ÿþ<html> <head> <meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html;charset=iso-8859-1"> <title>OnlineColumnist®.com: Putin Punishes Georgia</title> <meta name="generator" content="Adobe GoLive 4"> <style type="text/css"> .style2 { font-size: large; font-weight: bold; font-family: Arial; } .style3 { height: 69px; } .MsoNormal {} h1 {margin-bottom:.0001pt; page-break-after:avoid; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; font-weight:normal; text-decoration:underline; text-underline:single; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; } .style4 { font-size: x-large; font-weight: bold; } </style> </head> <body bgcolor="white" vlink="black"> <center> <table cool width="624" height="2719" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" gridx="16" showgridx gridy="16" showgridy> <tr height="79"> <td width="133" height="118" rowspan="2" valign="top" align="left" xpos="0"><a href="aboutdiscobolos.html"><img height="110" width="62" src="images/discobolos.logo.transp.gif" border="0"></a></td> <td width="7" height="118" rowspan="2"></td> <td width="482" height="79" colspan="2" valign="top" align="left" xpos="140"><img height="75" width="450" src="images/banner.GIF"></td> <td width="1" height="118" rowspan="2"></td> <td width="1" height="79"><spacer type="block" width="1" height="79"></td> </tr> <tr height="39"> <td width="182" height="39"></td> <td width="300" height="39" valign="top" align="left" xpos="322"><a href="aboutdiscobolos.html"><img height="14" width="267" src="images/divisionofNEW.GIF" border="0"></a></td> <td width="1" height="39"><spacer type="block" width="1" height="39"></td> </tr> <tr> <td width="624" colspan="6" valign="top" align="left" xpos="0" class="style3"> <table border="0" width="100%" bgcolor="black" cellspacing="0"> <tr> <td> <table border="0" width="100%" bgcolor="#99ffcc" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="4"> <tr> <td align="center"> <div align="left"> <a href="index.html"><font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular" size="2"><strong> HOME</strong></font></a><font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular" size="2"><strong> &#8226; <a href="articlesindex.html">ARTICLES</a> &#8226; <a href="books.html">BOOKS</a> &#8226; <a href="teflon.html"> THE </a><a href="teflon.html">TEFLON</a><a href="teflon.html"> REPORT</a> &#8226; <a href="mailto:letters@onlinecolumnist.com"> REACTIONS</a> &#8226; <a href="aboutdiscobolos.html">ABOUT DISCOBOLOS</a></strong></font></div> </td> </tr> </table> </td> </tr> </table> </td> </tr> <tr height="2"> <td width="133" height="2">&nbsp;</td> <td width="489" height="2576" colspan="3" rowspan="2" align="left" xpos="133" content valign="top" csheight="2573"> <p class="style2">White House Jobs&#39; Report</p> <p><b><font face="Arial,Geneva,Helvetica">by John M. Curtis</font></b><font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular"><b><a href="books.html"><br> </a></b></font><font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular"><b> (310) 204-8700</b></font></p> <p><font size="2" face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular"><i>Copyright Dec. 4, 2009<br>All Rights Reserved. </i></font>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<span class="style4">I</span>n a stunning disconnect, the White House convened a forum on jobs creation, a pivotal issue with unemployment at a 23-year high of 10.2%.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Only two days from committing an additional 30,000-35,000 troops in Afghanistan, President Barack Obama expressed concern about the nation s jobs picture.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>He said he heard some  exciting ideas and proposals to jumpstart dismal employment numbers where the U.S. shed around 9-million jobs since Dec. 2007.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> This has been a tough year, with a lot of uncertainty, said Barack, failing to see the linkage between massive defense spending and a stubborn recession, paralyzing the jobs market.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Brainstorming with the nation s top CEO and business executives, not one participant questioned the feasibility of spending another $75-$100 billion a year on a new Afghan War plan.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Nor did they see costly health care reform as a drag on the economy.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <![if !supportEmptyParas]>&nbsp;<![endif]><span style="mso-tab-count:1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>Barack asked for suggestions what to do to create more jobs but wasn t open to the very real possibility that excessive defense spending kills the economy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Inviting  good hardheaded feedback, Obama doesn t see what Nobel Prize winning New York University Stern School economist Joseph E. Stiglitz saw when he warned former President George W. Bush that the Iraq War was breaking the economy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>If the economy is more fragile today then it was three years ago, more military spending will only wreak more damage.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Former presidential rival Sen. John McCain s (R-Ariz.) chief economic advisor Douglas Holtz-Eakin warned of more damage to the jobs market from deficit spending.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Sounding more like Bush, Obama insisted the U.S. must spend more on Afghanistan or risk a new terrorist attack on the American homeland, something not subject to proof.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <![if !supportEmptyParas]>&nbsp;<![endif]><span style="mso-tab-count:1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>Looking at the big picture, today s ugly recession stems at least, in part, from excessive military spending over the past eight years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Former Soviet Premier Mikhail Gorbachev, speaking Nov. 9 at the 20-year anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, acknowledged that crushing military spending led to the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Obama now continues the same military spending binge that contributed to the eventual collapse of the Soviet Union.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> Whether the U.S. economy can sustain more defense spending without more damage to the jobs picture is anyone s guess.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> There s no question it s difficult out there right now, Obama said.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> Digging ourselves out of the hole we have dug into is not going to be easy, not admitting escalating the Afghan War digs the nation into a deeper hole.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Talk of new stimulus also harms the long-term jobs prospects.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <![if !supportEmptyParas]>&nbsp;<![endif]><span style="mso-tab-count:1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>Obama s economic program hinged on shifting Bush s wartime economy to peace by deescalating he Afghan and Iraq Wars.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>While Iraq looks like it s winding down, more spending on Afghanistan throws into question the president s economic theory.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Without a major shift of government spending from defense to the civilian economy, it s difficult to anticipate future economic growth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke has warned about new asset bubbles, like the one in real estate during the Bush administration.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Instead of reining in banking regulations to limit exposure to the risky stock market, the Fed restricted lending to small businesses and homeowners, paralyzing credit and driving many homeowners and businesses into bankruptcy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Obama s $787 billion Economic Recovery and Investment Act hasn t stemmed the avalanche of mortgage defaults and foreclosures.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <![if !supportEmptyParas]>&nbsp;<![endif]><span style="mso-tab-count:1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>Barack insists that,  we can t go back to the business as usual, despite the fact that the booming real estate market expanded consumer spending and drove up Gross Domestic Product.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> Today s recession is directly related to cash-strapped consumers, squeezed by rising unemployment and loss of real estate values.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Without employment and needed home equity lines, it s difficult for consumers to spend enthusiastically.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Obama wants new ideas but tosses out the old ones that worked in good economic times.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>He must work with his Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner to preserve tried-and-true lending practices for homeowners and small businesses.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>Geithner and Bernanke know you can t create jobs, especially small businesses, unless there s have enough credit, currently unavailable.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> Working with the Small Business Administration and lenders, credit must flow more freely to create jobs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <![if !supportEmptyParas]>&nbsp;<![endif]><span style="mso-tab-count:1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>Challenging his audience to come up with  innovative ideas, Barack missed the golden opportunity to transition the economy from a war to peace.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Giving peace a chance, or at least not escalating military spending, would be just the kind of innovation needed to grow more jobs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>There s nothing wrong with developing a green fuel industry but it must be weighed against current military and domestic spending.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Spending another $100 billion a year on health care at a time of growing budget deficits also doesn t help the jobs picture, especially if it hurts the health insurance industry.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Barack wants the  biggest bang for the buck but doesn t want to apply basic common sense to fixing the economy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>When he decided to spend more on Afghanistan, he decided to spend less on growing jobs and the economy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Spending on two wars hurts the domestic economy and prospects for jobs.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <![if !supportEmptyParas]>&nbsp;<![endif]><bAbout the Author</u><b>John M. Curtis</b> writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news.&nbsp; He's editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of <i><a href="books.html">Dodging The Bullet</a> </i>and <i><a href="books.html"> Operation Charisma</a></i>.</p> </td> <td width="1" height="2576" rowspan="2"></td> <td width="1" height="2"><spacer type="block" width="1" height="2"></td> </tr> <tr height="2574"> <td width="133" height="2574" valign="top" align="left" xpos="0"><img height="172" width="111" src="images/johninframe3.jpg"></td> <td width="1" height="2574"><spacer type="block" width="1" height="2574"></td> </tr> <tr height="1" cntrlrow> <td width="133" height="1"><spacer type="block" width="133" height="1"></td> <td width="7" height="1"><spacer type="block" width="7" height="1"></td> <td width="182" height="1"><spacer type="block" width="182" height="1"></td> <td width="300" height="1"><spacer type="block" width="300" height="1"></td> <td width="1" height="1"><spacer type="block" width="1" height="1"></td> <td width="1" height="1"></td> </tr> </table> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="2" width="597"> <tr> <td><font size="1" face="Arial,Geneva,Helvetica"> <hr noshade size="1"> </font><a href="index.html"><font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular" size="2"><strong> Home</strong></font></a><font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular" size="2"><strong> || <a href="articlesindex.html">Articles</a> || <a href="books.html">Books</a> || <a href="teflon.html">The Teflon Report</a> || <a href="mailto:letters@onlinecolumnist.com"> Reactions</a> || <a href="aboutdiscobolos.html">About Discobolos</a></strong></font> <div align="left"> <p><font size="1" face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular">This site designed, developed and hosted by the experts at</font><font size="2" face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular"> <a href="http://www.cmeonline.net" target="_blank"><img height="30" width="138" src="images/cmelogoANIM.gif" border="0" align="absmiddle"></a></font></p> </div> <p><font size="2" face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular">©1999-2005 <a href="aboutdiscobolos.html"> Discobolos Consulting Services, Inc.</a><br> (310) 204-8300<br> All Rights Reserved. </font></td> </tr> </table> </center> </body> </html>