Obama Failing To Keep Pledge To Focus on Jobs

President Barack Obama's promise to stay "laser focused" on job creation has turned into little more than a sidelong glance. Since making the pledge in his February State of the Union address, the president has returned to a nearly nonstop campaign to pass his unpopular government health care takeover and allowed the task of creating jobs to continue drifting.

The extent of his effort to put Americans back to work is the recently passed $15 billion jobs bill, which provides tax breaks for businesses that hire unemployed workers. Even some of the bill's Democratic supporters acknowledge that it will have little impact on the unemployment rate, which remained at 9.7 percent last month nationally, while dropping slightly in Michigan.

That would give it a lot in common with the $800 billion stimulus package passed a year ago with the promise of keeping unemployment below 8 percent.

Jobs grow best in a climate of certainty and stability. Obama's single-minded drive to pass a health care bill that will likely raise the cost of employing a worker as well as the tax burden on employers has businesses wary of adding to their payroll. Likewise, worry about the effect of climate change regulations on business costs has added to private-sector jitters.

Entrepreneurial investment has dropped $327 billion, or 19 percent, since the recession started and is not rebounding with the nascent economic recovery.

Private investment is essential to employment growth.

Calming the waters would be the best way for Obama to fulfill his laser focus pledge.

We'd like to see him place a hold on any legislation — including health care reform — likely to create a burden on businesses, either through taxes or compliance costs, until unemployment drops to the 6-7 percent range. He also should try to immediately extend the Bush-era tax cuts, some of which have already expired, at least until unemployment falls.

The president should lobby Congress to pass the pending trade pacts with Colombia, South Korea and Panama. This would be an important signal that his administration supports vigorous free trade, which leads to greater exports and more jobs at home.

And he should order all of his departments — especially the Environmental Protection Agency — to examine all regulations and policies for their impact on private-sector employment and make them job friendly. It is particularly important to use caution in crafting regulations for financial institutions to guard against further hampering the flow of credit. Many businesses that want to expand and add workers report they can't get loans to do so.

That's what a laser focused jobs agenda would look like.

Obama should focus on reassuring job creators that he will stay out of their pockets.

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