Ohio Succeeds Despite Washington’s Efforts

All Ohioans received great news on Friday when the Bureau of Labor Statistics announced that Ohio, unlike the rest of the nation, gained jobs in May and had a slight drop in the unemployment rate. 

For those keeping track, the entire country added 69,000 jobs in the month of May.  19,600 of those came from Ohio.  This puts Ohio’s unemployment rate almost a full percent below the national average.  The last time our rate was this low compared to the national rate was in 1995.

Great news of course, but there is still work to be done and obstacles in the way.

Businesses in Ohio continue to struggle under the weight of the Obama Administration’s overbearing regulations.  The problem with our unemployment numbers is while they continue to move in the right direction, the headwinds created by the Obama’s over-regulation could easily stall our growth. 

Needless and unnecessary regulations increase costs to business owners who want to operate and hire Ohioans.  What’s the end result?  Businesses stop hiring because they are losing money faster than they can bring it in. 

Business owners like Kelley Moore and her husband Greg who own and operate four NAPA Auto Parts stores in Ohio have seen firsthand the effects of Obama’s over-regulation.  Her story was highlighted by Speaker Boehner on his website, where she discussed how they cannot afford to replace staff members when they leave due to the rising costs of the products that they sell. 

Kelley highlights, in two sentences, the problem with needless government regulations. “…And customers, they can't afford the products.  It's hard to stay profitable, keep your doors open and keep local people employed if customers aren't coming in.  Eventually, there only are so many costs you can absorb.”

Obviously it’s important that products on the shelves at the stores we shop at are safe along with the employees working in those stores.  However, instead of bureaucrats in DC imposing one-size-fits-all regulations to “fix” issues that may or may not exist maybe it’s time to work with the business community and outline the problem they’re trying to address.

Ultimately I have no doubt that the President and his allies are going to attempt to take credit for Ohio’s success.  The glaring hole in their argument is that President Obama can’t take credit for one state’s progress but blame the other 49 on someone else.

You can’t have it both ways.  If Ohio’s drastic improvement is thanks to Obama’s leadership why isn’t the rest of the nation experiencing such good news?

The President cannot take credit for Ohio’s success in the morning and enact job and small business killing regulations in the afternoon.  He would be well served by listening to people like Kelley Moore whose livelihood, and that of her employees, is being negatively affected by senseless regulations by folks who are clueless about the day-to-day struggles of small businesses.

Ohio is succeeding despite Washington, not because of it. Governor Kasich’s efforts in Ohio have seen him engage businesses, work with them to make it easier to operate, and allow them an opportunity to flourish. 

It’s time for President Obama to follow Governor Kasich’s lead.