Summit appears cosmetic at best

In lieu of no apparent new ideas coming out of the White House "jobs summit" on Thursday, FOX TV commentator Bill O'Reilly offered his own suggestions to get people back to work. I actually thought a few of his ideas made sense, including giving tax breaks to companies that hire new employees. Rather than giving all companies tax relief, the reward would only be triggered by proof of hiring. I wonder, in that same sense, if tax breaks should be taken away from companies that are using the recession as an excuse to get rid of more workers than they really need to?

I also found this article in The Washington Post to be interesting. It explains how President Obama has failed to help the private sector create jobs.

What I am not buying from anyone, including ABC News, is that the stimulus money made a significant difference in improving the private-sector job market. On its broadcast Thursday night, ABC did a fluff piece about some folks going back to work because of stimulus money given to various municipalities. What they didn't mention was that every one of the jobs they featured was directly or indirectly related to government work.

Washington's other newspaper

The Washington Times, D.C.'s other newspaper, will layoff a "significant number" of employees. This coming on the heels of nearby USA Today slashing more jobs in McLean, Va. Even the mighty Washington Post isn't out of the woods yet. All of this in one of the more affluent areas of the country where the population is still growing. Cities like Detroit or the agricultural areas of California, where the recession has decimated businesses (potential advertisers), things are far worse. Wonder if the "jobs summit" at the White House today will bring any hope for journalism and other professions on the verge of extinction? Click here to read about the layoffs at the Times.