Obama Continues To Sell Out American Workers For Political Gain
The mid-term elections made clear American voters want Washington to better address high unemployment and stagnant wages. Yet, on issues ranging from energy to immigration to trade, President Obama continues to put politics ahead of strengthening American families.
Senator Mary Landrieu (D., LA) is locked in a tight runoff election with Representative Bill Cassidy (R., LA). To improve their chances, both are trying to move a bill through Congress to finally approve the Keystone Pipeline.
The project would bring billions of barrels of western Canadian oil to Gulf ports and refineries and create thousands of high paying jobs, but the president threatens to veto any legislation in deference to the bogus claims of environmentalists that the pipeline would promote fossil fuel use and exacerbate climate change.
Canadian oil is going to get to global markets one way or another—it’s too important to our northern neighbors not to. By denying the safest, most direct route, the oil will get there by rail and other pipeline projects that pose more, not fewer risks.
Even if environmentalists managed to slow development of western Canadian reserves, production would shift to developing countries—where environmental risks are less well managed than in Canada—or in the Middle East—where oil money too often ends up in the hands of terrorists.
Obama appears intent on blocking new jobs in Louisiana and other Gulf States and worsening terrorist threats, simply to sustain support for Democrats among radical environmentalists.
Some 11 million illegal immigrants live and work in America. Many have become critical in construction and other industries—but only by driving down wages and displacing native born Americans with third world competition.
One out of six adult males ages 25 to 54 remain jobless, and many could be offered the dignity of employment if President Obama enforced immigration laws—and required the states to cooperate, for example by requiring proof of citizenship to possess driver’s licenses, enroll children in schools and access to social services.
Centrist GOP leaders in Congress recognize they have little hope of winning back the White House if they ignore the sentiment of Hispanic voters, who frankly want the president and Congress to ignore our immigration laws and end deportations.
Clearly possible is the potential for a bipartisan compromise that finally seals the border, limits the legalization of undocumented workers to the truly worthy cases, and establishes a rational and effective deportation policy.
Instead, the president appears intent on granting legal status to millions of illegal workers through an executive order that unconstitutionally circumvents Congress. That would force centrist leaders in the new GOP-led Congress to forcefully oppose the president, and permit his surrogates in the media to paint the GOP as anti-Hispanic.
That might help the prospects of Democrats in 2016 but at the expense of flaunting the rule of law, selling out millions of unemployed Americans and pounding down the incomes of working families.
The president is paying off his Silicone Valley financial supporters with a trade deal with China that eliminates tariffs on many high technology products. The White House claims it would create 60,000 jobs by opening the Chinese market to about $1 trillion in U.S. exports.
Sadly, that was what we were told about automobiles when the United States agreed to admit China into the WTO. Instead, China threw up administrative barriers that require competitive U.S. and Japanese automakers to produce with local partners in China to sell there, and ultimately transfer critical knowhow to those partners.
Digital technologies are the family jewels of the American economy but President Obama seems intent on giving those away, along with thousands of good paying jobs, to keep Silicone Valley campaign dollars flowing into Democratic coffers.
Anything for political advantage, the American worker be damned.
Peter Morici is an economist and professor at the Smith School of Business, University of Maryland, and widely published columnist. He is the five time winner of the MarketWatch best forecaster ...
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Great read, thanks.
The comments make me want to puke. Americans are unbelievably stupid. What republican, what democrat; they are all the same scum. Banks are going to be betting on your money again coz the 1% love the Wall Street Casino. And what has either party done for jobs? Nothing. Noe will they. They are averting a shut-down only because it's close to x-mass and they want to keep getting their pocket money ($174,000 per year) for doing nothing. Keep bending over stupids!
While I lack your vehemence, I absolutely concur with the spirit of your statements. What you say is absolutely true. But what is the solution? I am at a loss.
Mentioning the solution is one that will get me in the cross-hairs of the CIA, FBI and other government agencies. I am probably already under surveillance for my comments...
Americans are fed up, but there is no way out without sacrifice.
Those who do sacrifice (Snowden) are rewarded by the idiotic American people with expulsion from their homeland. Snowden is a hero and he can't live with his own kind. It's a shame and totally unacceptable.
The author's first sentence truly shows his ignorance of American politics. Americans have given elected officials a mandate of apathy and continued gridlock. 36% or so of American registered voters voted in the last election. To win an election in this election cycle you needed only 18% of the vote. Winning is not a mandate and there probably never will be a mandate of the American people, because they just don't care. In my opinion what the author perceives on immigration, unemployment, trade is BS. Americans like to BS and this only an ongoing discussion of American BS. Just remember you get what you vote for.
Too true
Looks like a lot of the comments come from people living off the tax payers through government hand outs.
I think her point was that you are making an assumption about people here which you couldn't possibly know to be true. It's easy to make offensive comments when hiding behind the anonymity of the internet. You don't even share your photo or name. But I suspect you were simply venting and didn't actually mean to insinuate everyone on this site is on welfare.
That's a ridiculous statement which is completely baseless.
You are probably one of them!
Morici wrote as if Obama created the immigration problem during his watch. Morici wrote as if employers hiring migrant workers is Obama's undoing. Morici feels that creating jobs should be the only reason for running a pipeline. Imagine having to run a country where even a professor has such a naive, infantile assessment of issues. America is being sold out by noisy, intrusive so-called intelligentsia trying to draw readership using above headlines to their pieces of time-wasting puerile ramblings.
all love all smies
happy new year
The midterm election meant stop Illegals from getting amnesty for me. It meant Start Enforcing our immigration laws to me! It meant stop ObamaCare for me! It meant stop the racism this country is falling for by this President and his Cronies to me! Do all this and jobs will become available! It is still against he law to hire illegals, TURN THOSE THAT DO IN TO THE IRS!
Mr. Morici may be an economist but he writes like an ideologue. He has the scapegoat mentality. All that fails is that labels Obama a Muslim and a doubtful born American. Obama (with all the shortcomings) is not at the center of the US woes with its declining jobs. Building pipelines will not assure full-time employment into the future. There is no future in 'job creation'. The era of a 'job economy' is vanishing. Companies no longer cite how successful they are by hailing employment figures (as was common practice in the 20s and 30s)...it is now the reverse. STEM won't alter the course. Pipelines won't alter the course. Nor will eliminating social services swell the employment ranks. Robot and digital technology (along with other innovations that do not produce labor intensive tasks) will increasingly outperform labor. Outperform physically (already in warehouses). Outperform in skills (already in operating rooms and in cockpits). And outperform in services. We nurture 'denial' citing how technology has always created more jobs than it has destroyed. And that is the case...but robot and digital technology are in a different class. A pipeline here, some F-15s there, and more fracking on the landscape won't cut it. Beyond 2050 there will be 40 million robots in the workforce (industry figures). That is well beyond 80 million human equivalents. Eliminating immigrant labor may temporarily ease the matter. There is a wholly transformed economy evolving. It needs to be understood. Dr. Morici misunderstands (and misleads) the public with using Obama as his scapegoat. And in this instance he plays into the hands of those who will pocket profits from a questionable enterprise.
1992, you will need to take a 25% cut in pay in order for our company to be competitive with those that are hiring illegals. This is what I was told 20 years ago while working as a plasterer in Southern California. Funny thing was the very company that told me this was also hiring illegals. It's to bad but that company is no longer in business due to the fact someone turned them in to INS and the IRS. Now we see another fight on our hands with this President telling employers to hire illegals. How will our children be able to find jobs? Do you really think learning Spanish will get you a job over someone that is Hispanic and will do the job for minimum wage even though you went to collage for the same job?
Does the public really expect the Republicans to do better on these issues? Watching them desperately going back and forth between the 2 major bought and paid for political parties is pitiful to watch.
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