Pelosi’s Bandage for a Temporary Jobs Solution

While many of us were busy watching and fighting the health care reform bill yesterday, the President’s playmate, Nancy Pelosi, worked the House for an hour to close a deal on the next Democrats Jobs Bill.

I know this is going to leave you throwing your hands up in the air and shaking your heads and even asking questions like, how can they pass another jobs bill when the last one they passed, TARP, has only had a fraction of the money used and has yet to produce many quality long term jobs? Here’s an example of the types of jobs they are so proud to have saved, “Department of Education Video Highlights School Counselor Jobs Saved in Fairfax County, Va.“. Don’t get me wrong, I am grateful there are “SOME” people who have had their jobs saved. My point here is, if their jobs were slated to be cut, then what will happen when the temporary funding runs out? Answer: The positions will be cut! This is why I see these funds as being used as a temporary bandage instead of a real jobs solution.

The plans are for $50 billion for public works projects (can we say union jobs and pad the pockets of your friends, projects?) with a nearly $50 billion being dedicated to financially strapped state and local governments (once again I would bet we could track this money right to the areas providing the most support to Democrats).

What does all this truly mean? It is my belief, and others, that this money, and the remaining unused TARP funds, will be used in an attempt to try and secure wins in 2010 and 2012. Time for a wake up call, people. It’s not too hard to see that a win for them just isn’t going to happen.

The sad fact is that this is only a bandage for the real issues of state and local governments having chosen to create too large of budgets during the good times and their unwillingness to make tough, yet necessary, cuts to those budgets during this economic downturns. This issue isn’t just an issue of Democrats. The old school Republicans carry a lot of blame here as well.

The plan passed with a vote of 217-212 with no Republicans voting for the bill and a shocking 38 Democrats voting against it.

Other stories of interest:

1. Full Steam Ahead for Pelosi Health Care