Thomas off base on economic doom

Cal Thomas’ commentary, “GOP must fight the fudge with real numbers,” is another example of conservative attempts to portray the economy in the worse possible light. It may be the only way they can envision defeating Obama in November.

Thomas rails against the media for not painting a dire picture of unemployment suggesting they are simply trying the make Obama look good, yet the president himself has been cautious about expressing exuberance over the drop in unemployment indicating there is still much work to be done and specifically referencing those who are long-term unemployed and underemployed.

What Thomas and other conservative pundits refuse to acknowledge is the fact that much or our unemployment problem began as early as 2001. Rust belt manufacturers and low-tech companies rapidly eroded in the face of international competition, and American outsourced its unskilled labor needs to China and Third World nations. Despite the Bush tax cuts and a relaxed regulatory environment there was no recovery of those jobs, although the financial sector got filthy rich by lending money.

Making the problem worse is the fact that neither private enterprise nor government has made a sustained commitment to educate and retrain our workforce. Many employers complain bitterly that they cannot find employees with the skills necessary for the high-end manufacturing jobs that are available, and yet Republicans in Congress persist in blocking every job-training and education initiative that is placed before them. Tax and spending cuts are not going to solve this problem.

As a nation, we must retrain, re-educate and reinvent ourselves. That will require that we invest in our future. There is no other road to prosperity.

William S. Hicks

Carpentersville