austerity

Any Jobs Bill Must Have Buy American and Hire America Mandatory Requirements

arra signPaul Krugman shows the 2009 economic stimulus was not enough.  We've shown as have many others, tax cuts for the rich do not create jobs.   Yet, many criticized the $787 Billion Stimulus bill as spending, loaded with political favors and misdirected funds.  For example, 84% of the green jobs went offshore and build America bonds were yet another gift for Goldman Sachs.

The problem with the original stimulus wasn't that it wasn't big enough.  It was not smart enough.  What we need is true domestic stimulus.  If you're going to spend our money to stimulate our economy, stop shipping our dough to China instead.
buy american
Is this possible?  Can one stop the offshore outsourcing of jobs, especially jobs created with our hard earned taxpayer dollars?  Is there anything that can be done which actually goes to American workers?   Why yes there is.  First and foremost, all stimulus funding should have two mandatory requirements, Buy American and Hire America.  If a government is enacting Keynesian economic stimulus, they must keep that spending within the domestic economy they wish to stimulate.  The last thing America's workers need is stimulating China's economy and generating more jobs for them.

Stimulus vs. Austerity

The most heated debate in Washington these days involves deficits and unemployment. There are lots of heated rhetoric, finger-pointing, and hyperbole.
What there isn't is a surplus of actual facts.

For instance, this headline reads "U.S. should cut deficit to spur recovery, IMF says". It implies that cutting the deficit would automatically increase economic growth.
That sounds good to me. The problem is that the IMF never actually says that. In fact, the article spends most of its time warning about a drop in economic growth.

The headline was misleading, as is just about everything said in this debate.

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Austerity and Class War

The Republican's filibuster of the "tax extenders" bill will have severe economic consequences.
Moody's is predicting the loss of 200,000 jobs. Nomura Securities says it will knock 0.4% off of the GDP.
A good 2 million unemployed families will have their last financial lifeline cut by the second week of July. The suffering of these families is about to increase many fold.

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In midst of the outcry from the struggling working class, came this statement from Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.):

"It is very clear that the Republicans in the Senate want this economy to fail. They see that things are beginning to turn around.... In cynical political terms, it doesn't serve them in terms of their election interests if things are beginning to turn around."

Now I like conspiracy theories more than most, maybe even too much, but I also recognize that describing a political opponent in 2-dimensional terms with evil intent is usually an indication of something missing from your theory.

What is missing here is the concept of class interests.

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