President of the United States: Chief Job Placement Official

It’s not change when he offers four more years of Bush economic policies that have failed to create well-paying jobs,…
–Barack Obama, Remarks of Senator Barack Obama: Final Primary Night

I heard that and the first thought that went through my head was, “Since when did the President of the United States become in charge of placing people in well paying jobs?” My second thought was, “Yet another bit of evidence that the President of the United of the States is actually the Nanny-in-Chief, and that us Americans really can’t take care of ourselves anymore.”

Now don’t misunderstand, I’m not saying I like John McCain. Frankly, I can’t stand the man. I think he is a big government Statist who doesn’t like the idea of the Americans doing what they perceive as being in their best interest. After all, when I go to McCain’s website I find this,

John McCain Is Proposing A New “HOME Plan” To Provide Robust, Timely And Targeted Help To Those Hurt By The Housing Crisis. Under his HOME Plan, every deserving American family or homeowner will be afforded the opportunity to trade a burdensome mortgage for a manageable loan that reflects their home’s market value.

In other words, John McCain also wants to the the Nanny-in-Chief too. McCain wants to help people who made unwise decisions during the housing bubble, and also penalize those of us who did not make unwise choices.

The idea of people dealing with the mistakes they’ve made, and having to bear the burdens of unwise choices is totally anathema to these people.

FILED UNDER: 2008 Election, US Politics, , , , , ,
Steve Verdon
About Steve Verdon
Steve has a B.A. in Economics from the University of California, Los Angeles and attended graduate school at The George Washington University, leaving school shortly before staring work on his dissertation when his first child was born. He works in the energy industry and prior to that worked at the Bureau of Labor Statistics in the Division of Price Index and Number Research. He joined the staff at OTB in November 2004.

Comments

  1. Brian J. says:

    I think he means that Bush didn’t increase the size of the unionized civil servant workforce fast enough.

    Didn’t he want to keep certain parts of the new DHS non-union? Those are menial bureaucratic jobs, unlike the sweet, sweet milk from the unionized government teat.

  2. Zelsdorf Ragshaft III says:

    What has been the unemployment rate during most of the Bush years? Obama is a marxist who thinks he and his cohorts have the answer to all of America’s supposed problems. What they do not realize is they are the problem.

  3. just me says:

    I think all parties in general keep sliding further towards the nanny state mentality. They may not see the things the nanny role exactly the same.

    But either way I am willing to bet no matter what happens Obama doesn’t create any jobs, if he is elected unless he expands the size of the government workforce.

  4. duckspeaker says:

    McCain wants to help people…

    “Helping people” clearly goes against everything this “Judeo-Christian nation” stands for.

  5. Michael says:

    Steve,
    Are you saying that the President has no control over economic policies, or that economic policies have no control over employment? I can’t tell which.

  6. Anderson says:

    “Since when did the President of the United States become in charge of placing people in well paying jobs?”

    1933.

    This has been another edition of simple answers to simple questions.

  7. Dantheman says:

    Anderson has it exactly right. If Steve had been around in the 30’s, he’d be among those cursing That Man in the White House as a traitor to his class.

  8. Spoker says:

    Of course the president is responsible for finding everyone jobs!

    He is also responsible for the the day of the week and the month of the year. The time the sun comes up and sets. The global warming now happening on Jupiter. The fact that sometime in the next billion years the sun will go Super Nova. The yellow color of a good ear of corn and the color white in the snow.

    I am really impressed how the quality and depth of blamesmanship and whining is improving.

  9. brainy435 says:

    Funny, I thought Congress ignoring basic economics and legislating what jobs are worth had more of an impact on job creation (or lack thereof) than anything the President ever did.

    And just wait till the next 2 rounds take effect.