Sacrificing the environment to create jobs is pretty much the size of it. Big Oil, is not too happy about the "on again" "off again" Keystone pipeline deal. With a $7 Billion dollar investment were talking about sustaining and creating a lot of jobs. With all of Obama's talk about creating jobs and the Jobs Act, you would think getting this deal done would be a no brainer right? Wrong. It's never that simple when it comes to politics. Some believe that Big Oil has little if any credibility given recent debacles like the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Come to think about, they just might have a point.

How can you get mad at environmentalists when Big Oil comes to town and rewrites law and create their own rules as they go? After all, who really wants another Exxon Valdes disaster, not that the BP blunder in the Gulf was anything minor. The point is that Big Oil comes to town holding jobs over the heads of the towns that need them most. What's wrong with that? On its face nothing, but when you factor in the midnight sign-offs which include extremely favorable conditions for Big Oil, that's something different. Now let's factor in the loose or non-existent regulations during drilling and exploration, now you have a recipe for a disaster in the making. These companies will always cut corners for cheap labor, supplies, tools and technology at the expense of the environment. Creating jobs is definitely a good thing but then again having a safe clean toxic free environment is a good thing too. Why is finding a happy medium such a hard thing to do? Instead we just want to go off half-cocked and screw the environment to create a few jobs and make record profits. Do better people. Do better.

With somewhere near 14 million people out of work, who needs a job anyway sounds like a dumb question huh? Well maybe it sounds dumb but it's really a question worth thinking about. In an advanced society with the GDP of the United States, what real economic drivers exist to create the jobs necessary to lower the unemployment rate to say something like 5%? Well, first and foremost, if I said it once, I said it a million times; no economic driver means no new jobs. Second, the private sector is the largest producer of jobs yet not many jobs are springing up from the private sector (perhaps due to no economic driver maybe?) which can likely be attributed to a lack of motivation to be innovative. Why take a leap into the unknown to be innovative if you are productive with the people you have and making a pretty decent profit doing so? Simply put employers are productive and unmotivated to take on new business initiatives. This is contrary to the trending side talk that it is in fact a lack of access to capital, low interest rate loans and so on. Sure, those factors are important to small businesses that employ less than 25 people but otherwise there simply is not any motivation for companies to hire.

So how do you motivate companies to hire? Well for starters, maybe it is a good idea to start thinking about whether or not it is a good idea to reward companies for moving jobs and cash overseas after they have amassed wealth in the United States. Come on really now, how many native Chinese, Japanese or Russian companies move a large percentage of their presence to the United States while leaving their native country hanging? It just does not happen but the US allows companies to do just that. This is the ugly side of capitalism that no one wants to discuss. Now assuming that wasn't the case, perhaps it's a good idea to transform the culture of the US such that everyday citizens believe in and become a part of the growth of the Country instead of simply expecting that it's someone else's responsibility to provide jobs to spend and live in blissful ignorance. Lastly, this idea that 5% unemployment is the benchmark that determines if the economy is doing well is in a word - outdated. Wake up folks 5% unemployment is a thing of the past. Move on. With technology and increased efficiency there simply is less and less need to create jobs to make the same if not better profit margins. So maybe, just maybe who needs a job anyway isn't such a dumb question after all.

Looking for a new opportunity in banking? Well Chase is looking to hire a few people for various retail outfits. A fly on the wall thinks the positions are mostly bank teller positions but may also include a few managerial positions. If you're background is banking, than you undoubtedly already know Chase is one of the largest US banks which, also, originally stood in line with the other big banks (Citi & BankofAmerica) for a share of the banker’s bailout. Later, Chase changed their position and didn't receive any bailout cash from the Feds. So, maybe that's a good sign of Chase's financial standing. On the flip side, Chase is coming in high on the charts in the customer service hall of shame. So that might be something to consider. Then again, a job is a job and working for Chase could very well be the resume sparkle you desperately need. So, the long and short of the situation - Chase is hiring.

Well would you look at that, the economy does have the ability to add jobs and finally put this recession thing in the rear view mirror. Sounds like i'm speaking french or something right? Nope you heard right, the economy actually added jobs last month and more than just a few. With the addition of 244,000 plus jobs, that's a sweet addition, especially if you're one of the lucky ones added to the payroll. Sure, it's not the 250,000 that Economic Oracles say is the golden job recovery number, but hey that's close enough especially considering the laughable hiring numbers lately. Now the big test is how long will the economy sustain this growth or is this a one hit wonder to get everyone revved up with warm fuzzes so you'll go out and spend up that big income tax refund check on a new iPad2 or perhaps the new BlackBerry tablet?

One thing is certain, it's definitely time to get on with the business as usual. That of course means hiring, expanding and more sales for companies. After all, the last 12 - 24 months or so, companies really have been using the economic climate or at least perception of things being doom and gloom to get a considerable productivity boost out of operations. Hey, there's nothing wrong with efficiency and productivity but at some point you stretch people thin and the productivity gains quickly turn into losses - in a New York minute as the saying goes. Anyway, let the good time roll and how about that BlackBerry tablet, it's sweet isn't it? Best Buy can keep up the supply of those unlike with the iPad2 [Apple is playing marketing tricks holding back supply intentionally]. Live a little get a toy, you deserve it and besides we don't hear much about a pick up in job growth so why not? Osama is down and jobs are up - back to business indeed.