infrastructure

Infrastructure!

Dave Johnson — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 12:34:24 -0400

Good Lord, what is the matter with people? There are millions of jobs that need doing, and millions of unemployed. How hard is it to figure out what to do?

Next up before the Senate is an infrastructure bill. It's simple, $60 billion to repair aging infrastructure. This creates hundreds of thousands of jobs while the work is underway, which means people will not be collecting government benefits, will be paying taxes, will be spending which boosts demand, and then when the work is done the economy works better making costs lower and our businesses are more competitive. It's an obvious win-win for everyone.

A win-win for everyone except Republicans who understand that if the economy does better they will have a harder time in the next election.

The Bill

Isaiah Poole, in A $60 Billion Down Payment On The Essentials For Economic Renewal, explains,

This week the Senate will take up another proposal by the Obama administration to create jobs and move the country closer to economic recovery, this one a $60 billion plan for immediate spending on the nation's roads, bridges, public transportation systems and other essentials to a vibrant, efficient economy. Of that, $50 billion is direct spending and $10 billion would take the form of an infrastructure bank that would be used to leverage private investment.

Here is the outline of that bill:

Immediately Invests in Our Roads, Rails and Airports ($50 Billion): The Senate bill provides $50 billion in immediate investments for highways, transit, rail and aviation, helping to modernize an infrastructure that now receives a grade of “D” from the American Society of Civil Engineers and putting hundreds of thousands of construction workers back on the job. This investment will put people to work upgrading 150,000 miles of road, laying/maintaining 4,000 miles of train tracks, restoring 150 miles of runways, and putting in place a next-generation air-traffic control system that will reduce travel time and delays. The plan includes $27 billion to rebuild roads and bridges, $9 billion to repair transit systems, $5 billion for projects selected through a competitive grant program, $4 billion for construction of the high-speed rail network, $2 billion to improve airport facilities and $1 billion for a NextGen air traffic control system. The call for greater infrastructure investment has been joined by leaders from AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka to U.S. Chamber of Commerce President Thomas Donohue.

Establishes a National Infrastructure Bank ($10 Billion): The Senate bill establishes a National Infrastructure Bank capitalized with $10 billion that will leverage private and public capital to help fund a broad range of infrastructure projects. The Bank would be based on the model Senators Kerry and Hutchison have championed, which has been endorsed by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce while building on legislation by Senators Rockefeller and Lautenberg and the work of long-time infrastructure bank champions like Rosa DeLauro and the input of the President’s Jobs Council.

Asks Millionaires to Pay Their Fair Share Without Adding a Dime to the Deficit: In order to create or save hundreds of thousands of construction jobs, the Senate bill imposes a 0.7% surtax on modified adjusted gross income in excess of $1 million for both single filers and married couples filing jointly. The surtax is effective for taxable years beginning after December 31, 2012.

That tax would mean someone reporting $1,000,100 income after all deductions would pay an extra seven cents in taxes.

The Obstruction

Republicans in the Senate will unanimously oppose this bill -- a filibuster.

Republicans have stated that their top objective is to win the next election. Not to create jobs, not to help the economy, not to prevent another financial collapse, not to help prevent foreclosures, not to fight climate change, not to do anything except obstruct everything in order to make things worse, hoping this will turn people against government and democracy.

The Cover

The "mainstream" corporate media does not report this. They do not report that one party is filibustering bills, They do not report that there is obstruction. They instead tell the public that "the Senate" "blocked," "rejected," "failed," or whatever they need to say to describe what happened without letting the public know what happened.

Until the public is informed of what is going on in Washington, the gridlock will continue. An informed public is essential to a functioning democracy. An informed public is able to apply political pressure in the correct places.

Previous posts on infrastructure:

Reagan Revolution Home To Roost: America Is Crumbling

Tax Cuts Leave Nothing Behind -- Infrastructure Investment Leaves Behind Infrastructure

Infrastructure Work Is Needed And People Need The Work

State Of The Union—Infrastructure and Jobs: Two Problems, One Solution

A Simple Plan To Fix The Jobs Emergency -- And The Economy, Too

Infrastructure Jobs, Repeat And Amplify

Transportation Bill Actually Not Boring

Big Ideas To Get America Working: Rebuild Our Infrastructure

Unpaved: Out-Of-Cash America Undoing Its Infrastructure

AFL-CIO Makes $10 Billion Infrastructure Commitment

Where Is The Chamber's Infrastructure Push? and Obama Should Call Chamber’s Infrastructure Bluff

Jobs Speech In A Democracy -- What Do Polls Show The Public Wants?

Dave Johnson — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 14:31:49 -0400

As President Obama prepares to give a major speech on jobs before a joint session of Congress, what does the public think the country should do?

The public wants jobs created to fix our crumbling infrastructure, paid for by tax increases on Wall Street and the super-rich. They do not want cuts in Medicare or Social Security. And business owners want customers, not deregulation or tax cuts.

Public Wants Infrastructure Jobs

There is no way around it: the public overwhelmingly thinks the country should put people to work repairing our infrastructure. Poll after poll shows this. Maybe the idea that there are millions of jobs that need doing while millions are out of work has occurred to people.

Just yesterday, there was one more confirmation of this. Politico reports on a Battleground poll that shows 51 percent support a national program to put Americans to work by building roads, bridges and schools: (Click for the complete PDF of poll results.)

... a majority (51%) supports a large-scale, federally-subsidized construction program to put Americans back to work building roads, bridges, schools, and hospitals, including 40% of voters who support it strongly. Fifty-two percent of independent voters and a majority of blue-collar voters support this proposal. Opposition stands at just 21%, 16% among independents.

Public Doesn't Want Medicare Or Social Security Cuts

Medicare wins 78% to 20%: An August NBC News/Wall Street Journal Survey found that just 20% of Americans support reducing the deficit by cutting spending on Medicare.

Reduce the deficit by reducing spending on Medicare, the federal government health care program for seniors: August 2011
Totally acceptable 5% Mostly acceptable15% Mostly unacceptable 27% Totally unacceptable 51% Not Sure 2%

Social Security wins 62% to 33%: A poll conducted June15-19 by Pew Research asked respindents to choose between these two statements about Social Security: Older people who can afford it need to give up some government benefits to help the country overcome its economic problems, or the government needs to keep its promises to older people by maintaining their benefits, even for those who are well-off :

Give up some benefits 33% Keep its promises 62% Both/Neither/Other (vol.) 2% Unsure/Refused 3%

Business Owners Want Customers

The Washington elite will tell you that businesses want tax cuts, and cuts in regulation. If only we cut taxes on the rich and cut democracy's oversight of business, things will get so much better... Last week McClatchy Newspapers did some actual, honest-to-goodness reporting and went out and asked business owners what they need. The result was this story: "Regulations, taxes aren't killing small business, owners say":

Politicians and business groups often blame excessive regulation and fear of higher taxes for tepid hiring in the economy. However, little evidence of that emerged when McClatchy canvassed a random sample of small business owners across the nation. "Government regulations are not 'choking' our business, the hospitality business," Bernard Wolfson, the president of Hospitality Operations in Miami, told The Miami Herald. "In order to do business in today's environment, government regulations are necessary and we must deal with them. The health and safety of our guests depend on regulations. It is the government regulations that help keep things in order."

So McClatchy went out and actually asked owners of businesses what they thought. That is so not-D.C., to actually ask the people affected. And what did they find?

McClatchy reached out to owners of small businesses, many of them mom-and-pop operations, to find out whether they indeed were being choked by regulation, whether uncertainty over taxes affected their hiring plans and whether the health care overhaul was helping or hurting their business. Their response was surprising. None of the business owners complained about regulation in their particular industries, and most seemed to welcome it. Some pointed to the lack of regulation in mortgage lending as a principal cause of the financial crisis that brought about the Great Recession of 2007-09 and its grim aftermath.

None, as in not any of the business owners complained about regulation, most welcomed it. And what did they hear from business owners about taxes?

"I think the rich have to be taxed, sorry," Douglas said. He added that he isn't facing a sea of new regulations but that he does struggle with an old issue, workers' compensation claims.

Is it really a big surprise that "Businesses Hire When Customers Are Coming In The Door"?

So that's what the public wants the president to talk about. What will he say?

Transportation Bill Actually Not Boring

Dave Johnson — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 14:01:43 -0400

"Transportation Bill Actually Not Boring" is actually not a headline from the Onion. President Obama today urged House Republicans to please not let the "Surface Transportation Bill" expire at the end of September. Up to one million people will lose their jobs if the Republicans continue to block the renewal of this bill -- which may be exactly what the Republicans want. They are demanding cuts of one-third in highway maintenance, which cuts about 600,000 jobs. So once again we have a hostage situation.

The Surface Transportation Bill, also known as the "highway bill." funds highway maintenance, which like all infrastructure work has been underfunded for decades, as well as public transportation.

Huffington Post's Sam Stein lays out some of the issues, in Obama To Call For Extension Of Transportation Funds Currently Set To Expire,

Discussions about specific legislation that would extend the funding has caused friction between Republicans and Democrats. ... Senator Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) ... has outlined a two-year extension at the cost of $109 billion, which would keep spending at its current levels. House Transportation and Infrastructure Chair John Mica (R-Fla.), meanwhile, has pushed a six-year extension with a 34 percent reduction in the amount spent.

...according to Boxer's office, the numerical difference in dollars spent between her plan and Mica's is the equivalent of 630,000 jobs.

... Conservatives attacked the item as further evidence that the president couldn't tame his spending urges, though Democrats note that the $109 billion wouldn't be a spending increase, just a continuation of current spending levels.

Note that President Obama has proposed $556 billion over 6 years, an even higher amount that still doesn't meet the maintenance needs of the roads, bridges, etc.

Will Republicans Block It?

There is every reason to believe that Republicans will block the extension of the highway bill, as they have been doing for months. House Speaker John Boehner is accusing President Obama of using "scare tactics" for explaining the number of jobs that failure to extend the funding will cost. Meanwhile no one is explaining the cost of failure to maintain the highways, roads, bridges and transit systems.

For a sampling of Republican resistance to extending the highway bill, look at the comments posted at the Politico story on this, President Obama urges renewal of transportation bills,

Shut it down!! Let the Government union slugs get Furloughed again, after what happened the last time with the showdown and the Democrats ultimately caving they should know by now that the Republicans mean Business and are not backing down.

Since Obama had the fat Union slob Trumka standing at his side while shaking his fist and making demands, i hope the Republicans attach some nice anti-union riders to the authorization bills....Let Obama, his Union thug pals and the Democrats in the Senate choke on them.....

No more so called "jobs bill" spending. I urge the Republican House to kill Obama's bill at once. The last jobs bill cost 300 k per job created. If that taxpayer money was left in small business that could have been 15 good jobs. Obama just wants to create overpaid union jobs, affirmative action jobs and Davis Bacon jobs. Then they collect mandatory union dues to fund democratic candidates to run against us or engage in public relations campaigns. In my mid town they added two fireman jobs at 80 k per year when we do not need any new fireman. It was a federal fund. Why pay a 22 year old 80 k per year to basically sit in the firehouse and pump iron? Sign me up. What a waste. Return the money to the people in the form of a tax cut. No more federal jobs spending, Its a huge boondoggle, nothing but bridges to nowhere. No more bridges to nowhere. Vote republican early and often. Republicans are my heroes. They passed a spending bill with not one earmark. So diferent than Obamacare and the Cornhusker Kickback to Nelson.

This is Obama attempting another gift to the unions. If Trumka is for it...it isn't goood for the country...just for the unions so they can fund Obama's campaign. What a joke.

If Trumka is there it will be because he needs another Obozo Union PAYOFF!

Also, see the comments at The Hill's story on this, Obama: Delay in passing highway bill could cost jobs:

Let me get this straight, these "shovel-ready projects" which favor union contractors (and accordingly inflate the cost of a project by 50%) are the solution to the country's woes. barry, barry, barry…are you sure you stopped smoking crack years ago? Our president is a brean-dead failure. UUUGGGHHH!

More taxpayer dollars for Obama's base.

Less income for taxpayers.

Obama's Thugocracy keeps rolling on.

Yes Congress, hurry up and pass the bill so Obama can give all the jobs to illegals w/ his new amnesty-work permits program.

Trumka is on stage with Huissein?
Allyou need to know.
The AFL CIO will try to continue to try to run the country into the ground.
Observation: There has been (since BO's 1st stimulus) a project underway on I 95 at Cottman avenue on-ramp in Philly. All union labor. Job still not done in over 2 years . Should have been a 2 month job. Multiple times I have passed by there and workers sitting in truck doing nothing.
Trans bill purely an excuse to put money in his union constituant's pockets (as proved bu the thug Trumka's presence).
It did not work the 1st time, Mr Kenya. We wont be fooled again.

Having Richard Trumka standing by Obama in the Rose Garden pretty much tells you all you need to know about the Highway Bill: Taxpayer funded money going to unions. Before anyone passes any highway legislation, there ought to be a transparent reconciliation of the Stimulus Bill just to ascertain how many shovel ready infrastructure projects actually received funding. The next item on the Obama "to do" list should be demanding that the democrats in the Senate pass a budget that has been better than two years in the works.

Grijalva's Border Infrastructure And Jobs Act

Dave Johnson — Fri, 19 Aug 2011 11:05:51 -0400

Congressman Raul Grijalva has introduced The Border Infrastructure and Jobs Act of 2011. (Fronteriza Y Trabajos 2011.) According to the Nogales International, this is a bill to "strengthen cross-border trade; modernize and expand border transportation; adequately staff the ports of entry; invest in innovation and research; and revitalize small business activity. Grijalva (D- Ariz.) said the new legislation would only apply to Arizona and its ports of entry at Nogales, San Luis and Douglas."

Jobs: The bill calls for adding 500 Customs and Border Protection officers to help move cross-border traffic, reducing border waits.

Funding would come from already-appropriated Homeland Security amounts,

Grijalva plans on financing the bill by redirecting funds from existing agencies like the Department of Homeland Security’s capital investment programs, he said.

“They have capital investment programs looking for technological investments for the future with a budget of $750 billion,” Grijalva said. “Give us $250 billion and that will get us a long way toward that goal.”

Rep. Grijalva talked about the bill on Countdown With Keith Olbermann:

"Arizona Rep. Raul Grijalva announces his new bill, the "Border Infrastructure and Jobs Act of 2011," designed to strengthen cross-border trade, improve regional infrastructure and create up to 35,000 jobs in Arizona alone. Keith discusses the bill's details with Grijalva."

Part 2:

Big Ideas To Get America Working: Rebuild Our Infrastructure

Dave Johnson — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 08:45:15 -0400

In the midst of the July heat wave, some Oklahoma City commuters got a nasty surprise as they drove down Interstate 44 one morning: an expansion joint on a 36-year-old bridge buckled.

Several vehicles were damaged as they drove across the broken joint before repair crews could close off the damage and begin repairs. Fortunately, aside from the damaged cars and the traffic delays caused by the repairs, there were no other ill effects—at least at that moment.

That was a loud wake-up call, however, for any elected official who chose to hear it. As NewsOK reported, it was not just the heat, but "the age of the bridge" that was a factor in the buckling incident.

The reason incidents like this one keep popping up all over the country is that for decades now America has been putting off necessary investments in our public infrastructure—our roads, bridges, airports, ports and waterways, rail, levees, schools, water systems, energy systems, and other public facilities. This infrastructure meets the public’s safety and welfare needs, and supports the nation’s economic growth and competitiveness, but it is falling apart.

The American Society of Civil Engineers earlier this month estimated that the nation needs to spend $1.7 trillion over the next nine years just on its surface transportation network alone—almost double what is currently on the books. Being cheap on this front is costing us plenty: $130 billion in 2010, according to the ASCE, "including approximately $97 billion in vehicle operating costs, $32 billion in delays in travel time, $1.2 billion in safety costs, and $590 million in environmental costs."

At the same time we have a jobs crisis: 13.9 million Americans officially out of work; another 8.3 million working part-time who would want full-time jobs, millions more who have pretty much thrown up their hands in today's stagnant economy.

The answer to both problems is obvious: Put millions of people to work repairing and rebuilding our public infrastructure—now. Do it while the nation has an abundance of idle skilled labor, unused construction and manufacturing capacity, and record low borrowing costs. Ignore the deficit-mongers. This is essential for addressing today's jobs crisis and tomorrow's economic growth needs. Plus, investing in infrastructure costs less than the cost of high levels of unemployment: the lower tax revenues, loss of business activity, and all of the forms of government spending resulting from slow growth and increased joblessness.

“Maintaining our levees and dams isn’t pork-barrel spending, it’s an urgent priority, and that’s what we’ll do when I’m president.” - Barack Obama, campaign speech to the U.S. Conference of Mayors, June 21, 2008

President Obama has had the right rhetoric when it comes to investing in infrastructure. But none of the plans getting serious consideration in Washington match the scale of the problem—and take advantage of an exceptional opportunity. Even the White House proposes to spend only $556 billion over six years on highways and public transportation.

Meanwhile, the conservative majority in Congress unabashedly wants to move the country backwards. A plan put forward by Rep. John Mica, R-Fla., chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, that would authorize a scandalously measly $38 billion a year, roughly 35 percent less than the inadequate spending levels of 2009. This cutback in federal spending will actually kill jobs, not create them. But even more extremist forces among Republicans in Congress are seriously considering ending federal involvement on transportation altogether by allowing to expire on September 30 the federal gasoline tax that pays for transportation spending.

Doing What Is Obvious

Interviewed for a 60 Minutes 2010 story about Brazil's economic success—including a 7 percent unemployment rate and 7.5 percent economic growth in 2010—Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said, "I have found out something amazing: the success of an elected official is in the art of doing what is obvious. It is what everyone knows needs to be done but some insist on doing differently."

So, once again, let's state the obvious: We have been deferring the maintenance of our infrastructure and now our roads and bridges and all the rest are literally crumbling. This is holding our economy back. This is degrading our standard of living.

Here are a few infrastructure facts:

The American Society of Civil Engineers has graded our infrastructure ‘D,’ estimating that $2.122 trillion must be spent just to bring it up to “satisfactory” condition. [American Society of Civil Engineers]
More than 25% of bridges in the United States need significant repairs and/or are handling more traffic than they were designed to carry. [Christian Science Monitor and U.S. Department of Transportation]
Nearly a third of all highway fatalities are related to substandard road conditions, obsolete road designs, or roadside hazards. [New America Foundation]
A significant water line bursts every two minutes in the United States. [The New York Times]
One in three schools are in bad enough condition “to interfere with the delivery of instruction.” [U.S. Department of Education]
In 2010, deficiencies in America’s roads, bridges, and transit systems cost American households and businesses more than $129 billion. [ASCE]
By 2020 the nation’s deteriorating surface transportation infrastructure will cost the American economy more than 870,000 jobs and suppress the growth of the country’s Gross Domestic Product by $3.1 trillion.” [ASCE ]
The quality of U.S. infrastructure is falling behind competitors like Brazil, China and India. [Urban Land Institute ]
If infrastructure needs are not addressed, within 10 years U.S. businesses will pay an added $430 billion in transportation costs, household incomes will fall by more than $7,000, and U.S. exports will fall by $28 billion. [ASCE]

“[T]here are many more worthy projects than there were dollars to fund them. I recognize that by their nature these projects often take time, and will therefore create jobs over time. But the need for jobs will also last beyond next year and the benefits of these investments will last years beyond that. So adding to this initiative to rebuild America's infrastructure is the right thing to do.” —President Obama at the Brookings Institute, December 2009

An Infrastructure Jobs Agenda

We need to drive a bold agenda for repairing and expanding our public assets into the national debate, making the case for doing the work now that will create good, middle-class jobs and establish the foundation for future sustainable economic growth. Here are some of the elements:

Reauthorize the six-year surface transportation reauthorization bill, which has been caught in conservative gridlock for more than two years, at no less than the $556 billion that the White House has requested. According to the Economic Policy Institute, $500 billion invested in transportation infrastructure can produce 7.2 million new jobs, including 3,236,686 construction jobs, 761,321 manufacturing jobs, and 625,081 jobs in business and professional services.
Create national and state infrastructure banks (iBanks) that can leverage about $640 billion in private investments from a $10 billion federal contribution. [Senator John Kerry]
Invest $20 billion in school construction, maintenance and greening, which can generate 250,000 skilled jobs. [Economic Policy Institute and FAST!]
Implement The National Broadband Plan, which “will create thousands, if not millions, of jobs,” and can be funded by auctioning broadcast spectrum. [National Broadband Plan]
Build a high-speed rail network with U.S.-manufactured rail cars. That would create millions of green jobs nationwide and pay for itself by significantly reducing our $700 billion-a-year oil purchase trade deficit. [U.S. High Speed Rail Association, United States Conference of Mayors]

Infrastructure investments equal to about 60 percent of what Americans spend on fast food each year ($78 billion of approximately, $130 billion), would protect 1.1 million jobs, save Americans 180 million hours in travel time each year, deliver an average of $1,060 to each family and protect $10,000 in GDP for every man, woman and child in the U.S., according to the American Society of Civil Engineers.

“Businesses depend on a transportation network that is reliable, fast, safe and cost-effective. Unfortunately, increasing congestion due to crumbling transportation infrastructure disrupts these important connections and imposes additional costs on workers and employers alike. As congestion increases system-wide, supply chains and cargo shipments are frequently disrupted and the cost of doing business increases.” - U.S. Chamber of Commerce statement at "FasterBetterSafer"

The Conservative War Against Infrastructure Spending

Conservatives in Congress and in state governments, egged on by right-wing think tanks, are actively opposing increased public spending on maintaining and modernizing our infrastructure. Republican governors in Florida, Ohio, and Wisconsin refused federal dollars for high-speed rail projects in their states. New Jersey's Republican governor rejected federal funding to expand a 100-year-old rail tunnel connecting his state to New York, costing the state thousands of jobs.

Michelle Malkin denounces infrastructure spending as just "more spending" and calls an infrastructure bank a "government slush fund." The Heritage Foundation actually says that government spending on public infrastructure is bad for the economy and "may even yield a net loss in jobs." Such spending, a Heritage Foundation article says, is just "extracting money from one part of the economy and spending it elsewhere." Other conservatives argue maintaining the infrastructure is just "more Obama spending," or just denigrate it as more "tax and spend."

This is preposterous. Conservatives seem unaware that they are living off of the past savings account of infrastructure that was built up starting in the FDR years, through Eisenhower's investment in an interstate highway system and into the good years of the 1960s and 1970s. This is what enabled businesses to prosper and people in the middle class to improve their quality of life. The social contract that We, the People agreed to was that businesses and people who did well paid back by pitching in to keep the network system of public assets up to date.

But now we're in 2011 with a crumbling system, with bursting water pipes just one symptom of the decay. Our economy and our businesses cannot continue to compete in a world where our competitors are putting hundreds of billions of dollars into modern, 21st-century high-technology national public infrastructures and Republicans won't even let us fill potholes.

Let's call the conservative war on infrastructure spending what it is: It is a job killer and a threat to our economic future. Their alternative, converting public assets into private enterprises, also violates the social contract that is at the core of our democracy.

In "Tax Cuts Are Theft," I wrote:

The American Social Contract: We, the People built our democracy and the empowerment and protections it bestows. We built the infrastructure, schools and all of the public structures, laws, courts, monetary system, etc. that enable enterprise to prosper. That prosperity is the bounty of our democracy and by contract it is supposed to be shared and reinvested. That is the contract. Our system enables some people to become wealthy but all of us are supposed to benefit from this system. Why else would We, the People have set up this system, if not for the benefit of We, the People?

When Congress returns from its recess next month, it will be up to us to focus lawmakers' attention on the people who can't take a job they need because the bus route that would take them to that job just got canceled, or the drivers who face daily mind-numbing commutes because the road network could not expand to accommodate the growth of the community, or the students who are too hot in the summer and too cold in the winter because there is no money to weatherize their school building. And it is up to us to focus lawmakers' attention on the unemployed people who could be put to work today addressing all of those issues.

Saying It Yet Again

Recently on the Thom Hartmann TV show, "The Big Picture," I talked about infrastructure. (I start at 19 minutes.)

Isaiah J. Poole contributed to this post.

Job Bleeding: Voters Must Apply Pressure

Dave Johnson — Sun, 10 Jul 2011 13:11:32 -0400

It seems that I begin a post every month by writing, “Another terrible jobs report.” And it seems I end that post each month asking why our leaders are ignoring the problem. Our country is in a jobs emergency, and our government is not doing its part to fill the gap and create jobs. In fact, now they are talking about cuts that will just make it worse. The instructions for treating a wound are: apply pressure to stop the bleeding. That’s the lesson We, the People need to learn from this crisis.

“One of the most negative employment reports since the recovery began.”

Dean Baker on Friday's jobs report:

On the whole, this is one of the most negative employment reports since the recovery began. It indicates that the economy has made no progress whatsoever in re-employing the people who lost their jobs in the downturn. Even more discouraging is the fact that there is no reason to expect anything to change for the better any time soon. The pace of job loss in the public sector is likely to accelerate, with no evidence of an offsetting pickup in the private sector.

And,of course, The Chart:

Jobs, Not Austerity

The proper response is jobs, not austerity. People with jobs pay taxes and don't collect unemployment, food stamps, etc. Austerity only makes things worse. Cutting back and taking that money and those jobs out of and thereby slowing the economy will then cut back tax receipts, undoing the deficit-reducing goal of the austerity in the first place. England’s austerity experiment is proving this. They are trying austerity, and it is slowing their economy.

The economics lesson is well-understood: when consumer and business demand drop government must step in and take up the slack. History has shown this to be the correct prescription. It’s not like make-work projects have to be invented right now; needed infrastructure maintenance has been deferred for 30 years, hurting our competitiveness, and with interest rates and labor demand near zero the cost of this investment is very low. (Wouldn’t it be inflationary to look for people to do this work when unemployment is low?)

Employ people to maintain and modernize infrastructure now - work that has to be done eventually, anyway! Doing so will improve the conomy now through added jobs and later through increased competitiveness and energy efficiency. It makes so much sense that only our DC geniuses could miss it.

But the DC geniuses instead believe that the economy is in trouble because of "confidence" and that cutbacks in government will increase confidence by reducing deficits. It is obvious to everyone else that the way to increase confidence in the economy is to make the economy better through job-creation and infrastructure modernization.

Imaginary Problems VS Real Problems

Every discussion of our deficits should begin by reminding everyone that just ten years ago the country was running a big budget surplus and was paying off the debt at a very fast rate. Then Bush was "elected." Economist Joe Stiglitz explains,

Unaffordable tax cuts and wars, a major recession, and soaring health care costs—fueled in part by the commitment of George W. Bush's administration to giving drug companies free rein in setting prices, even with government money at stake—quickly transformed a huge surplus into record peacetime deficits.

Instead of dealing with the real problem of unemployment our politicians are engaged in a fight against the imaginary problemof deficits. Imaginary because our budget deficits and resulting debt are the result of tax cuts and military spending increases combined with a dollop of interest on that debt. Much of the problem just goes away if Congress does nothing and taxes are allowed to revert to pre-Bush rates. More of the problem just goes away if the enormous, vast, colossal, astonishing, swollen, titanic, biggest-in-history, bloated, turgid, jaw-dropping, humongous, gargantuan, immense, astronomical, brobdingnagian, elaphantine, hulking, mammoth, whopping, monstrous military spending is cut back to maybe only three times our nearest competitor -- apparently still the Soviet Union. Even more goes away if people have jobs again. So worrying about the debt is imaginary, while the real problem is jobs.

(Brobdingnagian? Look it up.)

Stiglitz' deficit remedies:

Put America back to work by stimulating the economy; end the mindless wars; rein in military and drug costs; and raise taxes, at least on the very rich.

Steve Benen writes in A real problem vs. an imaginary one,

The only topic of conversation in Washington right now is a debt-reduction deal, ... But there’s no need to address the problem that doesn’t exist. There’s a critical need to address the problem that does — [jobs] — but thanks to GOP gains and the Republican majority in the House — there’s no political will to do so. On the contrary, Republicans have said if Democrats don’t agree to massive debt reduction — i.e., taking more money out of the economy when it needs the opposite — the GOP will crash the economy on purpose.

We have on one side politicians who are pushing to force the country to go the wrong way and destroy jobs on purpose. On the other side we have politicians who think cuts that will destroy the economy will bring confidence that will restore the economy, instead of realizing that restoring the economy is what will bring back confidence.

Apply Pressure

So government is broken. "The system" is corrupt and broken and many of the the politicians are no longer responsive to We, the People. The result is that little is getting done to create jobs for We, the people. The answer is for We, the People to apply the needed pressure to make them do it. It is our country, not theirs, and it is time for our government to work for us again.

Currently there are two, related efforts to rouse the public into as cohesive movement for jobs. The first is The Progressive Caucus’ Speak Out For Good Jobs Now which is a series of events taking place in cities around the country this summer. As I wrote in June, "this is a major opportunity to build public awareness that leads to public pressure on DC to start doing the right thing for We, the People instead of They, the Wealthy Few."

Also there is the The American Dream Movement, hosting Rebuild the Dream house parties next week on July 16 and 17. Find an American Dream house meeting near you.

AFL-CIO Makes $10 Billion Infrastructure Commitment

Dave Johnson — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 02:37:31 -0400

At the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) - America yesterday the AFL-CIO announced a $10 billion commitment to invest in America's infrastructure. This commitment puts labor’s money where their mouth is.

This initiative will help create mechanisms to finance infrastructure projects. Over the next 5 years at least $10 billion will be raised to invest in infrastructure projects– beginning with investment specifically geared toward retrofitting large commercial buildings to be energy efficient. The money will be recruited from pension funds, state and federal governments, beginning with union pension funds.

Retrofitting Buildings -- How It Pays Off

Initially $20 million will come from union pension funds to invest in pilot programs retrofitting large public and commercial buildings for energy efficiency. The union money covers the cost of the work. They get the money back over the long term by receiving the difference between the building's current utility bills and the lower utility costs that result from the retrofitting. So along with creating jobs, reducing our dependence on foreign (and Koch) energy sources and helping get America moving again, the pension funds and other financing entities will be paid back directly from the resulting savings on utility bills.

Because the labor organization is willing to make a long-term investment, they can finance this work where other entities will not. It is called “patient capital.” For an investment of patient capital, you need non-exorbitant but predictable returns. This reduction in utility bills provides just that. This is the first time anyone willing to put enough money in this to get projects like this going. As other investors see the success that results they will join to finance future projects.

This project means public buildings can be retrofitted now, without the governments having to come up with any money. Because this is very labor-intensive work it will create many construction jobs.

Other infrastructure projects will follow the initial building-retrofit effort.

The CGI Process

This is a great commitment to be announced at CGI because it fits the CGI model. It is practical, gets something done that is important to do, brings labor, business and government together to solve problems and is completely scalable so if it works it can be rapidly and dramatically expanded.

AFT President Randi Weingarten and AFL-CIO Building and Construction Trades President Mark Ayers announced the project here at CGI-America, with President Clinton explaining to the assembled audience how it will have such a positive impact. Clinton explained that China spends 9% of income on infrastructure, US only 3%.

Investment in infrastructure gets Americans back to work and enhances energy independence, so it is good economics. We don’t have the same capacity to amass significant amounts of capital required for these kinds of investments. AFL-CIO investing at least $10 billion from pension funds into America’s infrastructure projects that are competitive and energy efficient, bringes utuilities, labor, government, investors and business groups together.

In addition, AFL-CIO will train 40,000 apprentices as well as 100,000 mid-career construction workers to do this.

Clinton said Rich Trumka couldn't be here, they started talking about this last January, Trumka will report on the progress at the September CGI in New York.

Infrastructure Work Is Needed And People Need The Work

Dave Johnson — Tue, 14 Jun 2011 12:02:23 -0400

We've been deferring maintenance of our infrastructure since the Reagan tax cuts - never mind modernizing to restore American competitiveness. It is something that has to be done anyway, and here we are with so many people needing work. It's just nuts. Millions of jobs that need doing, and millions out of work, and we can't connect the dots.

Finally SOME people in DC are trying to get some jobs going. "Senior Senate Democrats" are proposing "a large infrastructure package funded by tax increases" and that is exactly what the country NEEDS. From The Hill last week, Do more on jobs, Dems tell Obama,

Senior Senate Democrats are growing frustrated by what they see as President Obama’s passivity on the economy, and are beginning to discuss a large infrastructure package funded by tax increases.

. . . “I am concerned about the Obama administration’s approach on this,” Harkin said. “It always has been about jobs. I think the administration kind of got snookered talking about the deficit and the debt after the last election.

“The last election was about jobs and the economy, and now we’re in a position where we really do need some economic pump-priming by the federal government,” he said.

Has To Be Done Anyway

The country needs this infrastructure work done anyway. Since the Reagan tax cuts we have been putting off maintenance of our infrastructure. And this is catching up to us.

Experts say $2 trillion of infrastructure work is needed just to catch up. The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) Infrastructure Report Card, says a $2.2 trillion investment is needed to bring the country up to current standards. ASCE says, “Years of delayed maintenance and lack of modernization have left Americans with an outdated and failing infrastructure that cannot meet our needs.”

Imagine where the economy would be today if this work had been done as needed. We would have a well-maintained infrastructure, keeping our businesses competitive in the world, not to mention where we would be with an additional $2 trillion of employment and the resulting savings, homes, kids sent to school... This is a measure of the cost of the Reagan tax cuts and the pullback of public investment it caused.

Another measure is the resulting attitudes. Here we are with millions out of work, and millions of jobs that need doing, and we can't even get going on doing the needed work! So the continued lack of investment in our public structures will have future costs as well.

"Falling Dramatically Behind"

Recently the Urban Land Institute issued a report on the country's infrastructure, showing how we are falling behind countries like Brazil, China and India. The Washington Post covered the report last month, in Study: $2 trillion needed for U.S. infrastructure

The United States is falling dramatically behind much of the world in rebuilding and expanding an overloaded and deteriorating transportation network it needs to remain competitive in the global marketplace, according to a new study by the Urban Land Institute.

Burdened with soaring deficits and with long-term transportation plans stalled in Congress, the United States has fallen behind three emerging economic competitors — Brazil, China and India, the institute said.

[. . .] As Congress debates how much should be spent and where to find the money, China has a plan to spend $1 trillion on high-speed rail, highways and other infrastructure in five years. India is nearing the end of a $500 billion investment phase that has seen major highway improvements, and plans to double that amount by 2017. Brazil plans to spend $900 billion on energy and transportation projects by 2014.

According to the report,

... the U.K. has committed Us$326 billion (£200 billion) over the next five years to continue national infrastructure projects focused on rail, energy production, and broadband access, with an emphasis on reducing the nation’s carbon emissions through investments in renewable energy.

France, germany, spain, and Italy continue to build out high-speed rail and freight networks between major cities and extend cross-border transport links ...

Australia is working to shore up existing infrastructure while setting national priorities for future investments; expansion of ports, refashioning of rail lines, and relief of urban traffic congestion take precedence.

Canada is expanding its PPP initiatives to address the revamping of aging facilities.

... China is moving ahead with wide-ranging infrastructure programs, including completion of an unprecedented 10,000-mile high-speed rail network by 2020. newly constructed airports, ports, and subway systems in China’s major centers facilitate the country’s growth into the world’s second-largest economy and help it deal with mounting congestion from burgeoning urban populations.

India is working hard to attract more private financing for desperately needed infrastructure to nurture aspirations for global economic leadership, while the United arab emirates and Kuwait continue to use oil wealth to build out transport hubs and seek energy-efficient solutions for future power and water needs.

Brazil is accelerating road, transit, and water projects to accommodate its burgeoning economy and buttress an enhanced standing on the world stage; it does not want to disappoint people visiting for the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 summer olympics.

Public Wants It

Public Opinion Snapshot: Public Backs Infrastructure Investment, from the Center for American Progress, says,

Eighty percent declared themselves in agreement with President Barack Obama’s State of the Union call for a major effort to rebuild and modernize America’s infrastructure in a new Hart Research/Public Opinion Strategies survey for the Rockefeller Foundation.

Last month Rep. Jerry Nadler wrote a pro-infrastructure op-ed for Politico, The necessity of infrastructure cash,

The single greatest challenge is to fund the investments that we so desperately need in the face of a Republican-sponsored hysteria for budget cutting that pays no regard to the consequences. Just last week, for instance, an Urban Land Institute study concluded that we need $2 trillion just to make basic repairs to our critical infrastructure.

[. . .] Every stage of American prosperity and growth has followed federal investment in infrastructure. From Henry Clay’s “American System” to Abraham Lincoln’s “Internal Improvements” and Trans-Continental Railroad to Dwight Eisenhower’s Interstate Highway System, the federal government has financed the nation’s major infrastructure growth and enabled our economic development.

If America is to lead the world economy in the 21st century, it will require a modern infrastructure capable of promoting and sustaining economic growth. And it will be built not by happenstance but only through the leadership and investment of the federal government, as in the past.

If we choose not to make the investments necessary to lead the world, there will be no shortage of countries ready and willing to take our place.

So here we are, stuck, with all this work that needs to be done, and all these people needing work, and we can't as a country connect the dots and get this going.

Businesses Hire When Customers Are Coming In The Door

Dave Johnson — Thu, 09 Jun 2011 12:16:01 -0400

Another bad jobless claims report... and this time Washington seems to have finally noticed that there are some unemployed people out here in the sticks. But instead of jobs programs the geniuses are proposing ... what else? ... even more tax cuts. (And after a few hours they'll go back to complaining about deficits but blame "spending.") And of course, they are once again trying to "appeal to Republican lawmakers" without getting it that Republican lawmakers are doing everything they can to slow job growth so they can win the next election.

Bloomberg: Payroll-Tax Break Said to Be Discussed by Obama Aides Amid Slowing Economy,

President Barack Obama’s advisers have discussed seeking a temporary cut in the payroll taxes businesses pay on wages as they debate ways to spur hiring amid signs that the recovery is slowing, according to people familiar with the matter.

. . . The talks reflect the political constraints the White House is operating under with the Republican majority in the U.S. House pushing to cut federal spending. A hiring stimulus based on a tax break for employers may appeal to Republican lawmakers, many of whom have called for measures to help businesses.

Companies Only Hire When Customers Are Coming In The Door

Here is something the geniuses haven't noticed, in all their geniosity: It doesn’t matter how much more money you give to business owners, businesses are not going to hire any more employees until they have a REASON to – and that reason is customers coming in the door.

OK, That was bold and italicized. Maybe if I make it ALL CAPS the geniuses will see it? Let's see: BUSINESSES ARE NOT GOING TO HIRE ANY MORE EMPLOYEES UNTIL THEY HAVE A REASON TO AND THAT REASON IS CUSTOMERS COMING IN THE DOOR.

Businesses are not going to hire people just to sit around and listen to iPods or read the paper, waiting for a customer.

Terrance Heath, in America's Unhappy Anniversary: Ten Years Of The Bush Tax Cuts For The Wealthy,

Republicans claim that preserving the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy is in the interest of small businesses, but small business owners are starting to demand a repeal of the Bush tax cuts.

"We are fed by our consumers, not by our tax breaks," says Rick Poore, owner of Designwear, Inc., a screen-printing business based in Lincoln, Neb. "If you drive more people to my business, I will hire more people. It's as simple as that. If you give me a tax break, I'll just take the wife to the Bahamas."

Businesses are fed by their customers, not by tax cuts. Tax cuts only feed deficits. Customers coming in the door is what causes businesses to hire. In case you missed that: Customers coming in the door is what causes businesses to hire.

Direct Job Creation Is Needed

Until there are more customers businesses are not going to hire. Why should they? So it is up to us (government: We, the People...) to create some customers. The way to do that is to hire people to do some of the things that it is government's job to do anyway, but government has been putting off because of so many tax cuts.

Fix the infrastructure: Our infrastructure is crumbling. In Obama Should Call Chamber’s Infrastructure Bluff I linked to an Urban Land Institute report on the country's infrastructure, showing how we are falling behind countries like Brazil, China and India, and to the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) Infrastructure Report Card, that says a $2.2 trillion investment is needed just to bring the country's infrastructure back up to current standards.

This infrastructure work has to be done no matter what. The longer we delay it the more our country falls behind. It is millions of jobs that need doing at a time when millions need jobs! (And by the way the government can borrow at nearly zero interest rates right now -- one more reason to do it now.)

Green jobs: And then there are the green jobs you should be creating. You should be hiring people to retrofit every home and building in the country to be more energy efficient. This pays for itself because we stop sending so much money to the oil-producing countries, stop putting so much carbon in the air, and our economy becomes more efficient. And put more money into alternative energy, too. I mean, jeeze, geniuses, what part of this is hard to get?

Jobs fix deficits: Hiring people to fix up the infrastructure takes them off the unemployment rolls and off the other assistance programs, lowering government spending on those programs. Having those jobs means they are paying taxes again, raising government revenue. And fixing up the infrastructure makes our businesses more competitive again, growing the economy. It's a no-brainer which should mean even the DC geniuses can figure it out.

Fix Trade

Because of bad trade deals, much of any revival of our economy just means that we send more money out of the country. The trade deficits, especially with China, are also economy deficits. We are not just sending jobs and money out of the country, we are sending our chances of coming out of this economic slump out of the country as well.

And these trade deals pit exploited, underpaid workers in non- or weak democracies against our workers who had been benefiting from the good wages, workers protections and other non-"business friendly" things that democracy brings along with it.

Our trade deals have made our democracy and the resulting high standard of living into a disadvantage. Who were the geniuses that let that happen?

Restore Long-Term Incentives

Tax cuts have cut the incentive for long-term business models. It used to take time to build a fortune, so businesses had to place themselves within healthy communities with good schools, well-maintained infrastructure and solid, well-funded public structures like the court system. Cutting top tax rates changed business models to make more sense "harvesting" those things in a hurry and moving on to the next community with resources to plunder. Low top tax rates encourage quick-buck schemes.

Propose The Right Thing

Propose the right thing and do it publicly, instead of trying to appease a political ideology bent on destroying government. Doing the right thing is also the right thing politically. If the job situation doesn't get better you're going to be thrown out of office. So come one, geniuses, get smart and start hiring people to fix up the infrastructure and make the economy more energy efficient.

10 years of Bush tax cuts is enough! Click here to demand your representative supports the Fairness in Taxation Act so the rich contribute their fair share.

The Public's Wishes On Economy Are Kept Out Of Media

Dave Johnson — Tue, 07 Jun 2011 13:00:25 -0400

Have you seen the People's Budget discussed in the media? Nope. Have you heard that we need to be more "business friendly" by cutting taxes on the rich and cut the things We, the People do for each other? Yep. Did you know that polls show the public overwhelmingly wants taxes on the rich and government spending on jobs? Nope. Why is that?

We're getting more and more bad economic news. Obviously the economy suffers from lack of demand. Businesses don't have enough people walking in the door or placing orders to hire more workers. But Republicans insist that we need "austerity," which means giving even more money to the rich and cutting the things We, the People (government) do for each other and for our economy. The public is solidly against the austerity idea and wants spending on each other and the economy. But the media is only granting access to people who want to make the austerity argument.

And never mind ever, ever, ever, ever seeing a voice of organized labor explain to working people the benefits of being in a union. Ever.

The Economy

As the stimulus runs out all of the signs point to a slowing of the economy. Job growth has stalled. Housing is dropping again. Etc. Etc. Etc.

The economy suffers from lack of demand. The National Federation of Independent Businesses (NFIB) says “weak sales” (i.e. lack of demand) is their number 1 business problem and that this lack of demand is why they are not hiring.

Just ten years ago we had budget surpluses that were so large that it was projected the entire federal debt would be paid off by now. We had a strong economy with more jobs than we could handle. Then the Bush tax cuts created huge deficits and drove up debt. Now the very people behind those tax cuts and deficits are demanding budget cuts to fix the problem.

The Proposals On The Table

There are two areas of proposals on the table: austerity (tax cuts for the rich with budget cuts for the rest of us) vs the People’s Budget (investment in infrastructure to create jobs and grow the economy paid for by tax increases on the rich.)

The austerity argument says that we need to make the country more “business friendly” by cutting taxes on the rich and big companies, then cutting spending on education, environment, health care, alternative energy, unemployment, food and other assistance for the poor, even infrastructure. And in a direct blow to democracy they say that cutting “entitlements” – the things we are entitled to just for being American citizens – is a key to fixing our economy. This at a time when the country is actually richer than ever, but so much is going to a few at the top.

The People's Budget is explained below.

The Public

The public gets it. Polls show the public wants Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security left alone, wants tax increases on the rich, wants more spending on infrastructure and education. The public rejects the austerity approach.

People understand that investing in infrastructure and education creates jobs now while paying for itself by growing the economy later. People understand that handing rich people even more money doesn't create jobs, people walking in the door or placing orders is what creates jobs.

The Media

The media discussion of economic policy seems entirely framed from a one-sided perspective – focusing on the bizarre claim that cutting government spending and taxes will lead to more jobs and economic growth. Again and again the media features “experts” who begin with an assumption that federal deficits are the most important problem facing America. But opponents of these ideas, offering the ideas that history shows to have worked -- the very ideas the public favors -- are not able to reach the public to explain their plans. Elitist pundits always claim that "everyone knows" that the long-term deficit problem is "entitlements" even when we all know that tax cuts and military spending caused the deficits.

Seriously, how often do you see or hear or read someone claiming to be a Tea Party representative talking about how we need tax cuts for the rich and big corporations? Every day. But when have you seen, read or heard a representative of organized labor on TV or radio or in your local newspaper, explaining the benefits of joining a union? Seriously.

Actions

Contact your local newspapers, radio stations and TV stations and demand that they cover the views of the American Majority!

10 years of Bush tax cuts is enough! Click here to demand your representative supports the Fairness in Taxation Act so the rich contribute their fair share.

And, finally: Tell President Obama to put the People's Budget on the table.

The People's Budget

The Progressive Caucus -- a group of progressives in the Congress -- have put together a budget that fixes the deficit and grows the economy, providing jobs. It is called The PEOPLE'S Budget Plan.

Read the plan at: Congressional Progressive Caucus : FY2012 Progressive Budget,

The CPC proposal:

• Eliminates the deficits and creates a surplus by 2021
• Puts America back to work with a “Make it in America” jobs program
• Protects the social safety net
• Ends the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq
• Is FAIR (Fixing America’s Inequality Responsibly)

What the proposal accomplishes:

• Primary budget balance by 2014.
• Budget surplus by 2021.
• Reduces public debt as a share of GDP to 64.1% by 2021, down 16.5 percentage points from a baseline fully adjusted for both the doc fix and the AMT patch.
• Reduces deficits by $5.6 trillion over 2012-21, relative to this adjusted baseline.
• Outlays equal to 22.2% of GDP and revenue equal 22.3% of GDP by 2021.