Job Creation Opportunities During a Recession

Kauffman Foundation – The Economic Future Just Happened
Information Technology and Innovation Foundation – 2008 State New Economy Index
Kauffman Foundation – Better, Faster, Cheaper: The New Bootstrap Job Creator”

State Venture Capital Funds

National Governors Association – State Strategies to Promote Angel Investment for Economic Growth
NASVF – U.S. State-Supported Venture Capital Funds

Encourage Technology Transfer and Commercialization

Pennsylvania Economy League – A Continuing Record of Achievement: The Economic Impact of Ben Franklin Technology Partners 2002-2006
U.S. Department of Commerce, Economic Development Administration – Construction Grants Program Impact Assessment Report
Information Technology and Innovation Foundation – 2008 State New Economy Index
Batelle and the Association of University Research Parks – Characteristics and Trends in North American Research Parks

Strengthen Industry Partnerships & Clusters

Keystone Research Center – Pennsylvania’s Industry Partnership Strategy
Steel Valley Authority (SVA) – Early Warning and Layoff Aversio
Seattle Foundation and SkillUp Washington -  Creating Stronger Workforce Partnerships In Manufacturing
National Fund for Workforce Solutions – The Principles of the National Fund for Workforce Solutions and Their Implications for Public Policy
National Governors Association – Cluster-Based Strategies for Growing State Economies

State government needs all the help it can get….but unfortunately politics is NOT always the best for the state…just the individuals that play the game……

Do you think $2.8 billion for a dirty coal plant is a good investment for Mississippi? Mississippi Power is proposing an enormous, dirty coal plant in Kemper County and will pass on the construction cost to their customers, causing monthly bills to increase by 200%!

Take action now to oppose Mississippi Power’s $2.8 billion dollar coal plant in Kemper County.

Mississippi’s Public Service Commission (PSC) is accepting public comments through the public hearing on February 5th.  We need your input as they consider granting the certificate of need for this multi-billion dollar, dirty, unnecessary coal plant.

There are cleaner, healthier solutions to Mississippi. There is over 7,000 MW of power in cleaner burning natural gas plants that are sitting idle while MS Power claims there are no other sources of energy.  Energy efficiency and conservation should be the “first fuel” that should be utilized and considered before saddling electric customers with billions of dollars of debt for decades to come.

Please submit a public comment now and encourage your friends and family to do the same.

Take Action here: http://action.sierraclub.org/Stop_Kemper

If you love your state and want to keep it as pristine as possible….GET INVOLVED!

AN ACT TO AUTHORIZE THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS OF A COUNTY AND/OR THE GOVERNING AUTHORITIES OF A MUNICIPALITY TO GRANT A PARTIAL AD VALOREM TAX EXEMPTION FOR AGRICULTURAL PROPERTY THAT IS BEING CONVERTED TO A RESIDENTIAL USE IN AN AMOUNT EQUAL TO THE DIFFERENCE IN THE ASSESSED VALUE OF THE PROPERTY FOR AGRICULTURAL USE AND THE ASSESSED VALUE OF THE PROPERTY FOR RESIDENTIAL USE; TO PROVIDE THAT THE EXEMPTION SHALL END WHEN THE PROPERTY IS OCCUPIED BY A HOMEOWNER; TO PROVIDE THE MANNER IN WHICH A REQUEST FOR SUCH EXEMPTION MUST BE MADE; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

This appears to be a boon for the purpose of land speculation….

A case could be made that land speculation is the cause of almost every major recession/depression that has occurred whether nationwide or statewide…..The 19th century economist Henry George describes it:

That land speculation is the true cause of industrial depression is, in the United States, clearly evident. In each period of industrial activity land values have steadily risen, culminating in speculation which carried them up in great jumps. This has been invariably followed by a partial cessation of production, and its correlative, a cessation of effective demand (dull trade), generally accompanied by a commercial crash; and then has succeeded a period of comparative stagnation, during which the equilibrium has been again slowly established, and the same round been run again. This relation is observable throughout the civilized world. Periods of industrial activity always culminate in a speculative advance of land values, followed by symptoms of checked production, generally shown at first by cessation of demand from the newer countries, where the advance in land values has been greatest.

This bill is just another attempt to help the land speculators while depriving the state of much needed tax revenue…in these days any reduction in revenue can only lead to a cut in needed services….

Once again, the state legislation is dealing the people of the state a bad hand, just as they do every session…the people need to stop sleeping through the day and wake up politically…they are paying these people to do nothing but screw them at every session….

A new Gallup Poll shows that Mississippi is the most religious state in the Union…….

A new Gallup Poll, based on more than 350,000 interviews, finds that the Magnolia State is the one where the most people — 85% — say yes when asked “Is religion an important part of your daily life?”

Joining Mississippi in the top “most religious” states are other notches in the Bible Belt: Alabama (82%), South Carolina (80%), Tennessee (79%), Louisiana (78%), and Arkansas (78%).

The top ten are as follows:

Mississippi: 85%
Alabama: 82%
South Carolina: 80%
Tennessee: 79%
Louisiana: 78%
Arkansas: 78%
Georgia: 76%
North Carolina: 76%
Oklahoma: 75%
Kentucky: 74%

With all that said I decided to do a little research into other issues and situations that may have a correlation in this story.

For instance the ten most religious states, 9 are in the South…….in the same list all 10 of the states are some of the poorest in the nation….the ten states in the religious list…all of which are on the bottom of the “smartest” state list….and now for the biggie, at least for me….the 10 most religious states are the dumbest and the poorest and in the same vain the most Republican….that is right…these 10 states voted overwhelmingly for John McCain in the last presidential election…..

Makes me think of a quote from John Stuart Mill, “I am not saying conservatives are stupid, but most stupid people are conservative”…….

First let me say that in my opinion these stats are contradictory and fly in the face of logic…….

What conclusion can one draw from these stats?

I can understand the correlation between poverty and religion….when you have nothing religion is a comfortable place to hide….and I can understand the lack of education would make religion attractive as an answer to your problems….this is where I have a hard time understanding……I cannot understand why a state that is so poor would be so republican….my only thought on that is that the state GOP plays the religion card more readily than the Dems and the lack of education would make it easy to fool the people into believing anything they wish to paint for them……..

The conclusion that I can draw is that the lack of education and poverty make religion a comfortable place for the people to hide…because of this comfort politicians can use these things as a way to mold the people of the state into citizen that the politicians want……

The governor also talked about the state’s graduation rates and the need for more work-force training. High school graduation rates, Barbour said, might improve if students were directed to career paths early in high school.More education, generally, translates into people with better paying jobs with more disposable income that would translate into increased tax collections.

You would think that if that was the attitude that the governor and the legislature would be gung-ho on educational bills, right?

I am referring to a bill before the state legislature, HB 148—which states:

AN ACT TO CREATE THE “MISSISSIPPI COMPREHENSIVE COMMUNITIES OF COLOR TEEN PREGNANCY PREVENTION ACT OF 2010″; TO REQUIRE THE DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN SERVICES AND THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH TO DEVELOP CERTAIN PROGRAMS AND STRATEGIES PROMOTING PREGNANCY PREVENTION AND PROVIDING INFORMATION ON THE CONSEQUENCES OF UNPROTECTED, UNINFORMED AND UNDERAGE SEXUAL ACTIVITY; TO AMEND SECTION 41-79-5, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, IN CONFORMITY WITH THE PROVISIONS OF THIS ACT; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

Don’t you just love these guys and gals?

It seems that the state is worried about teen pregnancies in the “Communities of Color”….not this is a total racist thing…they seem to be implying that only teens of color are getting pregnant….why do we not go visit a trailer park and count for ourselves…..

You know a lot of this BS could be solved by actually teaching sex ed in the classroom….but that collapses every session and every session they try it again…it has turned into this perverted little game…..

But to put the term, “communities of color” is just plain and outright moronic….if this is truly non-racial then I suggest a better title for this Act…..

A report in the Clarion-Ledger:

With the economy continuing to deplete tax revenues, Gov. Haley Barbour said the state is considering some kind of credit assistance that would help small businesses without duplicating programs offered by banks and other agencies.

As the governor and others talked about how the lack of credit is forcing some businesses to close, Jerry Host, president and chief operating officer of Trustmark National Bank, reminded those gathered that the country’s economic problem is complex and needs a multi-faceted solution. Just as other businesses have not gotten expected contracts, Host said banks also are missing anticipated income because businesses have canceled expansions that would have required loans.”The return of a healthy economy is not just dependent on bank lending, it requires the recovery of consumer spending, which in turn increases revenues and leads to healthier businesses – large and small,” Host said in an e-mailed statement sent after the meeting.

The governor repeated his commitment to attracting new jobs as another method of replenishing lost taxes.

Okay there is just so much wrong with this whole approach……first, cutting taxes to be elected is why the state is suffering with low income….second, the state is notoriously always the worst state for employment….none of these “job creation” schemes has panned out in the past…..why would it in the middle of a recession?…….third, “replenishing taxes” cannot be done by cutting more taxes or giving more tax breaks….I have said the demand is the answer liquidity means NOTHING to anyone…..

One question….why are churches tax exempt?  Sorry…I digress…..may I suggest that a new way of thinking about taxes should be considered……why not try Land Value Taxation (LVT)?…….this would be a good way to generate new taxes and if done corrctly all other taxes could possibly be eliminated……

But sadly….NO one in Jackson has the guts let alone the cajones to even consider this…their longevity in the legislature could be in jeopardy…God knows we cannot live without their worthless, do nothing butts…..(in case you missed it..it was sarcasm)…..

In an article in the NY Times:

A law adopting statewide high school exams for graduation took effect in Pennsylvania on Saturday, with the goal of ensuring that students leaving high school are prepared for college and the workplace. But critics say the requirement has been so watered down that it is unlikely to have major impact.

The situation in Pennsylvania mirrors what has happened in many of the 26 states that have adopted high school exit exams. As deadlines approached for schools to start making passage of the exams a requirement for graduation, and practice tests indicated that large numbers of students would fail, many states softened standards, delayed the requirement or added alternative paths to a diploma.

Okay, the deal is that if they lower standards for graduation then more students will be able to enter college…is that about it?

First, this sounds like BS……if education isa the key to a better economy would not making it more difficult to graduate than easier….would not a more thoroughly educated student be a better candidate?

Second, this sounds like a snow job….it sounds more like trying to get all states to have an elevated graduation amount so that they can get all those federal funds for a good record?

Mississippi is one of the least educated states in the country and it would NOT be good to lower the standards for graduation….the only people that would benefit would be politicians…..

Third, NO matter how low we take the standards, the recession will preclude many from entering into college….the middle class is struggling with the economy and lowering standards for high school graduation is NOT going to assist those people to get their children into college…..

It is as simple as that…..nowhere is lowering the standards a good idea….will not help the economy, will not end the recession and it will definitely NOT be good for the students that all are using as pawns in this money game…..

I keep bring up that fact that the state’s revenue comes from the imposition of taxes….without taxes there is NO services that the state is required to offer the people…..and yet every time the legislature meets there is some that want, including the governor, to cut taxes, almost ALL taxes…..do they NOT see what that does for their budgets…..or is it they do not care and need the cuts to pad their political resumes for their next campaign?  IMO, it is the latter!

Property taxes?  And sales taxes?  You do realize that this is the most important tax?  Why?  The collection of property taxes is one of the chief sources of revenue for state and local government and then the collection of state sales tax……and now the new legislative session has a couple of bills before it:

First there is SB 2288 which states:

AN ACT TO AUTHORIZE THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS OF A COUNTY AND/OR THE GOVERNING AUTHORITIES OF A MUNICIPALITY TO GRANT A PARTIAL AD VALOREM TAX EXEMPTION FOR AGRICULTURAL PROPERTY THAT IS BEING CONVERTED TO A RESIDENTIAL USE

And then there is HB 4 which states:

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 27-65-17, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO REDUCE THE SALES TAX RATE ON RETAIL SALES OF MOTORCYCLES FROM SEVEN PERCENT TO FIVE PERCENT;

Just those two bills would decrease the amount of revenue that is coming in…,…state legislators will have to deal with the budget shortfalls by cutting the services and programs that it funds….you have that right?……first, programs for the poor and disadvantage will suffer, i.e.  Medicaid and then once that sector is officially killed they will move to such other programs as educational and so forth……all that is just fine for some but they have NOT looked at it realistic……once all the other programs have been cut to the bone and there is still a shortfall then cuts will be made to programs that effect the white people the most….like fire and police….and then the voice of the people will be heard at least if the politicians want to be re-elected……

But will the people finally realize that to keep cutting taxes is NOT the way to fund programs that benefit ALL Mississippians?

To answer my own question….maybe finally the people of Mississippi will be open to the idea of land value taxation (LVT)…….this could go a long way to solving ALL of Mississippi’s financial problems….it is worth a look…so why waste time BS-ing the people and find the cure…it is there just grow a set of cajones and try it…..it could not be as bad as the crap you put us through yearly…..Just a thought…..