Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner is echoing President Obama's false assertion that "governments don't create jobs." I can't imagine how surprised he is to receive his own paycheck every month, and I have to say, it makes me wonder exactly what he's thinking when he advocates for fiscal aid for cash-pressed states in order to ... save jobs.Presumably Geithner understands that he's just paying lip service to political prejudices about the role of government and not actually trying to say something accurate about how the economy works. But he -- and the rest of the administration's spokespeople -- don't seem to understand how doing that undermines the case for their chosen policies. The president's center-left advisers clearly believe that government ought to perform certain services and hire people for that purpose (creating "jobs") while also supporting the conditions for private hiring outside of those clearly delineated sectors. They need to make that argument, especially now.
By echoing conservative talking points that any thinking person recognizes as incorrect, not only do government officials seem a bit foolish, but they fail to present an alternative to conservative critiques of their own policies. If voters (and members of Congress) are being told that they need to prevent layoffs of government employees at the state and local level at the same time they're being told that government can't create jobs, they're bound to be confused and skeptical. If the votes aren't there for fiscal support -- even smart ideas like this to help states at low cost -- the folks in the White House shouldn't be surprised. After all, they don't have jobs. Right?
-- Tim Fernholz
