With friends like this, the U.S. economy doesn't need any enemies.
President Obama delivered a major speech on the economy from Cleveland Wednesday. He talked about how bad things used to be -- and how great they are now. "Job growth between 2000 and 2008 was slower than it had been in any economic expansion since World War II -- slower than it’s been over the last year," he said.
Being the suspicious type, I decided to check with the Bureau of Labor Statistics -- which reports to the President through the Department of Labor -- to see for myself. I found that there were 5,482,000 net job gains between 2000 and 2008, for an average growth rate of a little less than one half of one percent per month. This growth rate is more than three times more rapid than that of the last year, which was a bit more than one tenth of one percent per month, for net job gains of 229,000.
I don't mean to imply that President Obama doesn't always tell the truth when it comes to the economy. I mean to assert it boldly.
But there was one line in that Cleveland speech that was absolutely true.
"I’ve never believed that government’s role is to create jobs or prosperity," the President said. "I believe it’s the drive and the ingenuity of our entrepreneurs, our small businesses; the skill and dedication of our workers -- that’s made us the wealthiest nation on Earth. I believe it’s the private sector that must be the main engine for our recovery."
Now that’s the truth. Sure, it makes it a little strange that on the government web site Recovery.gov, Obama takes credit for having created exactly 749,779 jobs from April 1 to June 30, thanks to his stimulus bill last year.
And it makes it a bit odd that Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, struggling to win re-election in Nevada, has attacked his opponent Sharon Angle for saying, "I'm not in the business of creating jobs." (I guess Reid will have to start attacking Obama now for having said the same thing.)
So let's take Obama -- and Angle -- at their words. If they both really believe that it's "the drive and the ingenuity of our entrepreneurs, our small businesses" that create jobs, then what should they do? Lord knows we could use a few jobs around here (in case you haven't heard, the unemployment rate is 9.6%).
That's simple. Just follow the economic policy platform of John Galt -- the hero of Ayn Rand's classic ode to capitalism, "Atlas Shrugged." It's just one sentence: "Get the hell out of my way!"
If entrepreneurs and small business create jobs, then just let them do it. Or at least stop making it difficult for them.
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