Continuing Resolution and the Myth of Job Creation

We were promised that these new jobs would spark an economic recovery and keep unemployment within single digits. But neither the Stimulus nor the promised job creation has worked as advertised.

The Obama Administration has not been able to create new jobs in the private sector.

In fact, because of the Continuing Resolution (CR), the government hasn't even been able to create new jobs in the public sector.

Last week, the Bureau of Labor Statistics released the jobless numbers for October, and for the first time in 26 years, unemployment in the United States is at 10.2%.

Regardless of how the jobless numbers are presented, the numbers look terrible.

Sadly, the unemployment numbers aren't going to get better in the near future because the Obama Administration still does not understand how new jobs, that grow the economy, are created in the United States.

The Administration continues, mistakenly, to believe that the government can create private sector jobs. They do not understand that any government job, or government-created job, can only be paid for by increasing taxes or by borrowing. And what is worse, the small businesses, which can, and do, create new jobs are being strangled by the new, regulatory burdens, higher taxes, and lack of credit to finance growth.

The government can't even create new government jobs in the public sector because Executive agencies are restricted from doing so while under a Continuing Resolution (CR). Under a CR, executive agencies are not allowed to increase their budgets or staffing.

Despite what the Administration may be reporting, most of the hiring which has occurred in the past nine months within the Federal government is not the result of Stimulus-related, "new" job creation, but merely the result of filling personnel slots that previously existed, with line item funding that, previously, had been appropriated by Congress.

So, for example, when the Secretaries of DoD or DHS explain to Congress that they intend to hire additional contracting personnel, that's simply not possible under a Continuing Resolution.

But, bold statements such as these mislead Americans about what is happening and provide the fig leaf that personnel solutions for problems, especially contracting problems, will soon be forthcoming. These misguided statements also foster the illusion that the government is creating jobs.

The myth of job creation continues to be just that -- a myth. And, 10.2% unemployment proves the point.

Perhaps the best act that Congress could have performed to assist the growth of the economy would have been to do their job and approve the Federal Budget for 2010, rather than spending its time debating and approving dodgy schemes that foster the illusion of healthcare reform.