Congress is good, too good, at steering federal tax dollars into the accounts of multinational corporations.

Unfortunately, Congress is not very good at getting anything in return.

That should be obvious after the bailout of Wall Street enriched CEOs, speculators and traders but left Americans with fewer jobs and more houses facing foreclosure.

It should be obvious, as well, from the bailout of the auto companies, which has put U.S. taxpayers in the position of paying to padlock car dealerships, shutter plants (including Kenosha's Chrysler facility), and leave tens of thousands of Americans unemployed as production is shifted overseas.

That track record is so bad that we can understand why responsible Wisconsinites would say "no" to any proposal to steer more money to corporations.

But Wisconsin Sen. Russ Feingold is right when he says that well-spent federal dollars could have a significant impact on unemployment.

Feingold is talking up the idea of a jobs tax credit, which would reward companies for hiring workers.

Yes, this is a giveaway to corporations.

But it gets something valuable for Wisconsin communities in return: jobs.

As Feingold said Thursday: "The Dow has broken 10,000, but unemployment is still nearing 10 percent. While today's initial jobless claims are much better than earlier in the year, they continue to reflect a growing level of unemployment that Congress should address. We should immediately extend the unemployment benefits for those who have been out of work, but Congress should also consider other steps. Some have floated the idea of a jobs tax credit as part of a package of proposals. I've discussed the idea of a jobs tax credit with a number of Wisconsin businesses and generally got a positive reaction. I'm open to considering this and other proposals that will help get people back to work."

Feingold's tougher on corporations than other senators, and we agree with that toughness.

But he's also flexible enough to realize that, especially for Wisconsin, unemployment is the issue. And the federal government needs to get serious - and creative - about responding to it.

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