The seventy-six million people born between 1946-1964 are the baby boomers. Pollster John Zogby posed this question last summer to 4,000 Americans: “What will be the historic legacy of baby boomers? Forty-two percent said boomers had “ushered in an era of consumerism and self-indulgence.” That’s why they are also called the “me generation”. The boomers are the healthiest and wealthiest generation ever.

The first boomers will turn 65 next year. Forget all the debt that will be left to our kids, their taxes will have to go way up to pay for all the Social Security and Medicare boomers will need. There is no hope that the politicians can figure this one out and come up with a workable solution.

Boomers are not only draining national resources but are sucking the life out of the job market. The unemployment rate for kids of the boomers is 40%. The situation will worsen as boomers delay retirement to pay their debts and prepare for costs of aging.

So what is the answer? Short of euthanasia, is there anything the boomers can do to help the economy? I believe there is. Not only are boomers the biggest generation, they are the most educated and skilled. It is time to use our mental skills and get creative.

Our mindset needs to move from jobs, jobs, jobs to create, create, create. Stop looking for government handouts, stay away from the job fairs, delete the resume, and use your education and experience to start small businesses by the millions. The goal is no longer to be rich and retired but to be resourceful and rewarding to the next generation.

There has never been a time like this, when a person can start a new business on a dime. Technology is cheap and online start-ups can turn into global enterprises overnight. Recent economic history has shown the rise of the service industry. I’ve seen everything from dog poop cleanup services to auto repair services that come to your door.

Unions, Wall Street, and government can only think in terms of big companies. But it is the small businesses that will save America and create jobs. There are stats galore about baby boomers. I would like to add a couple to the list. Beginning in 2010, how many businesses did they start and how many people did they hire?

We will have to create alone. Unions will not support us for obvious reasons. Wall Street will not notice us and we will not have the money to buy political clout.

Creating jobs is a legacy to die for.

The trinity of Obama’s economic team is Timothy Geithner, Larry Summers, and Peter Orszag. Orszag is the lead romantic after recently having a love child with one woman while scheduled to marry another in October. Geithner was the head of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and Summers was the President of Harvard. The press has made it clear that these guys are the greatest economic minds on the planet.

Obama and his team continually remind us of the economic disaster they inherited from Bush. Bush and the republicans spent taxpayer money like lottery winners and left the country heavy in debt. I agree with Obama that their task  to lead America out of this terrible economy was monumental. After a year in charge the only difference between the Bush team and the Obama team is the gambling style. Instead of spending like lottery winners Obama’s boys spend like gamblers in Vegas using other peoples money with no limits.

Here is a list of Obama economic polices that leave me scratching my head:

• Continue giving money to banks “too big to fail” with no accountability. It’s like leaving a room full of 3rd grade boys with the comment, “now play nice while I am gone”.
• In spite of the increasing national debt, spend over a trillion dollars and call it stimulus. Most of the money went to other over-spending government entities (state and local) to save them from bankruptcy. There were no jobs or recovery, but the message changed. Now the company line is that the stimulus saved us from a second depression.
• Take ownership of GM. GM’s financial problems came from a ridiculous system of payroll and benefits for life, requiring a huge increase in car prices. What would happen if McDonald’s paid their employees $30 an hour and allowed retirement at 19 with pension and healthcare benefits for life? The golden arches would become the gray monuments. Since when can a government run a large ineffective business in a competitive environment? Is it any surprise that Ford is winning the car wars?
• Obama’s gut busting budget. In the midst of increasing debt what do econonuts do? Spend twice as much as you bring in. They have proposed a $4 trillion budget when we will only have money for $2 trillion.
• The second coming of stimulus! The first stimulus did so well and $14 trillion in debt is just not enough. To these guys the road to jobs, jobs, jobs, is spend, spend, spend.
• The largest entitlement ever. With Social Security and Medicare struggling financially, Obama says we need nationalized healthcare. This would be the largest and most costly entitlement in the history of the nation.

I am seeing more nutty than genius from this economic team. There is one rule that every government, family, and business should follow – live within your means. Do they teach that at Harvard?

The mystery number is how many new jobs are there? How many businesses filed for licenses, how many existing companies expanded, and how many employees will be needed to support these? How many new independent contractors are there? In a country this size there has to be a large number of new positions being created every month for there to be economic strength. New jobs are the key to recovery and growth.

Recently it was announced that there were 432,000 new claims for unemployment for the month. This was viewed as positive since they were predicting 452,000. To me, the number is tragic if there were no new jobs created in the month. On the other hand, this number would not be as bad if we knew that 1 million new jobs were generated during the same time.

The press is quick to point out how many jobs have been shipped overseas. I never hear a single mention of the jobs started right here by new ventures. We fret when hearing about a thousand jobs lost overseas to local people being paid one dollar per hour. But who cares, if at the same time, a thousand new jobs are added here that pay thirty dollars per hour?

I assume most of the jobs info comes from Unions and big business. I wonder how much of the data is directly from small business? Since 70% of the jobs in the country are through small business why is that sector not the most important one to track? I would like to see two reports for each job number from the Labor Department. One report should reflect the numbers from small business and the other from Wall Street companies, Unions, and government.

Here is a simple explanation about how the jobs numbers are viewed. Take a company with 50,000 employees. They can layoff 5,000 people to improve their bottom line and be rewarded on Wall Street for cutting costs and improving profits. The unemployment rate will go up a little but the economy, to the econo-nuts (economists), will be fine. If the company hires back a couple thousand along the way then the economy will be viewed as smoking. All the while we still have unemployment, a majority of the population remains struggling, and we get our butts kicked in the global market.

Obama wants green jobs, I want jobs. When individuals in this country get serious about starting new ventures and getting productive, our economy will swell. First we must get green (money), then we can go green (environment).

Obama and his team of economic geniuses are slapping themselves on the back for doing such a great job with the economy. They saved us from a second great depression. Wall Street rejoices over a 19% increase in stock prices in 2009 and predicts a profitable 2010. BUT THERE ARE NO JOBS. Sometimes I hate economics.

Our politicians need to hear this refrain, “it’s about jobs, stupid!” They celebrate when job losses are fewer than expected. The last report on unemployment insurance claims for the month was 432,000. This was wonderful because Wall Street predicted 452,000. The politicians are falling over themselves to take credit for this encouraging trend.

Here’s what is funny about economics. If that report had shown 462,000 claims filed, the stock market would have crumbled and the politicians would be finger pointing. Their whole discussion centers on the 20,000 that did not file. Do you realize this 20,000 number is imaginary? There is only one real number in this report – 432,000 authentic, flesh and blood Americans are added to the rolls of the unemployed. This should sicken our leaders.

The politicians need to wake up to one other lagging indicator – the people’s confidence. Obama said at the signing of the first stimulus bill that unemployment would not go beyond 8%. When it quickly exceeded the 8% his response was that he did not realize just how bad a job George W. Bush had done. Too bad there are no real reporters to ask probing questions anymore. A good one at that point would have been, “Mr. President, what real numbers or facts have come to light since you have taken office to support that comment?”

At the first of December Obama had a “jobs summit”. A day for all the geniuses to discuss the unemployment problem. At the time, I wondered about the purpose of this meeting since we were in recovery and jobs, as we know, are a lagging indicator. I think they wanted to show us how serious they were about finding solutions, a PR show. Of course, no ideas or answers came out. I found it interesting that there was enough wealth in that room to create thousand of jobs, but that idea was probably not offered.

Honestly, I do believe they care about jobs. They just don’t know what to do. I don’t think they can do much. Bill Clinton still raves about all that he did for the economy during the 90′s. I laugh at this because he didn’t do squat. Bill Gates created thousand jobs and millionaires to boot during the 90′s. Thank him and hundreds of other business owners who gave us a great decade of economic prosperity.

My advice to Obama and the rest of the Washington crowd is to admit the government’s impotence to quickly solve the jobs problem. The one thing they can do is listen. Spend time doing some door to door work among the small businesses who have laid off workers recently. Find out what it would take for them to hire more workers. Entrepreneurs must feel confident to take risks. Leadership should inspire confidence, even when the ship is sinking.

The Obama administration is focused on handouts rather than incentives. On the business side their only relationships are with big Wall Street companies that can sponsor golf tournaments and campaigns. His economic advisers are academics trying to bring classroom economics theory into a real world jobs crisis. You can’t drive a nail with a textbook.

Small business is the key to economic recovery, jobs, and prosperity. The only thing offered to small business so far from this administration is an empty promise of loans that have to be paid back. Do you really believe a lot of people are willing to risk taking out a loan at this time with the Healthcare Bill and the Cap and Trade Bill being rammed down their throats? There is also the promise that small businesses will be taxed if they gross over $250,000 a year. Not much incentive at the moment.

Obama is famous for all his czars. He just lost his green jobs czar, Van Johnson, but green jobs are about as realistic as the Lions winning the Super Bowl. If Obama is going to continue blowing trillions to stimulate the economy he needs a small business jobs czar with some immediate plans. I am not applying for the job, but I do have some ways to spend government money that would wipe out unemployment.

1. For every business willing to hire someone for 3 months the government will pay their first months salary.

2. Payroll taxes kill employees and small business. Since payroll taxes consume around 25% of an individuals paycheck, for every person that a business hires the government will eliminate payroll taxes for one year on 4 employees.

3. Give out 1 million grants worth $5,000 each to individuals willing to start their own independent contractor business. Submit a plan for a hot dog stand, on-site oil changing van, landscaper, pet hotel, or a hundred other ideas. Since people will not have to pay the money back, it will be easier to take a risk to go out on their own. The cost will be same as the cash for clunkers program. Wanna bet which program would do more for the economy?

4. Inspire ideas and bold plans by offering 100,000 grants for $100,000 each to businesses with the best business plans. Award the grants to the businesses with the best ideas for hiring the most people.

5. How about a holiday special from the government? For every two full time employees added to a business the government will pay a third one for 1 year. Call it the “Hire 2 Get 1 Free Special”.

6. Make the economy more important than climate hysteria. Subsidize small companies to get into oil drilling, refineries, nuclear power, and natural gas production. Did you know that a refinery has not been built anywhere in the United States in 30 years? Change the regulations and grant permits so they can compete with the big boys. Make capitalism fun again! The added plus of stiffing the middle eastern boys makes me smile.

7. Add your own idea here. There are so many possibilities.

I’m glad the government is extending unemployment payments, but there is no incentive there to produce anything. Providing healthcare for the uninsured is good, but if there was national prosperity it would not be an issue. A door leading to entitlements will never open to economic security or wealth.

Obama may be the most inspiring speaker we have ever had as president. He could do so much to encourage us to get out of our comfort zones by taking risks and working hard. His vision is take money from the rich,  give it to the government, and create entitlements for the poor and elderly. His vision should simpler – eliminate poverty with jobs.

Cinderella kept the household alive by doing all the filthy chores and she was constantly at the beck and call of the other 3 women. The Prince was looking for a wife and announced a grand ball. The mother went into high gear planning the wardrobe for her two invited daughters. Cinderella did the work and prepared the dresses. She wasn’t invited but dreamed of attending. The sisters taunted her, saying she would never be welcome at such a high affair.

Cinderella cried after the sisters left. Her resourceful Fairy Godmother appeared and turned her rags into a gown, a pumpkin into a carriage, mice into horses, a rat into a coachman, and lizards into footmen. She went to the ball and won the Prince’s heart. (The Fairy Godmother represents wisdom and common business sense.) Hopefully you remember about the clock striking midnight, the slipper, and the Prince with “The Audacity of Hope”. He searched for his true love, his meaning, and answers to the fears and problems in his kingdom.

Obama has pulled out all the stops to save our economy, but he has only invited the ugly sisters (banks too big to fail and Wall Street). Small business, like Cinderella, has not been invited to the party. I bet there were not many small business owners at his recent $15,000 a plate fundraisers. Small business represents 70% of our economy.  They are THE answer to the unemployment problem. Small business people are the innovators turning pumpkins into carriages and mice into workers.

Big government and Prince Obama gave GM $50 billion back in the summer to keep them in business. Since then they have closed dealerships, factories, and layed off thousands. There are 5 million small businesses in this country. Imagine how many jobs would have been created if that money had been given to them. Have a contest and give the money to the biggest and best ideas. Reward creativity for a change instead of companies skilled in trading derivatives and other sneaky financial games. Tell small businesses that if they hire new people their payroll taxes will be eliminated for one year. The unemployment rate will be gone in a month.

Barack has the slipper. It won’t fit the fat feet of Wall Street. He needs to search the heartland, the rust belt, companies with 20 employees, and small towns to find what works in this country. The clock is striking midnight.

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