Private Sector

washington -- Mitt Romney twice emphasized his unique business background when he and eight other Republican presidential candidates faced off in a debate last week in Iowa. "I've spent the last, as I've told you, 25 years in the private sector," former Massachusetts Gov. Romney declared at one point. "I understand why jobs come and why jobs go. I've done business in 20 countries."

PITTSBURGH - While most of the nation is still trying to claw its way out of the deep economic crater left by the recession, this onetime steel capital is already out - thanks largely to the relentless growth in healthcare jobs. Partly because of the outsized ambitions of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, the healthcare industry has replaced manufacturing as the region's powerhouse. About 1 in 5 private-sector employees in the Pittsburgh area today works at a hospital, a doctor's office or in some other health services business.

I keep reading about layoffs: Chrysler, J.C. Penney, Crown Books and more--but never any government agencies! Why not? Government produces nothing. All wealth is produced in the private sector by businessmen. Since each government job is supported by at least two private-sector households, government should eliminate at least one job for every two lost in the private sector. Otherwise, our economy will degenerate into a full-bore socialist state where everybody works for the government and nobody produces anything.

When Austin Beutner entered the mayor's race last year, it looked like the wealthy former investment banker and onetime city jobs czar might give the Los Angeles business community its best chance in years at regaining influence at City Hall. His abrupt exit from the campaign this week after struggles with fundraising and a poor showing in the polls highlights the decline of political power that was once wielded by the city's business elite. That weakening comes as the business sector's traditional rivals - organized labor and environmental activists - are enjoying increasing influence.

Phillip Nicholson and Kenneth Bley (Viewpoints, Jan. 19) have given us a fine example of the claptrap promoted by the development community but now fashionably cloaked in the language of urban planning. They cry crocodile tears for the difficulties that developers face when there are building moratoriums, tell us how much we lose from tax revenues when this occurs, and then advance their own definition of planning: the planning that private-sector developments put into long-term multiphased projects (read "megadevelopments")

Re "Amid the cutbacks, pensions soaring," Aug. 9 I'm a Los Angeles Department of Water and Power retiree whose retirement benefits don't come anywhere near what the folks on your list are making, but I am at a loss to understand the purpose of your article other than to incite public outrage. By comparison, over the last two years, hundreds of high-profile private-sector CEOs made personal fortunes while running their companies into the ground, destroying the lives and pensions of their employees and investors.

President Obama signed into law the last piece of his mammoth plan to overhaul healthcare Tuesday, and achieved another dramatic and far-reaching change with the very same pen stroke -- revamping the way most Americas help pay for a college education. The healthcare provisions and changes to the loan program for college students were sandwiched into a single piece of legislation -- the budget reconciliation bill approved last week by the House and Senate. And while the overhaul to the healthcare system is historic, the changes in the student loan program -- though smaller -- are also drastic.

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and unionized public employees have squared off in a battle that mixes economics and politics with labor and management rights. Similar battles have spread to Indiana and Ohio. Here is a primer to understanding the crisis sweeping parts of the Midwest. What is happening in Wisconsin? Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker proposed charging public employees more for their health insurance and pension benefits, setting off a firestorm of demonstrations, now in their second week.

U.S. private employers added more jobs than expected in October, and more were added in September than originally reported, while a separate report showed planned layoffs dropped sharply last month. The ADP National Employment Report showed Wednesday the economy's private sector added 110,000 jobs last month, topping economists' expectations for a gain of 101,000 jobs. ADP also increased September's job additions, to a gain of 116,000 from the previously reported 91,000. The report is jointly developed with Macroeconomic Advisers LLC. "It is not a huge amount better, but the fact that it was better than expected and there was a revision in the last month's number is a pretty encouraging sign," said Peter Jankovskis, co-chief investment officer at Oakbrook Investments LLC in Lisle, Illinois.

Nearly two years ago, at the urging of the Orange County Chamber of Commerce, the county Board of Supervisors decided not to impose mandatory no-smoking regulations on Orange County businesses. The supervisors should not make the same mistake Wednesday when the issue comes back to them.

Two decades after the L.A. riots brought pledges of help to rebuild South Los Angeles, the area is worse off in many ways than it was in 1992. Median income, when adjusted for inflation, is lower. Many middle-class blacks have fled in search of safer neighborhoods and better schools. And the unemployment rate, which was bad at the time of the riots, has reached even more dire levels. In two areas of South Los Angeles - Florence Graham and Westmont - unemployment is almost 24%. Back in 1992, it was 21% in Florence Graham and 17% in Westmont.

After enjoying a streak of good news on the jobs front, President Obama's reaction to the disappointing March job report was measured and quick. Obama made only a passing reference to the report on Friday, as he addressed a White House forum on women and the workforce. The president seized on bright spots - a slightly lower unemployment rate and the 120,000 new jobs -- and then qualified his optimism. “But it's clear to every American that there will still be ups and downs along the way and that we've got a lot more work to do,” Obama said.

Rick Santorum, after finishing far behind Mitt Romney in Illinois, turned his focus  Tuesday night to winning his home state of Pennsylvania, which votes in five weeks, styling himself as the only trustworthy conservative and delivering a populist appeal aimed at blue-collar voters. After mentioning that he had called Romney to congratulate him, Santorum took aim at the front-runner in his election night speech, implying that he was too wealthy and not tough enough to take on President Obama.

Construction employment grew in 35 states in January from December, with California adding the most jobs -- 8,900, or a 1.6% increase. Thirteen states posted decreases in construction jobs and two states had no change, according to an analysis of Labor Department data by the Associated General Contractors of America. "There is accumulating evidence that construction has passed its low point in a majority of states, although shrinking public construction will hold down the improvement in many locations," Ken Simonson, chief economist for the trade group, said in a statement.

California is facing a tidal wave of "discarded seniors" who will retire with little or no financial support other than Social Security, a state senator warned. One out of two middle-income Californians could retire at or near poverty conditions, said Sen. Kevin De Leon (D-Los Angeles). To partially head off that impending disaster, De Leon on Thursday unveiled legislation that would create a retirement savings plan for an estimated 7 million private sector workers who don't have job-related retirement plans.

For kids, it starts at home Re "Patt Morrison Asks: Michelle Rhee," Opinion, Feb. 11 FormerWashington, D.C., schools chief Michelle Rhee very adroitly avoided answering the question regarding parent responsibility for children's school performance. Ask this question of anyone who has ever taught in a classroom and the answer would be that parents have everything to do with achievement. It is not a student's fault if he or she is being shuttled from one parent or grandparent to another, has no time or place to do homework or is never encouraged to read.

Economic reports Wednesday showed a slow recovery was beginning to gain some momentum. Private employers added more jobs than expected in October after laying off workers the previous month, while the dominant services sector expanded for a 10th straight month. A third report showed orders received by domestic factories increased in September by the largest margin in eight months. "We are slowly moving in the right direction. Even though we are seeing some private hiring pick up, we need businesses to push even harder on the accelerator.

Argentina plans to begin returning petrochemical and steel companies to the private sector this year, Undersecretary of Finance Juan Sommer said today. He said a list of companies will be issued "in the next few days" in Argentina. Sommer said the planned sale to private owners will have a "profound effect" on the overall industrial structure of the country.

If President Obama wins reelection in November, Friday's jobs report may be remembered as the turning point when he shifted from slight underdog to favorite. "Where are the jobs?" has been the question at the heart of the Republican case against Obama. Mitt Romney's campaign turns on the claim that his experience in the private sector taught him how to create new jobs. Obama, by contrast, has "failed" in that endeavor, he repeatedly says. January's growth - a net of 243,000 new jobs created, the most in nine months and almost double what most economists had forecast - undermines that argument, both Democratic and Republican strategists agreed.

Campaigning for the Republican presidential nomination, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney continues to assert that his private-sector experience makes him particularly suited to the office of president. That experience, he emphasizes, would be central to his unique capacity to turn the economy around, keep it growing and create jobs. He may be right. But a review of recent U.S. history offers little evidence that private-sector experience is linked to presidential success. Since 1901, 21 men have served as president; 16 had no real experience as a businessperson in the private sector.