Obama Jobs Speech Score-At-Home Scorecard

I've written a few pieces on suggestions for job creation.

One focused on the stimulus: December 25, 2009 - WSJ: Put Down That Shovel

and another focused on opportunity: August 8, 2011 - WSJ: Five Ideas to Kick-Start Job Creation

Below is a handy-dandy guide for President Obama's September 8 Jobs Speech so you can score at home. Put a check mark next to announced programs - win valuable prizes.

1. Climb poles for wireless - every streetlight can be a wireless access point, let's get workers climbing poles to build a new wireless infrastructure
2. Dig fiber ditches - solve the bandwidth constraint by hiring workers to dig ditches to bring fiber to every neighborhood and home
3. Sequence proteins - and identify cancer signatures to enable early detection of disease, especially expensive to treat cancer
4. Lighten backpacks - scan textbooks and issue Kindles or the like, so that 5th graders have 20 pounds less to carry on their backs
5. Scan medical records - doctors are too lazy (or conflicted) to do it. The information unlocked will provide extremely valuable to lowering healthcare costs and improving outcomes.
6. Require Time of Use electric meters - get price signals from the electric grid. Much more effective for conservation than outlawing incandescent light bulbs.
7. Free spectrum - lots of spectrum is in the wrong hands so make them use it or lose it, PLUS, technology allows us to share spectrum rather than "own" it in the first place
8. Disease diagnostics - same as sequence proteins from above, but something so important has been ignored, so worth mentioning twice
9. End the mail monopoly - end the Postal Service first and third class mail monopoly and entrepreneurs will come out of the woodwork with new services
10. Frack this - encourage hydraulic fracturing for natural gas by having drillers post bond for environmental damage
11. Government as a platform - make agencies post an API (Application Programming Interface) and watch entrepreneurs write clever code to harness government
12. Rental society - allow a six month foreclosure amnesty so home prices seek the correct price and a vibrant rental market can blossom

With double counting, there are really 10 ideas.

Give one point for each mentioned.

Subtract one point for:

• Spending on (or Infrastructure Bank for) highways and bridges
• Spending for Green jobs
• Temporary tax incentive to hire workers
• Extending jobless benefits
• Extending payroll tax reduction
• Direct transfers to states and cities

IMHO, any positive number means we head towards 8% unemployment by Election Day.

Comments

[Aaron Klein]

Brilliant. Can't wait to score at home.

[David]

How about something directed toward restoring access to capital for small business?

[Kurt Hinz jr]

Excellent guide, Andy. Though most points require a breakup of a monopoly (eg. Postal Service, Government as a platform *brilliant*) or fights against special interest (eg. Sequence proteins, Free spectrum). But as a leader Obama should look at the list...

Oh and I especially like "4) Lighten backpacks" -- our kids ruin their backs, I say that as an amateur weightlifter (you know: snatch / clean & jerk)!

David, capital for small business will come automatically when unemployment drops, it just takes a little time and it requires entrepreneurs & business folks to change their mindset, adjust to the current markets, we can't always get a hand-out, just because there's a dip in the business-cycle.

[Earnestine29Wilder]

According to my exploration, millions of people on our planet receive the business loans from different banks. So, there's good possibilities to receive a small business loan in every country.

[Tcook]

great ideas

what about

Legalize Marijuna- tax it at the state and federal level. This will put profits in the hands of taxpayers and not drug dealers. It will reduces expenses for our legal system.

Remove global taxation of US Citizens-the wealthy of the world avoid the US and living here because of our global tax system. Only tax income generate in the US.

[Bob Allard]

Love the list, Andy. Creative, not filled with negatives or politics. Hard to argue with more productivity, better healthcare and more transparent accountability!
Looking forward to giving POTUS a high score. I'm an optimist!

[Denzel Washington]

I like So, there's good possibilities to receive a small business loan in every country.GOoD Luck

[Ewan McGregor]

David, capital for small business will come automatically when unemployment drops, it just takes a little time and it requires entrepreneurs..GooD luck

[Amy Sterling Casil]

Andy, most textbooks are available in digital versions. Schools and teachers just need to adapt. I'd use them in a heartbeat, especially if they would help bring down excessive textbook prices. And you know why those are so high . . . And some of those textbook companies even get authors and teachers to contribute for free! Luv all you do . . .

[mattress reviews]

Impressive blog! -Arron