By Adam Bitely — The first and only rule in politics for political office holders is to always do what is in the best interest of winning re-election. Always remember that rule when you hear the multitude of claims that flow continuously from political leaders around the country as they seek your vote for elected office.
Consider the current crop of politicians seeking the presidency in 2012.
Obama, who famously promised that he would create millions of jobs and pull the U.S. out of the recession in 2009 with his “stimulus” program, is one of the biggest peddlers of the “politician that creates jobs myth.” It’s been two years and we all know where his “stimulus” program has taken us.
On the other side of the aisle you have Rick Perry. Perry is widely credited on the right with having the “Midas touch” for creating jobs given the boom that Texas has experienced over recent times. Rick Perry even takes credit for this on his campaign website stating, “No other candidate for President — Republican or Democrat — can match Rick Perry’s record on job creation.” But then, further down the same page, you see the same type of policy offered by Obama in regards to creating jobs: “[Perry] established incentive funds to encourage employers to create thousands of jobs and invest in new technology.”
What are these incentive funds to encourage employers to create thousands of jobs? These are simply subsidies to bribe businesses with taxpayer money to come and set up shop in Texas.
These types of funds aren’t new — and they are widely used by politicians on both sides of the aisle.
In Virginia, Governor Bob McDonnell has made his job one of cutting taxpayer-funded checks to businesses in the name of creating jobs. All companies have to do is sit back and see which state is going to be the highest bidder and then pass Go and collect your check courtesy of that state’s taxpayers.
That isn’t job creation, it is job subsidization.
That is not to claim that every single job that has been created in these states since these two men have been at the helm of each respective government was created out of some sort of taxpayer-funded bribe.
To McDonnell’s and Perry’s credit, they have each maintained a fairly nice environment for doing business in their states as compared to others. But a fair amount of money has changed hands to bring jobs to each state — and it should give people that believe in limited government some concern that such job creation policies are being employed.
Politicians love to be seen as leaders in a crisis. They will do anything within their power to make it appear as if they are making things better. And this is all part of keeping the job. Just think about it, the politicians that are the most successful are the best at staying in front of the camera and being seen as leading people through a situation.
But when it comes to fixing the economy, there is no politician alive that possesses the power to correct the problems within the economy. The only politician that is telling you the truth on their abilities to handle economic problems is the one that says they will remove regulations, sit back, and do nothing.
Unfortunately, there is not a single politician that knows how to “do nothing.”
Adam Bitely is the Editor-in-Chief of NetRightDaily.com. You can follow him on Twitter at @AdamBitely.
