The August jobs report was disappointing, just like Joe Biden himself. Job growth fell by more than half and was a mere one-third of expectations. This was in part due to COVID concerns but also our current “leadership’s” ineptitude. Some people may even call this an accomplishment, that “people” is Joe Biden and his regime.
The main issue is that we don’t have enough adults in the workforce. Why is this? Government welfare policies are keeping Americans — millions — from taking jobs.
Here is what we know: There are between 5 million and 6 million unemployed Americans across the country, but also an all-time record of 10.1 million job openings. These include construction, warehousing and retail, manufacturing, trucking, logistics, business services, and other areas. Furthermore, these aren’t “dead end” or even minimum-wage jobs in most cases. For example, truck drivers and open factory jobs can pay between $50,000 and $100,000 per year, with benefits.
But economist Casey Mulligan of the University of Chicago has determined that when including all government benefits, a family of four with two unemployed parents in high welfare-benefit states like New York and Connecticut can receive up to $100,000 in cash, food stamps, and other benefits.
Why should you work? Workers might see a drop in income if they return to work.
Now, it is almost as if Washington is intentionally discouraging work — even though COVID’s worst is behind us. For example, Biden recently recommended that states like New York and New Jersey with high unemployment rates continue to extend bonus unemployment benefits for more months past the Labor Day deadline. Biden also increased the number of food stamps by 25%.
There is another problem facing employers and workers. Inflation is running ahead of wages. Even though wages have risen by 4 percent, the cost to live rose by more than that. As a result of massive government borrowing and the printing of multi-trillions dollars of money to finance the Washington spending spree, workers’ paychecks are shrinking. This means that prices for everything from gas to food to tickets to the airport go up each week.
Following the disappointing news, Joe Biden went on the stump Friday to urge Congress to pass his $4.5 billion debt bill and $2 trillion tax increase. But, unfortunately, this would increase taxes on the working class, fuel inflation, and cost our children trillions more. And despite his promises, most of the bill’s spending has nothing to do with job creation.
Conservatives and many progressive Democrats have advocated for a policy of “make working pay” for years. Instead, we now have a federal and state policy that “makes not working pay.” And that is why small business employers can’t get workers back on the job and will continue to struggle until we have real leadership back in the White House.
