By: Carlo Barbieri
The level of negativism in politics – particularly in the race for president – is growing exponentially as the November general election approaches.
As we have said in previous columns, this volume of acrimony coupled with the great potential for misinformation to be spread among the electorate this campaign season will require all voters to be absolutely sure of what they are doing when they cast their ballots for either President Barack Obama or Republican challenger Mitt Romney.
There is certainly much to consider. And among the most pressing topics of concern for all Americans is the unemployment rate in this country. The overall health of this nation and the health of the world’s economy are affected negatively or positively by this figure.
Obama’s campaign literature claims he has created more than four million jobs since taking office in 2008. Yet the nation’s jobless figure has only nudged downward a bit – dropping from just over 10 percent to just over 8 percent.
Under Obama, monthly job gains are considered paltry compared to the numbers needed to pull this nation from its economic quagmire. Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, in a visit to Boca Raton this past week to speak at the Romney Victory Office on NE Fifth Avenue, cited Mr. Obama’s record, not just back to the beginning of his presidency, but to the start of his career. Giuliani said Obama has not registered a single success in job growth or even job creation. So why, he asked, do some people want to re-elect a man with a record of zero success? To make the job market jump, he said, give the task to someone who knows how to grow jobs – Mitt Romney.
This is a perfectly fine line of logic, though it unfortunately falls on some deaf ears. But one thing is certain about Obama. Since 2008, he has not created a job resurgence anywhere near that of Ronald Reagan in the early 1980s, or even John F. Kennedy, who righted a flagging employment market in the 1960s.
Just what is holding the job market down, one might ask. Well, the fifth quarterly small business survey conducted by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce says small business owners’ concerns about the future—particularly on health care and taxes-—are impacting their hiring.
Only one in five small businesses (20 percent) expects to add employees in 2013, according to the poll of 1,225 small business owners conducted by Harris Interactive. The majority of small businesses say they are likely to keep the same number of employees over the next year – meaning there may be little change in overall unemployment figures.
Following the Supreme Court’s decision on the President’s health care law, only 3 percent of small business owners report that the high court’s decision declaring Obama’s fee – or tax— on those who do not purchase a policy under Obamacare will make them more likely to hire new employees. Just 3 percent! On the other hand, 72 percent said the health care law will make it harder for them to hire. When asked about the impact, several respondents said they will scale back their workforce to avoid triggering the employer mandate. (Obamacare requires businesses with 50 or more employees to provide healthcare.)
“Washington’s policies are not meeting our country’s fiscal challenges and are prolonging uncertainty among small businesses,” said Dr. Martin Regalia, the Chamber’s chief economist. “Washington can restore confidence for small businesses in this country by addressing the fiscal cliff, removing regulatory barriers, increasing energy production and starting over on bipartisan health care legislation.”
Some additional findings from the survey:
- 78 percent want government to get out of the way.
- 90 percent are concerned about the impending fiscal cliff and are worried that Congress will fail to take action to prevent it.
- Nearly 60 percent say that expiration of the 2001 and 2003 tax rates and other business provisions, coupled with sequestration, will directly impact their business’ growth.
There is a bright spot in the survey, however. Small businesses’ outlook on their local economy has dramatically improved, with twice as many small business leaders saying the economy is headed in the right direction today compared to one year ago.
Still, with barely 100 days until the election, Mr. Obama has yet to concoct a reasonable or acceptable policy on adding jobs. For a nation that has borne such a horrific economic condition for so long, this is just not acceptable.