Obama Pledges Massive Public Works Program (VIDEO)

CHICAGO — President-elect Barack Obama said Saturday he's asked his economic team for a recovery plan that saves or creates more than 2 million jobs, makes public buildings more energy-efficient and invests in the country's roads and schools.

"We won't just throw money at the problem," Obama said in his weekly radio address and Internet video. "We'll measure progress by the reforms we make and the results we achieve _ by the jobs we create, by the energy we save, by whether America is more competitive in the world."

Obama's remarks come after the Labor Department announced Friday that employers cut 533,000 jobs in November, the most in 34 years.

Obama said his plan would put millions of people to work by "making the single largest new investment in our national infrastructure since the creation of the federal highway system in the 1950s."

WATCH:

He also wants to install energy-saving light bulbs and replace old heating systems in federal buildings to cut costs and create jobs.

School buildings would get an upgrade, too. "Because to help our children compete in a 21st century economy, we need to send them to 21st century schools," Obama said.

As a part of the plan, Obama said he wants to expand Internet access in communities. Hospitals also should be connected to each other online.

"Here, in the country that invented the Internet, every child should have the chance to get online," he said.

Obama said he would announce other details of the economic recovery plan in the coming weeks. He said he'd work with Congress to pass the initiative when lawmakers reconvene in January.

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On the Net:

http://www.change.gov

Comments

[Tom Joad]

Here's an idea: Let's invest in improving the infrastructure of our national parks. They should be the pride of America for the rest of the world to see. Our national parks system is 2nd to none, but they have been neglected for decades. Put people to work in our national parks. It would be good for them, and good for all of us.

[Jp2]

Hell thats great but if he dosen't get off the sidelines and get in the game he's about to lose over two million jobs in the next month if the big three go under.

[canucklivinginUSA]

Hmmmm... is he in office yet?

[Lupin77]

This is great news but we also need a new rail system across the country like the Japanese bullet train so that people will use that rather than driving anywhere. This will reduce our dependency on oil.

[brandon102]

If President Obama wants to guarantee a job for life for every American, he can just create a project to make Windows Vista work.

[hardybear]

Priceless. Even if I weren't a mac user that would have
given me an unforgettable laugh.

[Tom Joad]

Bill Gates did say he'd work for Obama...

[canucklivinginUSA]

LOL. I have Windows XP, would not switch to Vista even if Microsoft pays me a million bucks

[rollingdivision]

BTW in the 1930s infrastructure projects required tens of thousands of manual laborers, but not today. Due to the increase in technology you can't just move hundreds of thousands of out of work non-construction workers into construct work.

[rollingdivision]

Oh yes millions of US citizens will regain their jobs if we upgrade our federal buildings by replacing old heating systems and installing efficient light bulbs. ROFL. New furnaces and light bulbs.....oh and force Detroit to build crappy small cars no one will buy too.

[wanttruth]

I like the idea of an aggressive plan to update our infrostructure and other community needs.

[batbird]

Just one more thing. Obama said:

"Here, in the country that invented the Internet, every child should have the chance to get online," he said.

The internet was actually invented by a French company called CERN, the EU's foremost Nuclear Research laboratory. They developed the hyperlink. The World Wide Web began as a CERN project called ENQUIRE.

[research]

Looks like the USA did invent most of the internet:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Internet

CERN was the first big use outside the USA.

[research]

"A potential turning point for the World Wide Web began with the introduction[33] of the

Mosaic web browser[34] in 1993, a graphical browser developed by a team at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications

at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (NCSA-UIUC), led by Marc Andreessen.

Funding for Mosaic came from the High-Performance Computing and Communications Initiative, a funding program

initiated by then-Senator Al Gore's High Performance Computing and Communication Act of 1991 also known as the Gore Bill .[35] Indeed,

Mosaic's graphical interface soon became more popular than Gopher, which at the time was primarily text-based, and the WWW became the preferred interface for accessing the Internet. (Gore's reference to his role in "creating the Internet", however, was ridiculed in his presidential election campaign. See the full article Al Gore and information technology)."

[Tom Joad]

It's about time someone decided to invest in America and its failing infrastructure. However, I agree with the poster below that we should rethink 'roads' - let's repair those we have, not build new ones. Let's re-engineer city streets to accommodate more pedestrians and bicycles. Let's improve public transit systems, make them efficient, affordable, safe. Let's re-engineer U.S. cities and suburbs to reduce our reliance on the almighty automobile.

[canucklivinginUSA]

Agreed. I would give up my car to get a transit system similar to what I was accustomed in Montreal. Atlanta has one of the suckiest transit system in the world.

[allwrite]

Before we launch into a public works program designed to restore the status quo (" . . .invests in the country's roads . . . "), could we possibly have a little forward thinking, comprehesive analysis of the nation's entire transportation system? Do we want to continue to exalt the least efficient (automobile), most expensive (factoring in road/bridge building and maintenance costs) component of our transportation system above more efficient systems (rail, bus)? Should we not be thinking about a future where fossil fuels are finite and increasingly costly?

I plan to write my Congressional reps to lobby for some advanced planning before we grab shovels and picks and start digging. On the off chance that such correspondence does not fall on deaf ears, I promise to be greatly surprised.

[AdamAnt12]

No one in Texas is going to give up their car. I can guarantee you that.

[MelDel7365]

Wow. The problem - case and point.

[Mij13]

I think everyone should just drive Hummers, don't you? They're nice and big, even if you don't have kids, they look cute. Oil shmoil. Let's hear it for greedy self absorbed Texans.

[elimenez]

We should sell Texas to Mexico and use the proceeds for a massive stimulus checks in building a new automated, transportation system.

[saturnine maniac]

Last time I checked, buses ran on roads, too. :) But I agree let's get cheap rail.

[ApolloSpeaks]

BARACK OBAMA: MASTER MIND INNOVATOR

I thought that Obama was going to be a master mind of innovative solutions for fixing our broken economy? Why then is he looking back to the failed programs of the 1930s, to FDR's failed Works Project Agency as solutions for 21st century America? Doesn't he know that the millions of government created jobs created by FDR destroyed as many jobs in the private sector and did nothing to end the Great Depression? Doesn't he know that in 1939 unemployment shot up to 20% from 14.5% in 1936 and that Henry Morganthau, FDR's Treasury Secretary and close friend, reported to Congress that the WPA and other Federal spending programs were a complete failure that prolonged the misery of the American people? It looks to me that Barack Obama doesn't have a good economic idea in his head and wants to go down a wrong and disastrous road already traveled.

[firesideone]

Ummmm, and you are getting the bid and award details on Obama's plans where?

You may want to wait for the facts to present themselves before passing judgment, rather than getting worked up on your on fears. You don't think that the PE's economic team can use Google as easily as you, that they are aware of the differences between 1937 and 2008 and perhaps are taking that into account?

BTW, the debate on the success of FDR's program is a partisan debate that has, and will continue, to exist. Funny how all the critics are monday morning quarterbacks that offer no working alternatives, even after the fact. Don't be one of them. If you have legitimate concerns, let your senator or representative know, or head over to www.change.gov and let the PE know. If your concerns are all based on cynicism and fear, your going to have a rough eight years :).

[scnilajo6]

well said

[ApolloSpeaks]

Was Morganthau indulging in partisan politics when he said: "We have tried spending money. We are spending more money [to end the depression] than ever before and it doesn't work." My cynicism sir is based on a study of economic history, a study which cannot find a single example of government spending its way out of a recession or a depression. A study which shows that massive New Deal spending practices to stimulate and shock the economy back to growth and prosperity was an experiment that dismally failed; a failure that had the opposite effect of prolonging the economic misery of the American people by many years.

Unfortunately, we have an incoming president who has bought into the mythology and ideology of New Dealism, that it was a success whose only failure is that it didn't go far enough in "spreading the wealth" and creating a just society.

But if this nation needs to painfully learn the hard lessons of the New Deal by returning for one last time to its failures then it will be all for the best as we will live long enough to see this error demythologized and finally discredited and thrown on the ash heap of history.

[ojsayssorry]

i like new energy!!!

[jqcitizen]

As a youngster that only remembers the end of the war, much less Pearl Harbor, I can say that PWA projects were something that helped a lot of families, Including mine.

[RButler]

These videos look like hostage tapes where he's reading the teleprompter but his heart isn't in it.

[SeanGardner]

Obama made it known throughout the primaries and general election that despite his BLUE STATE credentials, he clearly wants to gain even more RED STATE credibility. The public works idea is one of the best initiatives he can use to do this.

I believe a state like Idaho, for instance, presents him with an interesting opportunity. Though it voted for John McCain at the presidential level, Idaho voters elected a Democrat Walt Minnick in District #1 (See here: http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/11/5/18407/3315/931/655028). The area of Minnick's district covers the big cities of Coeur d'Alene and Boise as this map link shows: http://www.gonorthwest.com/Idaho/Idaho-Map.htm. Looking at this map, you'll see that while there are interstate highways in the Southern part of the state, and one in the extreme northern part, there is nothing dramatic in the middle, nothing by way of an interstate highway that links Coeur d'Alene and Boise. Obama should look into this.

First, it would likely create tens of thousands of jobs in a beautiful state that really needs them, and in the district of an incoming Democrat who would be the beneficiary of this project. Second, this would provide an opportunity for small businesses to set up along such a highway - something that can be achieved through limited tax breaks.

This would be an easy, feasible project.