[Peace-discuss] People need jobs

[C. G. Estabrook]

[Why doesn't the federal government simply put to work - at a living wage - the 
people who need jobs?  There's much to be done - infrastructure, teaching, 
transportation that doesn't harm the environment, etc. - and it's hard to say 
that the country can't afford it, given what's being spent on war and banks. 
Here's part of the answer.  --CGE]


Joshua Frank: The WPA during the late 1930s employed some 2.5 million people, 
but the StimPak hasn't created anything close to that. With all the talk about 
"green jobs" and the like, why aren't the Democrats and Obama pushing for real 
public works programs to address this country's failing infrastructure? What's 
holding them back?

Doug Henwood: Their own predilections, and the configurations of elite and 
popular sentiment - though their predilections and elite sentiment overlap 
considerably. The Obama people like The Market, and want to nudge it into 
creating more private sector jobs. Elite opinion has always hated public sector 
jobs, except those that protect their property (cops, military) or make them 
money (contractors). Anything that lessens the disciplinary sting of 
unemployment, like WPA-style jobs, makes them worry about the workers getting 
too confident and too demanding.

Public sector jobs could also force up prevailing wages. And there's a bias 
among neoliberals, like Obama & Co., that sees public sector jobs as phony and 
private sector jobs as real. I'm guessing that their reaction to the 
Massachusetts Senate loss is going to be to focus rhetorically on jobs, but 
since they won't want to be seen as fiscally irresponsible - that driven by fear 
of the bond market and right-wing opinion - they're going to emphasize tax 
breaks and other minimalist strategies. They won't do much to create jobs. And, 
it must be conceded, there's no popular movement demanding a public jobs program 
- and the unions are pretty quiet about it.

If such a movement did develop, the political atmosphere might change. But don't 
expect Washington to lead the way.

[From <http://counterpunch.org/frank01292010.html>.]

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