Obama’s Vigorous Anti-Jobs Campaign

J.D. Foster /

The Obama Administration is visibly perplexed by the failure of the U.S. economy to be duly stimulated. It shouldn’t be. After frittering away political capital and taxpayer dollars on an ineffectual fiscal stimulus, Obama’s policies share the singular characteristic of draining the economy of the most important ingredient needed for a strong recovery – confidence.

Nowhere is this made clearer than in an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) “endangerment” ruling on Monday. This ruling gives the EPA broad authority to impose a massive new regulatory regime on such businesses as electric utilities and transmission and on the broader industrial sector that emits carbon dioxide and five other greenhouse gases.

Add the uncertainty associated with this ruling to the mountain of Obama’s Washington-based uncertainties about tax policy, health care policy, and cap and trade, and add in the dangers of persistent, wildly unsustainable deficit spending and businesses have every reason to be doubtful of the future and leery of taking risks on new investments.

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