LALLY HAS QUESTIONS BUT THEN AGAIN SO DO WE

Congressman John Yarmuth sponsored a job hunting workshop at Crown Plaza Monday. As you know 3rd District Rep. Yarmuth is up for re election and will face Republican challenger Todd Lally in November. Since Yarmuth was here Lally decided to attend as well to simply ask the question we all want to know:

Where are the jobs?

Myself like millions of other Americans are still waiting for those answers. The fact that Yarmuth has to sponsor a job hunting workshop speaks volumes in regards to failed leadership in and of itself. If leadership were doing its job would we still need a job hunting workshop sponsored by a sitting Congressman?

Read this Todd Lally criticizes Rep. John Yarmuth over jobs courier-journal.com The Courier-Journal, Lally said Yarmuth's support of health-care reform and government spending were adding taxes, regulations and uncertainty that have made companies reluctant to hire.

Fair enough he is right. The fact is when I speak with business owners they are unwilling to expand or replace workers because of the uncertainty of Obama and his Dem machine that includes Yarmuth, Pelosi, and Frank. They don't like or trust the health care reform and they believe taxes are too high. Most of that sentiment is the tax paid in Louisville. They would rather downsize.

Lally continues with this quote: "They can put on their best suits ... but the simple truth is there aren't enough jobs to go around," said Lally, who said his plan for job growth including making Louisville a health care and logistical hub. "There's no such thing as a jobless recovery."

I agree with him. To an extent. I mean we already have Humana, not to mention Nationally recognized hospitals in University and Jewish. Health care hub? Check that already exists. Logistical hub? Check that already exists as well. UPS owns Louisville and our rail service is no laughing matter in its own right. Great quotes but the substance is lacking.

For one thing the biggest difference I have with both is that we have had less taxes for a few years now and we have not seen the job growth we were promised and expected. While corporate profits and bonuses were going up exponentially overall we lost more jobs. As a Nation can we cut more taxes overall? Eventually but not now. The same old talking point is wearing thin. This alone discounts Lally's message since no plan has been set forth.

Does this mean Yarmuth is better? Nope. Yarmuth is willing to let the Bush tax cuts expire in January 2011 and we cannot afford to do that either. If you think the economy is bad now just wait. It will get much worse if these cuts are rolled back. We cannot raise taxes and if we allow this to expire that is exactly the net effect. At the same time we cannot simply just arbitrarily lower taxes to business either without some regard to what that will do for our fragile economy.

I often hear the statement that Yarmuth is great and the Repubs are to blame for our problems. In a word? Hogwash.

Democrats have controlled Congress for over 3 years and they bear the brunt of the problems today. We cannot continue to blame Bush when the Dems have had the House and Senate under Bush for his last 2 years and Obama's first 15 months. The problems we face today are bi partisan problems. Period. No one party is safe from the blame game they are equally responsible.

Until we hold both sides accountable for their joint failures we will not move ahead. Call it a stalemate. Until leadership on both sides steps up and accepts equal responsibility and moves to the middle we will be stuck with mediocrity and poor results for years to come.

The Reps started this problem during the Bush years when the Repubs destroyed a surplus by lowering taxes during a good economy when we could have been paying down debt and salvaging our future. Additionally deregulating to a point that we have no responsibility for anything today.

The flat out greed by the Republicans during Bush first term, and just beyond, led to the problems of today. They forgot about fiscal responsibility in their quest to lower taxes and make sure their lobby and coprorate interests buddies benefited.

We simply could not afford to continue down the path of corporate giveaways without a day of reckoning. When the day of reckoning came upon us because of the greed of those like AIG, Halliburton, etc we found we had no easy fix solutions to stimulate the economy.

We had already used unnecessary tax rollbacks to the point that they are insignificant now. We did not regulate or pay attention to the real markets allowing these interests to rob us blind. No wonder many jumped on the Obama "hope and change" mantra. But what did we gain?

What has happened during Obama's tenure? Well not much productively. The bailouts, though created under Bush but with a Democratic controlled Congress, did very little for the average American. The bailouts let banks off the hook for faulty and suspicious accounting practices thus letting them avoid responsibility for their failures at our expense. Are any of us better off than before? Nope in fact many are even worse off now though the corporate bottom line is protected.

Home foreclosures are through the roof despite a short term halt to the slide with the stimulus money rebates for new home buyers. Even today Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are set to suspend mortgage payments for those who have basically lost their jobs because of the BP oil spill. Though no fault of their own, how can we honestly say this is appropriate?

Obama has paid lip service and done absolutely nothing to correct the problems he railed against when campaigning. Instead he has opted to return to a handout mentality that the most basic Democratic elected official has always stood with. Simply put? Throw money around in a few select areas so we regain and keep power and don't worry about the rest.

How many people have been laid off, or lost their jobs through no fault of their own, that are now in foreclosure and will lose their home? Where is their free or suspended mortgage payments at? Though I am appalled at BP's carelessness, and the fact that so many are out of a job accordingly, there are literally thousands more in the same boat for the same basic reasons as those in the Gulf today. Obama is picking and choosing who deserves help most when the situations are identical. Unemployed through no fault of their own.

So what needs to be done? Many things but we must start somewhere. I say continue the Bush tax cuts but do not do any major tax cuts above that right now. We definitely can do some limited targeted tax cuts but noting to fancy or costly for now. Local tax rates need a severe overhaul.

We simply cannot afford the uncertainty of a perceived tax hike which will be the reality if we allow the Bush cuts to expire in 2011. Not to mention business has already adjusted to the Bush cuts and the uncertainty currently rests with the fact they will expire. Eliminate the uncertainty by making permanent the cuts that already exist.

Additionally, Obama and his friend Rep John Yarmuth pushed through a health care plan that most did not want adding even more money to our deficits to pay for something we do not need. This is a monstrosity of an overreach by Government at a time when we quite frankly cannot afford it. Forget about it for now. Yarmuth is lying again when he says that health care reform will create jobs. No way. Yep I said it. More lies and deception.

Force business to be accountable. Quit bailing out anyone who has deceived the public and not done their job. Ford didn't take the bailout and look at them today. They had to adapt and did. Take the billions that are left in the TARP appropriated funds and re appropriate it where it will do the most good. Relax the red tape and put it in small business or even perhaps help the other folks who are in danger of losing their homes through low interest readily available loans through the Government. The money is already sitting there why not take a chance on the American people down on their luck for a change?

Don't pay lip service to the American people follow through. Most of the "programs" put in place to date for these purposes are dismal failures because everyone in Government wants a piece of the pie. Take all the extra hands out of the equation and streamline.

If it is good enough for the Corporations than it should most certainly be good enough for the citizens themselves. Cut the red tape, quit playing politics, and let nature take its course. Most just need a hand up not a handout period.

The day of reckoning for the political machine on both sides is now upon us. We have a choice to continue down the path of destruction that incumbents, and lifelong elected officials have led us, or we can choose a new path by electing new people to leadership positions that may actually have a different view of our problems. New people and new faces bring a new approach in most cases. That is not a bad thing.

For Yarmuth and Lally show us the plans for job creation and quit speaking the same old talking points that we have heard over and over again with no results.

Until we see them the rest is just the same old tired rhetoric we have come to expect.