Where are the jobs? A few suggested solutions.

I see ads daily stating "now hiring", "immediate opening", "help wanted" and the like.  I also see numerous people looking for opportunities - either wanting to change jobs / companies / positions or new college graduates simply looking to get started in life.  And yet . . . many of these job seekers are met only with frustration, not opportunity.  In my humble opinion, many of these advertising open requisitions for headcount are only "interviewing" not "hiring."  An example of this was clearly articulated recently in the Wall Street Journal online news site (See here:  http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304821304577436172660988042.html ).  One of the parties in this article describes the current job market as "looking for the unicorn" and gives as an example:

"a company that drew 25,000 applicants for a standard engineering position only to have the HR department say not one was qualified. One job seeker said "he had been told he was perfect for a given position—except for the fact that his previous job title didn't match that of the vacancy," ."

This is both astounding and perplexing.  A look at the "Fortune 1000" companies shows they are holding more cash on their balance sheets that at any time in history. (See here:  http://finance.fortune.cnn.com/2012/06/06/2-trillion-cash-obamas-fault/ - and it turns out, it is NOT Obama's fault - to the chagrin of my right-wing friends.)  Interest rates on corporate (and for that matter, public) debt are at or near historic lows.  So, why aren't companies  using these cash hoards to hire and expand?

In my opinion, companies are not taking action because there is no public policy to encourage or give incentive to taking action.  So comes the next question . . .

Why has neither political party actually taken any significant action with respect to initiating public policies to put people back to work?  And why do we as citizens keep sending the same people back to Washington, D.C. and to our state capitols?  I know, I know, the Dems blame the G.O.P. and the G.O.P. blames the Democrats.  Both sides sound like 7th graders - "He / she started it!"

You know what?  I really don't give a damn who started it.  I am not concerned with fixing blame.  I am concerned with fixing problems.  What I want is to see action - real action to initiate polices that fix these problems.

Following is a list of simple actions I would like to see politicians of both parties undertake - or explain to the citizens of America why they are opposed to these actions:

1.  Eliminate any tax incentives or tax preference items that encourage businesses to move jobs overseas.  Whether or not this effect was "intentional" when the law was created is a moot point.  The point is, eliminate the effect. (See here: http://www.ehow.com/info_12036692_tax-break-outsourcing.html )

2.  Institute public policies and tax incentives for creating jobs in the United States.  Plainly the simple-minded notion of lowering tax rates (especially on the very rich) has not increased jobs or hiring or reduced income inequality.  It is a failed policy - so let's institute some policies that will work!

3.  Equalize the tax code for individuals and corporations.  According to the "Citizens United" ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court, corporations are people and can spend unlimited sums in political races.  If Corporations are "people" then they should be taxed in a fashion similar to "people".  What I mean here - if you as an individual make a contribution to a political candidate, it is taxable.  But if a corporation makes a contribution, it is an expense and therefore reduces income - so is NOT taxable.  This is not only patently wrong, but unfair.

4.  Re-institute a national draft.  Every citizen in this country has not only the right, but the duty to serve our nation.  This would function not only as a reduction to unemployment, but also as a form of 'nation-building' here at home, breaking down barriers to race, creed, color, economic strata, regions, and any other barriers that tend to separate and stratify us as a people and a nation.  This draft would need to be for all citizens between the ages of 18 and say 35 to pick a number.  Both women and men.  It may or may not be military service, but it must be organized national service and it must include other races, creeds, colors, economic strata and so on - where people live together, work together, get to know one another and hopefully develop relationships that will last throughout their lives.

5.  Institute a 40X tax.  What is a 40X tax?  Look at the history of wage disparity and the Lorenz Curve. (See here:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lorenz_curve )  Currently there are a number of pundits on the right that argue many public policies and taxes are "nothing more than a redistribution of wealth."  In point of fact, I would argue the tax cuts as instituted in 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006 and 2008 - which did nothing to stimulate the economy - served as a redistribution of wealth.  This once again tried - and failed - trickle down economics allowed the wealthy to be somewhat more immune to the financial meltdown virus than the average citizen.  How you ask?  Each tax cut allowed the wealthiest of citizens to retain more of their wealth.  Then, when the financial meltdown occurred - and the subsequent "private" debt was "socialised" - that is, subsidised by money from the public coffers (by a Republican President - at the behest of his Secretary of the Treasury, for those keeping score), the lower income citizen was saddled with a far higher relative percentage of the tax burden to 'bail out' the banks and financial institutions - institutions that ironically have stock most likely to be owned by those that received the majority of the tax break.

So, what does any of that have to do with a 40X tax?  A 40X tax says simply that those making more than 40 times the AVERAGE wage will pay a higher tax on wages that are beyond that 40X figure.  As an example, if the 'Average' income is $ 50,000.00 then the point of impact of a 40X tax would be $ 50,000 X 40 = $2,000,000.  So anyone making over $ 2,000,000 would pay a higher tax rate on everything over that $ 2,000,000 mark.  I don't know about you, but everyone I interact with would be pretty happy to have the opportunity to worry about having to pay a 40X tax - but few would actually be impacted.

Finally, vote out the scoundrels and scallywags standing in the way of enacting - or at least discussing - real and potential solutions.  Those standing in the way should be tried for treason, insurrection, and / or sedition.  They are actively working to damage our country just as much as they would be if they were agents for other nations or powers.  This, in my opinion includes lobbyists - they ARE in fact working for other powers, trying to cut special deals for their special interests at the expense of the citizens as a whole.

Will the enacting of these items result in a more just, fair, and equitable nation?  Well, it couldn't hurt.