LET’S SEE SOME REAL STIMULUS

Rep. Greg Canfield, AL House

Eight months ago the US Congress passed the $787 billion stimulus package.  Americans were told that these budget-busting measures were being passed on the basis of the combination of saving existing jobs, creating new jobs and stopping the rise in unemployment.  A quick view of the employment facts for the period following passage of this massive spending bill is sobering.

The US Bureau of Labor Statistics reports the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate climbed from about 7.6% in January 2009 to a staggering 9.8% in September.  Many economists predict we will pass the 10% unemployment mark during the coming months.   What does this climb in the unemployment rate and the loss of jobs it represents, really mean to us?  According to the Institute for Policy Innovation, during the period since passage of the stimulus package, Americans have lost 2.9 million jobs.  At a cost of $787 billion, that represents a cost to taxpayers of $271,379 per lost job.

Is this stimulus approach really worth the cost?  Aren’t we concerned with achieving the goal of keeping people employed, creating new jobs and encouraging the type of real spending that turns our economy in a positive direction?  Clearly, we need to move to proven measures that can work.

Freezing the capital tax gains and dividend rate at 15% and reducing the death tax rate creates a stream of real capital that most small to medium businesses, under current tax laws, cannot use for growing their businesses and employing more people.  Permitting businesses to take an immediate expense deduction for 100% of equipment purchases induces capital expenditures that create jobs.  If Congress really wants to pass legislation that saves jobs and creates new ones, it has the ability to do so.