FLASHREPORT

BREAKING WINDOWS WON'T HELP CALIFORNIA'S ECONOMY RECOVER

Assemblyman Dan Logue (with an original cartoon from Eric Eisenhammer)

Recently, Sacramento Democrats put forward a package of 27 big government bills that they claim will create more than 140,000 jobs in California.
 
But the Democrat plan will not stimulate private sector job growth whatsoever.  In fact, their focus is just more failed ideas from the past – more government jobs and more out-of-control government spending we cannot afford.
 
At the same time, Democrats want to create so-called green jobs, while ignoring the need to create private-sector jobs in every other industry.  Green jobs should really be called red jobs for the impact they have in bleeding jobs in the rest of the economy.  According to an analysis by a Spanish economist, we lose 2.2 private sector jobs for every 1 green job subsidized by government. 
 
By promoting green jobs and government jobs, Democrats are not really doing anything to stimulate the economy.  Rather, they are taking from taxpayers and job creators with one hand and giving to state government with the other. 
 
The liberal majority’s approach to jobs and the economy reminds me of the classic story of the broken window.  The story goes that a shopkeeper is angry when his son breaks a pane of glass in his store.  Some see the broken window as a good thing, as money will now circulate through the economy as a result of hiring a repairman who would otherwise have had no business. 
 
Others see the broken window as a bad thing, as replacing the window means the shopkeeper is now unable to spend this money on his business or his family.  The suppliers, bookstores and restaurants where the shopkeeper would have spent his money lose out because he had to replace the window.
 
Updating this tale for today, Sacramento Democrats believe economic stimulus is breaking out the windows of the shopkeeper’s store and paying government workers to fix them.  While Democrats claim this is creating jobs and growing the economy, this is really just taking money out of the pockets of taxpayers to subsidize economic activity they favor.
 
In reality, this does nothing to boost the economy.  We haven’t increased business for private sector companies that create jobs and pay taxes.  We haven’t created any new private sector jobs to get people back to work.  Nor have we amassed any new wealth.  All we have done is run up a large bill for new state spending that taxpayers must pay.
 
Had we not broken the windows in the first place, taxpayers would have had more in their pockets to buy goods and services and invest in California’s economy.
 
This is not economic stimulus.  Instead of putting our trust in state government, we should put our faith in the hard work of California’s creative entrepreneurs to turn our economy around.  Government should not be picking winners and losers, but rather should foster an economic climate in California that enables every job creating sector to succeed.
 
Assembly Republicans have proposed a California Jobs First plan that consists of 17 common-sense reforms that will make California more competitive economically and attract more private-sector job creation to our state.  These reforms to lower costs, suspend irrational regulations and change the attitude of government toward businesses should be passed without delay to stimulate our recovery.
 
During these tough times, Democrats and Republicans should be working together to attract good-paying private-sector jobs back to our state, not ensuring job security for government workers.  If government will stop breaking out all of their windows on purpose in the name of economic stimulation, maybe our small businesses can start getting people back to work.
 
Assemblyman Dan Logue, R-Linda, is chair of the Assembly Republican Task Force on Jobs and the Economy.  He represents the 3rd Assembly District in the California Legislature.
 ___________________________________________________________

Assemblyman Dan Logue, R-Linda, represents the 3rd Assembly District in the California Legislature. He is vice-chair of the Assembly Committee on Jobs, Economic Development and the Economy, and Chairman of the Assembly Republican Task Force on Jobs and the Economy.

The cartoon above was penned by Eric Eisenhammer.

You can write to Assemblyman Logue, via the FR, here.
____________________________________________________________

Help get Californians back to work:  suspendab32.org