What is needed is immediate action, not idle chatter. We already know what
works: federal stimulus money channeled directly towards job creation, a public
works campaign to help rebuild the U.S. crumbling
infrastructure, full funding for education and social services, and more.
Instead, Obama will invite the corporate elite to the White House to hear their advice on how to
create jobs, as they continue slashing them by the thousands. The
conservative Washington Post reports:
"President
Obama plans to bring together CEOs, small business owners and financial experts
to sound out ideas for continuing to expand the economy and create jobs (November 16, 2009).
Labor leaders have also been invited to the meeting.
The first stimulus bill was an abysmal failure because it was far too small,
while much of the money was dedicated to tax breaks. Obama is correct that it
saved jobs from being destroyed and that it gave desperate states some
financial relief. But the aid was far too small to be truly effective,
regardless of Obama's constant boasting about it.
A new stimulus package must be much larger, and wholly dedicated to creating
jobs, not merely "saving them. The current situation in the U.S. is one of
complete social failure; there is immense work that needs to be done " in
infrastructure especially " while there exists millions of workers available to
do the job. But nothing happens. This points to an obvious failure
in the market, and thus demands serious state intervention.
But state intervention cannot be the type that Obama has promoted thus far,
especially bank bailouts and corporate-style health
care. Instead of aiding the super-wealthy, it should be demanded that
Obama drastically switch gears to curing the unemployment pandemic.
Unfortunately, the strong measures needed to address the unemployment issue are
unlikely to come from the Obama administration. The president has made
clear his desire to focus on the federal deficit; he is under extreme pressure
from foreign lenders " Russia, China, etc. " and U.S. bankers to
make cuts in the budget, not expand it. And although no one from the U.S.
corporate elite complained a bit about Obama's record breaking $660 billion military budget, they will scream bloody
murder if a new stimulus is created to benefit workers.
It is up to us, then, to scream louder. Obama will not create a much-needed
stimulus unless he is fearful of the social consequences of doing
nothing. If he feels that workers and the unemployed will suffer quietly
as jobs continue to disappear, he will continue his "let-them-eat-cake
attitude. If, however, he sees large, angry demonstrations demanding jobs,
he will be forced to think again. The time is now. The union movement can
pass resolutions as the American Federation of Teachers Local
1021 of Los Angeles did just last week, which calls on the labor movement, as a
whole, to organize their membership and working people in general to attend a Solidarity Day III march and rally in Washington, DC in the spring of 2010 to
demand living wage
jobs for all. If we stay quiet, Obama will implement the corporations'
solution to the recession " a jobless recovery with a substantially
lower standard of living for everyone but the rich.
Shamus Cooke is a social service worker, trade unionist, and writer
for Workers Action (www.workerscompass.org). He can be reached at shamuscook@yahoo.com
