Bakersfield.com: Kern County news, events, classifieds, shopping, & search

Critics, supporters keenly interested in Obama's jobs proposal

BY COURTENAY EDELHART Californian staff writer
cedelhart@bakersfield.com | Wednesday, Sep 07 2011 08:28 PM

Last Updated Wednesday, Sep 07 2011 08:29 PM

Bakersfield College job development specialist Denise Crawford has always urged students to get internships in their fields of study, but since the onset of the economic downturn, that's become much more critical.

"I tell them they're not only competing with people who have four-year undergraduate degrees, they may be competing with people who have a masters or 25 years of work experience," said Crawford, who runs the college's placement office. "It's tough out there."

The unemployment rate in Kern County was 15.5 percent in July, above both the state's 12.4 percent unemployment rate and the 9.3 percent of the national labor force that can't find work.

That's the context for President Barack Obama's highly anticipated jobs proposal, which he will present to a joint session of Congress at 4 p.m. Pacific time Thursday.

Locally, there is keen interest in the address from White House critics and supporters alike.

Some are withholding judgment until after the president's speech.

Sate Sen. Jean Fuller, R-Bakersfield, declined an interview request Wednesday, saying through a spokeswoman that it would be appropriate to respond to the president's remarks after they are delivered.

U.S. Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Bakersfield, also declined an interview request. An aide said he was traveling and had already made his position clear in an op-ed piece he wrote for The Californian earlier this week.

In Sunday's newspaper, the congressman wrote that "excessive government intervention" in the economy is stifling job growth.

"Job creators aren't nearly as likely to take the risks that have brought about the innovations that have made America great with a giant cloud of uncertainty hanging over them," he wrote.

Assemblyman David Valadao, R-Hanford, said he was anxious to hear what the president has to say, but dubious.

"People throughout the United States, and especially in Kern County, have made it perfectly clear that they want their elected leaders to support policies that encourage job growth," he said. "However, to date, this administration has done nothing to provide flexibility for small businesses to expand their workforce.

"Redistributing taxpayer money to other taxpayers in the form of stimulus bills and bailouts has not worked. If the president is serious about job creation and getting our economy back on track, he should support efforts to remove barriers and burdensome regulations on job creators."

That sentiment is shared by most Republicans, who are wary of an expanding deficit that has not produced promised jobs.

Susan Moxley, 53, is a homemaker and past president of Bakersfield Republican Women Federated.

She'd like to see both the White House and Congress get out of the way and let private companies do what they do best.

"Just leave us alone and let us work and produce," she said.

In Kern County, specifically, Moxley would like to see the approval process for oil drilling simplified and streamlined.

"All the rules and regulation are holding us back," she said. "I'm seeing more diversion than direction from Washington."

Nationally, organized labor has been rallying behind the president ahead of his speech, and local unions for the most part were no different.

Donny Williams, 46, is president of the Central Labor Council for Kern, Inyo, and Mono Counties.

He said Obama has done the best he can with a Republican-controlled Congress bent on blocking his every move.

"He is trying to turn to both sides for remedies, and only one side is willing to consider remedies that are economically feasible," Williams said.

Republicans say they want tax cuts to stimulate job growth, but they are unwilling to touch tax write offs and subsidies that benefit corporations and the extremely rich, he said.

Williams repeated the Democrats' mantra that the nation should invest in its infrastructure to create construction jobs and stimulate the economy.

"We need a WPA-type program to get people off the welfare rolls and working in public works jobs," Williams said.

State Sen. Michael Rubio, D-Shafter, said he'd like to see the federal approval process for public works projects already in the pipeline in California streamlined.

"If we could expedite those projects that require federal review, that won't cost any extra money and is a surefire way to get people back to work," he said.

Ken Beurmann, vice president of business development for Goodwill Industries of South Central California, said he'd like to see politicians more thoroughly weight the pros and cons of extending unemployment insurance benefits.

Goodwill, a nonprofit agency that provides vocational training to people with barriers to employment, would like to hire more employees but is limited by its obligation to pay unemployment.

"That's real dollars going out the door that could be used to create more jobs and put more people to work," Beurmann said.

U.S. Rep. Jim Costa, D-Fresno, said he'd like to see a number of reforms.

The business community needs a "clear signal" about a "user-friendly regulatory environment," he said.

There also needs to be significant investment in the nation's infrastructure, and a meaningful, effective plan to help the huge number of Central Valley homeowners teetering on the verge of foreclosure because their mortgages are higher than the value of their homes, he said.

Whatever the president proposes, Costa added, he hopes there will be a bipartisan spirit of cooperation to roll up sleeves and get the job done.

He pointed to the massive sell-off on Wall Street after the debt ceiling crisis and the resulting downgrade of the nation's credit rating as an example of what can happen when Democrats and Republicans don't work together.

"We need to put the partisan bickering behind us and do what's good for the country," Costa said.