“However many jobs might be generated by a Keystone pipeline,” he said, “they’re going to be a lot fewer than the jobs that are created by extending the payroll tax cut and extending unemployment insurance.”
I am sure you all know what the Keystone pipeline is, right? The Keystone Pipeline System is a pipeline system to transport synthetic crude oil and diluted bitumen from the Athabasca Oil Sands in northeastern Alberta, Canada to multiple destinations in the United States, which include refineries in Illinois, Cushing oil distribution hub in Oklahoma, and proposed connections to refineries along the Gulf Coast of Texas.
It has been estimated that this pipeline would create around 20,000 jobs immediately and 200,000 to 500,000 jobs as the pipeline is completed.
So who said the quote above?
If you thought Pelosi, you would be wrong. Could it have been Harry Reid…No! Maybe Joe Biden? Wrong again.
This piece of idiocy was spoken by none other than the smartest President this country has ever see…the Doofus-in-Chief, the boy who would be King… Obama.
Now, there are a few stupid things in this short statement that require clarification….and I am going to do just that.
Firstly, let’s look at what Obama said before he made this statement. I will paraphrase this as succinctly as I can ….”I don’t know how many jobs the Keystone pipeline will create….that is something the State Department is looking into but I do know this….”
Ummm…Obama…what the hell are you saying here? You are telling us that you don’t know how many jobs are going to be produced but you know it will be less than those created by unemployment benefits? Are you truly insane or what?
Let’s take a look at job creation for a moment.
We all know that governments do not create jobs, people do. So I guess his argument goes thusly….
- If we extend the payroll cuts, employees will have more money in their pockets to spend and will help keep the economy moving, and
- - if we extend unemployment benefits, the unemployed will have more money to spend to keep the economy moving.
If people like this are spending money, then demand for products and services increases, and the economy grows.
Does anybody else see the total idiocy in this argument?
There is no doubt that the people will spend more if they have more…but what is happening with the government? This is the other side of the equation that nobody seems to pick up on.
The two proposed actions have an effect on government….
- The first (extending the reduced payroll tax rate) has the effect of reducing the revenues the government receives. Since payroll taxes are mostly used to pay for social security, all this does is reduce the amount the government has to meet its social security obligations, meaning it has only three options:-
- 1. It can reduce social security payments
- 2. It can print money to meet those obligations
- 3. It can borrow money to meet those requirements
Since Obama will not reduce benefits, the government will have to increase debt or increase the rate at which dollars are printed to meet the existing liability that now is not covered by payroll taxes.
We know that borrowing or printing money has the ultimate effect of inflating the currency…ie. The dollar becomes worth less, and buying power is reduced.
So this action of extending the payroll tax savings has NO impact on the economy and will not produce a single job. It does not create economic growth…it simply inflates the dollar to make up for the reduced taxation. Unless the government accompanies a reduction in taxes with a reduction in SPENDING of at least the same amount, there is NO impact on the economy. What people forget is that government taxation and spending is a ZERO SUM game. Government CANNOT create economic growth by taking from Peter and giving to Paul!
So, let’s look at extending the unemployment benefits.
Yes, the unemployed will have more money to put into the economy. There will be fewer foreclosures (maybe – I don’t know anyone who can pay their mortgage on unemployment benefits!) and fewer people living on the streets, I guess. This probably has some sort of societal benefit which is difficult to measure.
However, where did the money come from to pay the extended unemployment benefits?
If it came from increased taxes (on the rich), it is no more than redistribution of dollars, which we know is also a zero sum game with NO economic benefit.
If not from taxes, where?
Oh yeah…we have seen this before….borrowing or printing are the only options. And what does that do? It inflates the currency, reduces buying power and does not contribute a dime to economic growth.
And this fool thinks that extending the payroll tax cuts, and extending unemployment benefits will create more jobs than the pipeline?
I don’t know about you, but my rudimentary math skills indicate that if even one job was created by the pipeline, that is still more than the combined net jobs produced by extending the payroll tax cuts and unemployment benefits.
So, one of two things is happening here.
Either Obama is just stupid and can’t do simple math….or he thinks YOU are stupid and can’t do simple math. Of course, there is a third…and that is that he is simply a liar who thinks you can’t do simple math!!
OK, so we know that Obama is a fool….but here is something that will absolutely drive you crazy.
This fool is “laser focused” on creating jobs, right? He has told you this, so it must be true.
So, why does Obama do a comparison between the tax cuts and unemployment extension compared with the pipeline?
Why is there ANY discussion at all about the relative job creation capabilities, and the implication that we must do one or the other?
Why doesn’t this fool do both?
He continually presents the American people with choices that are not necessary…the pipeline has nothing to do with his favored tax and spend policies. If jobs are indeed what he is laser focused on…he would get the pipeline built.
No…something else is going on here.
I have heard it postulated that if he builds the pipeline he will piss off the greenies and lose their support….but if he blocks the payroll, he will piss off the unions and lose their support. The truth is that he cannot afford to lose the support of either of these groups PRIOR to the next election. So…being the political animal that he is, he will refuse to make a decision until he is in his second (and last) term. He then wouldn’t give a toss who he pisses off.
In the meantime, both groups are supporting him and giving him money for his 2012 campaign….a cynical man might think he doesn’t want to lose that under any circumstances.
We are SO fortunate that this fool is laser focused on jobs!
I call BS…
Stupid is as stupid says….and this fool sure is stupid!
…..devereaux
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