The Obamacrats truly do not know what to do.

President Obama and the Obamacrats seem to have no idea what to do to help the economy. It is a staggering truth that even the liberal media is recognizing. here is how the NY Times put it this morning:

"Democrats are entering the fall sprint to the midterm elections lacking a unifying message to address the lackluster economy, scrambling to come up with further job-creating remedies and out of time to show substantial results before voters go to the polls."

According to the Times, Obama is not taking the lead even on the issue of whether or not to extend the Bush tax cuts for everyone for at least a year. The Democrats have splintered on this issue, with many agreeing that it would be crazy to raise taxes on anyone in the middle of a recession since this would be a big blow to the economy.

Obama may come forward next week with two ideas: making the business research and development tax credit permanent and tax incentives for green jobs. This is less than nothing. The business r&d tax credit has been in place for decades; it has always been a "temporary" measure, however, so that it would not show up in future budget projections. Every time it comes close to expiring, it gets extended. so for Obama to propose making it permanent means he is proposing nothing new.

The tax credits for green jobs have also been in place in the past. The problem with this credit, however, is that the economy already has all the green jobs that can be supported. No area of the economy has gotten more government support. We are now at the point where further support, absent further development in the technology, is just the government paying to have people employed in jobs that could not exist once government subsidies stop. That is a nonsensical way to spend federal funds.

One idea that has been proposed among economists and business men has been a holiday for payment of the payroll tax. That would put money into workers pockets by, in essence, raising their take home pay by about 8%. It would also give employers a savings of a similar amount on new hires. This would be a way to get money circulating in the economy, encourage growth and encourage hiring. While not perfect, it is far preferable to credits for green jobs. The payroll tax holiday would help everyone, not just those favored by the federal government.

So what is Obama's response? Here again is the NY Times this morning: "
The president and his team have ruled out a broad-based payroll tax holiday to promote hiring, officials say"

So that brings us back to the basic problem; Obama does not have a clue what to do. Obama likes to use the analogy of a car with the Democrats being D for drive and the Republicans being R for reverse. The truth is that having a car in drive without having any idea where to go is not a wonderful thing. The American people will tolerate going in circles only fo so long. Then comes November.