Is it time for Obama to pitch a new WPA program?

[twiceshy]

I live in a post-industrial mid-sized city in the Northeast and our problems are numerous. With high school drop out rates at +50 percent, we have a large and growing population of young people with little hope for the future and this breeds crime, apathy, dependence on government (Section 8, food stamps, welfare, etc.)

At the same time we have crumbling infrastructure, broken sidewalks, old WPA-built bridges in disrepair, parks in a shambles, boarded-up buildings, yeah, the Bush years seem to have passed us over. Would it make sense to start a corps for young people to engage in the rebuilding of this once proud city? What would be the obstacles?

I feel a lot of hope at this moment, just waiting for the change.

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

1. I think that is an excellent idea.

There's nothing wrong with good old physical labor to rebuild our nation wide decaying infrastructure. It would be great if these jobs paid a decent wage and allowed for things like tuition assistance after so much time, etc.

I agree that we need to do something to stop building a permanent criminal, apathetic, poor, underclass who cannot see a way out of a very dreary future.

[slor]

2. Absolutely!

This is one of the biggest reasons imho, to get a Dem elected. I believe that only a Democrat would support such an idea, as opposed to the rethugs that seem to hate govt. We need to do it, and focus a large part on renewable energy. And tax the oil companies, that have made such huge profits, for no other reason than the price of a barrel of oil, to pay for part of it.

[HereSince1628]

3. I've seen unemployment projected to be 10% by spring

There will be tremendous pressure for economic stimulus.

Unfortunately, that means tremendous pressure for raising taxes. We'd have the money if we ended the War for Oil.

The dilemma for the DC-Dems hand-wringers is gonna be choosing between looking weak on defense vs. looking like tax and spenders. My bet is that this quandry paralyzes Pelosi.

Obama will be forced to take all the risk exposure himself to provide cover for Congress; it is likely his advisors will be pushing lower-risk options.
It's going to be an interesting time.

[Romulox]

9. Pelosi sure as hell wasn't "paralyzed" when she was shoving the bailout down our throats!

But helping actual poor people would present her with quite a quandry, I expect. :puke:

[izzie]

4. I would go a long with that in some modern way

Look our interstate was put in by Ike. 50 years ago. Getting people out of cars and 'goods' on to trains would be a good start. Wind mills sound good also. Every small farm had a wind mill to pump water for either the house or barn in my young years. Maybe that would be better than having the oil truck pull up in the yard? I still know of two farms that have old windmills to pump water for their barns. Kids walked to school on side walks and now with these big schools every one needs to go by bus.Do we really need parking lots for kids car in high school? Tax money could be put to better use. I am not sure that this is a better eduction in how we do it to day. More people means more money must go to the things that make the country run, like it of not, that is how things work.

[patrice]

5. This should be 1st, because it will help the economy and, thus . . .

make the other issues easier to address.

[OneBlueSky]

6. he's gonna have a helluva time pitching anything when he sees the figures . . .

with the government in the midst of one final cash give-away (and it's a doozy), and with more to come, trying to construct a budget that works is going to be a task of monumental proportions . . .

where he can find billions for new programs of any kind baffles me . . . I suppose he could just print more money, but I don't know if he wants to ignite the accompanying inflation . . . or he could borrow some more, but that total's already in the trillions . . . and we really don't need to be any farther in debt to the Chinese . . .

right now, the U.S. budget deficit is how many billion? . . . and that's not even counting the "off-budget" items, like that little war in Iraq that's sucking up $10 billion a month (over $300 million a day), or the one in Afghanistan, either . . . . and I'm sure tax revenues won't be meeting their projections . . . so where does the money come from? . . .

to say that Obama's got his work cut out for him would be an understatement . . . he's gonna need a magic wand or something . . .

[galileoreloaded]

7. This will be the biggest challenge.

Problem is this isn't 1935. Even if they kick the cash out to do it, given the current regulatory, engineering, and entitlement climate, it would be three years before the first shovel turned, and Obama doesn't have that kind of time. Not to mention that all Fed, State, and Muni legislation will need to be rewritten to allow the contractors to receive a 25% downpayment, as the industry is in shambles and there is very little working capital even to show up on the job, much less pay the first 30 days bills.

Don't count on infrastructure, or if you do, realize it will cost 20-30% more than a similar project a year or two ago. I don't think people realize how bad it really is out there.

[Romulox]

8. Sorry, no money for that. It all went to the bailout. nt