| Union Solution? | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Sep 1 2011, 08:57 PM (230 Views) | |
| kbp | Sep 1 2011, 08:57 PM Post #1 |
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Couldn't find a thread for this, so I thought I'd start one that can just fade away in a day or two! FDR's Works Progress plan would put Americans to work By R. Thomas Buffenbarger | Guest columnist 12:00 a.m. EDT, September 2, 2011 Many of us will be using this Labor Day weekend to get together with friends and family and celebrate the tremendous contribution that American workers have made to our nation. Sadly, this year's Labor Day comes at a trying time for our nation's work force. Unemployment numbers remain above 9 percent, as nearly 14 million workers have been condemned to joblessness. Millions more are underemployed or involuntarily working part-time jobs. And in the past month alone, the stock market has plunged, delivering a severe blow to the retirement security of millions of Americans. Our country's workers have bounced back from adversity before, and there's no doubt that we will do it again this time. But it's going to take innovative policies that build on our nation's strengths and lay the groundwork for an economy that will thrive for decades to come There's no better place to start than by fortifying our industrial infrastructure. America's economic future relies on our capacity to make things that people around the world want and need. Yet our manufacturing sector has been waning. In July, for example, the Institute for Supply Management's manufacturing index — an indicator of industrial business activity — dropped to 50.9 percent from June's 55.3 percent. This was bad news for factories, as only percentages above 50 indicate that the manufacturing sector is expanding. It doesn't have to be this way. By harnessing the skills of the millions of Americans who have been idled by our weak economy, we can make sure that our national manufacturing sector has what it takes to compete in a 21st-century economy. What we need is an initiative in the mold of Franklin Roosevelt's Works Progress Administration, which put millions of Americans to work in the Great Depression on projects that improved their communities. Whether an out-of-work accountant or a struggling dock worker, the WPA used the worker's skills and expertise to improve our nation by building everything from LaGuardia Airport in New York to the Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles. Following that model, our lawmakers can get unemployed Americans working again by using federal funds to update our factories, install the most state-of-the-art equipment, revamp marketing plans and simplify the way workers are managed. This isn't a task solely for factory workers and engineers. It will require managers and marketers, computer programmers and custodians. It's going to take brains and brawn to ensure that our factories are able to spark a manufacturing revolution that can help pull us out of this economic downturn. Sadly, ideas like this are nowhere to be found in the Washington debate. What began as political gamesmanship over fiscal policy has turned into a game of Russian roulette, as lawmakers risk the economic health of our nation to score political points. But our nation's capital is no place to re-enact a scene from "The Deer Hunter." It's a place where statesmen should come together to solve problems. There are no greater problems than the high rate of unemployed and the sluggish rate of economic growth. Both of these issues can be addressed by deploying federal funds right away to create a modern WPA. Roosevelt's WPA put 3.5 million men to work in a single year — the equivalent of finding jobs for 8 million Americans today. The program's cost? Just $13 billion, which is equivalent to about $200 billion today. Over the past decade, our nation has spent about $1.3 trillion on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Surely we have the money to create jobs for Americans and provide economic relief for struggling families. Creating jobs would also help restore dignity to the lives of millions of Americans who have been demoralized by months and months of joblessness. What better way to give renewed purpose to these Americans than to offer them an opportunity to take part in strengthening their nation? This wouldn't just be good policy; it would also be good politics. President Obama is suffering in the polls for the lackluster economy and the gridlock in Washington. Pushing through a 21st-century WPA would be a visionary step that would prove that he has the ideas and the boldness to lead us out of recession. More importantly, if it does come to pass, a latter-day WPA would give us something to really celebrate when Labor Day comes around next year. R. Thomas Buffenbarger is president of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers in Upper Marlboro, Md. |
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| kbp | Sep 1 2011, 09:02 PM Post #2 |
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Of course the WPA was so long ago that we'd probably have to get some advice on the plan from China ....along with capital for operations, equipment, materials and purchasing those "industrial facilities" so it would not benefit private owners or deprive private contractors from bidding on the work ...and besides, where could the owners get the money for improvements anyway? I have many more points that could be made here, but other than all that, it's quite a plan! |
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| Baldo | Sep 1 2011, 09:35 PM Post #3 |
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Let hire millions to work directly for the govt at union construction rates. Are you Kidding me? |
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| kbp | Sep 1 2011, 10:01 PM Post #4 |
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I'm about 99.99% sure that Davis-Bacon does NOT apply to government workers, but I could be wrong! We'll have to hire a committee to review that matter. |
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| LTC8K6 | Sep 1 2011, 10:57 PM Post #5 |
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Assistant to The Devil Himself
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http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2011/09/01/reich_government_has_to_spend_more_to_get_out_of_debt.html |
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| Baldo | Sep 1 2011, 11:30 PM Post #6 |
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IMHO the Operating Engineers will not let any construction laborer to do any govt work at anything less than union rates. I have 30 years of experience knowing that in California a shovel won't turn on any govt project without that, it is not negotiable. They will shut down projects. They will demand that all of their union members are hired first. Then they will get all new hires to join the Union. With a Democrat President & California under the rule of the Dems I can't see it working any other way & may in fact be what they want. Just a cover to reward the unions. The WPA was in a different era. It will be a nightmare as Teamsters, Longshoremen, SEIU, and other Unions line up to feast on the government money. Phony work projects will be developed and it will move into areas of normal govt operations. Sooner or later money will be diverted to existing govt administrators & workers. That is how it works out here But I am all for that committee & make a motion we get some donuts for our first meeting |
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| kbp | Sep 1 2011, 11:33 PM Post #7 |
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"At this point, there's a huge shortfall between consumer spending, businesses are not going to hire, on the one hand, and also on the economy's potential at full employment or near full employment on the other hand. Government is the spender of last resort. The only way to restart not only jobs, Simon, but also economic growth, which is terribly important for every purpose including deficit reduction. the only way we're going to get the deficits and long-term debt under control is if we get back growth. The only way to get back growth is for government to be this spender of last resort," Former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich told CNBC. Fabricated temporary demand. He's still trying to figure out which came first, the chicken or the egg. Has no clue he'll be without eggs if he runs the chicken off ...that which came first doesn't matter now, he just needs to keep the chickens happy. |
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| Baldo | Sep 1 2011, 11:38 PM Post #8 |
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The only way to get back growth is for government to be the borrower of last resort, Actually time for more of Uncle Ben's magic decimal point moves. Edited by Baldo, Sep 1 2011, 11:40 PM.
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