CRAIGforCONGRESS

Missouri's 7th District, U.S. House of Representatives

 

 

 

Congressional Issues 2010
DOMESTIC ISSUES
Unemployment



The 112th Congress should:

  • eliminate all government attempts to alleviate unemployment
  • eliminate all government programs that increase unemployment

The major cause of long-term unemployment is government.
There are many government programs that have created multi-generational, chronic unemployment.
   • minimum-wage laws
   • welfare dependency
   • educational malpractice
 
A second major cause of unemployment is technological progress and an increasing standard of living.
When automobiles were invented, there was an "unemployment crisis" among the horse-and-buggy industry.
   • A short-term problem, a long-term benefit.
   • Those who eventually got jobs in another field, enjoyed a higher standard of living
      (or their children did) than they would have if government had attempted to
      protect their jobs in the technologically-backward industry.
 
A third major cause of unemployment is the federal government's redistribution of wealth from job-creating sectors to jobless sectors (Keynesian consumption). In short, taxation.
   •  Corporate income taxes reduce the ability of corporations to create jobs
   •  Personal income taxes prohibit investment in job-creating businesses
   •  Capital gains taxes diminish the productivity of labor by penalizing the
       formation of capital that makes labor more productive
   •  Social Security is just another tax, according to the federal government;
       instead of retirement funds being invested into the stock market,
       Social Security "contributions" are wasted on government boondoggles.
   •  Inflation of the money supply is another way the government redistributes
       wealth from investors and producers to consumers, thus destroying jobs.

America's Free Enterprise Economy has created millions of jobs. Technology has created jobs that didn't exist a century ago. A robust economy means lots of jobs.

Some people lack the skills needed to produce goods and services which are valued by Americans. These people are victims of government schooling, and need to be trained so they have the skills which are helpful to others. They do not need laws which require employers to hire them and pay them even though they can't do anything helpful or produce anything of value.

The Federal Government creates more unemployment than it cures. It cannot be otherwise. Every federal program is an example of socialism, which can never bring economic prosperity as well as capitalism. Every federal program which allegedly creates one job has the hidden long-term effect of putting two people out of work. 

"Liberty Under God" is the cure for unemployment.



next: Prosperity: The Pursuit of Happiness