Now we know that the Federal Government can cough up big bucks if it wants to. The money spigots turned on, big time, when the financial companies needed it. Now it’s time for 90% of the population to get bailed out, with a bigger, second Federal stimulus package.
We can revive the economy for the rest of us by rebuilding manufacturing; we can rebuild manufacturing by reconstructing the physical infrastructure – the transit, roads, bridges, water mains, electrical systems, schools and other structures that make civilization possible
.
Bailing out big banks won’t fix crumbling schools and water mains; money for good construction jobs will. Giving Goldman Sachs execs their fat bonuses won’t rebuild the subway system; money for good jobs making subway cars and constructing new subway lines will. Letting banks stay too big to fail won’t provide affordable housing for millions of middle class and poor people; money for good jobs constructing those buildings and manufacturing the materials will.
We need to educate Congress and the public that a “post-industrial” society is a pre-industrial society, that is, poor. Never has a nation destroyed its own manufacturing base the way the U.S. has. Let’s rebuild the cities, let’s manufacture high-speed trains and wind turbines and solar panels, let’s establish a banking system that helps people get good jobs by making things people want, let’s get America back to work and on the road to recovery. Let’s pass a bigger, second Federal stimulus plan.