It’s time to invest in jobs

Rick Reynolds, Las Vegas

Friday, Jan. 10, 2014 | 2:02 a.m.

The Sunday letter to the editor “A subsidy to end unemployment” made some observations that require some amount of dissent.

The writer was concerned that extending unemployment benefits brings about the possibility of people “gaming the system,” suggesting that people who once collected benefits will work long enough to qualify for additional unemployment benefits ,then leave to collect.

You do not collect any benefits if you quit or get fired. This line of thinking fails to recognize that the person drawing benefits had a job in the first place and was laid off.

I also dispute the notion that, with tax incentives, businesses will hire more people. It doesn’t account for the necessary rise in demand prior to hiring; no businessperson in the world will hire anyone unless needed to meet production. Tax incentives like that are used during military draw-downs to help veterans get preferential treatment for private-sector jobs as they transition to civilian life.

What’s required is a massive nationwide investment in our infrastructure (notice the word investment) to stimulate the economy and create jobs and product demand at the same time, but that’s not going to happen. Republicans, who only noticed the size of our national debt when President Barack Obama took office, will not spend any money for economic stimulation, as a booming economy during a Democratic administration does not bode well in their quest to reclaim the presidency.