McFeatters: Politicians no help in recovery

It's becoming clear that no politician has a viable plan to get us out of this economic mess.

"People want action," said President Obama at a news conference with South Korea's leader. That was just after the Senate rejected his $447 billion jobs creation plan, which might help create work for one out of seven unemployed Americans at most.

Some Republican senators responded with a jobs plan that would stop government from regulating, change the tax code to give the wealthy more tax breaks and make it illegal for the nation to run a deficit. It was DOA.

The current frontrunner for the GOP presidential nomination (this could change in the next five minutes) is Herman Cain, the former pizza guy who touts his 9-9-9 tax plan. This would increase taxes on families of four earning less than $50,000 a year by anywhere from 27 percent to 40 percent, depending on who's doing the analysis. It also would do nothing to restructure the economy.

Rick Perry, the Texas governor we're told not to count out of the GOP race because his donors have squirreled away $17 million to launch negative attacks on his opponents, refers tediously to Texas or energy or both whenever he is asked about economics. Nobody expects his plan to be overwhelming.

Mitt "There's No Alternative To Me" Romney, the former Massachusetts governor who wants to lower taxes on the rich and get rid of regulations on business, is favored by old-style, establishment Republicans but not by many others. Romney has an economic plan, in which he spells out lowering taxes on the rich and deregulating in 59 ways.

Economists argue that unless and until the housing foreclosure crisis is dealt with, the economy can't and won't recover. With 15 million Americans owing more on their mortgages than their homes are worth, they can't sell and move to find better jobs, they can't refinance (three out of four loan readjustment applications are rejected) and they can't start buying goods and services to help bolster the economy.

There is an emotional depression spreading across the country borne of the belief that nothing substantive will be done about the economy until after the 2012 elections, which would mean no action until sometime in 2013. And even then, it could take years before new-style jobs reappear.

Americans like Obama but worry he is not a strong leader able to forge compromises with Republicans. On the other hand, Republicans show no inclination of wanting to compromise with Obama. Americans say they don't like gridlock, but they elected a Democratic-controlled Senate and a Republican-controlled House.

If Obama is re-elected, there is a possibility both houses will be run by Republicans, leading to more gridlock. Business leaders are worried; they want predictability.

There are ways to get America moving again, but they will take time and political will. And we all know them: Fund infrastructure projects to put more Americans to work rebuilding roads, bridges and water projects. Relax anti-terror regulations to permit the best and brightest foreign students to stay in America after graduation. Encourage technological innovation with tax breaks and grants. Improve education at the preschool, elementary and high school levels. Let Americans whose mortgages are underwater restructure them. Get rid of tax loopholes that permit wealthy Americans to pay a lower rate than the middle class.

Obama vows to push his jobs bill piece by piece, but nobody expects that to do much to help the economy even if enough Republicans sign up. All eyes will be focused on the so-called "super committee" of six Republicans and six Democrats who have to decide on $1.2 trillion worth of spending cuts by Thanksgiving.

Bottom line: Nothing major will happen until 2013, if then. We're on our own. But, hey, we're Americans. We've done it before. We'll do it again. Despite our politicians.

Ann McFeatters writes for Scripps Howard News Service. Email her at


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Comments » 3

Catastrophic_Ocean_Wave writes:

Never ceases to amaze when Obama just two weeks ago approved a jobs bill sending South Korea, Panama and Columbia into the US job marketplace along with India a few weeks before, with jobs for those countries, but yet again, he failed to understand he lives and is President of the United States. He gives jobs away to foreigners, billions or trillions of US dollars away to foreign countries for nothing and if the USA does not have enough money, this guy from Chicago "Hoods", just thinks it is fine to print more! You cannot print money if you have no assets, offsetting income, or collateral to back it up against what you borrowed from foreign countries, either! This administration once proclaimed banks are the backbone and saviour of the USA, then they were the ones to destroy it after the "Bailout Program" of Obama. Now look where everything is - it's now in a worldwide mess. Europe is rejecting anything that has an "Obama" or a "USA" label on it insofar as what Obama and the USA has to offer European countries out of their financial messes, but fortunately, they want no part of the US plan, Geithner, or Obama anymore. Why should they tell France, Germany and other countries how to fix their economy when all the time it was the same (name calling removed) who screwed America's financial standing and economy up and then trying to tell other countries how they should do things? The problem is there is too much emphasis on what Obama and his Democrats do to thwart the Republicans, and what Obama has done just yesterday to bring the racial issues into the campaign, telling Blacks nationwide to "come together". I have to tell 'ya, Obama is wrecking the USA and will surely cause another Civil War here. It already has nearly begun. The USA will never get back to anyplace near what "it once was" until illegals are kicked out and returned home to whence-ever they came from, laws are changed on the DREAM ACT, or the DREAM ACT negated, and priorities are given back to US citizens who pay the taxes and support illegals, and the massive welfare industry. You can begin by CUTTING OFF FOREIGN SPENDING TO COUNTRIES LIKE THE PHILIPPINES, WHERE THEY GET 1.5 BILLION A YEAR AND THEN THEY DEPOSIT TO THEIR SO-CALLED PDAF "PORK BARREL FUND" WHERE POLITICIAN'S JUST POCKET THE MONEY INSTEAD OF PUTTING IT TO INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS. Now the new budget has been made, and the Philippine Supreme Court needs 17 Billion Pesos to operate yearly. Getting way out of hand and this is just ONE example of the stupid, flagrant wasting of US taxpayer money going to corruption countries instead of back to repair the US problems just to appease and placate "Third Worlder's".

taxpayer writes:

It seems that Ann would like Congress to blindly cave into the dictates of Obama (as he demanded in his presentation of the Jobs Bill) and spend more money to "create" jobs. Since Obama cannot create jobs in the private sector, that means the jobs will go into creating more government beauracracy that requires new hires to join the unions. The SEIU is one of the largest government unions. It is also one of the biggest contributors to the democratic party. So if we follow the money, we take more taxes from the so called rich Americans. Hire new workers that must join the SEIU and other unions to get the job, take the dues paid by those workers and send it into the pockets of democratic politicians. So Ann, you are correct, there are NO politicians who are able to help the country recover. They are only interested in their financial success.

StarReader47 writes:

If Senators and the President were elected every two years or via a Parlimentary system there would be no gridlock as all of the dead weight incumbents would have been thrown out in 2010. The best thing for the economy of CA would be an immediate withdrawal of state taxes on retirement age income so that people would stay here instead of moving to NV or AZ. These people have money, need houses and need healthcare all of which would put professionals in Ventura county back to work selling something more valuable than yogurt and baseball caps.


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