Obama to propose massive rebuilding program costing at least $50 billion

[IDemo]

Source: Associated Press

Proposals to see 150,000 miles of roads, 4,000 miles of railways, 150 miles of runways constructed or rebuilt

updated 2 hours 16 minutes ago


WASHINGTON — Vowing to find new ways to stimulate the sputtering economy, President Barack Obama will call for long-term investments in the nation's roads, railways and airports that would cost at least $50 billion, administration officials said.

The infrastructure investments are one part of a package of targeted proposals the White House is expected to announce in hopes of jump-starting the economy ahead of the November election.

Obama will outline the infrastructure proposal Monday at a Labor Day event in Milwaukee.

While the proposal calls for investments over six years, officials said spending would be front-loaded with an initial $50 billion to help create jobs in the near future. The officials spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the proposals ahead of the president's announcement.

Read more: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39023909/ns/politics-white_house/

[marmar]

1. A start.....but our infrastructure needs are estimated to be in the trillions.

Ceasing $5 trillion in wars could aid us greatly in that regard.

[babylonsister]

2. And who of our brave politicians would approve of that? Dollars

to donuts, there's a big fight ahead over this.

PS, I agree about the wars.

[enid602]

35. LA 30/10

Los Angeles County recently voted to increase their sales tax by 1/2 cent which, combined with money Metro has raised by selling off surplus land) will enable the County to spend $30 billion on rail in 20 years. LA mayor Villaraigosa went to Washington in August to meet with Obama, who is pushing Congress to authorize using these bonds as collateral for a 10 year government bridge loan to construct 14 pre-approved transit projects (including subway, ells, light and high-speed rail) in 10 years! Both Boxer and challenger Fiorina have expressed support for this program. Local foes of mass transit have been silenced, given public concern over the historic number of unemployed blue collar workers. The program will employ 170,000 mostly blue collar workers this year, and the jobs will last a decade. Los Angeles has already spent over $20 billion on transit over the last 25 years. Google 'LA 30/10,' which is the name of the program. As a resident of Arizona, I'm tired of SB1070 and politicians using fear mongering tactics instead of dealing with unemployment problems in a constructive manner.

[Francesca9]

94. we need more transit

[defendandprotect]

137. What ever happened to Obama's "train" plans ... ?? Just high speed?

Nothing to do with mass transportation?

[dionysus]

155. there'd have to be legislation for it, but then again you know that.

[No Elephants]

163. So?

[happygoluckytoyou]

179. everyone kicks in.... we all get jobs.... roads fixed.....OK I'M AGAINST IT

[sasquuatch55]

45. I hope it benefits individuals intead of mainly contractors.

nt

[Rozlee]

47. Yeah, Rick Perry and his cronies would have a field day with that one.

He runs his infrastructure funds on the micro level the same way that the defense industry runs theirs. He buys overpaid equipment from his main contributors and then lets them go wild with cost over-runs that wind up spending all the funds before they even get to hiring most of the workers. AND usually leave the jobs undone because no money is left. Sweet. But, no stimulation to the economy there. Only money into Perry's main contributors' pockets that they'll shower into his re-election campaigns.

[RKP5637]

78. Yeah, let's hope Halliburton doesn't gobble up the whole thing. n/t

[No Elephants]

166. Bechtel will probably get a nice piece of the pie, too. In fairness,

there are not many heavy construction general contractors (roads, bridges), but there sure are many more than two. Bechtel was the general of the "Big Dig," a debacle of excess delays and cost overruns. Near the end, supposedly, members of Congress started laughing when anyone from Massachusetts sought more money for it.

Many local subcontractors got work out of it, too, though. A few of them told me Bechtel's plans were indecipherable, so subs could not put bids together. So, the first of MANY delays on that project was Bechtel re-doing the plans.


After someone died, we learned that some of many heavy ceiling tiles on a major tunnel were held up by--wait for it--glue.

So, I am very concerned about how the program and individual jobs will be run.

[Pab Sungenis]

95. Put in a requirement

like what SHOULD have been in the first stimulus: to be eligible for any project, you MUST hire at LEASE three new workers.

[girl gone mad]

109. Congressional approval is not necessarily a prerequisite.

The Fed just created 1.3 trillion out of thin air to save the bankers by buying up their bad mortgage debt, for example.

Obama is being poorly advised in this arena.

[Vehl]

51. seconded. .nt

[Lorien]

59. Yep. Agreed. I'd like to see 500 billion or more put toward green energy

projects and innovation too-all WITHIN the U.S!

[harun]

79. Iraq got 1 trillion, U.S. needs 1 trillion.

[defendandprotect]

138. That would be lovely . . . and imagine the costs of just cleaning up this environmental

mess that capitalism has created -- !!

[russspeakeasy]

73. But it got a headline...could that have been the goal ??

[Drale]

106. The thing is

alto of our infrastructure is state or county owned and not federally owned so the president can only directly put money towards some of it. Everything else the money needs to be given to the state or county then to the road and you know what happens when money goes to the state or county much of it disappears at least here in Illinois.

[No Elephants]

167. Properly written legislation could resolve that--and many other problems.

As Julius Caesar (or was it Eisenhower?) once said (not) "You wanna builda federal money for you roads with federal money, you follow federal rules."

Also, when Eisenhower funded roads and highways, I believe he said they were part of our national defense system, which gives the CIC a lot to say about them. And, they are needed for evacuations in the event of attacks and natural disasters, so that also is a basis for Homeland Security and FEMA.

Plenty of justifications exist. Does the will?

[madrchsod]

3. a mere drop in the bucket

just enough to make him look good but not enough to make the difference we need.

[SammyWinstonJack]

34. How good will he look when SS/Medicare are raided to pay for this?

IOW where is the money coming from when the bu$h tax cuts are extended?

[sofa king]

46. Or a mouse-hole in the wall.

As the lawyers say, find a mouse-hole in the case, then drive a truck through it.

Federal funding, especially for controversial issues like spending money to maintain the fucking safety of our infrastructure... god damn, I can't stand Republicans! often starts with the establishment of a funding pathway, which Congress can then expand at the sub-committee level through opaque "adjustments" which are too arcane for the mainstream press to bother reporting. Thus the mouse-hole becomes untold billions for railway tunnel refurbishment.

[No Elephants]

168. I believe a Republican CIC did establish such a pathway. Pls. see Reply ##s 166 and 167.

[opihimoimoi]

71. Its a start...we don't need sniping at this point

[pnwmom]

102. It's the DU circular firing squad, at work again. nt

[pnwmom]

101. Why blame Obama for the Senate? Even this amount will face

huge obstacles getting through the Senate.

[Go2Peace]

111. We are excited over 50 Billion? That is not a real significant Stimilus

Not near enough, but maybe they need to do these in small chunks to keep the media frenzy down. They did another small one for Education a couple of months ago. Do another 4 or 5 of these and we will be making headway.

[Kingofalldems]

4. I like it

K and R

[IDemo]

5. Don't worry, guys. It's dead in the water, anyway.

"Officials said the White House would consider closing a number of special tax breaks for oil and gas companies to pay for the proposal."

Little likelihood of that happening.

[fasttense]

6. Closing tax breaks for the Oil and Gas corporations?

Are you kidding me? Does anyone really think a proposal like that could even come close to passing the congress after the "Citizens United" case?
Remember that the Oil & Gas companies are the most profitable corporations in the history of mankind.

Any political figure that even suggested doing something like that would be hit with negative advertisements from these companies saying how he or she is a traitor to America, has voted to kill jobs, raise your taxes to 110%, inject you with an RFID chip and killed your puppy too. The Oil and Gas corporation haters want to lock up all the old people in death camps, advocate eating your unborn babies while using your recently slaughtered grandma (Obama-care) at the other end of the table as a centerpiece for dinner. No one in their right mind could ever vote for a person like that. :sarcasm:

Unfortunately, some of these uneducated neo-cons would believe such clap trap because they heard it on FOX.

[Stuart G]

9. I heard on Friday...Senator Sanders said.......

Exxon Mobil Oil earned 19 Billion in profit last year..
paid no taxes and got a 150 million dollar refund..
...yea...it's nice that the Republicans took care of the oil people and left out poor people..:sarcasm:

[SomeGuynTexas]

15. The source for the article has issued a "Mea Culpa"

Full disclosure: I am a former Exxon employee. They pay taxes.

Just to be fair to the mega death dealing oil sucking the life out of corporation:

"My mistake was in thinking that these figures somehow reflected actual tax benefits and liabilities. So what we should have written was that ExxonMobil “recorded” no U.S. income taxes for 2009 instead of “paid.” All you re-bloggers out there, please note the clarification. Mea culpa.

And for all you commenters outraged that Exxon isn’t paying taxes in the U.S., don’t worry, it is. Our article only focused on income taxes, but it’s worth noting that the 10-k also records $7.7 billion in other taxes in the U.S. (like sales taxes) and more than $50 billion of other taxes and duties paid (I mean recorded) overseas."

http://blogs.forbes.com/energysource/2010/04/07/exxon-says-it-does-pay-u-s-income-taxes/">Exxon Says It Does Pay U.S. Income Taxes

It's obvious that they aren't paying their fair share. There's money left.

[shraby]

42. The sales taxes are collected from the consumer, so the oil

companies didn't actually "pay" any sales tax...it just passed through their hands...on the way, I wonder how much they collected on interest on that money??

[SomeGuynTexas]

43. Good point. Another overlooked source of tax.

They ought to tax the crap out of any interest made on money held from consumers paying sales taxes.

[No Elephants]

180. As between a former Exxon employee and Sanders speaking on Exxon's taxes, I trust Sanders.

[No Elephants]

169. You're blaming Republicans for something that happened last year? (Dem Congress since 2006, Prez

since January, 2009.)

[Wednesdays]

181. Exactly. Exxon didn't earn much profit at all while * was in office.

nt

[INdemo]

12. Yes that will certainly happen ..just like the Bush tax cuts wont be extended

[earthside]

7. He doesn't get it.

Pres. Obama still is thinking like this is the 1930s.

Without structural reform, this kind of government spending will only 'goose' the economy for a brief period of time ... then we're right back where we were before.

Renegotiate trade agreements; break-up big banks and mega-transnational corporations; start closing overseas bases; stop cheap 'exploitable' labor from getting into the country; bring back Kennedy-era tax rates; propose health care reform (because we don't have it and aren't going to get with the bill he signed) ... I could go on.

But, for some reason (Geithner? Summers? Bernanke? Rubin?) Obama is still under the impression that if he proposes more Great Depression type programs, the economy will turn around.

And, he apparently still believes that if he doesn't rock the boat too much, the Repuglicans will eventually come around and like him.

Sure, we need infrastructure rebuilding, but, golly, if this is all Pres. Obama is willing to fight for, then he doesn't get it about the real condition of our economy.

[jpak]

13. +1000

and don't forget renewable energy...

[Amonester]

22. His bubble makers have won.

He chose them, and has no intention of firing them anytime soon, nor later.

[AlbertCat]

29. Pres. Obama still is thinking like this is the 1930s.

Yes, before "too big to fail" conglomerates were running the government.

I'm sure you could go on... all of us could. I'd start with breaking up media companies and re-instating the Fairness Doctrine, or something like it, so the story isn't told only by those who want it, and everything else Dems do, to fail.

[emilyg]

49. Correct.

[mother earth]

52. You are right on, earthside. Another band-aid that misses the

mark, but that's because the campaign donors own our representation and gov't, hell they own the vote any way they want it. That isn't going to change without huge upheaval, and no one in office is going to rock that boat.

[SocialistLez]

53. +1 NT

[RKP5637]

Patches and band-aids propping up a failed system because of rotten piers, rather

than fixing the foundation much as you said.

[Go2Peace]

113. This isn't even in the same ballpark as the 1930s anyway

It is way to small for the impact that is needed. But if they do another 4 or 5 of these it might buy some breathing room. At least it would give me breathing room, because if they don't make serious structural change in the next 4 or 5 years I am going to use that to save and get the hell out of here and to a more sane place.

[girl gone mad]

142. I don't even think this will goose the economy in the short term.

It's less of the same type of stimulus which failed to do much in the first place.

It's interesting that our government does seem to understand how money works and what it takes to turn things around, but they restrict the implementation of that knowledge to rescuing Wall Street and the too big to fail banks.

[Stuart G]

8. K and R

[MannyGoldstein]

10. A fart in a hurricane

Perhaps 5% of what's needed just to start digging ourselves out of this depression, and it will have no effect for many months

This Administration just wants to lose the mid-term elections. Either that, or the movie "Being There" is being played out in the Oval Office.

[cliffordu]

76. What complete and utter fucking garbage.

Jesus Christ.

5% , yes, but the rest is just sewage.

As usual.

[girl gone mad]

141. She's right.

Amount the government just spent buying up the banks' bad debts over the last 15 months: $1,249,999,999,999.39
Amount Obama is proposing to spend nationwide on infrastructure, over the next few years: $.....50,000,000,000.00

What's wrong with this picture?

[MannyGoldstein]

150. Actually, I believe it's more than $12 Trillion

that's guaranteeing banker junk assets. Wow!

Thanks for coming to my defense!

[girl gone mad]

153. Yes, in total.

I was just referring to a small piece of the banking bailout that occurred over the past year - the Fed creating $1.3 Trillion to buy toxic MBS from the banks. This specific action needed no Congressional approval, no debate, no delays.

If Obama and co. were serious about helping working Americans, they would be pushing for a stimulus of that size or greater and they would find a way to do it very quickly, as has been done for the banks.

[scheming daemons]

144. So now you even shit on GOOD ideas too? Time to re-examine yourself, Manny

Manny: "Mom, Can I have $500 bucks?"

Mom: "No, dear. But here's $50."

Manny: "Shove your $50 up your ass, mom. It's $500 or nothing!"

[NickB79]

147. Given the state of the economy, it HAS to be all or nothing

Scheming daemons: "Mom, I need $5000 for a surgery to save my life."

Mom: "No, dear. But here's $50."

Scheming daemons: "Great. I have $50 but I'm gonna die because I still can't afford that surgery."


We don't have the time to keep doing these relatively small projects as our infrastructure and the economy that depends on it crumble around us.

[MannyGoldstein]

149. It's also politically absurd

Unemployed person: "I have no job, no prospects, and I'm broke and about to lose my home and have nowhere for my family to stay"
Democrats: "Let's build roads. You have a 1% chance of getting a job out of it in a year or two, good luck!"

[No Elephants]

171. Son: Mom, I need $5000 for surgery to save my life.

Mom: No, son, but here's $50.

Son: But you just gifted a few trillion to some of the richest people in the country, if not the world.

Mom: And what do you conclude from that?

[dionysus]

156. if i didn't know better i'd say manny has an agenda here....

could it be?

[MannyGoldstein]

157. Manny sure as fuck has an agenda

To return the country, and the Democratic Party, to Democratic ideals. He has low regard for crypto-Republicans or losing initiatives.

[dionysus]

158. you're a true american hero manny.

:patriot:

[begin_within]

11. Don't we have to attack before we can rebuild?

[Chicago dyke]

19. the american worker has definitely been attacked

i'd just like to raise the point that some of us can't do construction jobs. i grok the many political reasons why it makes sense to boost the construction sector of the economy, and there are some really good reasons why dems often choose to do this. but it's not the *only* form of stimulus we need, dammit. brain workers are the future, forgive me for saying that but it's true. we need stimulus for tech people, education people, R&D people... there's nothing wrong with funding programs aimed at helping people who make things with their hands. i'm all for that. but if we don't also stimulate all the people who work with their minds, the rest of the world will leave us behind on all the important technologies that will shape the future. cars, burning gas, and driving on roads, are not going to be a part of that future.

[NikRik]

25. pay unemployed while teaching them new skills !

Iam 53 years old and have been unemployed for going on 2 years now ! Most of the Jobs I apply for want to hire either a younger person or someone who has exprience.Even for jobs that would take only a week or two to train you.There are so many out of work they have the choice of finding exprienced people out of work and they will of course hire them B/4 someone with no exprience in that field.I believe if the goverment is really interested in helping people get a new start in life that they would give them a living wage while traning them in their area of interest.I was in retail Jewelry Sales for years and even if I could find a job doing that again , I would because I need a job so bad ,however I would love the oppertunity to train in computers,Iam a PC hobbiest and already have alot of knowledge on computers. To work on these machines and get paid for it would be a dream come true. I cant afford to pay for my own education and would never be able to get financing due to my credit being destroyed by this depression ! All I know is sleeping at night does not come easily or looking into my 13 & 15 year old childrens face when I tell them I cannot buy them something they want,etc . !
Take Care ,Nick

[EC]

38. Try for grants not loans...

if you've been unemployed see if there is a displaced worker program available...go to the schools financial aid office and see what is available and the county employment service may help too...I went to school on pell grants and scholorships...

[Go2Peace]

115. That still won't do it. We need to restructure. Many with very high level skills over 50 can't get

work. The IT industry is a good example. There has been a large supply of skilled labor out there but people still struggle even with high level skills, and this was going on *before* the great recession! Over 50 are in for a shock, this won't be changing any time soon without a government that cares enough to significantly change the situation.

[EC]

36. This will also create office jobs to log payroll etc. and

food service as more money is in more peoples pockets to go out or for lunches...retail jobs (the same- more money in more pockets) see how that goes? It's not only the actual jobs but the jobs that are created from more people spending money...

[No Elephants]

170. Here's hoping at least most jobs will go to people {already} in America, not overseas or visa jobs.

[PSPS]

40. "Blue collar" jobs could stimulate other areas too

Of course this idea, as minuscule and worthless as it is, won't really go anywhere. It will die in congress where, apparently, we need 100% of the seats to have a majority. Obama knows this too but doesn't care.

But your point about people who "can't do construction jobs" not benefiting from such a proposal overlooks this: Any large construction project will also need architects, engineers, designers and manufacturing plants. Well, at least they would if there were a "buy American" clause the same way EVERY OTHER COUNTRY has done with their various stimulus spending. But Obama has already shown his hand on this, so expect most or all of these ancillary jobs going overseas if something like this were passed.

But it's an academic argument anyway. Obama lets the GOP run things. He's a sock puppet.

[Chicago dyke]

44. construction guys were my BEST customers

back in my bartending days. i totally grok that cash in their pockets gets spread around fast. but i'm not a bartender anymore. so while i know that this program will help the working class, who desperately need help that i don't begrudge them, it won't help me at all. i don't mean to sound selfish, but there are plenty of people like me who won't see any benefit from this type of stimulus. i didn't see any from the last round of road building, either, and the pretty "America's Reinvestment Act" freeway signs (or whatever they say) are all over the place.

and i completely agree with you that he's a fucking sock puppet and that most of this money will find its way to china.

[YankeeLeft7x]

14. Great Idea !!!!

I think this is actually a great idea, and much needed. Take a ride throughout the country and just understand the need to rebuild it.

This kind of project should have been proposed soon after Obama entered the White House.

Happy Labor Day!

All The Best

[creon]

16. good.

It is a good start. I hope that Congress passes it.

[antigone382]

184. Welcome to DU creon!

(though I confess, for some reason I have a barely repressible urge to disagree with everything you say ;))

[democracy1st]

17. Wow I can't believe how naive the president is,these programs takes months to get started!

Why not make this proposal in january. This economic team is destroying his presidency!

[mike r]

21. "Oil and gas companies and multinational corporations" will veto this

and the GOP will politicize it big time. With only weeks to go before the elections, I suspect it'll die in the Senate.

[mike r]

18. Civil engineers estimate $2.2 trillion needed

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/28/us/politics/28projects.html

...the American Society of Civil Engineers, which assigned an overall D grade to the nation’s infrastructure and estimated that it would take a $2.2 trillion investment from all levels of government over the next five years to bring it into a state of good repair.

[SHRED]

20. Well that is 1/44th of what is needed...

...but hey...it's a start.
:sarcasm:


http://www.infrastructurereportcard.org/

---

[mike r]

23. Better than zero

but poor timing. It doesn't make the administration look proactive.

[Auggie]

24. I hope that mandates a good proportion of U.S.-made steel and concrete

be used as well (provided it's still manufactured here)

[zogofzorkon]

26. Lets hope there is a provision for "guest workers" because

there will not be enough qualified American citizens to design the projects, and once the construction phase begins there will be jobs that American citizens will just not do. Its ok though because it will keep the bankers employed distributing money and Western Union will be busy w/ money transfers to Asia and Latin America.

Of course the steel, concrete, plumbing, wiring, signal lights, and electronics will be purchased overseas and assembled w/ tools and machinery manufactured in countries other than the United States. Even the clothing and shoes worn by the workers and quite possibly the food will have non domestic origins.

There will be vast numbers of jobs created but only a tiny fraction will go to our unem
That could change if bill forced domestic sourcing but thats not the bill I believe will be written.

[sallyseven]

96. You are a Zero

Change your name

[zogofzorkon]

117. And you haven't been following the destruction of American labor as policy

and plan since the days of Raygun.

[Hekate]

99. Put it on the ground, spread it all around, dig it with a hoe: it'll make the flowers grow

Aren't you just the little ray of sunshine?

We have skilled workers. We have millions of underemployed and unemployed just begging to be put to work. Whenever jobs like this are opened up and the wages are set by Uncle Sam, hundreds if not thousands of people line up for them.

I have a lot more faith in the American people than you seem to do.

Hekate

[zogofzorkon]

103. Yes we have skilled workers, they are being replaced by H1B visa workers or

as I type. You might remember in August when a million dollar Federal program was launched to train 3000 offshore hitecvh workersd in Asia or the similar USAID program in Armenia. There are many skilled IT professionals here more than able and willing to do the work.

You might look into the construction trades where skilled carpenters, plumbers, painters, roofers and masons have been replaced by undocumented workers at a buck 30 a day no bennies no safety rules no vacation.

If you want to talk a lower skill set try snow shovelers from south of the border who are required to work 20+ hours a day for less than minimum wage or lose there job w/ the snow removal by winter landscape in summer contractors.

Do you think unless this bill has provision to document and track that work is performed by American citizens that these same things will not happen.

If you do I have a bridge in Brooklyn you might want to buy it just needs some minor sprucing up.

[Turbineguy]

27. $50 Billion?

We could start a small war for that!

[mike r]

31. Not a small war. You could buy a nice $3 trillion war

with that down payment.

[No Elephants]

175. Maybe, but only for about a month and a half, apparently.

[onethatcares]

28. 30 billion a month squandered in Iraq and we get peanuts

jeez, the amounts of fraud and waste alone are enough to put a million back to work. Our priorities suck.

[LawnKorn]

30. What we really need is to promote actually producing something - like clean, renewable energy

We need a massive Government investment in American production facilities for solar, wind, tidal, and geothermal energy producing equipment. Without an industrial base to tax, there simply is no money to for the Government to use for infrastructure.

American jobs, producing products wanted in America and the world, are what we need. The Apollo program sent man to the moon, we need big research and development program to find new energy sources. We are only going to get one shot to get this one right.

[Raksha]

87. You mean producing something besides war, our national industry?

What a concept!

[RoccoR5955]

32. It's a start, infrastructure is suffering

I just hope that the CONs pass it.
No, it's not enough to rebuild everything, but it's a start.

[liberation]

62. Agreed.

Maybe this is the way to pass an actual stimulus, in a piece meal fashion so that the cons can't block everything.

Our infrastructure needs investment in it badly, so this is really needed.

Credit where credit is due, this is good news.

[SHRED]

33. "Massive"? No the $3 TRILLION to Wall St. was massive

[femrap]

39. The Banksters get

the big bucks. This nation couldn't come up with a creative thought if it were paid to do so.

Just fix the fucking bridges that are ready to collapse. And get some wind and solar going. I am tired of being so backward-thinking.

We're a nation of Sequels.

[Lorien]

60. +1.nt

[EFerrari]

64. It's massive because it only benefits people and not banksters. n/t

[defendandprotect]

140. Was that the figure ...?

It's banks we don't know about -- i.e., Bernnake keeping secret?

It's about time some of this capitalistic destruction booma-ranged back to

elites rather than creating new suffering for citizens --

especially with homelessness, children impoverished -- and all those desperately

needing health care!!

[newfie11]

37. Awesome but I think it maybe to late.

This should have been done early on. Unless he gets people working soon (and congress will not pass this) I am afraid this will be more fodder for the "spending to much money" crowd.

[sulphurdunn]

41. What a deal!

This spending proposal is in the same league with annual Afghan war appropriations and Wall Street bonuses.

[Mickeyc1004]

48. Sounds good.

[veganlush]

50. It's something, better than nothing...n/t

[wisteria]

54. And, let me guess, even though this is sorely needed, the Repubs will scream higher deficits and

the American public-at least some of them- will scream no, no new taxes, I'm taxed enough. What about my grandchildren?

[Enthusiast]

162. Their grandchildren will watch

bridges crumble into the rivers if we don't act.

[L0oniX]

55. 50 billion is chump change. Over a trillion for the military.

[SomeGuyInEagan]

56. I was whining about this back in the '90s ...

When the economy was rolling but our hiways, bridges and dams were going to shit then. *That's* when this should have started, not 20 years later. Roads are so bad in Minneapolis/St. Paul that when the governor backtracked on a 10 cent-per-gallon gas tax to improve roads in the state (it has been 20 years since any increase), even business groups fought for it.

So, yeah, I applaud it as a start for something that is drastically needed on so many levels it is ridiculus. This really should have been part of Obama's first 100 days.

[tblue37]

57. I'm glad for the program, but it, like the stimulus, is very, very small

compared to both the real need and the amount of money squandered in satisfying the depraved wealthy who have been looting our economy all along.

IOW--it's not really "massive" at all, but rather just a drop in the bucket.

[TomCADem]

58. A Good Proposal On Top Of The Stimulus That Was Passed In 2009

[No Elephants]

173. How much of that stimulus has been spent so far?

[think]

61. Infrastructure spending should not be labeled stimulus spending

I've been watching CNN and they are already labeling this "stimulus spending". Keeping our roads, bridges, and other infrastructure maintained and up to date is an investment in America. It is not some vague political term called "stimulus spending".

The Dems better wake up and start calling this infrastructure spending or something like that before the label sticks. People will forget what the hell it is they are upset about but know it's got something to do with all that "stimulus spending"....

[No Elephants]

174. Excellent point.. (Please see Reply ##s 167 and 166

[Hekate]

63. This is fabulous news -- and it looks like a September roll-out, doesn't it?

And yet all that most posters in this thread so far can do is full-on bitch (notice I'm not using the "w" word). Pathetic,

Hekate

:wtf: :argh: :freak: :dunce: :hurts: :wow: :grr: :nuke: :shrug: :tinfoilhat: :banghead: :rant: :hide: :wtf:

[dionysus]

65. funny how good news is met with the usual contempt, isn't it?

[Chulanowa]

67. No, it's disgusting

And is a good example of what a fucking hole this place has become.

Obama can do no good. Period. He is always terrible. Period. Life is always hopeless. Period. Nothing good can ever happen. Period.

Welcome to Nu DU.

[Chicago dyke]

83. and your contribution to a positive future is?

look, there are members of my family who are "elected democratic representatives." seriously, i know all about party loyalty. it's s fun game. but gosh it's tiresome to be told, "your ideas are stupid, because they don't help people in office keep their jobs." some of us are more concerned with things other than keeping dem incumbents in their jobs. is that really so hard to understand?

speaking of jobs: who here has a job today, due to a "stimulus" bill passed by a democrat? just wondering.

[Hekate]

105. My County govt has several dozen ARRA jobs filled. Teachers aren't laid off.

At the local university, the costs for 75 teachers getting math and science certification were underwritten by ARRA. The Summer Youth Employment Service program was brought back (that's at the county again).

The money has been spread around in Education and in the County-as-employer. For the County, Social Services has taken charge of most of the ARRA-funded workers, as far as I can tell, but there seem to be a number of different classifications affected.

Figuring it out down to the local County level takes a little time, but you can easily do a search or two to see what went to your state and how it was spread around.

If you want to, that is.

Hekate

[Hekate]

139. Coming back to add: For figures, check out Recovery.gov

There's even a section called "Find Recovery jobs". I got 260 hits by typing in "Skilled crafts + my county's name" and my county has under half a million residents.

Check it out. Let us know if it answers some of your questions. If you look on your local level, you can check out the results i person if you are so inclined.

Hekate

[Hekate]

107. Chulanowa -- +1

Reading this thread is a real :wtf: experience.

[npk]

118. + a million n/t

[dionysus]

154. i was trying to be diplomatic

;)

[quiet.american]

66. How FDR of him! Excellent. nt

[rachael7]

68. Obama gives great speech asking for $50 billion for infrastructure and jobs...

Max Baucus announces that to get the necessary Republican votes, $30 billion of that will have to be in the form of tax breaks for corporations...

some random Republican threatens filibuster unless the gigaaaaaaantic bill, unprecedented in its socialistic audacity, also extends tax breaks for millionaires...

millionaire tax cut amendment forced in by some bizarre parliamentary maneuver that Harry Reid is powerless... powerless, I tell you, to stop...

we finally get it passed after adding another few billion in tax cuts and some sort of abortion-restricting or religion-promoting amendment to please Joe Lieberman or some such asshole...

and then I'm supposed to cheer for our great "Democratic" success.

Is that about how this will play out?

[Raksha]

89. I wish I could bookmark a reply and save your prediction for future reference.

I bet that's EXACTLY how it's going to play out!

[Mojorabbit]

159. +100 nt

[Safetykitten]

69. This is good. But he just had to get the word "bank" in there...

This is overall very good though.

[Safetykitten]

70. This is good. But he just had to get the word "bank" in there...

This is overall very good though.

[Drunken Irishman]

72. Why not $50 trillion?

Why not 250,000 miles of roads? 8,000 miles of railways? 250 miles of runways?

HUH?

:sarcasm:

[AngryAmish]

74. We only need to look at Japan to see what a good idea this is...

experts, the lot of them...

[Cha]

75. Excellent~ So President Obama

did have a surprise after all! I knew it.

And, yeah the Obama Admin is quite capable of doing their job without the fearmongering of the rwhacks and the fearmongering of the professional weasels on the left.

[Iowa]

84. Your comment is disgusting...

Your hostility toward progressives (you refer to them as "weasels on the left") is not only insulting, it's ignorant. You repeatedly insult most of the people on this board. You should be ashamed of yourself.

[Cha]

104. hamsher is a weasel..and yes, she's disgusting..professional

weasel for profit.

[Name removed]

91. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[GreenTea]

77. Republicans are going to block it - just as they are blocking everything else....They

are so certain that by their obstructionist just say NO to everything tactics - will bring them victory and no tax dollars (our tax dollars) will be spent on us the people nor any neededs social programs.

Simply because it's republican ideology to corporations wants & subsidies over the people's needs, republicans are making sure the country can't get back on it's feet and it will hurt the party in power, the democrats in the mid-term elections in two month's.

Republican are certain they will regain the House and probably the senate - and what I know about the easily hackable electronic voting machines that are in place it will make even easier as they will absolutely be stealing certain congressional elections in states with republican Secretary of States (who count & control all the votes).

[underpants]

80. Bold move ... but the (RW) press will try to bury for this and the other media will follow

good for him and good for us

[Grinchie]

81. He cleans the charred grease off the Grill after his Bankers Steak BBQ Party - Throws it to peons.

When he Government is loaded with Corporate schills, accountable to nobody but the status quo and Corporate profits, you get ridiculous announcements like this.

The United States reportedly spends 165 Billion dollars a month on Afganistan and Iraq combined, and he proposes a 50 Billion dollars over a period of years, and can't even get support, other than from the M$M, but this OP certainly doesn't sound too enthusiatic.

Well, neither am I about this charade.

We see no movement in regards to retraining America's workforce, and all we get is reinvestment on Roadways that should have been maintained in the first place. There is no discussion about how unsustainable the American transportation system is, and the ultimate costs it lays directly on the shoulders of the citizens in regards to food distribution vs true transport costs.

Again, it's an oil based model for the moment, with no research into Alternative's in regards to propelling motor vehicles.

Where are the Electric Cars? Where are the electric Semi-Trailers? What are they going to roll on? Last I saw, Tires were heavily dependant on Oil...

I don't know if anyone else has seen the conditions on America's highways lately, but imagine for one moment that you are the lucky one chosen to participate. You can stand in the Sun for the day, breathing fumes from cars stuck in gridlock, breathing dust for tires, construction and trash that has accumulated for 30 years in the side of the road because nobody has bothered to sweep them in decades. You can revel in the reduced oxygen level because the cars are gulping it all and using it to burn gasoline and diesel.. Yep, put America back to work.. I hope you have good medical coverage.

Oh, Medical Insurance! What an accomplishment!

How about giving out 50 billion dollars worth of Solar Panels to Americans? That would produce about 70 Megawatts of energy each day for the next 25 years...

=(70*365) = 25.6 Gigwatt Hours per year..

No, lets invest it in a liability to get short term BS jobs that they'll end up outsourcing anyway..


Fucking DLC idiots.

[Iowa]

85. +1

[defendandprotect]

82. Cost of Iraq war -- $3 TRILLION - and still growing . . . !!

[Name removed]

86. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[TrogL]

88. Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Classic Keynes

[Guilded Lilly]

90. Well, I am all for it.

There are enough frickin killjoys all over the place.
We all know what the Republicans will do and say. Blah blah f*ckin blah.

Any step forward for improved jobs status is a step in the right direction.
Nothing is or will ever be perfect. Nor fast, nor easy.
I'm behind this, period.

peace,
Lilly

[YvonneCa]

93. Me, too. Great post...

...Lilly. :)

[IDemo]

92. ** Just to clarify on the $50B figure **

"Administration officials said the transportation plan's initial $50 billion would be the beginning of a six-year program of transportation improvements, but they did not give an overall figure."

So maybe not a trillion, but not a "drop in the bucket", either.

[truthteller50]

97. Obama to propose massive rebuilding program costing at least $50 billion

It seems that they've already stated doing this. Everywhere I look in Sacramento, Ca, roads and freeways are being rebuilt. And these roads and freeways that they've never touched. As far as Obama, he is not to be trusted: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rccByoDK4k8
The truth is, no US president or government official should be trusted. Most citizens will find this out the hard way.

[Enthusiast]

164. But the corporations should be trusted?

You are repeating TeaBAGGER talking points. No US president or government official should be trusted? Ever? I mistrust the corporations far more.

[newspeak]

183. the media blathering heads have been spreading the shite for over

twenty years. Government-bad; corporations, free market-good; regulations-bad corporate policing-good. Instead of "government is the enemy", I think we need a paradigm shift to "we are the government"--"we the people are the damn government." And maybe we'll finally get the cojones to throw the damn corporate lobbyists out of our government.

You ever notice that any bill that aids a corporation gets passed in congress with no or little problem-any bill which would help the average american citizen is like pulling teeth? Our money can fund wars, bailout out banks, corporations, pay war profiteers for shitty work; but it seems very little of it trickles down to aid those who now are in more need of help.

I believe our infrastructure and the well being of our people and communities are part of national security. I think they should take some of that money they're giving to the pentagon and use it for domestic programs-I mean it IS for the economic security of our country; and then the pentagon may be able to find the 1.2 trillion dollars that apparently is unaccounted.

This is some good news, but I'm with Krugman and other economists, we needed a massive jobs creation effort for mainstreet. It's time to allow the money to trickle up, because Reagan's bogus "voodoo" economics has not worked. It has allowed the wealthy (corporations and individuals) to expand influence in our government, break labor, further the disparity between the wealthy and the rest of us. It sure in the hell has not created jobs in this country. Little Boot's tax break for the wealthy in eight damn years created less jobs than his dad, Carter, Clinton, Ford, Nixon, Eisenhower, Kennedy, even Reagan. He is one of the worst presidents in history!!!!!

[craigmatic]

98. The repubs are going to have fun spinning this negatively.

[thedonkeyintheroom]

100. I can't wait to see what Faux news is gonna say about this...

yet truly, what are the repubs proposing to combat the high unemployment rate? They don't want us to spend and live in some fantasy world where tax cuts for the wealty create jobs. I really am interested in seeing the republican platform.

[Hekate]

108. FOX News? Their work is done for them: all they have to do is read this thread.

Welcome to DU, by the way.

Hekate

[Enthusiast]

165. We know what they will say.

Very predictable. They are whining about the deficit because they know that stimulus will pull us out of the doldrums - the last thing they want to see. But maybe the modest size of the stimulus will allow them to dismiss it as just more election rhetoric fodder.

[bluesmail]

110. Thank you Mr President for using our money for us. eom

[Synicus Maximus]

112. It's a start and the infrastructure badly needs improvement. But

remember that this does not mean that the projects will start anytime soon. You don't just hire a bunch of people and tell them to go out and fix a road or build a runway. These are big construction projects which will take months or years of determining what projects to do, planning and designing the project, letting contracts etc.

[Sparkly]

114. A step in the right direction, but quite small and quite late.

Kudos for a step in the right direction.

But as usual, head-shakings that it's so small and so late.

We need bold, strong moves... I don't see much hope for that on the horizon, unfortunately.

[Ramulux]

116. This is good

Glad to see them at least putting this kind of thing forward. However, I dont see how they are going to get this passed. Obama is going to have to come out and crack some skulls to get the necessary votes and his speech today was a a very good start in my opinion.

[DimplesinMI]

119. Obama takes on GOP; Ask for $50 Billion Dollar infrastructure plan for jobs

Source: Examiner.com

President Obama Uses Words to Fight Back GOP Lead Attacks

During the Labor Day speech in Milwaukee, the president said Republicans are expecting between now and Election Day November 2, Americans will forget the Republican and Bush Administration economic policies that started this current recession.

"These are the folks whose policies helped devastate our middle class and drive our economy into a ditch. And now they're asking you for the keys back," Obama said during his speech. "They think it's better to score political points before an election than actually solve problems."

Obama when on to add, "Even as we speak, these guys are saying no to cutting more taxes for small business owners. I mean, come on! Remember when our campaign slogan was "Yes We Can?" These guys are running on "No, We Can't," and proud of it. Really inspiring, huh?"

"If I said fish live in the sea, they'd say no," he stated. President Obama also made a pledge to "keep fighting, every single day, every single hour, every single minute to turn this economy around." In addition the President stated that interest groups he has battled "talk about me like a dog," in a deeply emotional tone.

Read more: http://www.examiner.com/job-search-in-detroit/obama-takes-on-gop-ask-for-50-billion-dollar-infrastructure-plan-for-jobs

---

About time President Obama....tell the pubic what is going on behind the closed doors of Washington, D.C.

[mdmc]

120. 60 dems + the house

this should have been pushed through while Teddy was still alive..

[still_one]

121. A lot of things should have been done then. From now until the election they had better go on the

attack, and constantly remind the populous about the financial havoc the repukes have caused.

How the republican party wants to destroy medicare and social security, how the republican party did not want to extend unemployment benefits, how the republican party did not want to bail out any of the American car companies, and destroy unions. How the republican party since reagan wanted to remove ALL regulation on financial institutions, which led us to where we are today

[WillParkinson]

122. Can't do that...

After all, that's not very bi-partisan. :sarcasm:

There have been many opportunities for the Democrats to hold up the Republican excesses to the public eye, and more often than not they've failed to capitalize on them.

[jaysunb]

123. +1 n/t

[RC]

124. An election is coming up.

Obama is moving towards the Left, or at least the Center. If he would only stay there.

[No Elephants]

177. What a dumbass, biased headline! A jobs bill is pro-workers, not baiting of Republican

[alp227]

125. Obama enters mid-terms campaign with $50bn infrastructure plan

Source: The Guardian

Barack Obama is launching a campaign to persuade American voters that the ailing US economy is safe in his hands, unveiling a $50bn (£32bn) infrastructure package tonight as the countdown begins to November's midterm elections in which the Democrats are expected to receive a drubbing.

The president chose the traditional manufacturing town of Milwaukee, home of Harley-Davidson, to announce the scheme designed to boost jobs by investing in roads, railways and airport runways. White House officials said the package would run over six years but would be "front-loaded" so that it acted as a jump-start of the economy that would put building workers and other manual labourers back to work.

The speech, made on the Labour Day holiday that honours the American worker, is an indication that Obama intends to focus his efforts almost exclusively on the economy over the eight weeks that remain until the 2 November elections.

His critics – including several representatives of his own Democratic party struggling to hang on to their seats – say this is not before time, accusing the president of having dispersed his energies too widely on healthcare and foreign policy rather than concentrating on voters' fears about their livelihoods.

Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/sep/06/obama-mid-terms-campaign-economy

[jaxx]

126. Silly people.

Every big legislative bill has directly influenced the economy and therefore has helped to change the trajectory of job loss. Health care, financial reform, the stimulus package. For them to say he has suddenly decided to focus on the economy and jobs is a big fat lie.

[Beartracks]

130. How was the Stimulus NOT about jobs?

I've heard that a lot of the ARRA stimulus went into projects that won't affect job creation until some later time frame; however, I've personally seen some stimulus-funded projects being undertaken for the last year -- and these kinds of projects don't build themselves: PEOPLE were getting paid to do them (i.e. JOBS). And if I understand my economics 101, when these people get paid for doing their JOBS, they spend their money on other goods and services, passing money along to those other PEOPLE, and so on. Money moving through the economy is a good thing. Maybe these stimulus-funded projects so far were more about SAVING jobs rather than CREATING them, but that is NO small achievement.

-------------------------------

[jaxx]

131. I said it was about jobs.

Health care, financial reform and the stimulus were all about the economy and jobs.

[Beartracks]

133. No, I'm sorry -- I didn't mean you. :)

I meant people like Boehner who claim another "failed stimulus" package won't do any more for jobs than the first one did.

-----------------------------

[Francesca9]

127. I wonder if this is enough?

[lyonn]

128. Now if only our media hammers the importance of infrastructure!!

Our media will talk about "he said", "she said" BS. The media finds it so damn hard to give Obama a break, EVER! Ok, I'm so pissed with how Obama has been hammered by jerks. Of course he hasn't done everything I had hoped for or even near enough for me, but, my knowledge is limited. All I Know is that 4 more years of repub interference and we are in trouble. High speed rail alone is a biggie. Europe is proof of this.

[underpants]

129. Bold move ... but the (RW) press will try to bury for this and the other media will follow

good for him though, it is clearly needed.

[creon]

132. the economy

The Democrats need to focus on the economy. They should have from the start. The economy is the most important problem. If the Democrats can get traction on this issue, they may be able to hold their own in November. The first seats to be lost are the marginal/swing seats. Those seats are mostly held by blue dogs Democrats. If the Democrats still hold a majority, the caucus should be more progressive after the election.

After the election, and if the Democrats are still in control, the economy needs to be the primary focus. The problem with fixing the economy is that orthodox economics - which is the great majority of economists -- have very little to offer in the way of solutions. The Democrats have to listen more to the heterodox economists. They do have better and more workable solutions.

Times are bad and people are,, very rightly, worried.







If the GOP takes control, we will see 'gridlock on steroids'. Absolutely nothing will get done. It may turn out to be worse than that.

[monmouth]

134. Scarborough and Mika back tomorrow from vaca. Can't wait to

hear how they spin this... Of course, Joe has been a little put off by the repubs so this should be interesting. If he praises this plan that will be the mantra (I think) for the rest of MSNBC's day...

[w4rma]

135. Here we go. This is good. (nt)

[defendandprotect]

136. Figure I recent heard -- we need $3 TRILLION for infrastructure ...

whether repair or total replacement, whatever ... don't know!

[valerief]

143. Rail, rail, rail, rail!!!! But jobs are jobs. nt

[jmowreader]

145. I have a wonderful idea for you, Mr. President

First, make the bill three times the size it is now. We're going to borrow all the money any fucking way because no one has the balls to raise taxes to pay for spending, so what's really the difference between borrowing $50 billion and borrowing $150 billion?

And second, do not under any circumstances put a God Damn Tax Cut for ANYONE in the package. Tax cuts are the problem, they are not the solution.

[dpbrown]

146. How nice. Less than 5% of what we've already spent on Iraq and Afghanistan

And if, as predicted, the cost of war ultimately soars to over $3,000,000,000,000 as it's expected to do, then that is a paltry 1.7% of the ultimate cost of unnecessary wars of choice.

[cleanhippie]

148. Should have been done last year.

But at least its going to have a chance.


Gonna be interesting to hear what the Cons are gonna say.

[w4rma]

151. And $200B in Tax Cuts to help offset the building of new plants to bust unions at existing plants.

priorities, priorities.

http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2010/09/06/us/politics/politics-us-obama-economy-businesses.html
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=4530287&mesg_id=4530287

[grahamhgreen]

152. It's not massive, but good. Is there a "buy American" provision, or do we sub it out to China?

[defendandprotect]

160. Massive -- ???? Obama's giving $200 billion in tax breaks to elites who build

new plants -- for plants and equipment!!

[Enthusiast]

161. It will help on the job front.

I'm all for it. Besides, it will further serve to illustrate how obstructionist the Republicans are.

[deacon]

172. The media will slam this - the media thinks GOP tax cuts will fix everything. n/t

[crazyjoe]

176. not going to happen, no way, no how. And he knows it.

[No Elephants]

178. I hope some conditions are in the bill re: offshoring jobs and visa jobs.

Aside from that, I'll wait to see what actually transpires.

[Lost4words]

182. too little, too late! nt