03.12.09
High Unemployment Levels In CA, MI, Other States
Unemployment ‘is now a national emergency’ – USATODAY.com
The unemployment rate in Michigan was 11.6%, up 4.3 percentage points from a year earlier and the highest for any state, the Labor Department said. The unemployment rates in California, Rhode Island and South Carolina rose in January to top 10%. That was the first time those states had jobless rates in the double digits during this recession, which began in December 2007.
A number of people who still employed are working suchminiscule schedules that they are also, for all practical purposes, unemployed. Twelve hours per week is just enough to buy a couple of video games or rent a few DVDs each month.
I have a suggestion that may help California. Take all public officials statewide who collect $100,000 or more and cut their pay by 80%, using the savings to fund continued employment for lower-paid state and local government employees and grants for small business startups. The Pete Wilson horrendous tax increase during a recession trick is just going to make it worse and longer for Californians–again–the way that namesake governor Pete Wilson’s tax and fee and tuition increase prolonged and deepened that recession. (There was a campaign commercial for Ron Unz that made many Californians aware of just how badly this tactic backfired on us.)
What else? Abandon, at least until after the recession ends, the state carbon reporting and regulation plan. Consolidate state tax collections and funds custodian operations into a single “division of revenue”. Make it a felony for any state official to spend transportation funds (e.g., DMV taxes) for any non-transportation purpose. Kick off a comprehensive evaluation of the effect of state regulations and taxation on smaller businesses, the kind that produce jobs.
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