Obama's Jobs for Lawyers Bill

President Obama’s Jobs Bill Would Make It Illegal To Refuse To Hire The Unemployed

Yes, the headline means exactly what it says. It will officially be made illegal to refuse to hire someone because s/he is unemployed. Businesses may not state in any way that unemployed persons will not be considered for hiring. And as the post's author, Doug Mataconis, points out,

It’s not hard to see how employers might respond to something like this. They’ll be more selective in setting forth job critera in an effort to discourage people from applying. They’ll be rethink how much they’re willing to pay employees given the possibility of increased legal expenses down the road. And, in some cases, they’ll be less willing to hire new employees if it isn’t worth the risk of exposing themselves to harassment by attorneys with dollars signs in their eyes. The only profession that this part of the bill is a “jobs bill” for, then, is the legal profession, which also happens to be one of the Obama campaigns biggest supporters.

Doug is a lawyer, by the way. He continues:

Employers who aren’t hiring the long-term unemployed right now are doing so because they can afford to by choosy in a glutted labor market, and because there are often legitimate concerns about whether someone’s skill set has deteriorated over the course of their unemployment. Who are we to say that employers are wrong to think this way and that they should be forbidden from making this decision?

Well, Doug, "we" are not the ones saying it. It is the statist Imperium saying it. It is the self-anointed elitist, political class that long ago decided it knows what's best for us lumpen proles. After all, this president is of the very same party that thinks what this US Representative said aloud: Dem Congresswoman: "You Don't Deserve To Keep All" Of Your Money:



But wait! Perhaps there is good news: Harry Reid: No Rush On President Obama’s Jobs Bill

That doesn’t exactly sound like the fierce urgency of now:

Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, the majority leader, has said he will put the bill on the legislative calendar but has declined to say when. He almost certainly will push the bill — which Mr. Obama urged Congress to pass “right now!” — until after his chamber’s recess at the end of the month; Mr. Reid has set votes on disaster aid, extensions for the Federal Aviation Administration and a short-term spending plan ahead of the jobs bill.

Okay, so Reid doesn't want this monkey on his back. But wait: just yesterday the president said, "I'd like to work my way around Congress."

I have to wonder, though: if Obama wants to make it illegal to refuse to hire the unemployed, would he also agree to make it illegal for any unemployed person to refuse to accept the first job s/he is offered? If not, why not? (And I am not suggesting that be done, just wondering whether the president would agree to both sides of a coin. I'm guessing no.)