Combine a too-optimistic administration with a Republican Party that is sabotaging the economy as a campaign strategy and what do you get? You get today's terrible jobs report. First, though, remember that the economy lost 818,000 jobs in the last month of the Bush presidency. The stimulus at least turned that around. But then we started hearing more about "green shoots" and "pivots" to austerity and less about the urgent need for government action to get people working again.
From Bob Borosage's statement this morning on today's terrible jobs report,
"As Great Britain has shown, austerity in the midst of recession is self-destructive. This is leech economics. Like the Medieval practice of applying leeches to convalescing patients, it causes pain without benefit. It adds to human suffering, driving the economy into recession which ends adding to deficits, and worsening the ratio of debt to GDP. It is time for government to act."
It is long past time for government action to get people working again.
The solution to the jobs problem is obvious and in front of our faces -- and has been for a long time. There are millions of jobs that need doing. Financing the work that needs to be done is officially at the lowest cost in history. The payoff would be enormous. We, the People urgently, urgently, urgently need our government to take direct action to put people to work right now:
Infrastructure: The nation's infrastructure is f*#&ing falling down. It is five years since the I-35 bridge in Minneapolis collapsed. A national push to modernize our infrastructure would employ millions (especially if we require that the supplies and steel be made in America!), while cutting the safety-net spending, saving hundreds of thousands of houses from foreclosure, restoring income tax revenues, and it would f*#&ing pay for itself by making our economy more competitive.
Energy retrofitting: The nation is wasting energy, literally letting it leak out through drafty doors and windows. A national effort to retrofit our buildings and homes to be energy-efficient would employ millions (especially if we require that the supplies be made in America!)! And, again, the payoff would be enormous as our newly energy-efficient economy competes in the world. (Not to mention -- again -- the savings on safety-net programs and the increased tax revenues...)
Buy American in government purchases: If we start implementing Buy-American policies in the states and increasing them in federal procurement, we would employ more millions as factories reopen. These policies are allowed in our trade agreements, and our trading "partners" sure aren't buying from us!
These are just a few of the ways the country could end this depression right now. Stop fooling around, and that means you in the administration, too. Right now demand that Congress pass a massive government infrastructure program and a massive energy retrofitting program and strengthen federal Buy American procurement provisions and ask states to implement Buy American in their procurement.
* Yes, End This Depression Now! is the title of Paul Krugman's new book. From Krugman's web page for the book:
The Great Recession is more than four years old -- and counting. Yet, as Paul Krugman points out in this powerful volley, "Nations rich in resources, talent, and knowledge -- all the ingredients for prosperity and a decent standard of living for all -- remain in a state of intense pain."How bad have things gotten? How did we get stuck in what now can only be called a depression?And above all, how do we free ourselves? Krugman pursues these questions with his characteristic lucidity and insight. He has a powerful message for anyone who has suffered over these past four years -- a quick, strong recovery is just one step away, if our leaders can find the "intellectual clarity and political will" to end this depression now.
Paul Krugman will be speaking at the "Take Back the American Dream" conference June 18-20 in D.C.
This post originally appeared at Campaign for America's Future (CAF) at their Blog for OurFuture. I am a Fellow with CAF.
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Matthew Dowd: Is Dismal Jobs Report the Signal Independents Are Seeking?
The Dems or The Reps no one will touch the Visa issue.
Not only are fast food places doing brisk business, a lot of restaruants are full. Air planes have full ridership with tickets at full price.
With a 10% unemployment rate and a 20% under-employment rate, we have 70% of Americans with a satisfying job that pays adequate to well. There is an air of uncertainty not knowing the future of the economy and the job market.
The way to stimulate American economy (and increase consumer demand) is to bring down price of gas. With $50-70 for a tank-full, we cannot afford to buy ... even Chinese goods.
The not so subtle plan is to pause the economic recovery, so that the Karl Rove missionaries can deliver a message of failure. We should never forget: when President Obama inherited this mess from Brother Bush, the country was losing 800,000 jobs per month. (4) We are doing far far better in the last year.
References:
1. http://www.ellwoodcityledger.com/news/politics/us-sales-of-foreclosure-homes-rose-in-q/article_9497c11f-16c1-509e-a9c4-76c15b46a46b.html
2. http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2012/02/22-2
3. http://townhall.com/tipsheet/guybenson/2012/05/16/video_conservative_super_pac_drops_multimillion_dollar_ad_buy_on_obama
4. http://www.broowaha.com/articles/13564/comparing-romney-and-obama-as-presidential-candidates
Running up debt, increasing regulation, double taxing corporations (overseas and home) and introducing a very anti-business climate destroys jobs and wealth creation.
There is nothing a govt. can do for an economy other than minimize its negative impact.
If the obverse were true then you could legislate prosperity.
I wonder if you can actually name any regulations that Obama has "increased"? And this nonsense about taxing corporations, can you explain?
As we all know though, we can demand all we want and congress is going to do nothing. They have three missions, destroy the president, campaign/raise funds for re-election and cater to the "job creators".
It's a sad and frightening nightmare....
The answers are screaming at us.
We vote Republicans out and get back to build our country using the same old methods. Pushing interest rates back up to 6% so Social Securitys Investment in U.S. Treasury Bonds provides a profit.
Oe we change the whole structure and close the Federal Reserve that keeps meddling in our Economy and bring back the Silver Certificate returning to the Gold Standard. And begin rebuilding our infustructure.
Either way Corporations need to be reminded they do not own this country and will never own us. We allow them to operate in Our Country and they pay fees to use Our Infustructure. The Supreme Court has to be reeled in or forced out . The way a Corporations became a person if not illegal is certainly Unethical ! Justice Roberts does not get to create the legal questions before the Court. The case had already been ruled on and decision handed down. Noone filed an appeal from outside the Court. Roberts overstepped his bounds and should be removed for that and because he can not see that !
The USA needs to re-industrialize in order to generate and create new NATIONAL WEALTH and new JOBS in the USA, in order to stop mortgaging and/or selling existing NATIONAL WEALTH to get US Dollars back from foreigners in foreign industrialized nations to pay for government activities and our imported products.
Future wars might also (will probably) be industrial wars where the nation with the most wealth creating industrial manufacturing production will win the economic war by producing more NATIONAL WEALTH!
Some people say that was how the US won WWII!
And non-wealth producing nations like the USA might destroy their own economies with (deficit) government spending which will impoverish all of their citizens by selling and/or mortgaging existing NATIONAL WEALTH and spending the proceeds for federal government activities!
The current Greek Government economic situation is the future of all de-industrialized nations that have stopped creating wealth and then decided to live off of borrowed wealth, when/after the industrialized nation’s wealth creating people decide to stop loaning the de-industrialized nations any of their hard earned money.
You forget that when millions of Americans buy goods made abroad they save billions of dollars.
Having it made locally does not mean more jobs because who is going to pay for products that cost 2-3 times more?
US businesses will never create more US jobs as long as they are hamstrung with more expensive labor costs, more expensive electrical energy costs, health care payroll tax costs, unemployment payroll tax costs, social security and medical care payroll tax costs, environmental manufacturing EPA compliance costs, fringe (holiday and vacation) benefit payroll costs, OSHA compliance payroll costs, union labor work rules, anti-business laws, and general anti-business attitudes that make manufacturing products in the USA many many times more costly than manufacturing the same product in almost any other foreign country.
Does anyone that attended a high school actually believe that the US Government can just continuously borrow more and more US dollars back from the industrial foreigners (actually sell foreigners freshly printed paper US Treasury Bonds in return for the US dollars that foreigners earned by making consumer goods that US citizens consumed) and then use these dollars to pay for placing all unemployed US citizens onto various US, State, and Local government payrolls to solve the US unemployment problem without destroying the buying power or the value of the US Dollar.
US citizens need jobs.
Only the GREEDY private sector businesses and GREEDY corporations CREATE non-taxpayer funded JOBS for US citizens to work and to create wealth for these US corporations and US businessmen.
An administration whose real concern is the optics and their effect on re-election rather than on the jobs crisis...