So a Corporation and an American Working Man are sitting in a bar. The Working Man asks the Corporation “Are you hiring? I’m looking for work.” The corporation replies, “As soon as demand picks up we’ll start look for new workers.” The Working Man says, “But demand can’t pick up until people have jobs, and besides, your current employees are doing triple the work, while many corporations are sitting on your large assets.” The corporation angrily retorts, “I beg your pardon, sir!”
That’s where we are today. Companies say their not hiring until the economy turns around. But the economy can’t rebound if people don’t have money or are afraid that they could lose their jobs any day. What would be done in a sane situation is that the government would put people to work by spending to repair the nation highways, bridges and other parts of our infrastructure that have been neglected for years. We saw some of that in President Obama’s stimulus plan. States like Alabama were kept above water and able to fund government with the stimulus. It worked for a time, but it wasn’t given enough, given the depths of the economic mess Obama inherited and the weakness of the private sector.
President Obama was advised by Pulitzer Prize-winning economists that jump-starting the heart of the U.S. economy required a huge jolt to have lasting impact. In response to screams about Obama deficits and big spending ways, the man who is truly earning his title as “Appeaser-in-Chief”, split the package between spending and tax cuts favored by his Republican critics and produced a weakened stimulus that fell very much short of what was needed. Now, states have spent the stimulus, the economy has weakened and the chickens are coming home to roast.
The conclusion to the joke is that the Corporation angrily makes a beeline for the door in response to the Working Man’s last comment, as he does the bartender yells to the corporation “Hey, who’s going to pay for the food and drinks you ordered, sir?”. The Corporation turns and points to the Working Man and says, “He is, of course!”