The Jobs Through Growth Act

The Republican Study Committee (RSC) has drafted a bill called The Jobs Through Growth Act, H.R. 3400, which is supposed to significantly reduce the federal burden on businesses and encourage business owners to begin hiring again.  The RSC, led by Chairman Jim Jordan, has combined several pieces of legislation that relieve job producers by reducing personal & corporate income taxes, eliminates the death tax (which is essentially double taxation), cuts regulatory bloat by exempting small businesses, addresses energy issues and much more.  This bill would be an immediate boon to the economy by eliminating the government-driven uncertainty that our economy is facing.  (See the details of the bill below the jump.)

Most -- if not all -- of the elements of the bill would have an immediate positive impact on the economy.  The reduction of taxes allows individuals to decide how they would like to spend their money, rather than some incompetent member of the federal government.  Allowing foreign profits to repatriated at a lower rate will encourage investment and spending in the US rather than overseas.  The reductions of red tape could provide the biggest benefits for the economy.  The amount of money spent on complying with government regulations can now be spent on more employees or can be passed along to the consumer reducing prices across the board.  Another way prices could immediately be lowered is with the relief provided by the energy reform portions of the bill, if energy is cheaper, everything can be cheaper.

The only issues with the bill are that the RSC doesn’t go far enough in reducing taxes and there is no reduction of spending implemented into the bill.  If the bill is passed, the tax cuts are going to have to be matched by a cut in spending; otherwise the national debt goes up.  The bill should have addressed this by introducing real spending cuts in areas where the federal government has no place spending our hard-earned dollars.  

Unemployment at 9.1%, 117,000 Jobs Added

A day after the largest single-day drop since the recession ended, the economy got a brief moment of good news with the July jobs numbers. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the official unemployment numbers dropped to 9.1%, thanks in large part to 117,000 new jobs. Also, the May and June job numbers were revised upwards by almost double what the initial figures were for those months. This temporarily sparked a rise in futures this morning before stocks took a tumble earlier today.

The improvements helped industries across the board, with retail and health care jobs reporting the biggest increases, while the government sector shed 37,000 jobs as local, state and federal governments continue to try to get their fiscal houses in order.

However, the numbers are also due to the fact that some of the unemployed have stopped looking for work, which takes them out of the labor force, and thus the count of the "unemployed," which significantly lessens the impact of an otherwise not-depressing jobs report. Still, markets are showing signs of unease, and if yesterday's bloodbath is more than just a bad day, the numbers may not stay positive for much longer. Originally published at www.silverunderground.com.

Think unemployment's shrinking?

Gaming the System

Following the financial shock that hit in 2008, millions were laid off. While many blue collar jobs were lost, there were also many white collar highly paid positions terminated by companies. Whether through mergers or just to balance their budgets, companies got rid of many of their best-paid employees.  Like their blue collar counterparts, what was their first decision? Head to the unemployment office and get a check from the government.

According to the IRS, more than 3000 households that reported over $1 million dollars received unemployment benefits from taxpayers. Of course, since these people paid into the system they are fully within their rights to file for and, should their job loss be claimed as a lay off, collect their benefits despite their current income.

However, this situation clearly shows how programs like unemployment and direct payment welfare (awhile back, MTV followed millionaire rap artist Old Dirty Bastard as he cashed his continued welfare check), can be easily used by those who have no need for them at all -- at taxpayers' expense.