We ARE becoming Western Europe . . .

Did you know that private companies in the Chicago area are having a hard time filling $12 to $14 per hour jobs? They are being told by job applicants that it is not worth it for them to get off unemployment to take those jobs. Because the incremental after tax income provided by taking those good paying jobs is not enough to incent them to get off the dole. Employers are being told this by job applicants. No shame. Just the facts. "I am better off staying on unemployment than taking your job" so, I choose to stay unemployed.

This is a bad sign, people.

We are becoming Western Europe. And, to remind you . . . that is not a good thing. It comes with all sorts of tradeoffs in the form of lower growth, less opportunity, more state control, less innovation, more smothering regulations . . . just ask anyone who has considered opening an office in Germany or France.

Our system of economic incentives is slipping into the wrong direction. We are providing people with incentives NOT to work by extending unemployment coverage to two years. And, people are making rational choices not to take jobs, which is not helping to reduce unemployment.

Of course, it is simplistic to suggest that this means that this fully explains our unemployment problem. But it is emblematic of the root problem and comes from the same cause. An over-active Government and national leadeship who believes that Government can, and should, solve all, or most, of our pressing problems. An expansive view of Government and its role in our economy and society. Distrust of private enterprise and the free markets. Too much faith in the power of regulation to solve problems. Too little faith in economic incentives.

We are sinking down the rabbit hole, faster and faster with every passing month.

Please . . . vote . . . GOP . . . this . . . cycle.

Our Country's future is at stake. We need to restore balance in Washington.

Woldy

U.S. Policy is Behind ME Peace Failure

The policies of this US Government doomed the current round of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks to failure before they even began. Obama set this up (perhaps intentionally, the thinking goes, because the failure of the talks will get layed at Israel's feet, thereby increasing the pressure on Israel to make concessions they are not comfortable with) so that the Palestinians are rewarded for obstinence because they know the U.S. has no choice but to step in and pressure Israel to make further concessions. This is a no-lose proposition for the Palestinians. They win if the talks succeed. They win if the talks fail. Anyone with business experience knows that these are not the conditions that will lead to a negotiated settlement. But, unfortunately, this is the dynamic that has been created by this Administration's policies and its approach to the conflict.

The only way a peace deal gets made is by the Palestinians realizing they must stand on their own feet and make a deal for the good of their own people. Put a stake in this conflict and kill it. That won't happen with Obama in the WH because Obama can not figure this out. He puts the U.S. in the position of standing in between these two parties as arbiter of the dispute, rather than as facilitator of a discussion between the parties. There is a big difference in these two models. In one case, you sit in judgment and settle arguments. In the other, you help the parties settle their own arguments.

The current situation is fraught with danger for Israel. The Palestinians have made settlements the keystone to their negotiating stance, knowing full well that there is no deal envisioned that does not include significant territory on which settlements currently sit staying with Israel. This is foolish posturing and not a good sign for their underlying intentions. One has to ask if they really do want a peace deal if this is their approach.

But the Obama Administration has made all this possible by giving the Palestinians a "get out of jail free" card by making the U.S. responsible for "bringing Israel to the table" and keeping them there. Any time the Palestinians want to stop negotiating, they will turn to the U.S. and say "see, we told you the Israelis don't want a deal . . . prove they do by making them give in on this point . . ."

The Palestinians must be responsible for outcome. U.S. policy has made it possible for the Palestinians to skirt their responsibility. No lasting deal will come to fruition under Obama, unless he changes this dynamic.

Woldy