The progressive/liberal wing of the Democrat Party is a cheeky bunch, but their defense of the Stimulus Bill sets a new standard for hubris. Recently Joe Biden is reporting that “"We continue to show consistent progress on your commitment to create or save 3.5 million jobs by the end of calendar year 2010 ... ”, and so this is the narrative. Further Biden claims, based upon a study by Mark Zandi (McCain’s economist -- how did that work out?), that unemployment would have topped out at 11.5% without the stimulus.
There we have it. For a mere $800+ billion and interest Obama saved the economy from the brink, created (generously) 3.5 million jobs, and kept unemployment from peaking at 11.5%. Now they claim this was their plan all along (am I the only one who recalls the claim last year that the stimulus was needed to keep unemployment below 8%?).
Their talking point now is that the Stimulus was a success because it kept unemployment from peaking at 11.5% and it saved or created 3.5 million jobs.
That Which is Seen and That Which is Not Seen:
This is the title of a pamphlet by Bastiat in which he explains the folly of the reasoning that sees benefit in government programs like the stimulus. The politicians only tell you the good stuff that they are doing. What they neglect to tell you is the cost of their program. The stimulus, as we should know, was borrowed.
Congress simply took out our children’s and grandchildren’s credit cards and charged it. When a child is born in this country they will have to pay Obama’s debt back. If Iraq was Bush’s War then Stimulus is Obama’s Debt.
What is not seen is this debt we owe to the rest of the world and its impact upon the future generations of our nation.
The Lost Jobs Not Seen:
Let us use Biden’s approach to estimate how many jobs were lost -- that which is not seen. According to a September 2010 Census Report, the average worker made $50,000 (roughly) in 2009. Men made a little more than that and women made a little less than that. But for an estimate of the jobs lost by the stimulus $50,000 is good enough.
The stimulus will cost Americans more than $! trillion to repay the loan. That is an astounding number. Anyway, the money borrowed will cost future workers more than $1 trillion to repay.
This money comes right out of the economy and will be sent overseas. It will not create jobs in this country. It is therefore fair to say that future generations of Americans have lost $1 trillion dollars in economic activity -- jobs -- to pay for Obama’s Debt.
Using a calculator (these numbers ARE big) and Biden’s logic there will be at some point in the future 20 million jobs lost. I repeat -- future generations will lose 20 million jobs to create 3.5 million jobs today. The lost jobs -- 16.5 million of them -- are not seen.
Conclusion:
It is immoral to steal from future generations, as Thomas Jefferson argued eloquently in a letter to James Madison. That is exactly what Obama has done with his debt; he has stolen 20 million jobs in the future to “create” 3.5 million jobs now. This Administration's claim of 3.5 million jobs created or saved is suspect.
The lesson for the good citizens of this country is that whenever a politician begins describing the good things that they plan to do, always, always look for that which is not seen. There is a cost to everything that government does and Americans need to become an informed citizenry regarding the cost and benefits of government schemes as this tail of 16-1/2 million stolen jobs tells us.
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