Robert Reich writes: "Washington was built on a swamp. In the summer, temperatures can reach over 100 degrees - as they did over the last few days when I made the rounds of Washington Democrats, repeatedly asking why no bold jobs plan is emerging."
Portrait, Robert Reich, 08/16/09. (photo: Perian Flaherty)
The Swamp of Washington
13 June 11
The swamp of Washington and the morass of the economy.
ashington was built on a swamp. In the summer, temperatures can reach over 100 degrees - as they did over the last few days when I made the rounds of Washington Democrats, repeatedly asking why no bold jobs plan is emerging.
Here's a sample of their responses:
"Dead in the water. We'll be lucky if we get votes to raise the debt ceiling without major spending cuts this year and next."
"Are you kidding? It's all budget deficit, budget deficit, budget deficit. Nobody's thinking about anything else."
"Republicans beat us up so bad over the first stimulus there's no way we're gonna try for a second."
"We got them [Republicans] cornered on Medicare. Now they want to change the subject to jobs. Forget it."
"No need. We'll see job growth in the second half of the year."
"The President doesn't want to put anything on the table he can't get through Congress."
And so it went. Not a shred of urgency.
This morning I was on ABC's "This Week," debating jobs and the economy with Republican Senator Richard Shelby of Alabama. Shelby restated the standard Republican playbook of spending cuts and tax cuts (except for one instant when he inadvertently conceded America emerged from the Great Depression only when government spent big time mobilizing the nation for World War II).
But what struck me most was the similarity between Shelby's overall attitude and that of the Democrats I talked with - a kind of shrug of the shoulders, a sense that it's really not all that bad out there, and that nothing can be done anyway. (In the green room, before going on, Shelby told me employment in northern Alabama was actually fairly good and the problem was near the coast.)
The recovery is stalling across the nation yet in the Washington swamp it's business as usual.
Americans are scared, with reason. We're in a vicious cycle in which lower wages and net job losses and high debt are causing consumers to cut their spending - which is causing businesses to cut back on hiring and reduce pay. There's no way out of this morass without bold leadership from Washington to rekindle consumer demand.
If the Democrats remain silent, the vacuum will be filled by the Republican snake oil of federal spending cuts and cut taxes on big corporations and the wealthy. Democrats - starting with the President - must have the courage and conviction to tell the nation the recovery is stalling, and what must be done.
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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Unfortunately, I don't see the President doing this. This is as D.O.A. as Single Payor Healthcare. There is no sense of urgency from these guys inside the Beltway because they all have jobs. If there was any way not to vote for Obama and keep the GOP out of the White House, I would do it. He has completely dropped the ball on jobs, among other things, allowing the GOP and Teabaggers to frame the argument around the deficit. I have been unemployed for 72 weeks. College degree and 20 years experience and I can't get a job.
No problem, let's see how they handle breadlines and the resultant insurrection.
The Washington DC Bordello is in full heat.
The bankers are still at it! We are headed for an economic cataclysm worse than the Great Depression!
Professor Reich: The issue is how to reduce the power of the oligarchs and to bring back government of the people, by the people, and for the people. Do you have any practical recommendations for how to do that?
The Democrats don't realize, they get beat up by the Republicans because they let the Republicans control the debate. Its the insular world they all live in. Where the MSM is treated as a stand-in for the American public.
Democrats must take it to the people. Jobs are way, way more inmportant than the decficit. Solving the defioit without creating jobs does less good than sticking your finger in a dike to prevent a flood. It won't work.
Democrats just have to repeat over and over whenever an idiotic Republican insists on deficit reduction or tax decreases; three little words the American public is waiting to hear. "AMERICAN JOBS FIRST"
Then submit a 21st Century WPA.
AMERICAN JOBS FIRST
The US government (and all mainstream media) measure the health of the economy by the health of wall street and the fortune 500 corporations. If they are making money, then things are fine. The idea that unemployment is near 10% and underemployment is at least twice that just does not matter at all in the sewer of Congress. Members of congress don't represent the unemployed. They represent the corporations which bought the office for them.
The only reason anyone is squealing about the deficit and the national debt is that they want to lower the living standards of the middle and poor classes. They want to cut government spending that actually benefits the 98% of Americans who are not millionaires. In reality, they don't care about debt or deficits; they are just a pretext for tranfering more money to the ruling elites.
It is pointless to make the argument that Reich is making. No one in the sewer of Washington cares. This will have to be resolved at the local level -- state governments are nearly as bad as Washington. Cities need to hear Reich's arguments.
40+ million without insurance
how many million unemployed
how many students with dim hopes
But outside of Wisconsin, there isn't a demonstration in sight.
I am not casting blame...but without huge public protest, the super wealthy will continue to run roughshod over the rest of America.
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