Yesterday, in Toledo, Ohio, Barack Obama laid out part of his plan for economic recovery. Here are two components:

1) A $3,000 tax credit per new job a business creates.
2) An elimination of taxes on unemployment benefits.

Of all the hare-brained ideas. Okay, let's look at these two things individually. They are stupid enough that way. Then we will look at them together.

1) The cost for any business to create a job is very very very high. Quite possibly $100,000 or more for the expansion required to create just one job in many industries. A $3,000 tax credit really doesn't help. Now, what if I as an employer just want to be patriotic and add a new employee for the heck of it, and take my Obama tax credit? A new employee, at even minimum wage, with health insurance, taxes, and other benefits, will easily run ten times the $3,000 tax credit.

2) No taxes on unemployment benefits. There are a couple of problems here but one certainly is that most folks who go through a period of unemployment end up with a fairly low income and their taxes will be minimal anyway.

But, let's put the two together. A tax credit to encourage businesses to add jobs and then a benefit to those on unemployment which actually encourages them to stay on unemployment?!?!?!

Of all the hair-brained ideas, this just about tops them all. This is something that even my 10-year-old can tell you makes no sense.

Absolutely insane.

That's it. I have been fairly undecided on who I was going to vote for. Not any longer.