As Published at TheBlaze.com
By Wayne Allyn Root
Obama is the most anti-business President in U.S. history. The result of his policies has been economic collapse and carnage from coast to coast. As I stated in Time magazine two years ago, “Obama is the great jobs killer. He kills so many jobs, he should be at the top of the FBI’s Most Wanted List.” But even I didn’t realize back then, that the job killing rampage was just getting started.
The good news is that for the very first time, we now have hard evidence that a few jobs were actually created and “saved” by the Obama administration. Obama’s Commerce Secretary John Bryson had not one, but two potential hit and run accidents in California on Saturday. Yes, I said “hit and run.” He caused carnage all over Southern California’s roadways. No one is quite sure what caused this mess. It could have been “medical” (ie seizures), it could have been something else. We of course send our best wishes and prayers to his family.
But the mystery of what happened doesn’t mean we can’t celebrate the one good that came out of it! It took 3 ½ years of the Obama Presidency, but they finally found a surefire way to create jobs. The Commerce Secretary’s adventures in driving surely created a few jobs in the auto repair industry. And the ongoing investigation into Secretary Bryson’s potential “hit and run” certainly “saved” at least 1 or 2 police officer jobs. I’m not sure if he hit a street lamp or two, but if he did, you can add a “save” for a few city public works employees too. Break out the champagne, this is the biggest jobs bonanza of the entire Obama administration!
Soon Obama will add a special category for “jobs created by hit and runs.” And in this case, it’s a direct hit by a member of Obama’s cabinet. This is what you call “the personal touch.” If you can’t steer the economy towards a jobs recovery…grab the steering wheel yourself and make something happen. Whether this was a medical situation, or a “personal issue”…either way, I think the Obama administration has finally hit on something (excuse the pun). It’s like Alexander Graham Bell once said, “I haven’t failed, I just found 10,000 things that haven’t worked yet.” Well this could be Obama’s winner!
Up until Commerce Secretary Bryson went “the extra mile,” Obama’s only previous jobs achievement was “saving” GM and Chrysler, and saving the jobs of government employees. Let’s examine those two dubious achievements. Obama claims he single-handedly “saved” GM and Chrysler. But at what cost? I’m an entrepreneur and CEO. I remember over a decade ago, when I actually saved my company. We were out of money and couldn’t make payroll. I wrote a $100,000 check so my employees would get paid. The business improved and we survived another nine years. During that time my company pumped about $60,000,000 into the U.S. economy. All because I risked my life savings to save the company. That is how you save a business.
But Obama’s version is a bit different. He saved GM and Chrysler by losing over $16 billion (and counting) of taxpayer money. That’s the bare minimum loss. Is that a “save?” I think it’s a “spend.” I call it a big loss. When you ask government to spend $16 billion to “save” a company, how is that a save? You could save any business in the world if you misappropriate enough taxpayer money. But that’s not business, that’s welfare.
And does government have a right to spend taxpayer’s money to pick certain companies to save? Is it constitutional to save only the ones that give you the biggest campaign contributions? After you “save” it, is it legal to hand ownership to your union buddies, while fleecing the secured creditors? Is it legal to save a company that is going broke from over-priced union salaries and pensions, just so you can keep paying those pensions to your most loyal union supporters? Is that what taxpayer money is for?
Let’s compare that to a rich father and son in the same situation. The son over-spends and puts his company into heavy debt. It is days away from closing. So daddy steps in and hands the son $1 million to save the day. The son calls himself a hero and a “successful CEO.” But is that true? If your daddy gives you a million dollars to pay off your debts, do you deserve the credit for pulling out of a death spiral? That’s what Obama did. He spent and lost $16 billion of other people’s money- the American taxpayer- to “save” his pet project. Now he takes credit for saving or creating jobs? Hardly.
And as far as the claim that Obama has saved government employee jobs…well that’s not something to brag about. Once again he has “saved” jobs by stealing from Peter to pay Paul. It requires billions of dollars “redistributed” from the private sector to create or save government jobs. Those jobs don’t make us a dime. But they sure do cost a pretty penny. Every new government job…every new IRS agent…every new bureaucrat…comes with a fat over-priced salary…a $100,000 pension for 30 or more years (after retiring at age 45 or 50)…and free healthcare for life. All paid by you and me.
We’re all for cops and firefighters. But if your city needs 100, you should hire 100. But Obama thinks you hire 500 government employees for a city that needs 100. Replicate that across the country and you have millions of new bills, new spending, new pensions, new debt, new mouths to feed. All provided at taxpayer expense. And you wonder why we’re broke?
When GM or GE needs 100 new employees, they hire 80 and ask each one to do more. They all get market-based salaries and their jobs are not guaranteed for life. There are no pensions (other than what you save for yourself). That’s how you run a business.
But how would Obama and his socialist cabal know that. None of them has ever run a business. They’re too busy handing out OPM- Other People’s Money.
So things aren’t working out so well. The economy is in free fall. Up until now the only industry benefiting from Obama’s economy is printers. They’ve benefitted from record demand for “Going Out of Business” signs. But now Obama has seen the light at the end of the tunnel. Here is his chance “to spread the wealth around.” Desperate measures call for desperate times. Obama has asked his entire cabinet to get inspired by Secretary Bryson. “Let’s all think about out-of-the-box ways to make this economy hum. Bryson’s onto something here. Can we arrange for a 100-car pile up on Interstate 5?”
Wayne Allyn Root is a Capitalist Evangelist and serial entrepreneur. He is a former Libertarian vice presidential nominee. He now serves as Chairman of the Libertarian National Campaign Committee. He is the best-selling author of “The Conscience of a Libertarian: Empowering the Citizen Revolution with God, Guns, Gold & Tax Cuts.” His web site: www.ROOTforAmerica.com
