Is Rogers Looking Out for You? Certainly Not

Time flies, but it seems like just a few weeks ago that Rep. Mike Rogers was giving speeches decrying the "uncertainty" that small business owners must deal with due to something or other President Obama's administration has done. Was it too many federal regulations, the traditional boogey-man of the Republican Party? Or maybe it was uncertainty of whether taxes would go up, which they haven't under Obama.

Whatever it was that was causing the "uncertainty," Rogers was certain that "uncertainty" was what is holding the economy back from recovery. And he was certain that Obama was behind the "uncertainty."

Thanks to Rogers and his fellow Tea Party Republicans in the U.S. House, business owners big and small, working people, people on unemployment, and bealth care providers who treat Medicare patients are all facing a whole lot of real uncertainty, as opposed to the kind dreamed up by Rogers.

The source of the uncertainty now is the Republican House's refusal to go along with a tax cut for working people that was already passed by the Senate. The two-month extension of the payroll tax cut was included in a bill that also includes an extension of unemployment benefits for the long-term unemployed and heads off a big cut in reimbursement rates for health care providers under the Medicare program. Although 39 Republicans in the Senate voted for it, the Tea Party Republicans in the House are refusing to even bring it up for a vote. Instead, they pulled a parliamentary maneuver designed to put the measure into conference committee. And now they've gone home.

Did Rogers and the Tea Party Republicans create more uncertainty for business owners who don't know how much to withhold in their employees' wages? Did they create more uncertainty for health care providers, for people on unemployment, for workers who don't know whether they will lose $1,000 out of their paychecks next year?

I'm certain they did.

Another Film Tax Credit Success Endangered by GOP

Can Michigan afford to shed another 50 jobs? Michigan Republicans think so. As they prepare to kill off the Michigan film tax credit, the Detroit Free Press reports that a Livonia film studio, Maxsar, has already hired 50 people and plans to have 100 employees by the end of the year.

That's Michigan talent, not California talent. Fifty Michigan people who didn't have to move away from their families to get work, whose pay checks are being spent at Michigan businesses and to pay Michigan taxes.

But the supposedly business-friendly Republicans are preparing to drive those jobs away.

According to the Free Press:

"Like others in the industry, Martinez is waiting to see whether changes will be made to the film incentives. Rumors about the demise of the tax breaks have already caused headaches for his business, generating fear among employees and investors.

"'We cannot make the investment to buy (the buildings) until we know the tax credit is stable,' the Northville resident said. 'If they are going to change the law, tell us now. We need some stability.'

"If the tax breaks are eliminated or scaled back significantly, Martinez said, at least half the studio's 50 employees would leave Michigan."

So that's what happens when Republican rhetoric meets reality. Michigan jobs go elsewhere.

A Reagan Memory People Like to Forget

There's been plenty of happy-talk remembering of Ronald Reagan this month, the 100th anniversary of his birth.

But people seem to be suffering from selective memories, especially when it comes to the tax cuts, which were supposed to have ignited the economy without ballooning the deficit.

But after Reagan's tax cuts passed, Michigan's unemployment rate didn't go down -- it hit 17.5 percent. Some boom.

Haven't seen that in any of the celebratory coverage.

Where Were the Biggest Job Losses in 2010?

A lot of conservatives are hyperventilating right now about that intellectually dishonest comparison of private sector and public sector jobs that Rick Snyder put out earlier this week.

So they probably would be surprised to find out where the single largest loss of jobs occurred last year.

In government. Yeah, in government.

According to final employment statistics for 2010, Michigan lost 15,000 jobs in government last year, more than any other sector, including manufacturing. Here's what the AP said:

"Over the course of 2010, the biggest employment loss was in government, which saw 15,000 jobs disappear. Michigan also lost 5,000 jobs in financial activities, 3,000 in information, 2,000 in construction and 1,000 in trade, transportation and utilities during the year. Professional and business services also lost 1,000 jobs.

"During that period, Michigan gained 11,000 manufacturing jobs. Natural resources and mining, education and health services and other services each gained 1,000 jobs."

Didn't see that in Snyder's report. Guess it wouldn't help his cause any.