Free eBook

A Jobs Plan that Obama Won’t Touch!

"Green Jobs or Political Corruption?""Canada has recovered all the jobs it lost in the 2009 recession and Alberta's oil sands are no small part of that. The province is on track to become the world's second-largest oil producer, after Saudi Arabia, within 10 years. Meanwhile Mr. Obama clings to his subsidies for solar panels and his religious faith in green jobs."

Mary Anastasia O'Grady
The Wall Street Journal
September 12, 2011

I think one of the problems with Obama’s Jobs Plan is that lack of a clear linkage between the $450 billion he wants to pour down another Stimulus Rat hole and the creation of an actual job.

It takes a fair imagination to see how a small temporary payroll tax cut or onetime small business tax credit will lead to a significant uptick in jobs.

The whole infrastructure and “shovel ready” business would be a little more believable if it hadn’t failed miserably in 2009 with Stimulus One.

Then there is the whole Green Economy thing. With the collapse of Obama’s favorite green company black hole – Solyndra, last week, I suspect we won’t be hearing about that that silly idea for a while.

In fact, the only direct jobs Obama wants to save are those of government workers who belong to the unions who he desperately needs to fund his 2012 presidential campaign.

Creating Jobs Isn't That Difficult

Last week I wrote a piece called “Yes Obama, There Are Silver Bullets for Job Creation” that laid out a special treatment for capital gains taxes that would most certainly get the US economy back on a long term growth trajectory, but what about today?

If we want to create private sector jobs immediately, we must focus on producing a product that everyone wants to buy. The good news is that such product exists and the only thing keeping employers from hiring people to deliver it is the onerous regulations of the Obama administration.

Drill Baby Drill

By now, I’m sure you figured out that I’m talking about oil and gas exploration. The US and the world has a near insatiable appetite for energy and it’s a product that we can start producing immediately without waiting for entrepreneurial innovation or government funding.

My opening quote from today’s Wall Street Journal came from a story called “Canada's Oil Sands Are a Jobs Gusher," it highlights how the Canadian government has facilitated a private sector jobs boom by focusing on oil exploration in the Bakken region in Alberta.

O’Grady also wrote:

“Alberta's oil and gas industry supports more than 271,000 direct jobs and hundreds of thousands of indirect jobs in sectors such as construction, manufacturing and financial services. The province has an unemployment rate of 5.6%.
There are also some 960 American companies involved in Alberta energy, supplying equipment and technology, among other things. As an example, Mr. Liepert says, "dozens of Caterpillar tractors, made in Illinois and Michigan and costing $5 million a piece" work the oil sands. He says the region is on track to create more than 400,000 direct American jobs by 2035.”

The North Dakota Miracle

There is more good news, the rich oil fields that the Canadians are tapping do not stop at the border. In fact, the Bakken oil fields extend well into the United States and most of North Dakota.

Coincidentally, my friend professor Mark Perry (School of Economics, University of Michigan Flint) did a piece last night called “North Dakota Oil Production in July is "Off the Charts" It Could Surpass CA By End of Year for No. 3 Spot” that included an absolutely staggering chart:

In fact, just like Canada, the oil boom in North Dakota has lifted the entire state out of Obama’s Great Recession. The New York Times recently reported that the unemployment rate is down to 3.3%, which will well below the very best national rate under Clinton or Bush.

That’s not all, according to the Columbus Republic “North Dakota has hottest job market, happiest residents" and:

North Dakota's economy grew 7.1 percent in 2010, the fastest in the country.
Personal income in North Dakota soared 6.9 percent during the first three months of 2011. No other state saw personal incomes grow faster than 2.6 percent, and in Minnesota it climbed a meager 1.6 percent.
Household debt may be weighing down consumer spending everywhere, but North Dakotans have the second-lowest credit card debt and the smallest percentage of homeowners who are 60 days delinquent on their mortgage.
Home prices continue to fall in most states, but in North Dakota they are rising faster than just about anywhere else, even when so-called distressed sales are included in the calculation, according to the consulting firm CoreLogic. When distressed properties are excluded, home prices in North Dakota climbed 5.6 percent in June from a year earlier.
Budget deficits, slashed services and higher taxes have been the norm across the country during the past three years as states scramble to make up for revenue shortfalls. Not in North Dakota. Investments in education, health and human services, the environment and transportation will boost total state spending by 12.5 percent, or $1.1 billion, during the next biennium.

The Bakken Oil Fields are Immense

You may be saying “that’s fine for North Dakota, but what about the rest of the country?” Although the Bakkens cover much of North Dakota, they actually extend well into the Midwest including Montana and South Dakota.

Even more impressive is the size of Bakkens. According to a report from the US Government, there are between 271 and 503 billion barrels of oil lying in the Bakken oil field (see: US Government EIA).

This eclipses the estimated 260 billion barrels lying under Saudi America and makes the United States the richest oil nation on Earth!

If Obama was serious about creating jobs and American energy independence, he'd be figuring out ways to relocate workers to the Midwest to develop this priceless national resource. Think about all the capital equipment sales that could be created.

This single act would both knock down the unemployment rate and flood the treasury with tax revenue that would close the deficit.

The Obama Energy Policy

Sadly, this is clearly an idea that Obama would never even consider. Not only did Obama say nothing about energy exploration in his Jobs Plan, over the past two years his administration has done everything in its power to kill jobs in this vital US industry:

See: Energy in America: EPA Rules Force Shell to Abandon Oil Drilling Plans

See: The Economic Cost of a Moratorium on Offshore Oil and Gas Exploration to the Gulf Region

See: Obama Coal Crackdown Sends Message to Industry

Meanwhile we learn that Obama’s poster child for Green Energy - Solyndra - has squandered over $500 million in taxpayer dollars.

Although the whole story about this flawed energy investment is still emerging, we do know that:

The FBI has raided the home of the CEO Brian Harrison looking for dirt.
The biggest private investor in Solyndra was a man named George Kaiser who is a major Obama fundraiser.
For reasons that defy all known financial practice, the $588 million dollar investment Obama made in Solyndra was “subordinate” to George Kaiser’s investment, which means that he gets his money back before the US taxpayers.

It’s so good to have a president whose sole focus is jobs in America!

Dave

Quote this article on your site

To create link towards this article on your website,
copy and paste the text below in your page.

Preview :

A Jobs Plan that Obama Won’t Touch!
Monday, 12 September 2011

Who Stole My Career?

Add this page to your favorite Social Bookmarking websites