Pathway to new jobs.

With the debt crisis temporarily adverted Democrats and Republicans can square off on an important issue, jobs. While the debt crisis was an important issue, the cure for our economy is jobs. According to Paul Wiseman, an economics writer for AP, in the 2000’s US based Multi National Corporations (MNC’s) have added 2.4 million jobs in foreign countries all while cutting 2.9 million jobs in the US. These US based MNC’s ear well over 1.9 trillion dollars that could well be in the US economy, yet, if they create jobs it will most likely be in China, India or Bangladesh. (http://www.seattlepi..com/news/article/A-boom-in-corporate-profits-a-bust-in-jobs-wages-1542185.php) So, how do we get the 14.1 million unemployed Americans back to work?

During the height of the great depression the employment rate peaked at 25% No amount of tax cuts or corporate restructuring was able to solve the problem. Rather, the unprecedented investment in the US economy known as the New Deal did. One of the prominent focuses of the New Deal was infrastructure. Given the current state of American infrastructure I could not think of a better place to start. According to the American Society of Civil Engineers, the American infrastructure system received a D rating. The ASCE recommended a 2.2 trillion dollar investment over the next 5 years to just fix our crumbling infrastructure. Kathy Caldwell, the 2011 president for the ASCE, projects that “for every billion dollars invested in infrastructure, 30,000 jobs are created” (http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2011/05/24/investing-infrastructure-create-jobs-and-stimulate-economThis investment in the US economy is a sure fire way to not only fix our jobless state, but fix the roads, bridges, dams, railways and other vital parts of the American infrastructure. For every 50 billion invested in American infrastructure, 1.5 million jobs would be created. This investment would be an investment in our future, not a corporation’s bottom line. This should not be confused with Obama’s stimulus package which was overinvested in tax cuts in a vain attempt to build consensus with the far right.

The US Chamber of Commerce states that 1/3 of the major roads are in poor or mediocre condition, 1/4 of our bridges are either obsolete or require updates, our air traffic control system needs a major overhaul. Due to these deficiencies, the economy is losing as much as 336 billion in lost growth over the next five years. The chamber also discusses how the successful completion of some 351 energy projects, could create a 1.1 trillion dollar spike to our economy, creating over 1.9 million jobs. (http://www.uschamber.com/infrastructure) From the numbers released by the US Chamber of Commerce, we can see how important a focus on American infrastructure would be.

Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) in his filibuster on 12/10/10, regarding the collapse of the American middle class, stated: “We need to invest 850 billion over the next 50 years to get all of America’s bridges into good shape… there over 85,000 dams in America, and the average age is 51 years…the National Education Association estimates it would take 322 billion to bring America’s school buildings into good repair” (Senator Bernie Sanders; The Speech 134-35) This need creates many opportunities for growth. Not only will these investments create stability, they will create jobs and give Americans a way to support the economy. By investing in these growth programs, more Americans will work and have money to reinvest in our economy. Our country will be strengthened, our workers will work, our infrastructure will improve and corporations will have people to sell their products to.

President Obama’s Secretary of Homeland Security, Janet Napolitano, stated “Smart businesses do not look at labor costs alone anymore. They do look at market access, transportation, telecommunications infrastructure and the education and skill level of the workforce, the development of capital and the regulatory market.” With the right investment into our nations infrastructure, we can once again be on the path of prosperity. It is every citizen’s duty to ensure the pendulum swings forward. The future is in our hands and the time is now. Let’s continue progressing towards that notion of American exceptionalism.