Robert Reich writes: "The President is sounding like a fighter these days. He even says he'll be proposing a jobs bill in September - and if Republicans don't go along he'll fight for it through Election Day (or beyond). A bold jobs bill is good politics and good policy. Let's wait to see what the President actually proposes."
Portrait, Robert Reich, 08/16/09. (photo: Perian Flaherty)
The President's Bold Jobs Bill (Maybe)
18 August 11
he President is sounding like a fighter these days. He even says he'll be proposing a jobs bill in September - and if Republicans don't go along he'll fight for it through Election Day (or beyond).
That's a start. But read the small print and all he's talked about so far is extending the payroll tax cut and unemployment benefits (good, but small potatoes), ratifying the Columbia and South Korea free trade agreements (not necessarily a job-creating move), and creating an infrastructure bank.
An infrastructure bank might be helpful, depending on its size.
Which is the real question hovering over the entire putative jobs bill - its size.
Some of the President's political advisors have been pushing for small-bore initiatives that they believe might have a chance of getting through the Republican just-say-no House. They also figure policy miniatures won't give aspiring GOP candidates more ammunition to tar Obama as a big-government liberal.
But the President is sounding as if he's rejected their advice.
That's good policy and good politics.
Good policy because any jobs bill has to be big enough to give the economy the boost it needs to get out of the gravitational pull of the Great Recession.
Right now all the old booster rockets are gone. The original stimulus is over. The Fed's "quantitative easing" is over.
Combine the budget cuts state and local governments continue to make with the slowdown in consumer spending, the reluctance of businesses to expand or hire, and the magnitude of unemployment and under-employment, and you need a big new booster rocket. I'd estimate the shortfall in aggregate demand to be $300 billion to $500 billion this year alone.
A bold jobs plan is also good politics. With more than 25 million Americans looking for full-time jobs, the wages of people with jobs falling, and an economy on the verge of a double dip, the President has to come out fighting on the side of average people.
Besides, Republicans won't go along with any jobs initiative he proposes - even a tiny one. Better they reject one that could make a real difference than one that's pitifully small and symbolic.
If Republicans reject it, Obama can build his 2012 campaign around that fight. Maybe he'll even call Republicans on their big lie that smaller government leads to more jobs.
What would a bold jobs bill look like? Here are the ten components I'd recommend (apologies to those of you who have read some of these before):
- Exempt first $20K of income from payroll taxes for two years. Make up shortfall by raising ceiling on income subject to payroll taxes.
- Recreate the WPA and Civilian Conservation Corps to put long-term unemployed directly to work.
- Create an infrastructure bank authorized to borrow $300 billion a year to repair and upgrade the nation's roads, bridges, ports, airports, school buildings, and water and sewer systems.
- Amend bankruptcy laws to allow distressed homeowners to declare bankruptcy on their primary residence, so they can reorganize their mortgage loans.
- Allow distressed homeowners to sell a portion of their mortgages to the FHA, which would take a proportionate share of any upside gains when the homes are sold.
- Provide tax incentive to employers who create net new jobs ($2,500 deduction for every net new job created).
- Make low-interest loans to cash-starved states and cities, so they don't have to lay off teachers, fire fighters, police officers, and reduce other critical public services.
- Provide partial unemployment benefits to people who have lost part-time jobs.
- Enlarge and expand the Earned Income Tax Credit - a wage subsidy for low-wage work.
- Impose a "severance fee" on any large business that lays off an American worker and outsources the job abroad.
Some of these won't cost the federal government money. Others will be costly in the short term but lead to faster growth.
Remember: Faster growth means a more manageable debt in the long term. Which means the President could tie this (or any other jobs bill of similar magnitude) to an even more ambitious long-term debt-reduction plan than he's already proposed.
A bold jobs bill is good politics and good policy. Let's wait to see what the President actually proposes.
Robert Reich is Chancellor's Professor of Public Policy at the University of California at Berkeley. He has served in three national administrations, most recently as secretary of labor under President Bill Clinton. He has written thirteen books, including "The Work of Nations," "Locked in the Cabinet," "Supercapitalism" and his latest book, "AFTERSHOCK: The Next Economy and America's Future." His 'Marketplace' commentaries can be found on publicradio.com and iTunes.
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Comments
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Oh please
JUst give it up.
And to all you anonymous thumbsters, with nothing substantive to say... to all you clickers of nay, do you have anything to really offer?
It's one thing to click in the affirmative, to convey that what's been said says enough, ... or that it said something of meaning.
But to just click no, without adding to the sum of the whole or adding to the discourse,... just to sneer and hiss, when a forum is offered for you to say something for which to ponder or something to rebut, is a disgrace.
Tell us your bold plan. Tell us what you think of Perry, Bachmann and Romney. Tell us how you think they would move the country forward. Pipe dreams of a Sanders or Warren run are just that. It will be Obama vs a Republican.
I'm waiting for your substantive reply.
First, you inaccurately state that I offer nothing but criticism. My comment is above yours. You know that, right? Anyone can see that I wrote much more than criticism. Apparently you only see criticism.
And you mostly only ask questions;to show my limitations and to give ammunition against me, without actually saying anything substantive?
And you seem to imply acceptance to belt-way conventional "thought," with smarmy, pompous skepticism of a real possibility (a different DEMOCRATIC President in 2013), and little to no belief for any possibility through its only avenue, which is process.
And it would be ironic if you believe in Jesus as God, that Moses parted the Red Sea, and of Noah and his ark, saving two of each, all while ignoring Jesus' teachings – for how hard they must be; you know, about forgiveness, helping the poor, and all ... against the powerful, ... only settle for being a slave to the true God, Money.
Oh, the bold plan: A Democratic Party challenger.
Ok, on Perry, Bachmann, and Romney: Corrupt with bad ideas; Clownish; bad ideology, allegiances, and tool of and for the rich.
If you can get on the ballot, I'd vote for a cynical, condescending, ignoramus, rather than have 4 more under Obama.
Anyone but Obama.
Not against compromise, when compromise is what it is what it is. Not for, as Drew Westen recently wrote, capitulation cast as compromise; not for compromise as a tactic against unyielding obstructionism -- Obama and Democrats should have, and be, forwarding the BEST legislation, after which, leave it for voters to decide; ABSOLUTELY AGAINST referring to "political realities" as God's truth, when it is a choice of craven politicians to capitulate; against phony bi-partisan-ism and PR propaganda after cutting deals in secret, which includes, simultaneous compromise from the beginning with lofty and ambitious, but hollow rhetoric, publicly; against Bush and Republican apologists and their delusional and/or blind surrogates and supporters, as well as, their Obamabot counterparts.
Their is no reconciliation with these Republicans, only beating them.
It takes 3 consecutive election cycles to take over the U.S. Senate (one-third of U.S. Senatorial seats up every 2 years) -- had 2 consecutive until Obama came along and ruined everything.
And every election season (2 years) in the U.S. House of Reps, all seats up for grabs. A Democratic majority here will balance out whichever Republican President wins in 2012. Along with voting out Obama in the Democratic Primary this should be Dems prime focus.
Elizabeth Warren -- she will have little to no effect in the U.S. Senate, and worse, she'll be put in an untenable position of voting for things, which may have decent aspects, but the end result will be ammunition to be used against her.
She'd be better off, either gaining executive experience, maybe as a VP candidate, or running now against Obama, and having someone like Clark, who has executive experience, military experience, etc., as her VP.
Dennis Kucinich.
Alan Grayson.
Russ Feingold.
I've heard mentioned, Raúl Grijalva.
Ralph Nadar ... on the Democratic Ticket. Give him a chance to put up or shut up.
...
Anyone but Obama.
And, if we get another sellout:
Primary the next, and the next and the next.
YES!!!!!
Obama has NOT EARNED another 4 years. We NEED A FIGHTER!!!!!
Anything Else?
I say, Wes Clark, in the realm of possibility, certainly, and certainly if Democrats (voters and politicians) can manage to subdue the imbecile inside. If they are playing the steps to changing what does not work, the next ones are toward the 2012 Democratic Primaries.
People should definitely keep eyes sharp for tell-tale signs of entrenched influence, after all, he is a highly decorated scholar and soldier, and one does not get accommodations and promotion to high rank from the outside.
And don't be surprised if, after one challenger finally emerges, a second (shill for establishment Democrats) will join -- just to tilt favor toward the incumbent. Mira, mira.
"She'd be better off, either gaining executive experience, maybe as a VP candidate, or running now against Obama,"
That's the problem we're having in the moment. We've got someone in the WH without any executive or business or administrative experience -- someone who got elected on a smile and bit utopian promises which can't be fulfilled, even if he understood them.
Running the most powerful country in the world, requires leadership skills.
I'm for Assad.
Get rid of the Republicans and Democrats....in other words ...get rid of Corporate America. Bring back the government that creates a balance between private corporations and the American people....or whatever stage of larva they are in.
There never was such a government; seeking to "create a balance." Big business fought Roosevelt's New Deal tooth and nail. But Roosevelt had enough progressive Democrats in Congress with a backbone to ram through the New Deal.
Who sits in Congress is more important than who sits in the White House. (Look what a gfew Tea-Baggers have done to the republican Party!)
Support progressive Democratic Congressional candidates in 2012!
And when the smaller stimulus failed to have the desired effect, they were the first to scream and harp (they're STILL harping!) that the stimulus failed, blaming it, of course, on Obama.
Don't you love the Republicans for caring about the American people?
That's because the stimulus money went to the wrong places and the bail-outs went to the "too big to fail" financial manipulators who created the bubbles in the first place.
Can you say "duh"!?
At least we are getting some real concepts here so please give credence to one who knows his stuff and is willing to put common-sense IDEAS out there.
Hell he didn't have the guts to do nothing and let the Bush tax cuts expire! Talk is cheap, it's action that counts and anyone who falls for this crap again is incapable of learning. O is nothing but a speech-giving empty, corporate suit!
What I would really like to have is a primary for every Democrat candidate in this country (down to dogcatcher) with angry folks like rf stepping up to the plate to run against the slackers.
Then your vote will be WASTED! Why cut off your nose to spite your face?
of two evils. Sad, but true.
At this point, I'd trade Obama for Reich in a heartbeat. Why? Because Obama seems incapable of "bold." On the other hand, he does exceedingly well at tepid or as they say in Britain, half-arsed.
So our engine has stopped, so how to get it up and running? Get it fuel--which means feed it what it needs to run which is money. Where is the money to come from? Our own government is about the only source since we have pretty much worn out our welcome from China. Any other ideas?
Need to enlist - a big benefit to OhBombAh's Bushwhacking contination of the constant war m.o. of the villainaire rulers' beloved military-industrial complex.
I've added to the truly patriotic California Nurses' Assocation logo of
HEALTHCARE NOT WARFARE:
SOCIAL SECURITY NOT WARFARE
MEDICARE NOT WARFARE
MEDICAIDE NOT WARFARE
These people assisting, critical goals will not come about as long as a flunked pres. named OhBombAh is again the Dem. nominee. Regardless of how well he attempts to spin us, OhBombAh's sellout to the m.i.c./corpo'rat' villainiare rulers and their Kochsucking minions, all under the guise of rational mediation/arbitration/reconciliation, ain't gonna go away, regardless of how he now pretends to go into 'bold' mold.
NOw he has lost he house thse plans seem more political than possible.
The country needs the jobs not a ploy to blame the other side. Obama does not have the votes to get it done.
His credibilty is low and now the great articulate President cannot put words into action. He can no longer inspire the nation into action.
End the wars, save trillions.
Mr. President, tie your personal future to America's future. Most times the incremental approach (e.g. Lyndon Johnson) that you favor is politically, fiscally, and socially the best approach. These times are extraordinary times.
Just as Abe Lincoln reacted to extraordinary times by risking warfare between the states based on the economics of slavery, and Franklin Roosevelt reacted by risking warfare based on the economics of slavery; you too must reengage in that same war.
This is the same war all over again. Slavery has mutated in Capitalist America since it existed as slavery, but every time we outlaw it, it returns.
By lowering our wages, choosing record high profits over good wages and benefits, the Capitalist slavemasters are again engaged in using slave labor.
Fight that war against the return of slavery. We need a bold, aggresive, sweeping jobs plan. Tinkering around the edges with tax incentives is what we do after we have the jobs back. The wealth is here, it just needs to be made available to more people. Take higher taxes and put it into jobs. If not we all become slaves.
Once he finished up Health care, his intention was to move onto jobs. So instead, we get the Gulf Spill, thanks BP. This was followed by the conversation changers of budget at year end; and then the so called debt ceiling.
Now we have an international fiscal crises.
Just sayin'
We're still American's and want to work for it...
EPA, and other Federal Programs may get job loss this Fall and then letting the State Agencies also cut back so GOP Corporations can go back to Polluting on larger scale. OB just sold out our Refuge. None of propsed jobs are in Safe, Environmentally friendly Jobs. Want your kids fracking with over 200 chemicals banned in USA, how about Uranium Mining in our Grand Canyon..nice tourist attraction. Then that coal tar pit pipeline but we cannot put in Water pipelines to save homes, farms or families in south. No we can do hazardous ones for Corporations to make more money at our expense..not pay taxes.
I want to see how OB and Mr Reich propose to put us all back to work when we are still cutting people's jobs off. Then the Service Personnel who Government has no intention of bringing home. Send the Brass over, let them fight for their Salaries. I want jobs But at Whose Expense, Life Cost? Shut down importing, bring our USA jobs Back. OB just signed three more deals to import from...Jobs? Dollar stores of crap
"US MILITARY DEVELOPS 'BIGGER BANG' EXPLOSIVE MATERIAL"
Oh congratu-fucking-lations USA! You can't get anybody back to work, provide health care for your citizens or a decent public education but you can make bigger, louder, more destructive bang-bangs like overgrown kids looking for fancier fireworks or private citizens owning huge assault rifles!
'Way to go with your warped priorities you destructive, wasteful bastards! I wonder how much all this 'research into more destruction' is going to add to the national debt?
Perhaps just to get a job some of us should offer ourselves as human targets, with insistence on massive life-insurance for our families (you already have enough cannon-fodder in the military made up of poor people who can only be employed thus)!
My disgust with this country deepens and the outrage-o-meter hits "MAX"!
I don't think we need any more "let's waiters"
JEFFREY SACHS: "We have a completely unsolved budget deficit. We don't have any agreements in this country what to do. But even worse than that, we don't have a clear position from the president who in our constitutional system is the one responsible for putting forward ideas . . . We're almost three years into this administration and there's never been a plan and that's what everybody feels. And the president didn't lead. He waited. The quintessential image, sadly, of an administration I supported and hoped for much better, is the president waiting by the phone to hear what Congress calls to tell him. It doesn't work in this country that way. It's not a matter that it's August. It's a matter that it's August 2011. So we've been drifting for a very long time. And we've been drifting down. And we had a short-term plan that failed. A short-term stimulus that was supposed to get the economy back on track, but it failed. And now we have nothing behind it. And we have no agreements and no leadership. And frankly I do think it's a pretty odd the president's on vacation right now. Normally I wouldn't care about such things. But the world markets are in deep crisis. It's no joke. This is no up-and-down little blip. This is a very serious situation."
Both major parties are thoroughly wealth-corrupted connivers. They haven't a single new breakout idea for ending this stagflation. It will be stagflation and grinding descent into ever rougher fascistic competition among racial, religious and geographical groups FOREVER, unless the people make change. (There are a couple good ideas to reduce debt: Ron Paul's H.R.2768 and Dennis Kucinich's H.R. 6550.) Don't just complain! At least you can 1)move your money out of mega-banks and 2) de-register from major parties and never vote for their corrupted nominees until the big contributors stop funding.
For instance, Mr. Reich writes, "The President is sounding like a fighter these days."
See. That is not accurate.
It would be more accurately presented as: The President is sounding off like a 3rd-rate, has-been, smack-talkin', career-resurrecting, stumble-bum fighter, who doesn't have a chance of winning; the money is in the bag -- and you know who's getting it -- but let's play like he's a contender.
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... and liberals, don't spoil the show.
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Obama is like a papa Grizzly.
He is, perennially, like Grizzly bears ... just before winter, ... always looking for a cave.
He does have a good soul; unfortunately it's the soul of a hibernating Grizzly bear.
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Nobel Peace Prizes will never have the same meaning ever again. Who did Obama kill to get his?
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