Fool Me Twice

by Aaron Klein

  22. Malanga, “How the ‘Living Wage’ Sneaks Socialism into Cities.

  23. Callahan and Draut, Help Wanted.

  24. Peck and Traub, Worth Working For.

  25. Labor Board v. General Motors Corp. 373 U.S. 734 (1963), Certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, No. 404, Argued April 18, 1963, Decided June 3, 1963, http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/cgi-bin/getcase.pl?court=US&vol=373&invol=734.

  26. Sam Hananel, “Obama May Make ‘Living Wage’ Factor in Contracts,” Associated Press/Washington Post, February 26, 2010, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/26/AR2010022600092.html.

  27. Bruce Western and Jake Rosenfeld, “Unions, Norms, and the Rise in American Wage Inequality,” Harvard University, March, 2011, http://www.wjh.harvard.edu/soc/faculty/western/pdfs/Unions_Norms_and_Wage_Inequality.pdf.

  28. Brittany Mayer-Schulur, “The Resurgence of Labor Law under the Obama Administration,” The Hennepin Lawyer, August 25, 2009, http://hennepin.timberlakepublishing.com/article.asp?article=1352&paper=1&cat=147.

  29. John Wojcik, “Many Workers to Benefit in 2012 from New Obama Rules,” PeoplesWorld.com, January 2, 2012, http://peoplesworld.org/many-workers-to-benefit-in-2012-from-new-obama-rules/.

  30. Jim Abrams, “Unions Look to Obama to Help Advance Their Agenda,” Associated Press, November 10, 2008, http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2008-11-10-3562954163_x.htm.

  31. Callahan and Draut, Help Wanted.

  32. Richard Berman, “Employee Free Choice Act May Backfire on Unions,” Washington Examiner, February 2009, http://washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/2009/02/employee-free-choice-act-may-backfire-unions/104955.

  33. Callahan and Draut, Help Wanted. On June 7, 2012, several members of the Congressional Black Caucus, led by Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-IL), introduced the Catching Up to 1968 Act to raise the minimum wage to $10 an hour.

  34. Linda Gorman, “Minimum Wages,” The Concise Encyclopedia of Economics, 2nd ed., http://www.econlib.org/library/Enc/MinimumWages.html.

  35. Ed Morrissey, “Unemployment Stays at 8.3%, 227K Jobs Added,” Hot Air, March 9, 2012, http://hotair.com/archives/2012/03/09/unemployment-stays-at-8-3-227k-jobs-added/?utm_source=co2hog.

  36. Employment Situation Summary, Bureau of Labor Statistics, released March 9, 2012, http://bls.gov/news.release/empsit.nr0.htm.

  37. Daniel Helper, “Valerie Jarrett: ‘People Who Receive That Unemployment Check Go Out and Spend It and Help Stimulate the Economy,’” Weekly Standard, February 22, 2012, http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/valerie-jarrett-people-who-receive-unemployment-check-go-out-and-spend-it-and-help-stimulate-economy_631716.html?utm_source=co2hog.

  38. Alan S. Binder and Mark Zandi, “Stimulus Worked,” Finance & Development, December 2010, https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/fandd/2010/12/pdf/Blinder.pdf.

  39. Alan S. Binder and Mark Zandi, “How the Great Recession Was Brought to an End,” July 27, 2010, 16, http://www.economy.com/mark-zandi/documents/End-of-Great-Recession.pdf.

  40. Andrew Fieldhouse and Ethan Pollack, “Debt Ceiling Deal Threatens Deep Job Losses and Lower Long-Run Economic Growth,” Economic Policy Institute and The Century Foundation Issue Brief #311, August 4, 2011, 2–3, http://web.epi-data.org/temp727/EPI-TCF_IssueBrief_311.pdf.

  41. “New Developments on Federal Unemployment Extensions,” State of California Employment Development Department, updated January 31, 2012, http://edd.ca.gov/Unemployment/Federal_Unemployment_Insurance_Extensions.htm.

  42. “Not In Labor Force,” Economic Research, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, Updated March 9, 2012, http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/series/LNS15000000.

  43. Doug Ross, “Lies, Damn Lies, and Obama’s Unemployment Numbers,” Doug Ross Journal, February 3, 2012, http://directorblue.blogspot.com/2012/02/lies-damn-lies-and-obamas-unemployment.html.

  44. Tyler Durden, “Implied Unemployment Rate Rises to 11.5%, Spread to Propaganda Number Surges to 30 Year High,” ZeroHedge.com, February 3, 2012, http://www.zerohedge.com/news/implied-unemployment-rate-rises-115-spread-propaganda-number-surges-30-year-high.

  45. Jim Pethokoukis, “Why the Official 8.3 Percent Unemployment Rate Is a Phony Number—and What It Means for Obama’s Reelection,” American Enterprise/American Enterprise Institute, February 3, 2012, http://blog.american.com/2012/02/why-the-official-8-3-percent-unemployment-rate-is-a-phony-number-and-what-it-means-for-obamas-reelection/; HPS Jobs Fact Sheet 2012, Hamilton Place Strategies, January 2012, http://www.hamiltonplacestrategies.com/.

  46. John Crudele, “Rosy Report a Ruse. An 8.3% Jobless Rate?” New York Post, February 3, 2012, http://www.nypost.com/p/news/business/rosy_report_ruse_LsXHVA9epmxGzTBHeOW6WP.

  47. Callahan and Draut, Help Wanted.

  48. Seth Harris, “Work Sharing: A Success Story,” U.S. Department of Labor blog, September 14, 2011, http://social.dol.gov/blog/work-sharing-a-success-story/.

  49. “Work Sharing Should Be Part of the President’s Job Program,” Center for Economic and Policy Research, September 7, 2011, http://www.cepr.net/index.php/press-releases/press-releases/work-sharing-should-be-part-of-the-presidents-job-program.

  50. Profile: Center for Economic and Policy Research, Discover the Networks, http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/groupProfile.asp?grpid=7226.

  51. Dean Baker, Work Sharing: The Quick Route Back to Full Employment, Center for Economic and Policy Research, June 2011, http://www.cepr.net/documents/publications/work-sharing-2011-06.pdf.

  52. International Labor Comparisons, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, last updated February 2, 2012, http://www.bls.gov/ilc/intl_unemployment_rates_monthly.htm#Rchart1.

  53. Dean Baker, “How Larry Summers’ Memo Hobbled Obama’s Stimulus Plan. The Obama Administration’s Economic Blueprint Was Fatally Flawed: It Led to a Weak Stimulus and Premature Deficit Reduction,” The Guardian (UK), February 24, 2012, http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2012/jan/24/larry-summers-memo-hobbled-obamas-stimulus.

  54. Ibid.

  55. Callahan and Draut, Help Wanted.

  56. Ibid.

  57. Profile: Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, SorosFiles.com, updated October 2011, http://sorosfiles.com/soros/2011/10/center-on-budget-and-policy-priorities.html.

  58. Callahan and Draut, Help Wanted.

  59. Ibid.

  60. Profile: Institute for Policy Studies, “Discover the Networks,” http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/groupProfile.asp?grpid=6991.

  61. John Cavanagh and David Korten, “A Main Street Jobs Agenda,” Institute for Policy Studies, November 28, 2011, http://www.ips-dc.org/articles/a_main_street_jobs_agenda.

  62. Ibid.

  63. Ibid.

  64. Ibid.

  65. Callahan and Draut, Help Wanted.

  66. Cavanagh and Korten, “A Main Street Jobs Agenda.

  67. The Making Work Pay Tax Credit, Internal Revenue Service, http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=204447,00.html.

  68. Roberton Williams, “Why Congress Should Bring Back the Making Work Pay Tax Credit,” Christian Science Monitor, http://www.csmonitor.com/Business/Tax-VOX/2011/1206/Why-Congress-should-bring-back-the-Making-Work-Pay-tax-credit.

  69. Adam Weinstein, “‘We Are the 99 Percent’ Creators Revealed,” Mother Jones, October 7, 2011, http://motherjones.com/politics/2011/10/we-are-the-99-percent-creators.

  70. “Wall Street Protests Spread,” CBSNews.com (photo gallery), October 17, 2011, http://www.cbsnews.com/2300-201_162-10009481-50.html.

  71. Act for the 99% introduced December 13, 2011, sponsored by Raul M. Grijalva, http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/D?d112:2:./temp/~bdJicf::|/home/LegislativeData.php|. Andrew Fieldhouse and Rebecca Thiess, “The Restore the American Dream for the 99% Act: An Analysis of Job-Creation Provisions,” Economic Policy Institute, December 13, 2011, http://www.epi.org/publication/restore-american-dream-99-act-analysis-job/. The People’s Budget 2012, Congressional Progressive Caucus, http://grijalva.house.gov/uploads/The_CPC_FY2012_Bud
get.pdf. The CPC’s Act for the 99% shadows its own 2012 People’s Budget 2012.

  72. “Progressive Caucus Restore the American Dream Act Introduction,” YouTube.com, December 13, 2011, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WXXQjWj15ag.

  73. Philip L. Harvey, “Back to Work: A Public Jobs Proposal for Economic Recovery,” Demos, 2011, http://www.demos.org/sites/default/files/publications/Back_To_Work_Demos.pdf.

  74. Mortimer M. Zuckerman, “Why the Jobs Situation Is Worse Than It Looks. We Now Have More Idle Men and Women Than at Any Time Since the Great Depression,” U.S. News & World Report, June 21, 2011, http://www.usnews.com/opinion/mzuckerman/articles/2011/06/20/why-the-jobs-situation-is-worse-than-it-looks.

  75. Jim Pethokoukis, “The Obama Jobs Gap Is Up to 15 Million Missing Jobs,” American Enterprise/American Enterprise Institute, April 2, 2012, http://blog.american.com/2012/04the-obama-jobs-gap-is-up-to-15-million-missing-jobs/.

  76. “20 Ideas for Jobs Creation,” Center for American Progress, January 3, 2012, http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2012/01/20_job_creation_ideas.html; David M. Abromowitz, et al., Meeting the Jobs Challenge, Center for American Progress, December 2, 2009, http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2009/12/jobs_challenge.html.

  77. Caroline Baum, “‘Jobs Created or Saved’ Is White House Fantasy,” Bloomberg News, October 27, 2009, http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aUuHhaDx8Hr8.

  78. Ibid.

  79. “Adviser: High Unemployment for Years,” Politico, September 12, 2009, http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0909/27052.html.

  80. “Leaders Urge Congress to Create Green American Dream,” PR Newswire, February 2, 2009.

  81. Ibid.

  82. David Espo, “AP Sources: Wash. Rep. Inslee to Resign House Seat,” Denver Post, March 10, 2012, http://www.denverpost.com/politics/ci_20146560/ap-sources-wash-rep-inslee-resign-house-seat/.

  83. Jobs21! Good Jobs for the 21st Century. A BlueGreen Alliance Blueprint to Solve the Jobs Crisis, BlueGreen Alliance, August 2011, http://www.bluegreen alliance.org/admin/publications/files/Platform-vFINAL.pdf.

  84. American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009: Green Capacity Building Grants, U.S. Department of Labor, http://www.doleta.gov/pdf/greenjobs.pdf.

  85. Michelle Dunlop, “Green-Job Training Put on Hold after Program Produces Few Jobs. The Program Has Shown Poor Results, and the Agency That Oversees Training Has Stopped Referring People,” The Herald (Everett, WA.), February 2, 2012, http://heraldnet.com/article/20120202/BIZ/702029905/1060/COMM0619. Testimony of Elliott P. Lewis, assistant general for Audit, Office of the Inspector General, U.S. Department of Labor, at a hearing held by the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Subcommittee on Regulatory Affairs, Stimulus Oversight, and Government Spending, The Green Energy Debacle: Where has all the taxpayer money gone? November 2, 2011, http://www.oig.dol.gov/public/reports/oa/2012/18-12-900-03-390.pdf.

  86. Jobs21!

  87. Profile: Blue Green Alliance, “Discover the Networks,” http://www.disco verthenetworks.org/groupProfile.asp?grpid=7570.

  88. Klein and Elliott, The Manchurian President, 222.

  89. John Podesta and Karen Kornbluh, “The Green Bank. Financing the Transition to a Low-Carbon Economy Requires Targeted Financing to Encourage Private-Sector Participation,” Center for American Progress, May 21, 2009, http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2009/05/green_bank.html.

  90. Jobs21!

  91. Jim Lane, “Bingaman Introduces Clean Energy Standard Bill; Natural Gas, Biomass, Wind, Solar Set to Gain,” BioFuelsDigest.com, March 2, 2012, http://www.biofuelsdigest.com/bdigest/2012/03/02/bingaman-introduces-clean-energy-standard-bill-natural-gas-biomass-wind-solar-set-to-gain/.

  92. Fact Sheet: The Clean Standard Energy Act of 2012, U.S. Senate Committee on Energy & Natural Resources, March 2, 2012, http://www.ascension-publishing.com/BIZ/CESA-2012-2page.pdf.

  93. Amy Harder, “Strong RES Would Create 850K Jobs,” National Journal, September 27, 2010, http://energy.nationaljournal.com/2010/09/can-energy-mandate-muster-supp.php.

  94. Fact Sheet: The Clean Standard Energy Act of 2012, U.S. Senate Committee on Energy & Natural Resources, March 2, 2012.

  95. Jobs21!

  96. “20 Ideas for Jobs Creation,” Center for American Progress, January 3, 2012.

  97. Ibid.

  Chapter Five: It’s Back! FDR’s Works Progress Administration and Other Obama Job Nightmares

  1. The Economic Value of Opportunity Youth, Corporation for National and Community Service and the White House Council for Community Solutions, January 2012, http://cdn.theatlantic.com/static/mt/assets/business/Economic_Opportunities_of_Youth.pdf.

  2. Employment Situation Summary, Bureau of Labor Statistics, released March 9, 2012, http://bls.gov/news.release/empsit.nr0.htm.

  3. 20 Ideas for Jobs Creation, Center for American Progress, January 3, 2012, http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2012/01/20_job_creation_ideas.html.

  4. Alana Semuels, “For Many Unemployed Workers, Jobs Aren’t Coming Back. The U.S. Unemployment Rate Will Remain Elevated for Years, Experts Say, a Grim Prospect for Americans Who Have Exhausted Their Benefits,” Los Angeles Times, September 5, 2010, http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-america-unemployment-mainbar-20100905,0,1306277,print.story.

  5. Investing In America’s Economy: A Budget Blueprint for Economic Recovery and Fiscal Responsibility, Our Fiscal Security (partnership of Demos, Economic Policy Institute, and Century Foundation), November 29, 2010, 4, http://www.demos.org/sites/default/files/publications/Blueprint_OFS_Demos.pdf.

  6. Transcript of President Barack Obama’s 2012 State of the Union Address, House of Representatives, U.S. Capitol, January 24, 2012, http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2012/01/24/transcript_of_president_obamas_2012_state_of_the_union_address_112893.html.

  7. David Muhlhausen in Mike Brownfield, “State of the Union 2012: Heritage Reaction Roundup,” Heritage Foundation, January 24, 2012, http://blog.heritage.org/2012/01/24/state-of-the-union-2012-heritage-reaction-roundup/. David Muhlhausen is most likely referring to Peter Z. Schochet, John Burghardt, and Sheena McConnell, “Does Job Corps Work? Impact Findings from the National Job Corps Study,” American Economic Review 98, no. 5 (December 2008), 1864–86.

  8. Also see David Muhlhausen, “Job Corps: A Consistent Record of Failure,” Heritage Foundation, February 28, 2007, http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2007/02/job-corps-a-consistent-record-of-failure; and “Job Corps: An Unfailing Record of Failure,” Heritage Foundation, May 5, 2009, http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2009/05/job-corps-an-unfailing-record-of-failure#_edn2.

  9. Wall Street Journal quote in header at JimBrovard.com, http://www.jimbovard.com/.

  10. James Bovard, “The Failure of Federal Job Training,” Cato Policy Analysis No. 77, Cato Institute, August 28, 1986, http://www.cato.org/pubs/pas/pa077.html.

  11. Muhlhausen in Brownfield, “State of the Union 2012: Heritage Reaction Roundup,” January 24, 2012.

  12. Thomas DiLorenzo, The Myth of Government Job Creation, Cato Institute Policy Analysis No. 48, Cato Institute, February 19, 1984, http://www.cato.org/pubs/pas/pa048.pdf.

  13. American Jobs Plan: A Five-Point Plan to Stem the U.S. Jobs Crisis, Economic Policy Institute, December 2009, http://www.epi.org/page/-/american_jobs_plan/epi_american_jobs_plan.pdf.

  14. Philip L. Harvey, Back to Work: A Public Jobs Proposal for Economic Recovery, Demos, 2010, http://www.demos.org/sites/default/files/publications/Back_To_Work_Demos.pdf.

  15. Scott Wong, “‘Rebuild America Jobs’ to Be Pushed by Democrats,” Politico, October 21, 2011, http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1011/66557.html.

  16. S.1660 American Jobs Act of 2011 introduced October 5, 2011, by sponsor Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV), http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d112:SN01660:/home/LegislativeData.php|.

  17. Carpentier, “New Jersey Sen. Lautenberg Says It’s Time for a New WPA,” October 18, 2011. S.1723 Teachers and First Responders Back to Work A
ct of 2011, introduced October 17, 2011, by sponsor Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ), http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/thomas.

  18. Mike Hall, “Republicans Vote to Keep Teachers, First Responders Off the Job,” AFL-CIO Blog, October 21, 2011, http://blog.aflcio.org/2011/10/21/republicans-vote-to-keep-teachers-first-responders-off-the-job/.

  19. Wong, “‘Rebuild America Jobs’ to be Pushed by Democrats.”

  20. Statement of Administration Policy, S.1769—Rebuild America Jobs Act (Sen. Klobuchar, D-MN, and 20 cosponsors), WhiteHouse.gov, November 3, 2011, http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/omb/legislative/sap/112/saps1769s_20111103.pdf.

  21. Jobs21! Good Jobs for the 21st Century. A BlueGreen Alliance Blueprint to Solve the Jobs Crisis, BlueGreen Alliance, August 2011.

  22. Jesse Lee, “A Vision for High Speed Rail,” White House Blog, April 16, 2009, http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/09/04/16/a-vision-for-high-speed-rail.

  23. “High-Speed Rail and the Recovery Act,” WhiteHouse.gov, circa April 2009, http://www.whitehouse.gov/high-speed-rail.

  24. “High Speed Rail: Creating Jobs, Spurring Growth, Providing Needed Capacity,” U.S. Department of Transportation, November 16, 2011, http://fastlane.dot.gov/2011/11/high-speed-rail-improving-the-present-prepar ing-for-the-future.html.

  25. Thomas Sowell, “Getting Nowhere, Very Fast—on High-Speed Rail,” New American, January 31, 2012, http://thenewamerican.com/opinion/thomas-sowell/10709--getting-nowhere-very-fast-on-high-speed-rail.

  26. San Joaquin County, California, U.S. Census Bureau, http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/06/06077.html.

  27. Jobs21!

  28. H.R.2847 Green Jobs Act of 2007, introduced June 25, 2007, by sponsor Rep. Hilda Solis (D-CA), http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h110-2847. H.R.6 Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, introduced January 12, 2007, by sponsor Rep. Nick Rahall (D-WV), http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h110-6.

  29. Wong, “‘Rebuild America Jobs’ to Be Pushed by Democrats.”

  30. Mike Hall, “Senate Republicans Kill Rebuild America Act,” AFL-CIO Blog, November 3, 2011, http://blog.aflcio.org/2011/11/03/senate-republicans-kill-rebuild-america-act/.