Talking Point: US Government Debt and Jobs

Job, Jobs, Where are the Jobs?

The talking point is simple. Average Americans are not spending money, and the economy is stalled, because they don't have much money. It's no use giving tax breaks and low interest rates to product manufacturers, because the people who would normally buy their products don't have money. People need jobs.

It is debatable whether the American public is responsible for 70% of domestic spending on goods and services, but by sheer number their spending potential is huge. They might make up 70% of domestic spending if they had money to spend, but they don't have good jobs.

Why not? Government policies over the past several decades, supply-side (trickle-down) tax policies and corporate globalization policies, have created a record wealth gap. A study by three Citigroup analysts indicates that the top 1% of Americans earn as much annual income as the bottom 60% and the top 1% possess as much wealth as the bottom 90% of Americans. The analysts concluded “economic growth [in the US] is powered by and largely consumed by the wealthy few.” [1] This is borne out by recent statistics showing that growth in domestic product sales have declined at discount stores and have grown in high-end stores and luxury products.

The Solution:

The government needs to set policies to put money in the pockets of average Americans, and I'm not talking about a $600 check; it needs to be tens of thousands per year, which simply put means temporarily creating jobs. The money for these jobs needs to come from the places that it is being hoarded: The richest 1% of Americans and transnational corporations who have benefited greatly from government policies over the past few decades.

After people have had government-sponsored jobs for several years, they will have the money to buy more products and services they need. This will create a market for private sector products and, in turn, support more jobs in the private sector. Eventually, the government can get out of business of job creation.

And yes, these jobs will require more government revenue in the near-term, but will also generate new revenues. In the long run, we'll be more likely able to pay down the US Government debt.

Agree? Let policy makers know:

• Contact the Broadcast Media
• Contact the US Senate
• Contact the House of Representatives

Update: Listen to a professional, Bill Gross, founder and co-chief investment officer of the investment management firm Pimco. "America’s debt is not its biggest problem", Washington Post, August 10, 2011.

Sources:

1. Can the Middle Class be Saved? Atlantic Monthly, September, 2011.

May 8 - Washington Protest for Jobs

The 75th Anniversary of FDR's Works Progress Administration (WPA) is approaching and what better way to honor it than going to the streets?

On May 6, 1935, Pres. Roosevelt signed executive order 7034 creating the largest public works program in history. The Works Progress Administration created 8.5 million jobs during the Depression of the 1930s.

Bail Out The People is organizing around a principle for which Martin Luther King, Jr. organized in the last years of his life; the notion that a job is a fundamental right.

One can argue with that principle, but it's hard to argue that the recent bailout of Wall Street wasn't a corporate welfare give-away at the expense of better uses of tax-payer money. We hear about the Treasury Department TARP money, about $700 billion, but that was the tip of the iceberg; trillions were given directly and as tax-payer-backed guarantees by the Federal Reserve without any public oversight.[1]

You can ENDORSE the May 8 Rally to Bail out the People not the Banks. You can also Check Out More Information and consider donating to the cause if you can't make it to the rally in Washington, DC.

Sources:

1. Bloomberg News, U.S. Pledges Top $7.7 Trillion to Ease Frozen Credit, Mark Pittman and Bob Ivry, November 29, 2008.

A World in Which Most People Don't Have Jobs

The following is evidence that the Wall Street economic mindset still persists:

Jobs are likely to remain scarce through next year and maybe beyond that even though the overall economy seems to be picking up.

Apparently, jobs are not part of the overall economy.

Taking this mindset to its logical conclusion, we can envision a day when very few people have jobs. I presume the many people without jobs will have the resources they need to survive and even thrive. Sounds like a Utopian socialist society.

Psssst... Do Something

• Contact the Broadcast Media
  
• Contact the Newspapers
  
• Contact the US Senate
  
• Contact the House of Representatives

Sources:

Associated Press, "New jobless claims drop, benefit rolls reach 6.7M," Christopher S. Rugaber, AP Economics Writer, May 21, 2009.

RNC Chair Michael Steele's Voice "unimportant"

Michael Steele, former Lt. Governor of Maryland and newly appointed chair of the Republican National Committee, has egg on his face. In discussing Obama's stimulus package on Democracy Now, James Galbraith, economist and professor of public affairs and government at the University of Texas, dismisses the wacky verbiage of Michael Steele.

AMY GOODMAN: Professor Galbraith, what do you make of the new RNC chair, Michael Steele, saying these aren’t jobs, they’re simply work?

JAMES GALBRAITH: Well, it’s interesting that this semantic philosopher has taken over the Republican National Committee. It’s going to lead to some exceptionally—historians will have fun with the logic chopping and sentence parsing that we’re going to get from Mr. Steele, obviously, during his tenure. But otherwise, it’s unimportant.

Steele supposedly coined the slogan "drill baby drill." It's said that when a political party is initially discredited, like the Republican Party is today, most of the moderate members run for cover. This leaves a vacuum for the fringe elements, like Michael Steele and Sarah Palin, to take center stage. As media studies professor Susan Douglass recently said about Sarah Palin, following her is like watching a train wreck over and over, which can be entertaining if you enjoy the surreal.

Sources:

Democracy Now, Economist James Galbraith: Bailed-Out Banks Should Be Declared Insolvent, February 10, 2009.