More on unemployment policy

Since we've been talking about strategies to tackle unemployment, I figured I might as well link to this commentary from The Atlantic which talks about helping out with state budgetary shortfalls ...

So what to do in 2009? (Gerald) Seib suggests that we marry a Republican plan to reward hiring firms with tax credits with a direct state stimulus plan, which would have biggest backing from Democrats. I like this idea for a couple reasons: 1) It combines tax incentives and the brute strength of government spending; 2) It targets some of the leading job-loss columns like education; 3) It stands a shot at bipartisan support.

Not a bad proposal, and I'm a proponent of having the federal government cover the various projected state shortfalls for the upcoming fiscal year, so this combines the earlier discussion with an additional strategy.