Congress Must Act to Boost Economy and Let Companies Create Jobs

I had been trying to write an editorial for Political Talk questioning whether President Obama will abandon  his economic policies  that have worsened the economy, admit he has been wrong and adopt policies that might work.  Specifically will he extend the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts and agree to changes in the health plan. According to some members of his administration, he will not agree to those changes, or as some of them put it, he "will not let polls influence his decisions."

Unemployed workers are more than statistics; they are human beings and they are suffering.  They need companies to begin hiring.  However, companies need certainty on taxes and they do not have that now, but many fear that taxes, especially for some industries, could cripple them, thus they are reluctant to expand and to hire.

Being unable to marshal my thoughts, I gave it a rest and picked up the new copy of LSU Alumni News and saw information about some people I have known very well.  Douglas Starr, like me a World War II veteran and a 1950 graduate from the School of Journalism,  has retired from teaching journalism at Texas A & M. Now that is a career.  He worked for Associated Press and several papers before entering academia.

Nelson Stokley, former LSU quarterback and coach of Louisiana-Lafayette, has passed away. Stokley was one of the most exciting LSU players ever and would have been among the all-time greats except for injuries.  He helped the Tigers win the Cotton Bowl in 1966 and the Sugar Bowl in 1968.  Players from Homer played in those games.  I think Arkansas was ranked  No. 2  in the nation and LSU won 14-7.

Jerry Stovall will be inducted into the National Foundation's Football Hall of  Fame  December 7.  It is a well deserved honor; Stovall was All-American his senior year and was runner-up for the Heisman trophy.  He said Fred Miller, of Homer, was the best lineman he played with.  Fred also made All-American.

Back to remarks on the economy and the unemployment that have the nation in its grip. I fear that Obama will take some action and the action he takes will be wrong and will make matters worse.  He is considering levying more taxes  on energy, a terrible action if it is done.  Oil and gas provide jobs to more than 9 million. Adding taxes would  send more rigs overseas and force us to import more oil.  Instead, we could build more rigs and do more drilling to become self-sufficient in energy and add hundreds of thousands of jobs.

 Congress needs the guts to take action, refusing  to join the president in further destroying the economy.  It will take only a simple majority vote to extend the tax cuts, which alone will encourage companies to add jobs. We have too many cowards in congress.