To Democrats And Republicans: What About Jobs?

The recent Wall Street bailout has given a lot of help to the people who broke the banks. Yet the plan does little to create real jobs for everyone else. To Democrats and Republicans: What About Jobs?By Cliff Montgomery – Oct. 27th, 2008It’s still too early to determine the final effects of Washington’s massive $700 billion bailout for Wall Street. What is certain is that America’s crumbling economy continues to force U.S. workers onto unemployment rolls–and they almost certainly will not be helped by the bailout’s Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP).Congress certainly was generous in providing more than $100 billion of new tax cuts in the package. But Democrats and Republicans alike failed to provide even a modest economic stimulus plan which ensures that the families of Main Street would be put back to work, or at least protected from the ravages of a possibly long recession by providing an increase in unemployment insurance.Bush signed into law the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 on Oct. 3rd, mere hours after the U.S. House passed the legislation with a 263-171 vote. The law gives $700 billion to the Treasury Secretary, to buy failing mortgage-related commercial assets. This creates a partial nationalization of financial institutions–the very essence of socialism.But the Bush plan does more than that, comrades. It also extends a host of business, individual, and energy tax cuts, and creates a 12-month “patch” for the Alternative Minimum Tax.That’s a lot of help for the people who broke the banks. Yet the plan does little to create real jobs for those who don’t work on Wall Street.The day the bailout bill became law, the Labor Department revealed that the U.S. economy shed almost 160,000 jobs in September alone. This only adds to a steady nine-month drop in employment on these shores. The result is an unemployment rate of 6.1 %–the highest official rate since 2003.But TARP does nothing to help an economy sliding into recession; it only insures that U.S. financial markets won’t suffer a catastrophic collapse. Not a dime of the bailout program will directly build jobs outside of Wall Street, or aid fellow Americans who–through no fault of their own–are forced to deal with sudden unemployment.In fact, the tax cut giveaways in the law will almost certainly diminish the hope of future assistance and economic stimulus.Here’s why: The ever-increasing federal deficit (and ever-increasing national debt) created through eight years of neo-conservative ideological misrule already has placed curbs on serious investment. Further “borrowing and spending”–through the new law’s increase of over $107 billion in tax cut giveaways, without the creation of simultaneous spending cuts–will only increase our deficit and our debt.And both Republicans and Democrats remain gung-ho on maintaining a massive, $600 billion-a-year war machine to combat a handful of dangerous people living in the hills around the Afghanistan-Pakistan border.Thus essential repair and investment of our infrastructure–as well as a much-needed re-working of our failing health care and education systems–will soon face the ax regardless of who wins in November, unless we begin to make fiscal responsibility as important as our investments.The tax cuts enshrined in the new law, such as the $100 million giveaway for “certain motorsports racing track facilities,” or the lowering of excise taxes for rum, do little to put most Americans back to work at good-paying jobs.Socialism for our bankers, tax cuts for our millionaires and runaway spending without real investment is a recipe for ever-greater failure. Rebuilding our crumbling bridges and roads, or investing in research and development–often the backbone of real job creation in a developed economy–is the help America’s working classes actually need.This country may have to endure some deficit spending as it combats both an enemy abroad and a recession at home. But continuing unreasonable or unwise deficit spending–such as tax cut giveaways that reward wealth rather than work–is the biggest mistake we can make.Like what you’re reading so far? Then why not order a full year (52 issues) of thee-newsletter for only $15? A major article covering an story not being told in the Corporate Press will be delivered to your email every Monday morning for a full year, for less than 30 cents an issue. Order Now! Wait, why does an independent news source run advertisements? The Spark answers in its advertising policy. * Please check out our ads–they help keep this news site running. Thanks!