Job Creation 101
In attempting to defend yet another one of her favorite big-government programs, Barbara Boxer yesterday revealed just how little she knows about private-sector job creation.
Boxer "Let Loose A Barrage" Of Claims That The Stimulus Has Created Private-Sector Jobs. "Boxer let loose a barrage when asked about the charge, listing half a dozen stimulus-funded road projects in California that hired private-sector workers. 'The Caldecott Tunnel, Doyle Drive, the 215, the 805, the 405 freeways, the Sacramento airport, those are all private-sector jobs,' Boxer said. 'I don't pit one type of working person against another.'" (Carolyn Lochhead, "U.S. Senate Approves Key State Aid Package," San Francisco Chronicle, 8/5/10)Sounds like someone needs a Jobs 101 refresher (or, perhaps, an introductory course, since Barbara Boxer hasn't held a job outside government in more than three decades).
For the sake of argument, let's just assume Boxer is correct in saying that these stimulus projects have "saved or created" jobs. (This, of course, is a big assumption. But stay with us here.) Jobs "saved or created" through the economic stimulus plan are funded by taxpayer dollars. That means you and I and all of our fellow Americans – not the private sector – are directly paying for these jobs.
So, Senator Boxer, even if the stimulus was creating a job here or there, those are not "all private-sector jobs."
Class dismissed.