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Ellen Belcher is the Dayton Daily News opinion pages editor. She writes about state government, education, the environment, higher education and all things Dayton.
Martin Gottlieb is an editorial writer and columnist for the Dayton Daily News opinion pages. He focuses on the political process itself and does such national issues as war, the economy, taxes and Social Security, as well as a hodge-podge of local and state issues.
Scott Elliott is an editorial writer and columnist for the Dayton Daily News opinion pages. He writes about education, city and suburban issues, politics, business, workforce and consumer issues.Home > Blogs > A Matter of Opinion > Archives > 2010 > March > 08 > Entry
Editorial: Voinovich vote right, but jobs bill not the answer
Last month’s basically flat unemployment numbers look like good news to some people who are highly focused on the economy. After all, February’s huge snowfalls peaked in precisely the week when certain stats were being counted.
Tens of thousands of job losses were reported in construction, retail and other realms because people couldn’t get around.
Among the homebound, too, were people who might have been out seeking jobs, which are materializing in some sectors, though in small numbers.
So the flatness of the stats might be covering up some progress.
Meanwhile, some analysts are struck by the numbers about retailing. Most of the big chains have posted increasing sales gains over the past six months, with the February jump being the largest since 2007.
Dean Baker is with the Center for Economic and Policy Research, which has been skeptical of signs of recovery. But he says of the current direction, “It’s strikingly good. It’s much better than it had been looking.”
Still, nobody — but nobody — is expecting any dramatic improvement in the job situation. Profits may return for good; overall economic growth may return. Jobs? Not so much.
As for how things are going so far, flat unemployment rates aren’t the best demonstrations of the problem. They only count how many people say they are looking for jobs. Best, perhaps, to count the actual number of jobs. But, on that score, too, the overall picture is bleak.
Certain sectors are showing slightly more jobs, including manufacturing, which is good for Ohio to see. Remarkably, even the auto industry is a growth area.
But the overall loss of 36,000 jobs in February put the nation more than 136,000 short of where it needs to be just to keep up with a growing population.
So the politicians talk “jobs, jobs, jobs,” even more than usual and, certainly, across party lines.
But whether their declared interest will pay off for the unemployed is doubtful. President Barack Obama has proposed tax breaks for employers who hire unemployed workers. One might think that would win a lot of Republican support, given how often members of that party emphasizes the usefulness of tax breaks for business.
And, yes, there has been some support. Ohio Sen. George Voinovich was among five Republicans who bolted from the party leadership to kill a filibuster against the idea. When the bill itself was voted on, eight more Republicans joined in.
Sen. Orrin Hatch, an early sponsor, said “This is a conservative approach to help put our economy back on track through tax relief, not more government spending.”
But only six Republicans in the House supported that body’s version of the bill (none from southwest Ohio).
There were concerns about the bill increasing the deficit and failing to create jobs. Suddenly, it was Republicans expressing doubts about the usefulness of business tax breaks.
The main provisions of the bill allow employers not to pay payroll taxes on any unemployed workers they hire this year, and to take $1,000 off their federal taxes for any such employee who stays a year.
The cost of the bill is $15 billion, far too little to have a dramatic impact on an economy measured in the trillions. That’s all the more clearly true when you figure that some of the new hiring would presumably happen even without the new incentives.
Most of the people promoting new efforts to spur job growth have used figures of $100 billion and more.
The reluctance of employers to hire — for fear of another economic downturn, given all they went through the last time around — is likely to be very hard to break through.
Permalink | Comments (11) | Post your comment | Categories: Economy, Editorials, Locals in national affairs, Martin Gottlieb, National government
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By Kurt
March 8, 2010 6:48 AM | Link to this
4.8% unemployment rate, 13,200 stock market, a strong dollar, only one trillion in debt, no attacks for seven and a half years, and proud to say the pledge of allegance, President Bush, do you miss him yet folks??
By joe_mamma
March 8, 2010 8:04 AM | Link to this
Hate to break it to you, but companies don’t permanently hire people based off of a temporary tax breaks. Small business especially needs to demonstrate a permanent increase in revenue to hire people. The proposed tax cuts only cover a fraction of the fully loaded cost to hire someone.
By tommyv
March 8, 2010 8:06 AM | Link to this
Martin: You never do get it, do you? You have no concept of market forces. Employers are indeed skeptical of hiring people, and economic conditions are one component of that. However, they are much more concerned about the obtrusive federal government and what they will be forcing business to do once they hire. Will they be forced to pay for health insurance? Will business be strong-armed into a “card check” program, opening up the door to unionization? Will they be subject to cap and trade taxes that raise their energy bills by fifty percent? Will these ballooning deficits threaten our currency and result in higher interest rates? Martin, this is what scares employers today, not so much the fear of another downturn. You just don’t get it, Martin. Just go out and look at that vacant DDN parking lot, then maybe it will make sense!
By scoobydo
March 8, 2010 9:10 AM | Link to this
“President Bush, do you miss him yet folks”, you have got to be kidding. He ended with a jobless rate of in Oct 6.6, Nov 6.8, Dec 7.2, Jan 7.6, ONLY a trillion in debt started with $256 billion surplus, Bush’s nonstop assaults on civil liberties from wiretapping citizens, to using torture, to using military tribunals to try American citizens, $1.3 trillion on tax cuts for the wealthy, World Trade Center fell in terrorist attacks, 2,752 DEAD largest attach on US soil EVER (Obama’s keep us safe for his first 425 days more than Bush could accomplish), wars in Iraq and Afghanistan where at least 869,720 people have been killed, spent trillions on Medicare drug program giving money to the drug companies, cost of wars $968,885,122,583 and counting, Obama is responsible for only a sliver of the deficits. About 7 percent comes from the stimulus bill that Mr. Obama signed in February. Only 3 percent comes from Mr. Obama’s agenda on health care, education, energy and other areas No sane person living in this universe, this reality misses him at all.
By Squirrellygirl
March 8, 2010 9:55 AM | Link to this
Voinovich claims to be a republican, but he’s really a democrat.
By Mike R
March 8, 2010 11:00 AM | Link to this
“Last month’s basically flat unemployment numbers look like good news to some people who are highly focused on the economy.” This maybe a news flash to Martin and Ellen, but it was their guy, Harry Reid, who said, “GOOD NEWS! 36,000 PEOPLE LOST THEIR JOB LAST MONTH!” Anyhow, I’m curious Martin, how many new people does the DDN plan to hire with the new tax incentives? You could hire me—You need somebody to write for the paper that will increase your readership, not shrink it like you have done!
By Mike R
March 8, 2010 11:03 AM | Link to this
“Last month’s basically flat unemployment numbers look like good news to some people who are highly focused on the economy.” This maybe a news flash to Martin and Ellen, but it was their guy, Harry Reid, who said, “GOOD NEWS! 36,000 PEOPLE LOST THEIR JOB LAST MONTH!” Anyhow, I’m curious Martin, how many new people does the DDN plan to hire with the new tax incentives? You could hire me—You need somebody to write for the paper that will increase your readership, not shrink it like you have done!
By Mike R
March 8, 2010 11:04 AM | Link to this
“Last month’s basically flat unemployment numbers look like good news to some people who are highly focused on the economy.” This maybe a news flash to Martin and Ellen, but it was their guy, Harry Reid, who said, “GOOD NEWS! 36,000 PEOPLE LOST THEIR JOB LAST MONTH!” Anyhow, I’m curious Martin, how many new people does the DDN plan to hire with the new tax incentives? You could hire me—You need somebody to write for the paper that will increase your readership, not shrink it like you have done!
By joe_mamma
March 8, 2010 2:55 PM | Link to this
Scoob, Continue on with your partisan rants if you must, but undeniably Obama is doing a fine job bankrupting the nation as well. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100305/apongoco/usbudgetdeficits3 Heck…these numbers even assume the healthcare proposals are budget neutral…but what was the last entitlement that came in under budget?
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