Economic uncertainty in Ohio puts Obama’s jobs bill in focus

While President Obama was at Fort Hayes High School in Columbus Tuesday explaining how his jobs bill would benefit the state of Ohio, there was chatter in the Statehouse that the next two-year budget could have a $2.5 billion deficit based on current expenditures.

If the revenue projections hold firm, across-the-board cuts in the state spending will be inevitable. Governments at all levels and other public entities, including universities and colleges, have already taken a major hit in the current biennium budget because of an $8 billion hole that had to be filled. They were hoping that the economy would pick up in the near future.

Against the backdrop of the bleak economic picture, President Obama’s pledge of billions of dollars for Ohio if Congress approves his American Jobs Act does warrant serious, bipartisan consideration by Gov. John Kasich on down.

We are well that Republicans are opposed to any increase in federal government spending to create private sector jobs and preserve those in the public sector. The GOP is also opposed to any tax initiatives, including closing loopholes that benefit major corporations, to increase revenue.

In his appearance before a gathering of 3,000-plus at Fort Hayes Arts and Academic High School, a campus of Columbus City Schools buildings, President Obama detailed some of the programs that would benefit this state. For instance, Ohio would receive $985,500,000 of the $25 billion nationally to modernize public schools. About 12,800 jobs would be created in the Buckeye State under the school infrastructure improvement program, according to the White House.

Obama is also proposing an investment of $35 billion to prevent layoffs of 280,000 teachers nationwide, facilitate the hiring of tens of thousands of more teachers and keep police officers and firefighters on the job.

Ohio would receive $1,093,800,000 to support up to 14,200 educator and first responder jobs.

Payroll tax cut

As for the private sector, 200,000 companies in Ohio would receive a payroll tax cut. The plan calls for the tax to be cut in half to 3.1 percent for employers on the first $5 million in wages.

Obama’s American Jobs Act also includes $50 billion nationally for investments in highway, transit, rail and aviation projects. The American Society of Civil Engineers has given the United States’ infrastructure a “D” grade. Ohio would received $1,051,800,000 for projects that would involve the hiring of 13,700.

As with the first stimulus that had a price tag of $787 billion, critics have been quick to pounce on the promises that are being made by the president with regard to job creation. But given the stubborn recession that began in the latter part of 2008 before Obama took office, and the economic problems confronting states like Ohio, what is the alternative?

The idea that businessmen and women will quickly invest in the U.S. and create jobs if they are given a tax cut was not borne out by the tax reductions put in place by former President George W. Bush.

The economy needs a nudge, and putting people to work will result in money circulating through the system.

The Mahoning Valley, which continues to lag behind the rest of the state economically, needs to get residents working again.

Obama’s $447 billion American Jobs Act, which the White House says would be fully paid for, could well be the spark that ignites the recovery. If critics have a program that would guarantee job creation, they should come forward with it now.