Lack of jobs increasingly blamed on uncertainty created by Obama’s policies

Conservatives like Shlaes see this open-ended centralization of power in the hands of federal government bureaucrats occurring in both the health and financial regulation bills.

In the case of the health bill, for example, Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels, a Republican, said in a recent speech that the answer to every question that his state government asks about the new law’s impact is: “We won’t know until the regs come out.”

Daniels said there are over 200 instances where the law says the government “may” do something and about 100 portions of the law that says the Secretary of Health and Human Services “may determine” something.

“There are an awful lot of unknowns in there,” Daniels said of the health law.

As for the financial regulation bill, it was high on the list of “government initiatives that will cause slower rather than faster growth” in a 54-page letter sent by Seidenberg and the Business Roundtable to Obama’s budget director, Peter Orszag.

“Much of the language is vague and will need to be implemented through regulation; uncertainty surrounding the specifics of those regulations is inhibiting growth right now,” the letter said, estimating that the financial regulation bill will cost the U.S. economy about 100,000 jobs per year.

The White House insisted this week they are doing their best to improve the unemployment situation.

“We continue to work towards improving our economy, creating an environment for job creation,” said White House press secretary Robert Gibbs.

Gibbs cited a measure moving through Congress to spend $30 billion on support for small and medium size community banks to encourage them to lend money, ostensibly to small businesses. The bill has passed the House but not yet the Senate.

The $30 billion measure has been held up, however, as Republicans have forced Democrats to pay for virtually every cent of new spending they authorize in recent weeks, bringing the upper chamber to a virtual standstill due to Democrats’ refusal to budge on certain measures.

Combined with the recent sovereign debt crisis in Greece and other parts of Europe, as well as the slowing pace of job creation over the last two months, fresh fears about another down turn are combining with the regulatory and tax burdens businesses see coming down the pike.

“You don’t hire when you’re fearful,” former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said last week, on CNBC.

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