Growth Needed to Tackle Vets Unemployment—Not Another Government Program
In his weekly radio address on Saturday, President Obama continued to insist upon his ill-conceived “Veterans Jobs Corps” proposal as a solution for reducing unemployment among vets. What a misguided idea.
This is an issue we’ve covered repeatedly here at Concerned Veterans for America (CVA), but it’s worth walking through one more time: if we want to put veterans to work, we need economic growth, not another government scheme. Our CEO Pete Hegseth made this argument forcefully in National Review last month.
The Veterans Jobs Corps scheme was checked in the Senate last month—it’s for the best that this questionable boondoggle was stopped. This development resulted in the predictable round of accusations from the bill’s supporters accusing their adversaries of “not caring” about veterans, which is nonsense.
It’s unfortunate that partisans immediately stoop to smears and questioning motivations, rather than debating the policy points fairly. (This overheated blog post, which accuses senators who questioned the efficacy of the Veterans Jobs Corps concept of “betraying” veterans, is a case in point.) As an Air Force veteran, I also want to see my compatriots placed into good jobs after they leave the service; the question is how to achieve that end most effectively.
Democrats and Republicans want the same end here—both want to get veterans into good jobs after their service to this nation. The dispute arises over the best way to get there. Should it be through a broader agenda of economic growth (“a rising tide lifts all boats”), or through another targeted hiring program that, if history is any guide, will fall short of its goals?
I say we should vote for growth—Washington needs to focus on getting spending and debt under control now, and maintain sensible, pro-growth tax policies that will allow the private sector to thrive. That’s the way forward to bring down the jobless rate for both veterans and the wider American workforce.
Darin Selnick is an independent consultant and a member of the Concerned Veterans for America’s organizing committee.
Ed Payne
Oct 09, 2012 @ 20:06:39
Mark, good point. And to further aggravate the issue, prior enlisted are competing against the abundance of college degreed and absolutely NO credit is given for military service to counterbalance the comparison. Even if a Military Police were given “certified” status, your military service counts for nothing.
mark
Oct 09, 2012 @ 15:30:51
number one issue for many veterans is that appropriate translation of military training, skills, experience, etc into a civilian equivalent job. example: Military Police are not “certified” (state or federal level) in Law Enforcement, when they should be. even if its a provisional certificate for 1 year until they are employed as in Law Enforcement. i could easily go through many “mos’s” (specialties) and listed appropriate Certificates/ Licensing, etc
Dee Lucas
Oct 09, 2012 @ 16:13:14
Bring our military home to protect our borders. Train them for special forces for civil unrest like in Detroit. Have a special team ready when the Police Unions go on strike. Have a special team ready when Fire fighters Union go no strike. They would have to be non Union!
Ed Payne
Oct 09, 2012 @ 15:08:53
Agreed! I would add “reduce the size and scope of the federal government as the means to reduce deficit and the debt”, otherwise your just shuffling the deck chairs. We need to keep in mind, that our current political environment focuses on buying votes with tax dollars and we need to change that.