Statement on tomorrow’s Ohio visit by the President to discuss Jobs by Reid Ribble
Statement on tomorrow’s Ohio visit by the President to discuss Jobs
By Reid Ribble, Candidate for the 8th Congressional District
For Immediate Release
Contact: Kerry Niemcek
Jan 21, 2010
920-257-9746
This is the eve of President Barack Obama’s trip to Lorain County, Ohio to discuss how he and Congress have worked together to create jobs. He and congressional members who supported programs like the federal stimulus bill, need to look the American people in the eye and defend the more than $1 trillion that will saddle the next several generations with debt.
Lorain County has a similar unemployment history as many of our own here in Northeastern Wisconsin; Lorain County, according to an article in the January 5, 2010 Cleveland Plain Dealer, had an unemployment rate of 11.5% last June and a more recent rate of 9.5%. Here in northeastern Wisconsin, November unemployment rates for several counties look very similar: Marinette, 11.1%; Oconto, 9.5%, Oneida, 9.0%; Vilas, 9.9%.
The question we need to ask now is, “How many more federal programs can be passed to ‘create jobs?’”
At the rate this Congress is going, I would argue none.
As a former small business owner, I saw first-hand how many of the federal programs passed in the last year have been stifling to job creation nationwide, and especially in northeastern Wisconsin.
Business owners are reluctant to add jobs when we don’t know how much adding a job will cost: How much will we pay under “cap-and-trade?” How much will the health insurance reform plan cost? How much will the stimulus plan ultimately cost me in increased tax dollars? Until small businesses find out the bottom line of these increased federal programs, they will be reluctant to add jobs.
Our Congressman, Steve Kagen, has supported all of these expansive programs and now says that providing tax credits to businesses to increase payrolls would lead to “a lot of jobs across the country” to the tune of another $28 billion.
With all respect to Dr. Kagen and our president, the only way to create jobs is for the federal government to stop spending our country into deficit and mandating small businesses and taxpayers in our area to pay for it.
- Unemployment Statistics may be found at: http://www.bls.gov/lau/laucntycur14.txt
- Cleveland Plain Dealer article is found at: http://www.cleveland.com/open/index.ssf/2010/01/president_obama_coming_to_lora.html
- Congressman Kagen’s quote on creating “a lot of jobs” is found at: http://www.kagen4congress.com/news/kagen-proposing-job-growth-tax-cut/
