If there was any doubt that Senate Republicans are obstructionist this should lay that to rest.

It's disgusting.  It's embarrassing.  It's a disgrace.

 - In a totally hypocritical turn of events; House Speaker John Boehner came out today saying that the presidential campaigns had gotten off the real message that Americans care about.  That message?  "Where are the jobs"?

The veterans know.

     

An Important Vote for Jobs in America

Tomorrow, Thursday, July 18, the Senate will vote on Senate Bill S. 3364.  The name of that bill is the Bring Jobs Home Act.  What this bill proposes is this:

Bring Jobs Home Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to:

(1) grant business taxpayers a tax credit for up to 20% of insourcing expenses incurred for eliminating a business located outside the United States and relocating it within the United States, and

(2) deny a tax deduction for outsourcing expenses incurred in relocating a U.S. business outside the United States. Requires an increase in the taxpayer's employment of full-time employees in the United States in order to claim the tax credit for insourcing expenses.

This is a bill designed to create jobs for Americans.  Stop outsourcing or off shoring - whatever you want to call it - and bring those jobs back to this country.  The government will give your business a 20% tax credit to relocate your business back in the U.S. and you will be denied a tax deduction as a business expense if you instead still choose to outsource.


With over 8% unemployment this sounds like the proverbial no-brainer, right?  This is a JOB CREATION bill.  This is what everyone says this country needs. This is what the Republican party campaigned on in 2010 when they won back the House.  Remember?  It was jobs, jobs, jobs.  


So how many Republicans will cast a yea vote to bring jobs back to America?  If their recent voting record holds true I think we will see the Republicans voting to a man to defeat this bill.  Then, they will again point the finger at President Obama and say nothing is being done to improve the economy.  


How sad for all those Americans that are out of work.  How said that the Republicans just cannot do the right thing for those Americans.  

It's All About Demand

This is the third in a series.
We left off with the real key to job creation.  Demand.  Remember your widget company and the tax cut you received "to create jobs"?  Well, in reality, the only time you are going to hire additional workers - AKA create jobs - is when you need to produce more product.  In your case that would be widgets.  The only time you are going to hire a new widget maker for your business is when DEMAND outpaces PRODUCTION.  Right?  And it can't be for, say, if demand goes up to 105 widget per week.  You can probably cover the extra 5 widgets with a little over-time.  This is still cheaper that hiring someone and having even that additional 5 extra widgets that you have to store every week.  

In fact, you could probably institute some new procedures that, with the extra over-time, will enable you to produce, oh, say, 115 widgets per week.  And it's really not taking much from your bottom line.  Just that little bit of OT.  The real fact of the matter is that you are just NOT going to hire a new widget maker until the demand for your widgets is high enough that you can no longer meet that demand with your current staff.  Then and ONLY then will you hire that new widget maker.


As a business man, hiring new staff is the LAST RESORT.  That's it!  Think about it.  Really think about it.  The "job creators" have had 10 years of tax cuts and I ask you, WHERE ARE THE JOBS?  If tax cuts create jobs we should have every American who wants a job employed today.
But we don't.


I don't know about you, but I just don't see the relationship.  Nope.  Just don't see it.


We, you and me, the American Middle Class, are the real job creators.  Cut OUR taxes.  Put more dollars in OUR pocket and we are going to spend it.  Most of us have to just to survive!  There's a reason why savings is at an all time low - but that's a topic for another day.


Face it.  The Republicans are just plain wrong about this.  They just will not not screw the 1% that is paying their way.  


If you don't believe me.  Check out this guy.