Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Economics 101: How to put Americans back to work—Jobs, Jobs, Jobs

Here is a novel idea on how we should put people back to work, let us start by making construction workers work on public works projects for their unemployment benefits. In the depression, they called it WPA. If voters start taking pictures of schools, roads and bridges that need fixing then federal representatives could use those as proof of what needs fixing in their states. Schoolchildren would then have safe schools, roads and bridges for the coming year.

Then we could look at courthouses and jails that need improving or built in the first place. Larger courthouses will need more staff and judges to work inside them so that justice can be done quickly therefore businesses will have a solid result in a shorter span of time.

Businesses will not have to deal with as much property crime if criminals are behind bars. It is hard to stop property crime when judges are forced to keep letting the same people go because of overcrowding in the prison system. With new prisons comes a need for more guards, which will provide more jobs. We could even force low risk prisoners, such as property criminals, to pick crops for the farmers thereby reducing the cost of the product, and increasing the farmer’s ability to bring their crop to market on time. It would also teach criminals a trade, which would reduce the likelihood of their reoffending. Not to mention, exhausted prisoners are less likely to cause problems within the prison system.

All of this work will increase demand for products and services, which will require more people at work to provide these products and services. In turn, those people once back to work will spend their income creating even more demand for products and services.

Where do we get all of the money to pay these government salaries? First, we make people who are on unemployment start working for their benefits. Then we start taxing large corporations and the ultra-rich who do not use their money to create jobs. If someone can prove that they are creating jobs with their income and not hording that incomes then they deserve tax breaks, otherwise they should be forced to pay the government to create those jobs. Government jobs should not pay wages that are higher than private industry jobs. This will encourage people who are on unemployment to seek public sector jobs. The government should not pay people to stay at home and do nothing either. Either the unemployed should be working in government jobs or they should be going to school to increase their marketable jobs skills.

Monday, August 8, 2011

Capitulating, Hording Not the Answer to Budget Problems

If president Obama gives even one more cent of taxpayers’ money to the Republican Party this year then he can kiss his reelection chances goodbye. Democrats are outraged and sick to death of seeing our values walked all over by the republicans in Washington D.C. Social programs that the American public have come to see as their only hope at maintaining a middle class are being destroyed by the Tea Party representatives.

Repeatedly democrats have been forced to give far too much, and now the republicans are asking them to give an arm and a leg from grandma and grandpa in order to reduce a debt produced by republicans. One percent of all Americans and Corporations are hording immeasurable sums of money while unemployment is over nine percent. Stand and Poor’s downgraded the national credit rating for the first time in American history due to the republican’s unreasonable desire to enable hording by the ultra-rich. The result was a drop in the market of over 600 points of or 5.6% for just one day of trading. We all know the damage hording does to the community as a whole. The time has come to rebalance America’s wealth in order to get money flowing, and to reduce unemployment in this country. Simple put rich people refuse to spend money, and they refuse to create jobs in this country. Federal government action is the only way to correct this economic imbalance.

The ultra-rich take their money outside the country to spend and horde it in the banks of other nations. The ultra-rich spend their money on startup companies in other countries while getting the tax breaks in our country. Globalization has brought our country to the verge of bankruptcy. Yet the republicans are attempting to force more weak trade agreements that will only result in more lost jobs in this country.

Democrats are now talking about the possibility of a challenger in the democratic primary that could produce a stronger more stabilizing leader. Some are suggesting drafting Clinton to run. They want power and experience. They want someone who knows how to play hardball. Compromise is not a dirty word but capitulating is a dirty word because it has now harmed the middle class in this country to such an extent that it can no longer be tolerated.