And A Unicorn

-- by Dave Johnson

I just heard David Leonhardt from the New York Times say that we should be optimistic about jobs because things seemed so bad in the 90's and "little did we know we had this technology boom around the corner."

Sheesh. I guess the really bad job situation proves that something great is just about to happen, and therefore we should all be happy that the job numbers are so bad. This is the prevailing attitude of the well-to-do elites of NY and DC.

The guy makes, what, six figures? He lives in NY. He just has NO IDEA what it's like around the country.

-- Posted by Dave Johnson at 4:08 PM PST on August 06, 2010.

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Dear Senate: ROLL OUT THE COTS! People Need To See Cots!

-- by Dave Johnson

The latest obstruction: Senate Rejects Fed Nominee

This is bullshit. "The Senate" didn't "reject" the Fed nominee, ONE Senator placed a "hold" on the nomination. Pure obstruction. There have been over 100 filibusters since President Obama took office!

The public just isn't getting it that the things they want and need are being blocked by a few obstructionists. The public does not like filibusters or obstruction, but do not KNOW that filibuster and obstruction are occurring. And they aren't going to know unless it is driven home to them, repeated, pounded and dramatized.

Dramatized! That is what the public understands! ROLL OUT THE COTS! The public understands cots! They need to see COTS!

This is another opportunity for theater. Cots! Set up a giant "Filibuster Counter" that shows how many filibusters there have been so far! Roll out the cots! Just bring out a bunch of cots, set them up in the Senate where photographers can get pictures! Set up an "Obstruction Livecam" that shows Senators sitting on the cots, sleeping overnight. It doesn't have to have anything to do with actual Senate proceedings, it just has to dramatize that everything is being obstructed.

Cots!

Roll out the cots!

Cots!

-- Posted by Dave Johnson at 12:00 PM PST on August 06, 2010.

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Where Are The Jobs, Jobs, Jobs, Jobs, Jobs, Jobs?

-- by Dave Johnson

This post originally appeared at Campaign for America's Future (CAF) at their Blog for OurFuture as part of the Making It In America project. I am a Fellow with CAF.

The economy is stuck. We need jobs, jobs, jobs, jobs, jobs, jobs jobs, jobs, jobs, jobs. Not tax cuts.

The government released the July Employment Situation Summary and it isn't great.

First, in context, before the stimulus we were losing around 800,000 jobs a month. The problem is that the stimulus is fading and structural changes were not made in how the economy operates. So there is no special reason to point to that makes people think that this stagnation won't continue or even get worse again.

Eric Lotke sums up the numbers,

Unemployment remains unchanged at 9.5 percent, with 14.6 million people out of work. In July, we lost 202,000 jobs in the government sector as the census winds down, and we gained 71,000 jobs in the private sector. African American unemployment grew fractionally worse to 15.6 percent, and teenagers to 26.1 percent.

The "scariest" jobs chart sums it up with a picture, from Calculated Risk: (click for full-size)

Solutions?

Eric Lotke has one that involves work that needs to be done and people out of work,

We know what we need to do. Put people to work rebuilding our crumbling infrastructure. Fix our potholed roads, our overcrowded schools and our bursting water mains. Create new infrastructure like wind turbines and solar cells. Lay the tracks for high speed rail, the 21st century parallel to the interstate highways of the 20th century and the transcontinental railroads of the 19th. And make the parts in America! Put us to work building our economy of the future, like our grandparents did for us.

Yes, it will cost money. But don’t worry, money is out there. Those top-end Bush tax cuts are worth $43 billion annually. Restoring the estate tax for multi-millionaires brings in $50 billion. A financial transaction tax brings in $177 billion annually, and stabilizes our financial system to boot. Draw down our troops and rein in Pentagon procurements gives us another $100 billion every year for productive endeavors. That’s without even trying bold new sources of revenue. More progressive taxation at the top end. Confronting corporate power and redirecting subsidies that go to agriculture, oil and pharmaceutical giants. Ferreting out the rest of those tax subsidies for moving production offshore. We can do this.

What, you say? Give people government jobs fixing up infrastructure? Yes, because infrastructure is government's job. As Atrios says today,

I'm not going to deny the importance of private sector job growth, but there's no reason to see private sector jobs as somehow superior to public sector jobs. More than that, plenty of private sector jobs really are "government jobs," from contractors in the military-intelligence industrial complex to private highway construction workers. Plenty of jobs and companies wouldn't exist without government spending, however they're technically classified.

It's The JOBS, Stupid! Why DC Elites Don't See This? Come on, people, the jobs answer is right in front of you. There is work that needs doing, and there are people out of work. There are Ten Million Jobs Needed - Ten Million Jobs That Need Doing!

Tax the wealthy and Wall Street to pay to fix up our infrastructure. Tax Cuts Leave Nothing Behind -- Infrastructure Investment Leaves Behind Infrastructure. Not only that, Tax Cuts Caused The Deficits, Therefore...

Connect the dots.

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-- Posted by Dave Johnson at 8:49 AM PST on August 06, 2010.

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What Social Security Report SAYS Vs What They Tell You It Says

-- by Dave Johnson

This post originally appeared at Campaign for America's Future (CAF) at their Blog for OurFuture. I am a Fellow with CAF.

The Social Security and Medicare Boards of Trustees today released their report on the Status of the Social Security and Medicare Programs. Here is what it says:

Social Security Just Fine Until At Least 2037

The summary of the report says, "The financial outlook for Social Security is little changed from last year. The short term outlook is worsened by a deeper recession than was projected last year, but the overall 75-year outlook is nevertheless somewhat improved..." and is otherwise fine until at least 2037 with no changes.

It is just fine forever, in fact, if we do something simple like raise the "cap" on earnings that are taxed to pay for the program. (That's right, when you make more than a certain income level you stop paying the tax!) Compare that to the military budget. We spend more than $1 trillion on military and related programs each year - more than every other country combined - and unlike Social Security that is completely "unfunded," and adds to the deficit.

Medicare Outlook Improved Substantially

The report also says, "The outlook for Medicare has improved substantially because of program changes made in the [Health Care Reform Bill]"

Those Are The Facts

Those are the simple facts: everything is fine. Everything will be fine. There are some things that should be changed to make them even more OK than they are. They are good programs that demonstrate that government works.

So What's The Problem?

The Social Security program collects money via the "payroll tax." Much, much more money -- trillions -- has been collected than needed to be paid out to cover the coming retirement of the "baby boomers," and the extra -- the "trust fund" -- was invested in US Treasury Bonds.

Under Reagan and then both Bushes that money was borrowed from the trust fund and used to give huge tax cuts to the wealthy. (Clinton was paying it back but Bush II cut taxes again for the wealthy.) Now those boomers are beginning to retire, and the trust fund money that was borrowed and given out to the rich is needed back to cover their retirement. The obvious solution is to get the money from where the money went. But those who it went to are trying to stop the obvious from happening. They say we should cut benefits, make us retire at 70, anything to keep them from paying back what is owed to the retirees.

Oh, and there is another conservative complaint about Social Security. Social Security is very successful and popular, and is a constant, living proof that government of the people, by the people and for the people works and works really well. Among a certain crowd, that just can't be allowed to stand.

So now, let the anti-tax, anti-government conservative bamboozlement begin.

Let The Bamboozlement Begin

The anti-government conservatives are using several approaches to undermine public confidence in the program (and therefore government). MoveOn.org has a "Top 5 Social Security Myths" page up that is worth looking at.

Myth: Social Security is going broke.
Myth: We have to raise the retirement age because people are living longer.
Myth: Benefit cuts are the only way to fix Social Security.
Myth: The Social Security Trust Fund has been raided and is full of IOUs.
Myth: Social Security adds to the deficit.

Please go to the website to learn the truth about these myths. And please answer with those facts when you hear people spreading these myths.

Let's see how the conservatives are doing at spreading myths today, and how the mainstream media covers it:

Heritage Foundation: Once Again, the Social Security Trust Fund Has No Money in It

Washington Times: Social Security in the red for first time ever (Note - that's only if you don't count the interest that the trust fund earns. Just more bamboozlement.)

FOX News: Social Security 2010 Outlays to Exceed Receipts

CNN: Social Security: More going out than coming in

NPR: 2010 Social Security Outlook: Not Great

CNBC: Social Security 2010 outlays to exceed receipts

That's just a quick sampling. Compare what these headlines lead you to believe to the facts above. When was the last time you saw a headline that reads, "Massive military budget causes huge federal deficit"? Right. Bamboozlement, plain and simple. Expect to see a lot more like these. Don't fall for it.

Social Security Is Not Broken

Social Security is not broken. If we fight the myths and the anti-government lies it will be there for all of us.

Here is a statement by Nancy Altman, co-chairman of the Strengthen Social Security Campaign, a coalition of 60+ organizations, representing over 30 million Americans:

“Every year, the trustees’ reports become an excuse for fear mongering by those who should know better. This year, the news is especially good for Medicare, thanks to the enactment of health care reform. The news for Social Security is even better, revealing once again that Social Security’s promised benefits are fully affordable without benefit cuts and without increasing the retirement age. Poll after poll reports that’s what the American people want. Unfortunately, we know there are some in Washington, including a few members of the Administration’s fiscal commission, who will use this report to try to advance their agenda of cuts to Social Security benefits, including rising the retirement age. Politicians should stop scaring the American people. Social Security is strong and should be strengthened, not cut. The reality is the biggest threat to Social Security is the politicians in Washington who continue to play politics with this issue.”

Send a message to the politicians: No increase in the retirement age. No privatization. No Social Security cuts. Go to ourfuture.org/nosocialsecuritycuts.

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-- Posted by Dave Johnson at 11:33 AM PST on August 05, 2010.

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Jon Stewart Sums It Up

-- by Dave Johnson

Must-watch:

-- Posted by Dave Johnson at 7:59 AM PST on August 05, 2010.

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President Obama Says ‘Made In America’ At Heart Of US Recovery

-- by Dave Johnson

This post originally appeared at Campaign for America's Future (CAF) at their Blog for OurFuture as part of the Making It In America project. I am a Fellow with CAF.

Addressing the AFL-CIO Executive Council today, President Obama signaled support for the new Congressional "Make It In America" initiative, saying, (full transcript here)

"As long as I'm president, I'm going to keep fighting night and day to make sure that we win those jobs, that those are jobs that are created right here in the United States of America -- (applause) -- and that your members are put to work.

So the message I want to deliver to our competitors and to those in Washington who've tried to block our progress at every step of the way is that we are going to rebuild this economy stronger than before. And at the heart of it are going to be three powerful words: Made in America. (Applause.) Made in America."

A Washington Post story today, New Democratic strategy for creating jobs focuses on a boost in manufacturing, explains,

President Obama and congressional Democrats -- out of options for another quick shot of stimulus spending to revive the sluggish economy -- are shifting toward a longer-term strategy that promises to tackle persistently high unemployment by engineering a renaissance in American manufacturing.

That approach, heralded by Obama last week in Detroit and sketched out in a memo to House Democrats as they headed home for the August break, is still evolving and so far focuses primarily on raising taxes on multinational corporations that Democrats accuse of shipping jobs overseas.

The strategy also repackages policies long pursued by the White House -- such as investing in clean energy, roads, bridges and broadband service -- with more than two dozen legislative proposals aimed at developing a plan for promoting domestic manufacturing.

CAF's Eric Lotke has further details of the Congressional initiative in his post today, Made In America: The Good And Bad News For A Jobs Recovery.

This new initiative was triggered in part by the results of a poll conducted by Mark Mellman and Whit Ayres for the Alliance for American Manufacturing (AAM). According to AAM,

When asked about prospective economic solutions, pro-manufacturing policies won overwhelming support across demographics including non-union households, independents, union households and Tea Party supporters. ...

Other highlights from the poll include:

• A majority believe the U.S. no longer has the world’s strongest economy—a title they want to regain
• Voters are anxious about the economy—specifically China debt, spending and loss of manufacturing
• 86% of voters want Washington to focus on manufacturing, and 63% feel working people who make things are being forgotten while Wall Street and banks get bailouts
• Two-thirds of voters believe manufacturing is central to our economic strength, and 57% believe manufacturing is more central to our economic strength than high-tech, knowledge or financial service sectors

The AFL-CIO blog has more on the President's address in the post, Obama Says ‘Made in America’ at Heart of US Recovery, (yes, I flat-out stole the title of this post from them)

Speaking on his 49th birthday at the Washington (D.C) Convention Center, the president told the council that this fall’s election is a choice between

polices that encourage job creation here in America or encourage jobs to go elsewhere…The choice is whether we want to go forward or we want to go backwards to the same policies that got us into this mess in the first place.

He spoke about the need to invest in clean technology, like solar panels, wind turbines, nuclear plants, clean coal and new car batteries.

Instead of giving tax breaks to corporations that want to ship jobs overseas, we want to give tax breaks to companies that are investing right here in the United States of America.

Note - the President also said, "And we are going to keep on fighting to pass the Employee Free Choice Act."

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-- Posted by Dave Johnson at 5:42 PM PST on August 04, 2010.

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If 60+ Organizations Representing 30+ Million People Gave a Press Conference In A Forest …

-- by Dave Johnson

This post originally appeared at Campaign for America's Future (CAF) at their Blog for OurFuture. I am a Fellow with CAF.

If more than 60 organizations representing more than 30 million people gave a press conference in a forest and no media covers it ... will these 30-plus million people still vote against politicians who vote to cut Social Security benefits? You can bet your seat in Congress they will!

Last week leaders of more than 60 national organizations that represent more than 30 million Americans held a press conference to announce a campaign to protect Social Security. Also this weekend the Tea Party held a national rally in Philadelphia and approximately 300 people showed up. (A local Apple Store opening drew more people.)

At Columbia Journalism Review, Trudy Lieberman writes in, Who Will Tell the People?,

. . . when it comes to Social Security, the MSM, where most Americans still get their news, have been MIA. You could almost say that Social Security has become the MSM’s third rail. For the most part, nobody wants to touch it. [. . .] It has been this way all year, ever since Obama established his deficit commission in January, thus raising the stakes for Social Security. The MSM’s treatment of the program is all the more puzzling since any changes the commission brings forth will be far more important to most Americans than health reform ever was or will be. A vigorous public discussion has yet to take place, and the commentary so far has been framed mostly by one side of the issue—the deficit hawks, privatizers, and Peter G. Peterson acolytes who believe Social Security (and other entitlements) are causing the deficits.

Politicians, do not be fooled by one-sided coverage of the Social Security issue. 60+ organizations representing 30+ million members will carry more weight on election day than corporate-funded astroturf "Tea Party" organizations that can't get more than 300 people to a national rally.

Citizens, demand that your representatives take the pledge to protect Social Security. Click here: Hands off Social Security: No increase in the retirement age, no privatization, no Social Security cuts. Sign the petition to your member of Congress.

Campaign for America's Future is tracking which representatives are and are not signing the pledge. Click here to watch the list grow.

-- Posted by Dave Johnson at 2:07 PM PST on August 03, 2010.

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Do We Need A Democracy Tariff?

-- by Dave Johnson

This post originally appeared at Campaign for America's Future (CAF) at their Blog for OurFuture as part of the Making It In America project. I am a Fellow with CAF.

We need a Democracy Tariff, imposed at the border on goods that are brought in from countries where the people have not been able to build a strong democracy that protects their workers, wages and environment.

Yesterday in Exporting Jobs Is Not “Trade.” It Evades Democracy's Protections I wrote that ... well ... exporting jobs is not "trade." Packing up a factory here to send the jobs there, and then bringing the same goods that factory was making back here to sell is done for one and only one reason. It is done to get around the wage, safety and environmental protections that We, the People fought to build.

We formed this country and we fought to build protections that brought us a reasonably good life, and a middle class, and some security - social security - so we don't always have to be struggling and living on the edge of a cliff, surviving only at the whim of a wealthy few with all the power. We fought a revolution against government by a wealthy and powerful few, and we fought again and again to keep and protect government of the people, by the people and for the people.

Our wage, safety and environmental protections are the result of our democracy. We, the People fought and built a government to empower and protect us, to provide good wages and provide some security and that involves rules that limit what the owners of companies can do -- regulations. We build up a system of public structures like courts, laws, schools, roads, bridges -- spending -- that enable commerce to prosper. And we ask those who benefit from that commerce we enabled to share the return on our investment with us -- taxes and wages.

Democracy, government, regulations, spending, taxes. The stronger each of these are, the better We, the People do. The weaker they are, the worse off we are.

Lately wealthy corporate owners -- who benefit from the commerce that our democracy, government, regulations, spending and taxes enabled -- have found another way to get around these protections that We, the People built for ourselves. They move manufacturing and jobs to countries where the people have not been able to build strong democracies to protect their interests, and then bring the goods made by the exploited workers there back here to sell. They call that "trade" when really it is just a way to get around the borders that we are able to protect. As I wrote yesterday,

These workers make the same products that had been made here, sell them in the same stores here, but make them outside of the boundaries of our democratically-won protections. And to make things worse, the companies then demand wage and benefit cuts from the workers who are still here, claiming that "globalization" means they now have to compete with workers with no rights, so they must accept less.

There is a solution to this problem. These protections that we built brought us prosperity. And that means we have a strong market. Everyone in the world wants to be able to sell to us, and we can use that power to set the rules for access to our markets.

A Democracy Tariff

We should not let exploitation of workers and the environment be a competitive advantage that is used against the democratic protections we have built for ourselves. We can and should set a "Democracy Tariff" on goods that come from countries that do not protect their workers and/or environment. This tariff should be enough to offset the competitive advantage that comes from exploiting workers and the environment. If those countries do not change we can use the revenue from the tariff to build our infrastructure and strengthen our competitive position. If those countries do change, all the better, because as democracy strengthens there, the people will prosper and can trade fairly with us to buy things we make here. Everyone is better off when trade is free and fair.

There are degrees of democracy and there can be degrees of Democracy Tariff. For example, some countries might protect workers but not the environment. The tariff on goods from those countries should be enough to offset the advantage gained from exploiting the environment but not as high as for countries that exploit both workers and the environment. Other countries might have some degree of protections but not allow unionization. The tariff should be enough to offset whatever degree of exploitation is at work.

If a Democracy Tariff is called "protectionism" so be it. We have learned the hard way that democracy is fragile and must be protected.

We must not allow exploitation of workers and the environment to be a "comparative advantage" used against our democracy -- government of the people, by the people and for the people -- and the protections and prosperity it has brought us.

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-- Posted by Dave Johnson at 11:19 AM PST on August 03, 2010.

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Exporting Jobs Is Not “Trade,” It Evades Democracy's Protections

-- by Dave Johnson

This post originally appeared at Campaign for America's Future (CAF) at their Blog for OurFuture as part of the Making It In America project. I am a Fellow with CAF.

We, the People have fought hard to build and strengthen our democracy. We built up laws and institutions and protections. It has been a particularly hard fight to build a middle class with weekends off, good wages, worker protections and some degree of protection of our environment. Step by step we fought and built, fought and built, and a prosperous democracy with a strong middle class developed.

But this has been changing. Beginning under President Reagan our government has allowed companies to bypass the strong rules that we fought to implement. Companies have been allowed - even encouraged - to pack up and move factories to low-wage, low-protection, non-democracy countries where the workers have no choice but to do what they are told if they want to feed their families and stay out of jail. These workers make the same products that had been made here, sell them in the same stores here, but make them outside of the boundaries of our democratically-won protections. And to make things worse, the companies then demand wage and benefit cuts from the workers who are still here, claiming that "globalization" means they now have to compete with workers with no rights, so they must accept less.

This is not "trade." This is evasion of our democratically-won protections. Moving a factory across a border to evade the protections that good governments bring to their people is not “trading with other countries” it is evasion of the rules that We, the People placed on the once-level playing field of business.

The results of these anti-democratic policies have been profoundly destructive. What is called free trade has helped bring about an intense concentration of wealth, because poor people without even the benefit of our minimum wage laws are used to threaten or just replace union workers who had fought just to get a piece of the pie.

The globalization argument says that all of this destruction of rights and protections is inevitable. The people are there, they are desperate, they will accept less, so there is nothing we can do about it. Economists even argue that economic theory says this is the correct way to do business. They say that different countries have different "comparative advantages" -- some unique ability to produce something better that other countries. Central and South America are better at producing bananas and our Midwest is better at producing grain, so these items should be traded.

It is correct that they grow bananas and we grow grain, but it is not correct to say that countries with democracy, where workers can demand wage, safety and environmental protections as well as protection of the public's common resources should be pitted against desperate and exploited people, living under repressive governments that they do not have control over. We must now allow lack of democracy and lack of worker or environmental protections to be an advantage, used against us!

We can and must stop this. We have fought this fight before and we can fight it again. We need a democracy tariff at our border that protects us and protects the democracy and its protections that we have fought so hard to build. I will write more about this in my next post.

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-- Posted by Dave Johnson at 12:03 PM PST on August 02, 2010.

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Tax Cuts Leave Nothing Behind -- Infrastructure Investment Leaves Behind Infrastructure

-- by Dave Johnson

This post originally appeared at Campaign for America's Future (CAF) at their Blog for OurFuture as part of the Making It In America project. I am a Fellow with CAF.

Actually, the title kind of says it all, no?

If we spend money on tax cuts, the next year we only have debt and pay interest on the debt. For a clear example, just look at the damage the Bush tax cuts have done to the country. They left behind worse than nothing -- we had years of slow growth, and the cuts caused a massive deficit and debt that plagues us now. And, because we didn't have the money to use to maintain the infrastructure we are that much further behind on that task now.

If we spend money on improving the country's infrastructure, we get all the job creation that comes from that work, and the next year you have that infrastructure there to help drive the economy. For a clear example, how did all that government spending on the Interstate Highway System work out for the economy? For a clear example, look at China's investment in high-speed rail. They can now move people and goods so much more efficiently and faster between their cities, and they developed an industry that is now selling its expertise to the rest of the world.

Our country has a huge, huge infrastructure deficit. After the Reagan tax cuts started draining the government's ability to be a government we slowed down or stopped maintenance of the country's roads, bridges, water and sewer systems, transit systems, schools, dams & levees and everything else that didn't blow someone up. Our rail system is not last-century, it is century-before-last! The American Society of Civil Engineers calculates that we are $2.2 trillion behind where we need to be. As a result we have fallen behind the rest of the world in competitiveness, efficiency, and of course job creation.

Connect the dots: We have about 10% unemployment and we have a huge, huge backlog of work that needs doing. And after that work gets done the economy will run much more smoothly and will be much more competitive.

To me it's a no-brainer. Everyone benefits when we invest in jobs and infrastructure. We can see all around us that tax cuts leave nothing behind, and in fact make our problems worse.

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-- Posted by Dave Johnson at 12:01 PM PST on August 02, 2010.

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