JOBS...JOBS...JOBS!!!!

I don't get it. Back in October we had an economic crisis. The entire world economy was going to collapse because people couldn't make their house payments. Everyday we heard about these nasty subprime loans leading to soaring interest rates, and suddenly homeowners were faced with foreclosure. On top of that, or because of that, credit was freezing up...banks were no longer liquid...they couldn't get money to lend even if they wanted to lend.

Unfortunately, the economic crisis was far worse than that. One problem led to another that led to another...like domino's falling. The up shot of all this is people have used up whatever credit they had, and soaring unemployment.... demand for goods has dried up. If no one is working, and you can't borrow anymore, no one is spending.

Along comes the Economic Recovery and Reinvestment Plan....aka..the "stimulus plan" .

The Republicans in the House made it clear they would rather play politics than get serious about solving a once in a generation economic crisis.

And the Senate Republicans? Well...they want tax cuts. It's their answer to every problem. Cut taxes and the environment will be cleaner. Fight a war on terror? Easy, cut taxes. Stimulate the economy and get people back to work? Cut taxes...

Ah, but they also want to do something about this housing crisis. They actually think that housing is the "root of this problem". I heard one Republican Senator say we need to start building houses again. Yeah, we do...someday, but right now we have a glut of homes on the market...prices are falling by 25..35..40%...but who can buy them? I see a lot of homes for sale, and not many people stepping up to purchase....even at these reduced prices.

What the Senate Republicans want to do is force banks...especially those receiving TARP funds to offer low interest rates on home loans to credit worthy buyers. Now, that sounds real nice, I think...but the devil is in the details. Who is considered "credit worthy"? And what happens when that new home owner loses her job? You see, the problem we have faced all along is people could not afford their home. And someone with no job, or someone with a job that might be gone tomorrow, is not going to borrow a couple hundred thousand dollars if they are afraid for their financial future...and building more houses is not a big enough, deep enough stimulus. We have serious problems and we need a big plan.

Tax cuts? We have had nearly 40 years of steady tax cuts and look at how great our economy is today. Yes, there should be some tax cuts in the stimulus plan for the short term kick they can give, but these tax cuts should be to middle class families, not the wealthy, not to corporations. Tax cuts will not create jobs.

Do you remember Bush's rebate last year? Economist figure less than 40% of that $150 billion was actually spent. The majority went to pay off debt. The numbers for the 2001 rebate are no better.

So you see....it comes down to JOBS!!!! We need to get people back to work in jobs that are secure. Put a regular, steady wage in their pockets. Once that happens demand for housing, appliances, cars, etc. will be there. The Senate Republicans know this but they aren't interested in jobs. They'll call it socialism and bigger government...all the old tired worn out slogans that have served them over the years.....never mind that government investment in green technology, and infrastructure repair, means contracting with private contractors and businesses to do the work. They are not interested in a strong middle class. So they have a plan....tax cuts and home building. Ideologically, they have nothing else to offer.