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09.07.2010 0

Industry Perspectives on the Summer of Economic Improvement

By Rebekah Rast –

President Obama’s Summer Economic Stimulus Recovery plan has failed.

The national unemployment rate increased to 9.6 percent in August. The private sector is fed up with Obama’s big government tactics.

“The private sector has uniformly rejected Obama’s economic policies,” says Bill Wilson, president of Americans for Limited Government (ALG). “Big government policies have done nothing but crush job creation and hurt the free market.”

ALG collected comments from job-producing organizations in the private sector. Here is what some of them have to say about the increased unemployment rate.

Small Business and Entrepreneurship Council (SBE Council)

SBE Council is one of the most powerful and effective advocacy organizations dedicated to promoting entrepreneurship. The organization works to protect the interests of small businesses.

Raymond Keating, SBE Council’s chief economist, says that after reviewing the most recent unemployment report it clearly shows that “private firms don’t have incentives to go out there and create more jobs.” He went on to say that the “policy climate makes it very difficult for investors, entrepreneurs, and small businesses to jump into the employment pool. All small businesses see right now are increased costs.”

Karen Kerrigan, president and CEO of SBE Council, said in a press release, “There is little to no confidence among small business owners that Washington knows what it is doing, or understands how business functions. The relentless push for higher taxes and intrusive regulation in every sector of our economy is the reason why this recession will be prolonged. On top of a host of misguided policies that are punishing job creation and investment, we have a dangerous spending mentality that threatens U.S. competitiveness and mid- to long-term economic growth. The size and scope of government is becoming a major drag on our economy.”

Institute for Energy Research (IER)

IER is a nonprofit organization that conducts research, analysis on the functions, operations and government regulation of global energy markets. IER believes that energy markets not under the control of big government provide the most efficient and effective solutions to today’s global energy and environmental challenges.

Thomas Pyle, president of IER, spoke with ALG about the recent jobs numbers and how they affect the energy industry. “Energy production in America could fuel the way to an economic recovery,” Pyle says. “The ongoing war on natural gas, nuclear, coal and oil is contributing to the lack of recovery in the President’s recovery summer.”

In a press release by IER, Pyle goes on to say that he calls upon President Obama to overrule his Energy Czar Carol Browner and lift the moratoria on offshore drilling. Not only the official and illegal moratorium on the deepwater, but also the unofficial one being imposed by bureaucratic inaction, which has led to less than ten percent of the normal permits being issued for new wells in the shallow waters of the Gulf of Mexico.

National Mining Association (NMA)

NMA is the voice of the American mining industry. This association works to promote the production and use of coal and mineral resources produced by the U.S. mining industry.

Luke Popovich, spokesman for NMA, says the timing of this jobs report coupled with Labor Day is significant to the mining industry. “Ironically, today happens to be a deadline to file comments against the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) decision to ban top-mountain mining.”

Popovich says the EPA made its decision based on faulty regulations and relied on inaccurate and unreliable data. The EPA has used this data to, “set inappropriate and unlawful water quality standards in violation of the agency’s methodology criteria and numerous federal laws, according to technical analyses prepared for the National Mining Association (NMA),” as stated by a NMA press release.

“On the one hand this Administration says it is concerned about jobs and on the other hand they are determined to ban high-paying jobs in the mining industry,” Popovich says. “These faulty regulations are jeopardizing jobs on Labor Day.”

U.S. Chamber of Commerce

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is the world’s largest business federation. It represents more than three million businesses of all sizes and from all sectors and regions.

The Chamber’s Chief Economist, Dr. Martin Regalia, issued the following statement in a press release about the unemployment rate:

“The employment data released today shows another month of anemic job growth in the private sector and an outright decline in the total number of jobs. Once again, these numbers are confirmation that the economy is not growing sufficiently and it is far past time for the Administration and Congress to reconsider their economic strategy.”

National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB)

NFIB is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization representing small and independent businesses. Its mission is to protect and promote the rights of its members to own, operate and grow a business.

William C. Dunkelberg, chief economist for NFIB, had this to say about the August job numbers in a press release, “In August, most firms did not change employment, but for those that did, 11 percent (up one point from July) increased average employment by 2.3 employees, but 13 percent (down two points) reduced their workforces by an average of 3.5 workers. Job creation still has not crossed the 0 line in the small business sector.

“Overall, the job creation picture is still bleak. Weak sales and uncertainty about the future continue to hold back any commitments to growth, hiring or capital spending. Consumer and business-owner sentiment is in the dumpster, and until this changes, small businesses will remain unwilling to spend or hire.”

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Many of these organizations are world leaders within their respected industries. They are not seeing the economic improvements that need to happen in order for America to move out of this recession.

Small businesses are being crushed with taxes and an unknown tax future, the mining industry is facing continuous regulations from the Administration and the energy sector is being shutdown little by little by moratoriums and other restrictions.

“If Obama and his Administration want America out of this recession then they need to leave these industries alone and let the free market work itself out,” says ALG’s Wilson. “His meddling is prolonging a recession.”

Now that Obama’s Recovery Summer has turned into quite the opposite, maybe he’ll listen to the leaders that function within the free market. If not, maybe next on his agenda will be an Economic Recovery Autumn.

Rebekah Rast is a contributing editor to the Americans for Limited Government (ALG) News Bureau.

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