Hightower: Obama must get going on jobs. "Banker-first" is not a jobs stimulus.

[Karmadillo]

http://www.noozhawk.com/local_news/article/101309_jim_hightower_obama_must_get_going_on_jobs

Five days before taking the oath of office, President Barack Obama called on the millions of people who had actively campaigned for him to be the engine for real change in America: “I don’t want them to just sit around and wait for me to do something. I want them to be pushing their agendas.”

He asked for it, so let’s shove this agenda into his line of vision: jobs. Middle-class jobs. Jobs with a future. Jobs doing useful work that contributes to U.S. progress and the common good. Lots and lots of those jobs.

Obama has talked often about the need for more jobs. But he’s put little presidential heft into creating them, instead focusing most on extending unemployment benefits to assuage some of the pain of being jobless.

Incredibly, he tried for a while to rationalize his “banker-first” Wall Street bailout as a jobs stimulus! The argument went like this: Rescuing failed bankers might induce them to make loans to corporations, which then might increase corporate production, which then might cause corporate executives to hire some Americans (unless, of course, they used the capital to expand operations in China). That’s a lot of “mights,” and, as we’ve seen, the money mostly remains in the tight clutches of the bailed-out bankers, producing little “trickle-down” benefit.

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Franklin D. Roosevelt, when he faced deep and spreading national insecurity, made jobs first — not last. So should Obama. America has plenty of work that needs doing, work that would strengthen our country for the long haul. It’s time for him to launch a long-term, nationwide revitalization effort to rebuild and expand our essential infrastructure (from bridges to water systems) and to create the framework for a green economy — everything from rapid expansion of renewable energy systems to building high-speed networks that link our population corridors.

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[RKP5637]

1. Agree!!! I had thought something like the PWA would have been part of the plan...

Not the entire plan, but a piece of the plan to get jobs rolling along. There are so many things that need to be done in this country along the line of what FDR did with the PWA. I'm surprised something like this was not a centerpiece of the recovery program.

What many see is Wall Street being rewarded, exorbitant bonuses, etc. and Wall Street trying to continue the same crap again. From what I understand many (right or wrong) view the success of a president from their own personal lot in life, and often they judge by jobs.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

2. Well, let's hope he can pass the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

Oh, wait...

[Karmadillo]

3. That's right! That's the one that will keep unemployment at 8%. No need to do anything else.

nt