New Chamber “Jobs” Agenda Continues War on Unemployed
The Florida Chamber of Commerce has unveiled its new “Jobs Agenda” which of course won’t create any jobs except for lobbyists, like term limited legislators looking for a fat paycheck while the state pension clock ticks. The Florida Chamber was oh-so-proud of itself in passing some of the most grievously damaging, heartless, and unjust laws in Florida history in the last legislative session. Intoxicated by their success, they have set their sights on some familiar targets that were hit pretty squarely last spring.
Their 1st Annual “Where We Stand” Jobs Agenda last year was supposed to create 135,000 new jobs. Oops! Well, as we’ve said before, those Chamber types are always saying “jobs” when they really mean “profits.”
Now here’s one from their 2nd Annual “Where We Stand” Jobs Agenda that seems guaranteed to fail as miserably as the last “jobs” plan.
Take the unemployed … please. These shiftless, lazy slobs still haven’t either gotten hospitality jobs or left the state. The Florida Chamber sent a clear message with its strong support in the last session for making Florida’s already stingy unemployment compensation into a national leader of mean and cheap. Heck, if they can’t buy bread, let them eat cake, as someone with an undiagnosed neck problem famously intoned.
However, the Florida Chamber isn’t happy yet. Businesses still have to pay a pittance – $72.10 – per year per employee for unemployment compensation. That’s obviously wrong in the Chamber’s view. Businesses should be able to lay off workers with total indifference and no financial cost. Skimping on paying into the unemployment compensation trust fund is what’s referenced in their formula and calculation gibberish in the first two bullet points below, taken from the Chamber’s “Where We Stand 2012” agenda (PDF p. 24) for wreaking more havoc in Florida:
- Modify the formula in current law that determines the unemployment compensation trust fund balance recoupment rate and reduces the taxable wage base.
- Encourage examination by the Department of Revenue and legislative committees of the array calculation and its potential impact on Florida’s unemployment compensation tax rate for businesses.
- Encourage additional training and certification through the Florida Ready to Work program.
Why the hand-wringing over oblique formulas and calculations? (This has been discussed on this page before.) Due to the Great Republican Recession, the State of Florida has had to borrow well over $2 billion from the feds to restore its depleted unemployment comp trust fund and cover the costs of having one of the leading unemployment rates in the USA. Businesses are on the hook to pay it all back, and the feds are now charging interest on that borrowing. Yes, the business community is on the hook for the interest, too.
The calculation and formula for paying back all of this is what the Chamber wants to “fix.” Ideally, you and me taxpaying types will get handed a big bill because we are such strong supporters of corporate welfare, having voted for its expansion by electing corporate welfare cheerleaders to Florida’s legislative majority repeatedly since 1996.
For example, last winter, Gov. Scott had wanted to reduce the unemployment comp fee paid by businesses by $630 million over 2 years. Who do you think was supposed to pick up the tab? That’s right, you and me. It didn’t happen last year, but Tallahassee is not a place where bad ideas ever die.
One more thing – bullet 3 – the Florida Chamber wants from those worthless, leeching miscreants who don’t have a job. The Chamber wants (what the Governor wants) the slothful, sinful unemployed to get evaluated and trained for a job that is needed in the marketplace. It sounds like a great idea, doesn’t it?
Let’s consider a depressed industry like construction, and take a dry waller, a mason, a roofer, a flooring installer, a cabinet maker, etc., and get them trained for a job that is in higher demand.
There is much higher demand for jobs in health care, for instance. How hard could it be to turn a roofer into a CNA (certified nursing assistant)? What could go wrong in training a mason in physical therapy? It isn’t like we’re suggesting a cabinet maker be trained as a brain surgeon, but hey – why not?
Well, okay. Maybe there would be a few problems.
Then there are those STEM fields that Gov. Scott favors. The unemployed could take out huge loans for re-training and get token assistance from a decimated Bright Futures (AKA Broken Promises) fund. The newly re-educated and horribly indebted could find something like a “green job” which is about as hard to find as “clean coal.”
Well, one thing is certain with the Chamber; the State of Florida has been coddling these indolent, jobless slackers long enough. It’s time to take care of those who have endured great suffering through these tough economic times, the mega-billion dollar multinational corporations. Shed a tear, dear reader.
And for the good of our corporate masters, pay your taxes.
