Ford: Jobs and America’s recovery

The Dow climbed back to 10,000 but there is no bull market for American jobs, which continue to be shed at a rate of about a quarter-million every month. The national unemployment rate stands at 9.5 percent and large pockets of America are suffering even more, with 14 states reporting unemployment rates higher than 10 percent.

Weakness in the job market has the most extreme impact on those at the margins. According to one report, the unemployment rate among black male teenagers is 50.4 percent. That is unacceptable.

Although it’s politically unpopular to do a new stimulus, some influential economists believe that economic conditions are such that doing nothing at all could impede the budding recovery just as the effects of the first stimulus begin to wane in the second quarter of 2010. The fiscal and monetary policies implemented over the past year have acted as a ventilator for a very sick patient, the American economy; removing the ventilator too soon would have devastating consequences.

Putting Americans back to work is the key to a full recovery. Here’s how I propose we accomplish this:

First, we should concentrate on the quickest, hardest-hitting way to relieve employers’ payrolls while also boosting paychecks — a two-month payroll-tax holiday.

The $8,000 homebuyer’s tax credit expires on Nov. 30 and should be extended. To give businesses an incentive to resume hiring, Congress should expand a provision that allows companies to carry back tax losses from the current two-year period to five years. They should also extend the accelerated depreciation tax deduction for business purchases of new equipment.

Second, we should focus on strategies that have worked. For example, the “cash for clunkers” program stimulated consumer spending and provided much-needed help to the nation’s auto dealers, all while taking 700,000 cars off the road and replacing them with vehicles that get an additional 10 miles per gallon on average.

To boost sales before the holidays, the “clunkers” model should be expanded to provide incentives such as a voucher with a rebate that consumers could use to purchase energy-efficient household appliances like refrigerators, televisions and computer equipment. This approach has been used in China and has been enormously effective, with retail sales of consumer goods increasing by 18 percent over the last year.

Third, Congress must extend unemployment benefits. This is not a typical cycle of recession and recovery. Long-term unemployment is the highest in 60 years.

Relief is needed, not only to allow people to meet basic needs until they can reenter the workforce, but also to prevent a further tide of mortgage foreclosures.

To ensure deficit neutrality, Congress should adhere to its “pay as you go” rules to pay for the new spending associated with these programs. They should also consider using remaining funds from the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) to pay the cost of the stimulus package.

Last, and perhaps most importantly, Congress must pass healthcare reform that will not add to the deficit. Healthcare costs are the fastest growing cost for employers and the single biggest disincentive to hiring. Our healthcare system may also be the biggest obstacle American firms competing globally. U.S. manufacturers, for example, pay more than twice as much to cover their employees as their global competitors. As The Wall Street Journal reported, healthcare costs falling directly on employees’ will rise by 10 percent next year — despite the fact that just about everything else, including wages and Social Security benefits, will be stuck in place. This is because employers are passing more of the cost onto their workers. Reining in healthcare costs is not only a fiscal responsibility issue; it is a jobs issue.

Now that healthcare reform has passed the major committees in Congress, policymakers should consider not only the individual components of reform, but also the overall impact of the bill on job creation. Healthcare reform must rein in runaway costs while also not creating new disincentives to hiring workers. Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) should be commended for gaining bipartisan support for a healthcare bill that expands coverage while reducing the deficit. However, one provision in his bill needs to be fixed. Currently, the bill’s “pay or play” provision requires employers to pay a penalty if they hire low- or middle-income workers who take advantage of the new healthcare subsidies and purchase healthcare outside of the workplace. This creates a disincentive to hiring the very workers who have been hit hardest by this recession.

Too many Americans are struggling without jobs or with low-paying jobs and enormous healthcare costs. We have a responsibility to help them now, so as a country, we can meet what are certain to be tremendous challenges in the years to come.

Former Rep. Ford (D-Tenn.) is chairman of the Democratic Leadership Council and a visiting professor of public policy at New York University.

Source: The Hill

Harold Ford Jr. to give annual Stein Lecture in Ethics

Harold Ford Jr., once described by President Bill Clinton as "the walking, living embodiment of where America ought to go in the 21st century," will give this year's Elliot Stein Lecture in Ethics for the Assembly Series. His talk will be held at 4 p.m. Wednesday, October 7 in Graham Chapel. The event is free and open to the public.

During his five terms as the Democratic Congressman from Tennessee, Ford served on both the Financial Services and the Budget committees, where he advocated for free enterprise and balanced budgets. Although he lost a close bid for a Senate seat in 2006, he continues to be actively involved in the party and currently serves as chair of the Democratic Leadership Council.

In addition to providing political analyses on NBC and MSNBC, he also teaches at New York University's Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service. Ford also serves on the U.S. Pentagon's Transformation Advisory Group, an assembly of military commanders, political figures, academics and business leaders who advise the Pentagon on modernizing the Armed Forces. He also is an overseer on the board of the International Rescue Committee, a humanitarian relief organization, and serves as a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

Source: Washington University

Ford: Let's take a long view on costs, budget deficit

Among the many lessons from a summer of passionate town hall meetings is that Americans are concerned about the country's growing debt. And rightly so.

According to the Congressional Budget Office, the federal budget deficit will reach $1.6 trillion in 2010. After that, the situation is even worse. The agency projects the deficit could exceed $9 trillion over 10 years. Over the past year, the government has taken some extraordinary steps, intervening in the marketplace in ways it had never done before. Before President George W. Bush left office, his administration engineered an unprecedented rescue of our nation's financial system that involved the government in running large financial institutions.

The financial rescue was absolutely necessary but was not enough by itself to get America out of the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. Just weeks into office, President Barack Obama enacted a major stimulus package and provided much-needed aid to the domestic auto industry.

These measures are working. Once on the verge of a complete meltdown, the financial system has stabilized. Major financial institutions have begun to pay back the emergency loans with interest: According to one report, taxpayers have made a 15 percent profit from the eight largest banks that have fully repaid their TARP funds. Stock markets have rebounded from recent lows. Jobs have not come back yet, but the economy has begun to turn a corner and the groundwork is laid for a recovery.

However, the actions taken over the past year have led to real and justified fears that such unprecedented government intervention will become the norm — that the government will just keep growing, with no way to pay for the increased spending.

President Obama is not responsible for the country's budget woes. The cost of the stimulus bill passed under his watch was a tiny fraction of the costs of decisions made during the previous administration, including providing tax cuts for the highest-income taxpayers, implementing a Medicare prescription drug plan with no measures to restrain costs, and making long-term military commitments in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Nonetheless, President Obama and congressional Democrats are in charge now, and as they work to address health care and other critical priorities, they must convince the American people that they are charting a responsible, sustainable course for the future.

Republicans in Congress must also contribute ideas and responsible leadership to reduce the nation's debt, rather than simply blaming President Obama.

The ability of the private sector to produce new jobs — our economic future — depends on how quickly we can get back on the path to fiscal responsibility. This means that any health-care reform plan should be paid for — a promise that President Obama has made, and one that his predecessor should have made.

As soon as possible, Congress should also enact a law requiring that any new tax or entitlement programs be paid for with offsetting cuts in spending or new revenue. Perhaps most important, Washington policymakers need to stop taking a myopic view of our nation's budget outlook.

Congress currently considers only the 10-year budgetary impact of new initiatives. As a result, it has repeatedly passed bills that appear to be budget-neutral in the short term but that explode the deficit in the long term. Congress also has developed a bad habit of addressing important issues (such as the estate tax, the alternative minimum tax and payments to health-care providers) on a year-to-year basis.

This postpones, but at the same time worsens, the financial reckoning that is sure to come. Instead, the administration and Congress should systematically consider the impact of every new policy for 10 years and beyond.

Tennessee's 5th District congressman, Jim Cooper, is a leader in Congress on fiscal responsibility as the primary author of bipartisan legislation that sets a timeline for Congress to act to reverse the country's deficits. Under Rep. Cooper's plan, if Congress doesn't muster the political courage to act, a bipartisan commission would recommend ways to balance the budget that Congress would be forced to consider. It is modeled on the bipartisan process for consolidating military installations around the country. Congress should act on Rep. Cooper's plan.

The extraordinary measures taken at the height of the nation's economic crisis were needed, but it is time to take the long view. The American people will support initiatives such as health-care reform only if they can trust the current leadership not to leave them and their children with a massive bill.

Source: Tennessean

Ford to be on Meet the Press Sunday

Congressman Ford will once again be a guest on this Sunday's Meet the Press with David Gregory on NBC.

He will be a member of the rountable discussion alongside Tom Brokaw, Tom Friedman and Rudy Guiliani.

Be sure to check your local listings for showtimes.

Ford's Advice to President Obama

Every president faces a time when poll numbers slide. It's easy to advise a president to ignore the numbers and plow ahead. It's not wise for a president to heed that advice blindly. Thankfully, President Obama knows that politics is about the art of the possible.

Obama is battling a stubborn recession, a Republican Congress hell-bent on defeating health reform and a resurgent Taliban in Afghanistan. When he returns to Washington the president should forge a consensus in Congress to pass what "is possible" on health reform, redouble his efforts to stimulate job creation, clearly articulate our mission objectives in Afghanistan, and redefine and revive energy and financial services reform.

First he needs to win on health reform. Obama has been patient, committed and focused on leading Congress to a consensus. At his core, this president is a pragmatist. In the spirit of the late Sen. Ted Kennedy, Obama should work toward winning a compromise here before taking on new reform challenges.

The compromise should be built around insurance reform, such as prohibiting companies from denying coverage based on preexisting conditions, and guaranteeing coverage for every child in America. Such substantive health reform would put us firmly on path to solving the uninsured problem in this country when our economy gets back on track.

Source: Washington Post

Ford Statement on the Passing of Senator Ted Kennedy

"We mourn the passing of Senator Kennedy. When the roll of history is called, Edward Kennedy will be acknowledged as a giant; the very best who ever served our nation in the Senate.

"His courage and idealism shaped the very best of our country for the last five decades. He asked us not to settle for 'what is' in our country, but rather work toward what 'can be.'

"From leading the way on civil rights to fighting for quality health care, education and a living wage that would sustain working families, Senator Kennedy left his mark on the progress of America. He was a seminal force in passing Family and Medical Leave, Title IX for women college athletes, the American Disabilities Act and a constitutional amendment to allow 18-year-olds to vote. As the savvy sailor that he was, he helped steer the ship of our nation to brighter and calmer seas.

"Let us give thanks to this great man."

Source: DLC

Ford on Energy Reform

President Obama can pass energy legislation this year, but to do so he needs to absorb four lessons from the health-reform debate.

First, write the bulk of the energy bill with the input of Congress. Despite recent dips, Obama's favorable ratings are high enough to enact reform. Having served in Congress, I respect and admire the Democratic leadership, but the country wants the president to lead on his top priorities.

Second, he should own energy. He did as a candidate; he should as president. Control the debate and don't lose control. The country voted for change; give it to them. Regrettably, the health-reform debate has been about "death panels" and "higher taxes," instead of real talk of insurance reform, cost containment, more access for those who don't have insurance and incentives for preventive care. Obama needs to seize the debate and make it about fewer wars over oil, lower gas and electricity prices, and more jobs for Americans.

Third, settle on better language than "cap and trade" and climate change. These abstract labels don't resonate in Kansas. Some analysts have projected that the House energy reform bill will cost each U.S. household $175 a year. That's a small price to prevent today's 13- and 14-year-olds from having to go to war in the Middle East in 10 years to protect oil, which we should drastically reduce our dependence on.

Finally, lead by example. Get on the road and sell energy reform. Practice conservation in the White House. Launch a national competition in public schools that encourages energy conservation. And tell the country why this is important to keep America safe and growing.

Source: Washington Post

Ford to be on Meet the Press This Sunday

Congressman Ford will appear on this Sunday's (August 2nd) Meet the Press as a member of the political roundtable.

Be sure to check your local listings for NBC channels and exact show times.