Sherrod Brown: a solar jobs deal near Toledo

THERE WAS SOME good news today by way of the Toledo Blade:

A joint announcement by Sen. Sherrod Brown and the head of the federally operated Ex-Im Bank reported that the bank will provide $455.7 million financing that will allow the First Solar Inc. plant near Toledo to produce solar panels for two solar projects in Ontario, Canada.

The paper said the 18-year government guaranteed loan will sustain jobs for 550 workers at the plant. It should be further noted that Fred Hochberg, Ex-Im Bank chairman, said such financing was needed through federal channels because without it the project could not obtain loans in the commercial lending marketplace.

There's a chance his Republican opponents will find a way to criticize Brown for the deal. They usually do if they aren't busy raising questions about global warming or damning the Feds.

Chasing our tails to create jobs?

ALL OF THE THREATS from the right to cut government workers to shave the deficit leads me to wonder...

Every government employe who loses his or her job will not be paying taxes nor spending for things at the mall in a retail-based economy.

With tax revenue shrinking at all levels of government, it will necessitate more layoffs and only the wealthiest will be spared.

As government payrolls continue to shrink, even shedding law enforcement and school teachers, there will be more unemployed.

With more unemployed, there will be still greater loss of tax revenue.

As the tax base shrinks, there will be even fewer jobs and less spending at the malls.

And so the descending process continues unabated, feeding on itself at a time when the deep thinkers are promising to create jobs.

Not being sympathetic to the Republicans' secret plans to attack unemployment and create jobs, I know I'm missing something as we continue to chase our tails to do something that will only make things worse. But what?

Sherrod Brown: It was even worse than you figured

THE PLAIN DEALER has set up its own version of a truth squad by subjecting the words of politicians to what will henceforth be known as a Truth-O-Meter. That's a rather ambitious undertaking inasmuch as pols aren't necessarily the silent types and in today's heated political culture are likely to say things today that they will deny tomorrow.

The first subject to undergo testing in absentia was Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown, who told Rachel Maddow that 22 million jobs were created under President Clinton, but only 3 million during President Bush's two terms. "The quantitative claims seemed worth checking,"wrote Stephen Koff, the PD's Washington bureau chief.

In checking out those lopsided figures, Koff wrote that Brown erred because Clinton's record was even better, and Bush's much worse:

"In doing so we found a surprise: Brown was wrong - but not in a way he's likely to mind. No fan of President George W. Bush , Brown grossly understated the poor job growth that occurred on Bush's watch.

"The comparison should have been this: Job growth through Clinton' s two terms was 22.7 million. Through Bush's two terms, it was 1.1 million."

Does anybody think that the Democratic senator won't be more than happy to revise his figures the next time the issue comes up?