Why are people suddenly arguing that it's not businesses role to create jobs? Robert Reich

[ProSense]

Reich:

Obama’s Deal with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce

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In return, the President said he wants businesses to hire more Americans....

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From the standpoint of the nation as a whole more Americans working may mean even higher profits overall. But publicly-traded companies aren’t in the business of spending money to help other companies. To the contrary, they’re competing with one another to show high quarterly earnings in order to boost their share prices. They’ll “get in the game” and begin to hire large numbers of Americans only when it helps their own bottom lines.

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There’s no secret to creating lots of jobs by reducing the median wage, slashing benefits, compromising health and safety at the workplace, and, effectively, reducing the standard of living of millions of Americans. We’ve been doing it for years.

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The alternative is to create lots of jobs with high disposable incomes.

In the short term, this means expanding the Earned Income Tax Credit wage subsidy right up through the middle class, and cutting income and payroll taxes for everyone earning less than $80,000 a year – making up the lost revenues by raising the ceiling on Social Security payroll taxes and hiking marginal taxes on the rich.

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(emphasis added)

Summary: President Obama gave a speech about business and the social contract, but evidently didn't consider that businesses are in the business of creating jobs (as they have been for the life of this country). They will do it only when they get to exploit workers (not that I don't agree). So the solution is to expand the EITC and cut payroll taxes on everyone earning less than $80,000 while raising the income cap.

That's the solution? That's going to get businesses to create jobs: expanding the EITC and cutting payroll taxes? Really?

Reich ended by stating: "I don’t mean to sound cynical but I doubt it."

Yeah, that's way too cynical.