Just a short note here, to repeat and amplify what Paul Krugman said:
And right now, by any rational calculation, would be an especially good time to improve the nation's infrastructure. We have the need: our roads, our rail lines, our water and sewer systems are antiquated and increasingly inadequate. We have the resources: a million-and-a-half construction workers are sitting idle, and putting them to work would help the economy as a whole recover from its slump. And the price is right: with interest rates on federal debt at near-record lows, there has never been a better time to borrow for long-term investment.
Amplifying:
We have: Work that really, really needs doing. People that really, really need work. Borrowing money is really, really cheap.
Now, repeating and saying it a different way. We have:
- Work that really, really needs doing.
- People that really, really need work.
- Borrowing money is really, really cheap.
Elaborating: All this infrastructure work needs to be done anyway. Since Reagan we have fallen waaayyyy behind on maintaining and modernizing our infrastructure. This lowers our quality of life and makes us less competitive in the world.
Repeat: We are going to have to do this work anyway -- it has to be done. Right now money costs less to borrow than ever before. There are millions of people who need work.
Repeating a different way:
- We are going to have to do this work anyway -- it has to be done.
- Right now money costs less to borrow than ever before.
- There are millions of people who need work.
In case conservatives still don't get it, let me repeat and amplify:
Infrastructure work -- the rail, bridges, roads, schools, courts, power systems and everything else that makes our way of life better and makes our economy stronger by providing the soil in which business thrives -- needs to be maintained and modernized. We have fallen behind and have to do it anyway one of these days. And right now there are millions of people who need work. Finally, it has never been cheaper because money costs less than ever before.
- Work that really, really needs doing.
- People that really, really need work.
- Borrowing money is really, really cheap.
Now, conservatives, should I repeat it for you, spell it out, say it a different way? Maybe pictures?
This post originally appeared at Campaign for America's Future (CAF) at their Blog for OurFuture as part of the Making It In America project. I am a Fellow with CAF.