Putting Labor in the Day

There's a nice tongue-in-cheek article up at CounterPunch by Linn Washington, Jr. While it takes a few jabs at the powers that be, it does make a great point. Below is a snippet:

The Obama administration and Congressional Democrats deservedly receive criticism for failing to take decisive action on the nation’s deepening crisis of prolonged joblessness – inaction constituting gross negligence.

The defiant intransigent of congressional Republicans painfully aggravates this unemployment crisis.

But give credit where credit is due: Obama and his Capitol Hill critics have been doing a great job in boosting newly created jobs in at least a few areas like sales of anti-Obama paraphernalia plus sales of weapons and ammunition.

An added benefit of these jobs erupting from the GOP’s incessant criticism of Obama is most are in small business, the sector of the economy that politicians love to laud-&-applaud as best situated for creating new employment slots.

Please excuse Obama and his GOP detractors for the fact that these newly spawned jobs fall far short of the huge numbers required for job growth sufficient to bring America’s economy back from the depths of the Great Recession.

Now these new jobs are separate from jobs created through Obama’s stimulus program that is increasing construction industry positions mainly for public works projects like rebuilding bridges, roads and other deteriorating infrastructure.

Additionally, Obama’s stimulus – trashed by the GOP – has pumped money into state governments that has preserved public sector jobs for police, teachers and others while also softening the pain among some unemployed through providing funding for unemployment benefits.

Obama’s inauguration ignited a bustling cottage industry churning out anti-Obama paraphernalia inclusive of tee shirts, bumper stickers, books, mugs, movies and other items…much of which come bearing hate tinged messages.

Consider that tee shirt emblazed with “Pray for Obama Psalm 109:8” -- citing a biblical verse widely considered “A Cry for Vengeance” that contains passages declaring “Let his days be few” and “Let his children be fatherless and his wife a widow.”

Making this anti-Obama tee shirt available in conservative circles creates and sustains jobs…employment for the people selling tee shirts to the anti-Obama entrepreneurs (hopefully shirts made in America), employment for the people employed printing that perverse ‘prayer’ onto those tee shirts, employment from the marketing of those shirts and employment for the distributing of those tees to eager buyers.

Anti-Obama-ism also fuels expanding employment in the manufacture and sale of guns...