Lampe: Its the Labor Markets Stupid... (Obama announces Jobs Plan after Labor Day)

Prior to the new Jobs Plan President Obama is set to announce after Labor Day, the un- and underemployed people in the United States are asking, 'what have you done for us lately?' With unemployment at over 9%, both Democratic and Republican officials are trying to pitch the failure of the other party.

Let's face it, the Republicans are being hypocritical by slashing social programs and fundraising machines from Democrats (unions) without touching revenues; and Democrats are asking to keep key governmental programs without putting much of a fight to keep revenues (taxes) on the table.

But all this bickering does not solve the issue at hand. Yes, the federal budget will help ease political uncertainty in the markets, but it will not do much to increase employment as dramatically as the public wants. Although the Republicans' minds are in the right place, they are not thorough in their tax cut approach for the high income earners.

Would it not be a fair compromise to replace the high income tax break for a tax break specifically for companies employing people in the United States?

MAKING IT SIMPLE: Remember in school where we learned the basic process of our economy. You had the banks, industries, and the laborers. The bank would loan money to the industries to invest in their businesses. After the business is set up, they would pay employees to run the business. When the employees get paid, they go back to the banks and industries to start the process over again and expand the economy.

The question for our time is this, 'Are we becoming too efficient?' If we are not giving people the opportunity to earn money then spend it in the US Economy, does that mean the economy slows down because goods and services are not being purchased by the consumer powerhouse of Americans?

My three points of what I would ask President Obama to do:
1. Expire the tax cuts to the higher income brakets
2. Reform former tax cuts into a job-creating tax cut
3. Initiate these steps in your new jobs plan


Blog/Article by the Situationalist - Mike Lampe

The American Dream

I was able to experience the Fire Over the Fox in Green Bay to honor our independence day (July 4th). It was an excellent site to show how far we have come as a country. As many of you may know, we consider ourselves the land of the free and home of the brave. We have also become a culture where we scream "AMERICA!" everytime something cool occurs that just happens to be patriotic as well.

After seeing the fireworks, I also started thinking about numerous articles and commentaries about how the United States is on the decline from its world hegemony. Could it be possible? Of course it could, but I think we are far from it. People think that China will take us over in the near future, not realizing that our free trade agreement with them is the only reason why they have as much manufacturing labor market share. Along with the economic downturn, people forget how we became a super power in the first place.

This is the point where I talk about "our founding fathers," the three words passionate conservatives love using. Our ancestors were somewhat social rejects of their respective homeland. They saw going to the New Americas as a chance to live they want to live and become successful. Although the great migration to the United States happened a long time ago, we are continously seeing a reenactment.

As each generation goes by, a group of people from distant lands are getting austricized for living the way they want to live. Think about it! It started with the Europeans (British, Germans, Dutch, Irish, etc.) who immigrated to the States. Currently, you are seeing Latinos,Eastern Europeans, and South East Asians trying to find the same American Dream that Western Europeans saught for in the found years of this country. Due to our involvment with current wars, you will probably see an influx of Middle Eastern immigration.

This refreshment of new cultures and new market opportunities are what makes the United States strive. Along with the new cultures, this country brings in people who knows what it's like not to have the opportunity to succeed. If we limit this constant refreshment, we lose our niche of being the greatest country in the world. I'm not saying we need to have an immigration policy that makes sure our borders are safe, but we cannot have such a strict policy that it denies the American Dream to so many people.

BREAKING NEWS: Recall Elections Over in Wisconsin

It is official! Tonight marks the last of the recall elections in which two out of the six Republicans lost their seats to Democratic Recall candidates. The two Democrats up for a recall election have won both their seats back.

Both sides are declaring victory, with the Republicans stating that the four/six recall wins shows Wisconsin is not as upset about the collective bargaining as the Unions are portraying. The Democrats are declaring victory considering they did win two seats which means there is momentum for Democrats in the 2012 Election Cycle. History was made with State Senator Holperin (D) being the first state senator to have won two recall elections while serving office.

My Analysis: Considering Recall Elections are rarely won by the opposite party challenger, I believe this shows the Democrats (in Wisconsin) have a slight advantage going into the 2012 Election Cycle. However, I believe it will be a very close race. If I had to place my bets on the future elections tonight, I would see more Democrats winning in slight margins.

Of course that would determine on what happens between now or then. There could be a Howard Dean moment or the economy could sink in a double dip recession. However, a recent USA Today/Gall Up Poll suggested that there was a bigger drop in Republican Support vs. their Democratic counterparts. On top of that, Warren Buffett went on Charlie Rose recently discussing how Corporate America is starting to pick up the pace to recover. He describes the economy being hindered by the slowness in the housing market.

Also, New numbers show that Americans in general have been paying off their own debts as well as saving more than previously expected. In 2001, it was reported that Americans in general saved a mere 1% of their income. Last month, the general savings rate for Americans are at 5% of their income. This could suggest a better than expected turnout heading into the holiday season.

Lastly, although I am sure Unions will push forward for a Recall Election for Gov. Scott Walker, I do not believe the Recall Elections the past two weeks show a minimal return on investment for an expensive unusal election cycle.

Until next time,
The Situationalist.