29 Jan 2014 Random Thoughts On SOTU

Read it here this morning.

2. Maybe the Hatch-Burr-Coburn health plan did do some good. I don’t think much of their health care plan for reasons I list here.  But, perhaps by releasing it a day before SOTU, it prevented President Obama from saying the Republicans “don’t have a plan.” Or maybe the President has just gotten tired of saying that. Or maybe he realized he couldn’t say it in a direct way and so said, “We all owe it to the American people to say what we’re for, not just what we’re against.”

3. It’s STIMULUS THE SEQUEL!

Moreover, we can take the money we save from this transition to tax reform to create jobs rebuilding our roads, upgrading our ports, unclogging our commutes — because in today’s global economy, first- class jobs gravitate to first-class infrastructure. We’ll need Congress to protect more than 3 million jobs by finishing transportation and waterways bills this summer. That can happen.

But — but I’ll act on my own to slash bureaucracy and streamline the permitting process for key projects, so we can get more construction workers on the job as fast as possible.

Why?  Because STIMULUS worked out so well the first time!

4. Obama wants to raise the minimum wage.  Here’s a better idea: Let’s let states and cities experiment with lowering the minimum wage.  States and cities would be able to apply for a four or five-year exemption from federal minimum wage laws and could set minimum wages lower than the federal rate or set no minimum wage at all.  Then we can see what happens to employment in those areas, especially among sectors of the economy most impacted by the minimum wage such as minority teenagers. Alas, Obama would never agree to that since he believes that the minimum wage is surefire poverty-prevention device, despite all of the research showing that raising it harms employment.  It will have to wait for another administration.