White House holds photo-op “jobs summit”

Hannah Bell

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Fri Dec-04-09 01:36 AM
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White House holds photo-op “jobs summit”

The Obama administration is holding a summit on jobs and economic growth today, bringing together 130 corporate executives, economists, academics and union officials.

The event, along with a planned “Main Street Tour” by the president, is aimed at deflecting growing criticism that he has done nothing to address the jobs crisis, which has consigned 26 million workers to joblessness or reduced hours of work.

The summit is being held on the eve of the Labor Department’s report on November unemployment, which is expected to show another jump in the official jobless rate. Earlier this week, the business consulting firm ADP released a survey of employers showing that another 169,000 jobs were lost in November, making it the 23rd consecutive month in which payrolls declined, the longest stretch since the Great Depression.

White House officials, the New York Times noted this week, have “signaled that Mr. Obama’s willingness to back any expensive new government programs is limited.” The newspaper continued: “One official said Mr. Obama’s announcement of the jobs forum was ‘carefully crafted’ to emphasize that generally the ‘government has done what it can. It’s time to hear from the private sector about what it’s going to do.’”

In fact, the government has done next to nothing. The stimulus package passed last February produced a derisory number of jobs. Even if the White House’s exaggerated figures are taken at face value, the 600,000 to 1.6 million jobs “created or saved” by the stimulus bill are a drop in the bucket compared to the more than 7 million jobs lost since the recession began.

According to reports, the administration is considering further corporate tax cuts and pro-business incentives, including tax credits for hiring new employees and a tax holiday. In addition, the summit participants will reportedly discuss “green” jobs, boosting small business employment, government infrastructure spending, fostering the growth of US exports, business competitiveness and workforce development and training.

None of this will have any significant impact on the worst jobs crisis since the 1930s. One summit participant, economist and New York Times columnist Paul Krugman, acknowledged, “Most of the people that I talk to are cynical about the event, and expect the administration to offer no more than symbolic gestures.”

According to reports, the administration is considering further corporate tax cuts and pro-business incentives, including tax credits for hiring new employees and a tax holiday. In addition, the summit participants will reportedly discuss “green” jobs, boosting small business employment, government infrastructure spending, fostering the growth of US exports, business competitiveness and workforce development and training.

A list of some of the corporate CEOs attending the summit and their total compensation packages for 2008 is illuminating. They include:

• Randall Stephenson, CEO of AT&T—$15,784,831

• Bob Iger, CEO of Walt Disney—$51,229,341 (up 78 percent from 2007)

• Surya Mahapatra, CEO of Quest Diagnostics—$11,322,335

• Frederick Smith, CEO of FedEx—$10,434,589

• Brian Roberts, CEO of Comcast—$26,240,363

• Eric Schmidt, CEO of Google—$508,764

• W. James McNerney, CEO of Boeing—$16,626,254

• Andrew Liveris, CEO of Dow Chemical—$15,704,585

None of these gentlemen has the slightest interest in guaranteeing good-paying jobs for workers. On the contrary, with the full backing of the Obama administration, they are basing their companies’ profits on cutting jobs and using mass unemployment to force workers to accept lower wages and benefits as well as speedup.

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2009/dec2009/jobs-d03.shtml