Posted on 10/03/2009 8:51:18 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
Unemployment will almost certainly in double-digits next year — and may remain there for some time. And for every person who shows up as unemployed in the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ household survey, you can bet there’s another either too discouraged to look for work or working part time who’d rather have a full-time job or else taking home less pay than before (I’m in the last category, now that the University of California has instituted pay cuts). And there’s yet another person who’s more fearful that he or she will be next to lose a job.
In other words, ten percent unemployment really means twenty percent underemployment or anxious employment. All of which translates directly into late payments on mortgages, credit cards, auto and student loans, and loss of health insurance. It also means sleeplessness for tens of millions of Americans. And, of course, fewer purchases (more on this in a moment).
Unemployment of this magnitude and duration also translates into ugly politics, because fear and anxiety are fertile grounds for demagogues weilding the politics of resentment against immigrants, blacks, the poor, government leaders, business leaders, Jews, and other easy targets. It’s already started. Next year is a mid-term election. Be prepared for worse.
So why is unemployment and underemployment so high, and why is it likely to remain high for some time? Because, as noted, people who are worried about their jobs or have no jobs, and who are also trying to get out from under a pile of debt, are not going do a lot of shopping. And businesses that don’t have customers aren’t going do a lot of new investing. And foreign nations also suffering high unemployment aren’t going to buy a lot of our goods and services.
And without customers, companies won’t hire. They’ll cut payrolls instead.
Which brings us to the obvious question: Who’s going to buy the stuff we make or the services we provide, and therefore bring jobs back? There’s only one buyer left: The government.
Let me say this as clearly and forcefully as I can: The federal government should be spending even more than it already is on roads and bridges and schools and parks and everything else we need. It should make up for cutbacks at the state level, and then some. This is the only way to put Americans back to work. We did it during the Depression. It was called the WPA.
Yes, I know. Our government is already deep in debt. But let me tell you something: When one out of six Americans is unemployed or underemployed, this is no time to worry about the debt.
When I was a small boy my father told me that I and my kids and my grand-kids would be paying down the debt created by Franklin D. Roosevelt during the Depression and World War II. I didn’t even know what a debt was, but it kept me up at night.
My father was right about a lot of things, but he was wrong about this. America paid down FDR’s debt in the 1950s, when Americans went back to work, when the economy was growing again, and when our incomes grew, too. We paid taxes, and in a few years that FDR debt had shrunk to almost nothing.
You see? The most important thing right now is getting the jobs back, and getting the economy growing again.
People who now obsess about government debt have it backwards. The problem isn’t the debt. The problem is just the opposite. It’s that at a time like this, when consumers and businesses and exports can’t do it, government has to spend more to get Americans back to work and recharge the economy. Then – after people are working and the economy is growing – we can pay down that debt.
But if government doesn’t spend more right now and get Americans back to work, we could be out of work for years. And the debt will be with us even longer. And politics could get much uglier.
Next year? Try RIGHT NOW.
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Robert Reich? Wow, I thought this man was high on Obama’s policies. This is big IMO.
Robert Reich is just another RACIST HATE MONGER!
The American people first have to know that Democrats have been in charge of Congress since January 2007. Every time I am visiting family, they watch CNN and MSNBC and those channels say the Democrats have only controlled Congress since January of THIS year. Lies, lies, lies.
.......and your party's $1 T Stimulus Bill was NOT a stimulus bill but a payoff to all your cronies. It stimulated nothing and will never stimulate anything. Face it Dems, you screwed up big time!
Let me say this as clearly and forcefully as I can: The federal government should be spending even more than it already is on roads and bridges and schools and parks and everything else we need. It should make up for cutbacks at the state level, and then some. This is the only way to put Americans back to work. We did it during the Depression. It was called the WPA.
Bull Merd. CUT TAXES. STOP SPENDING.
These arrogant peahens just don’t get it.
They are hopeless humbugs and all should be thrown out of power now.
WPA = We Putter Around
My guess (and prayer): until the socialist leaves office on January 20, 2013, and then our economy will immediately improve. I am saving aggressively until that date, and I plan on having a long list of things to replace or upgrade if the thug actually steps aide as required by law and we get a patriot in his place.
To borrow a phrase, “Let’s be clear...”
When people run out of UI (which is soon) and can’t afford food or heat, you will be seeing the new Liberty Revolution and these socialists will be thrown out of office, if they don’t have us all killed by Mahamood first.
Here we go. Obama's policies aren't at fault. Blame the conservatives!!
The UI will be extended, and extended — for just that reason.
The American people first have to know that Democrats have been in charge of Congress since January 2007. Every time I am visiting family, they watch CNN and MSNBC and those channels say the Democrats have only controlled Congress since January of THIS year. Lies, lies, lies.
You need to find the time line of Congress, print it out and put it in their face.
http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2006/
A big fact not included in these figures are the people who were over 62 when the meltdown hit them.
They couldn’t find a full time job and went on early Social Security to have a monthly income. This is probably one of the reasons Social Security this past month paid out more than it took in.
So these people are not in the stats as unemployed.
“Let me say this as clearly and forcefully as I can: The federal government should be spending even more than it already is on roads and bridges and schools and parks and everything else we need. It should make up for cutbacks at the state level, and then some. This is the only way to put Americans back to work. We did it during the Depression. It was called the WPA. “
Yes, government fixes everything!
Virtually all of FDR’s “Make Work” programs were spectacular failures for sustainable expansion of the economy. WW2 and it’s aftermath brought us out of the depression and lead to a great economic expansion.
Technologies and manufacturing processes developed during the war were put to use during peacetime to create a tremendous economic expansion.
“Next year is a mid-term election. Be prepared for worse...”
The writing is on the wall and the dems are beginning to panic. The mid-terms in 2010 will be historic and are likely to make 1994 look tame by comparison.
[Which brings us to the obvious question: Who’s going to buy the stuff we make or the services we provide, and therefore bring jobs back? There’s only one buyer left: The government.
Let me say this as clearly and forcefully as I can: The federal government should be spending even more than it already is on roads and bridges and schools and parks and everything else we need. It should make up for cutbacks at the state level, and then some. This is the only way to put Americans back to work. We did it during the Depression. It was called the WPA. ]
Insanity. Absolute insanity of astronomical proportion.
I alone cannot do that and have much effect. The media needs to do that, but of course they won’t.
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