America, Inc.: The Campaign Platform of “Business”

Page: - 1 - 2 - All Pages

Image Copyright DonkeyHotey (Flickr), 2011

Written by: Curtis Dale Riddle, J.D.^Bio

Aside from it being my birthday, yesterday morning was like the start of any other weekday for me.  I woke up, poured

myself a glass of orange juice, got online, and began reading my morning addition of Google News.  One article that struck my interest bore the headline, “Romney Writes the President a Letter.”  Within two clicks of the mouse and five minutes, however, I completely regretted giving the article my undivided attention.   Published in the Fayetteville Observer, Presidential candidate, Mitt Romney, wrote a letter to President Barak Obama calling his handling of the economy a “disgrace.”  Romney stated, “if you won’t or can’t lead our country out of the economic morass you’ve deepened, then I would suggest that it’s time for you to go.”  In light of reading such bold, Shakespearean, and conservative over toned rhetoric, I am compelled to discuss Mitt Romney’s plan to create jobs and stimulate the economy.  Ready, set, go and that successfully concludes Mitt Romney’s plans to create jobs and stimulate the economy… any questions?  If you are left scratching your head fret not, it isn’t head lice!

In Romney’s letter to President Obama, he suggested that due to his experiences as a “business man,” he knows better than the President on how to create jobs and balance government spending. After reading Romney’s letter, however, I have concluded this is another case of the candidate pot libeling the Presidential kettle! It seems as though this election cycle’s campaign slogan has evolved, over the last four years, from being about “change we can believe in” to “business we can work with!” Romney stated that he “knows a thing or two about how jobs get created.”  Romney went further by stating he knows “how government policies can kill private investment and stifle job creation.”  Personally, I found this particular statement to be both hypocritical and comical considering that, aside from the obvious fact Mitt Romney is running for our nation’s highest office and if elected he will be signing off on and participating in the creation of “government policy,” during his tenure as CEO of Bain Capital, most acquisitions of large companies made by his firm often resulted in massive job layoffs.  Finally, the most appalling statement made by Romney, in my opinion, was his placement of blame on the President for the nation’s credit downgrade.

Romney blamed President Obama’s stimulus bill for causing the credit downgrade.  This is completely false.  The S&P downgrade was a direct result of their loss of confidence in the federal government due to the quibbling that occurred between members of Congress over the 2011 fiscal budget.  Truth be told, had President Obama not hauled all of the congressional leaders into a conference room with his cabinet, more than likely, Congress would still be quibbling about the budget.

Can government policy stifle job creation? Absolutely; however, so can private business policies.  As a matter of fact, I would go as far as to say that cut throat business practices and risky business investments do more to stifle job creation than government policy.  One largely implemented business practice is employee layoff.  The first order of business in any business that is struggling is to layoff employees.  This helps cut down on business expense and bring the business back to profitability.  There is a serious problem, however, with implementing this business practice in government.

Page: – 1 - 2 - All Pages