Business hasn't been all that great the past four years in America. But, never fear, our president has noticed - even if it's taken him a while. His solution: a new U.S. Department of Business.
That's right. A whole new federal department would consolidate and coordinate the current six federal agencies dealing with trade and commerce so American businesses would need to contact only one, over-branching organization for help. Voilà! Problem solved.
The proposed change is supposed to simplify matters. Why do some of us suspect it would only complicate them?
Maybe because that's been the general history of government expansion in recent years. Look at the growth of federal jobs during the Obama years compared to the shrinking employment numbers in the private economy.
Now one more government agency would be added to the mix. It's all supposed to help American business. ("We're from Washington and we're here to help.") If this administration were serious about wanting to help, it would have gotten serious some time ago about cutting the taxes and red tape that burden American business, especially small business. Not add another layer of bureaucracy to all that.
Besides, doesn't the country already have a Commerce Department? Is this a reform or just duplication? Here's hoping the president was just rolling out another campaign ploy the other day - an instant solution to a problem he could no longer ignore, at least not before Election Day. Let's hope so. Because this brilliant idea sounds more like an awful one.
But it's characteristic of this president's approach to government policy. If your only tool is a hammer, you may wind up pounding away at everything in sight. Barack Obama's first, if not only, response to every economic problem is another new, expanded federal program or agency. That comes with all the expense, patronage, taxes, new hires and general waste that any new federal program brings in its complicated wake.
There's got to be a better way. In fact, there is - just get government out of the way. But that is one solution that never seems to occur to this administration.