You don’t bring back jobs by focusing on jobs. That’s what Democrats do, and all that results in make-work nonsense along the lines of the three guys who installed posts. First guy digs, second guy inserts post, third guy fills around it. Next day, second guy is sick. First guy digs, third guy fills...on to the next hole. Lots of jobs, no results.
You bring back jobs by focusing on what stops jobs from occurring. To take two easy examples: Regulations have killed much of the NW logging industry. Refine those regulations and the industry will recover. Ex #2: Regulations prohibit both off-shore drilling and drilling in national parks. Refine those regs and drilling will commence.
A contrary example: Environmentalist want to stop fracking. Pass enough regulations against fracking and the tremendous job surge in North Dakota will reverse itself.
Don’t focus on the jobs themselves, but on the regulatory and legal structure that stymies jobs. Unfortunately, the typical GOP response is to focus on incentives, like TIF districts and subsidies, instead of just addressing the onerous regulations and laws that make the incentives seem reasonable.
Another example: Refine licensing across the board in all professions. Why should a grade school teacher have to endure 5 years of college to teach 2nd grade? Why should a barber have to be licensed? Reduce licensing requirements in hundreds of fields and jobs will blossom.
Another: Taxes, not the amount, but the reporting requirements. Why should hiring one employee (the first one) by an independent contractor triple or quadruple the reporting requirements? Refine the reporting requirements so that it’s easy to hire a helper and helpers will be hired. Right now, the paperwork burden that comes with the first employee is so onerous that they aren’t hired at all, or they’re paid under the table. People can afford the tax burden; it’s the paperwork burden that creates the hiring hurdle.
Nice post.