Sound Politics: Seattlenomics

August 25, 2010

Seattlenomics

Times: "Mayor's 'jobs plan' relies on federal grants, city funds"

Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn unveiled a "jobs plan" Tuesday that will use federal grants and reallocated city money to create what he hopes could be as many as 10,000 new jobs.

So. We'll let city bureaucrats who have no experience creating jobs in the private sector pick and choose the entrepreneurs whom they feel can (1) do the best job of creating jobs in the private sector, or (2) be the most attractive recipients of patronage. That's destined to turn out well.

Maybe instead of raising taxes on the private sector so inexperienced bureaucrats can destroy even more wealth in the private sector, we just let private enterprises use their own resources to make their own purchasing, investment and hiring decisions?

Nah.

Posted by Stefan Sharkansky at August 25, 2010 12:56 PM | Email This

Comments

1. Like getting employed at the Puget Sound Partnership and its vendor staff, this will be a great "stimulus" package to the Friends of Norm Dicks club.

Sorry to those who are not in that circle.

Posted by: Andy on August 25, 2010 01:49 PM

2. Leftists always know what's best for all of us. Just ask Obongo, Pelosi and Reid. Obongocare is a classic example. Polls showed 65% of Americans rejected the Dimocrat plan, but they shoved it up our a$$e$ anyway.

Posted by: Saltherring on August 25, 2010 03:22 PM

3. Yeah we should just let the magic invisible hand of the unregulated free market create jobs, that has worked out so well lately.

Posted by: jstar on August 25, 2010 03:36 PM

4. Jstar...where do you see an unregulated free market? Not what we have now....or even before....the gov has been "regulating" for a while. Some...as in very little....is needed, but the market (which is the people who consume, thus making their own decisions) can regulate itself. Gov regulations add complexity and costs...Unions add even more. Remember a union does not care about the consumer..only the worker (I know general breadth, but not in leadership).

So how's the gov doing now with owning business? GM? Not great....especially with the closing of all the dealerships....how about finacial? Not to well there. How's AIG? Not going well and have a really fun Sharia fund....that's great. Nothing descrimative about that Shari fund.

Anyways.....goverment doesn't create jobs...private sector does. How does the gov make money? Off private sectore jobs....not public...remember every public sector job is a loss to the US taxpayer.

Posted by: Dengle on August 25, 2010 05:43 PM

5. BTW - I do believe that we need to have gov jobs, but not all and even if we need them....they cost the US tax payer. No matter what....since we pay them. (this was for bruce, ivon and others that would shit themselves after seeing..not reading and comprehending my last post.)

Posted by: Dengle on August 25, 2010 06:04 PM

6. Jstar @ 3 Have you ever heard of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, the FHA and HUD? Those government agencies have dominated the mortgage industry in the US for some time. How's the housing market doing? The Democrats (especially Barney Frank & Chris Dodd - lots of videos of them defending Fannie & Freddie on YouTube) were & are the biggest supporters, (defenders) of those agencies. Amazing how many of our country's financial woes can be traced to the mortgage meltdown and how much the federal government has influenced the "free market" in an effort to "make housing more affordable." And the Dems didn't even include these some agencies in the financial "reform" bill. Why do you think that is?

Posted by: jimt on August 25, 2010 08:00 PM

7. Mayor McWin to the rescue!!

Posted by: Marmstro on August 25, 2010 09:14 PM

8. I agree with you dk, Republicans were part of the affordable housing debacle as well. Government should get the hell out of housing.

Now only if you could make the leap of understanding and realize all of the other things that government should get the hell out of before the crush of bureaucratic pensions bankrupts us all.

Posted by: Jeff B. on August 26, 2010 09:47 AM

9. It's amazing to me that the Left can't admit to the irony of "government mandated innovation."
.

Posted by: OregonGuy on August 26, 2010 12:05 PM

10. This misguided post of Jstar is exactly the kind of thinking that conservatives need to spend more time fighting.

It isn't that businesses don't want to create jobs or grow, but no one in business wants to take a chance when they don't know which business or industry Obama and his band of maruaders are going to attack next because they have the audacity to make money.

That trillion dollars of stimulous money - as big at that number was - was a small % of the money that businesses and investors are holding on the sidelines right now, and when a more business tolerant administration takes over, we may see it begin to trickle into the economy again.

Government doesn't create jobs. Unions don't create jobs. Only businesses create jobs, and they won't do unless they can make a profit doing it. That's just the facts.

I know that people know that here - but we need to make our case better out in the real world.

Posted by: johnny on August 26, 2010 12:33 PM

11. When the SECA tax kicks in next year along with the higher tax brackets, you can watch the invisible hand pull chips and cards from the table.

Posted by: Andy on August 26, 2010 03:27 PM

12.
fuck those jobs. Send the money back to the socialists. that'll send a message to the bastards.

Posted by: murk on August 26, 2010 09:29 PM

13. Parking would produce more jobs than Seattle's stimulus plans.

I think three (3) free parking spots equals one service/retail job in downtown Seattle.

The number might be 2:1 or 5:1 depending on the type of business.

Consider the corner diner. Five parking spaces for one hour is 2/3 of a waitress and 1/3 of a cook. Etc.

Also, if more cheaper parking was opened up by the stadiums, retail (and sales taxes) would not suffer a much on game days.

Posted by: gregg on August 27, 2010 12:21 AM