Jobs and More Jobs

The headlines have blared about it; the Senate and the White House phone lines have been jammed because of it. It's called a Stimulus Plan, but the common term should be a JOBS PLAN.



The way to improve the economy, as nearly every economist will tell you, is to sustain and create jobs. They'll also agree that "government spending is stimulative." 1 In January alone, over 1/2 million jobs were lost. That's 1/2 million folks now going on unemployment, facing foreclosure, and many without healthcare. This is not a bailout for big-salaried CEO's and, in fact, once the Jobs Bill is passed, you can go to a new Recovery website to see where your tax dollars are being spent.

The tax breaks (multi-millionaire Warren Buffett pays 18% while his receptionist pays 33% 2) over the last 8 years (and really, since the Reagan Administration) haven't worked for anyone except the rich.3 We're living proof of this. The rich have gotten richer, while the middle-class has eroded to a shadow of its former self. Trickle-down didn't work; it's time for trickle-up (see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=63Do7L1yh-I for Obama's video on a strong middle class). If you give a rich person $1000, he'll pocket it. If you give a poor person $1000, he'll pay his bills. Which one stimulates the economy?

Does job creation stimulate the economy? History has already shown that it does (witness the Great Depression, where 3 Republican administrations ran the country into debt and reduced oversight and regulation until Wall St. & banks collapsed). It took a Democrat (Roosevelt) to clean up the mess. 4

Sources:
1. Media Matters at http://by119w.bay119.mail.live.com/mail/InboxLight.aspx?FolderID=00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000001&InboxSortAscending=False&InboxSortBy=Date&n=2062644410.
2. http://www.bestsyndication.com/?q=111507_warren_buffett_asks_government_for_tax_rate_increase_for_the_rich.htm
3.Citizens for Tax Justice, Year-by-Year Analysis of the Bush Tax Cuts, http://www.ctj.org/html/gwb0602.htm
4. Timelines of the Great Depression, http://www.huppi.com/kangaroo/Timeline.htm