"Economic Choices 2008"-The Job Of Improving The Employment Picture
Wednesday, January 02, 2008JEFF YASTINE: The first test of the 2008 presidential campaign is a day away. Tomorrow's Iowa caucus come as many forecasters say the economy and job growth are slowing down. So tonight our economic choices '08 coverage focuses on job creation. Darren Gersh looks at the strategies the candidates are backing to boost employment in their bids to win the biggest job of all.
DARREN GERSH, NIGHTLY BUSINESS REPORT CORRESPONDENT: The Democratic presidential candidates have seen the economic future and it is green. All of the major candidates have plans to turn renewable fuels into an engine of job growth. Barack Obama endorses that idea; so does Hillary Clinton.
SEN. HILLARY CLINTON, DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: If we get serious about solar and wind and geothermal and bio-fuels, we will be able to create what will be called green collar jobs.
GERSH: Major Democratic candidates also call for targeted incentives aimed at creating jobs. But John Edwards goes further, promising to fund one million stepping stone jobs for the poor. Economist Jared Bernstein says that will help build a bridge to permanent employment.
JARED BERNSTEIN, SR. ECONOMIST, ECONOMIC POLICY INSTITUTE: So Edwards actually has a very good idea, but it is a very small bore idea in a labor force of 140 million people, we're talking about maybe helping a million people.
GERSH: In many ways, the main focus of the Democratic presidential candidates is not job creation, but job improvement, things like boosting the minimum wage, expanding health care coverage and protecting American workers from abusive trade practices overseas. The Democratic candidates' positions are so similar, pollster Andy Kohut says voters don't see much difference on jobs. But he says they do give Democrats the edge over Republicans on handling a big economic worry.
ANDREW KOHUT, DIRECTOR, PEW RESEARCH CENTER FOR THE PEOPLE & THE PRESS: The issue is not finding a job, because we know that unemployment is not soaring. The issue is finding a good job. And when we ask people about their discontents and what they are satisfied about their jobs, it's lack of ability to move ahead, lack of ability to have a good job that is a major concern.
GERSH: To support job growth, the Republican presidential candidates focus on reducing corporate taxes, streamlining regulation and improving the economy. Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney are also perceived as candidates who've proven they can create jobs. Mitt Romney makes his successful career in business a major selling point.
MITT ROMNEY, REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: And by the way, I think it makes sense to have somebody leading the country who actually knows about business and knows why jobs come and why they go and why businesses decide to leave our shores and go somewhere else.
GERSH: The leading Republican candidates also argue free trade creates jobs at home. Nada Eissa worked at the Treasury under President George W. Bush. While economists agree trade boosts employment, she says it's not politically popular.
NADA EISSA, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR, GEORGETOWN PUBLIC POLICY INSTITUTE: The Republicans are talking about the right policy tools or instruments or approaches, but I think what's missing on that side is, at least on the free trade side, is how we're going to deal with the disruptions and the costs that are created by these policies.
GERSH: But none of the presidential candidates has proposed a real plan to address the long-run budget problems that will help determine whether the United States remains a good place to invest and create jobs. Darren Gersh, NIGHTLY BUSINESS REPORT, Washington.
