Wednesday, September 7, 2011
We support Jan Schakowsky's Plan for Job Creation
We completely support this plan but will the president support it? Or will he support it enough?
WASHINGTON -- Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.), a member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, announced on Wednesday that she will introduce a progressive-minded budget outline aimed at putting more than two million people to work.
Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.), a member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, announced on Wednesday that she will introduce a progressive-minded budget outline aimed at putting more than two million people to work.
Titled the “Emergency Jobs to Restore the American Dream Act,” the plan would cost $227 billion and would be implemented over two years. It would be financed by separate legislation introduced by Schakowsky called the "Fairness in Taxation Act," which would raise taxes for Americans who earn more than $1 million and $1 billion. It would also eliminate subsidies for big oil companies while closing loopholes for corporations that send American jobs overseas.
The congresswoman said that her plan would create 2.2 million jobs and decrease the unemployment rate by 1.3 percent.
"If we want to create jobs, then create jobs," Schakowsky said in a press release. "I’m not talking about "incentivizing" companies in the hopes they’ll hire someone, or cutting taxes for the so-called job creators who have done nothing of the sort. My plan creates actual new jobs."
Schakowsky’s proposal reads more like a progressive wishlist than legislation likely to be signed into law. But it does provide a template of sorts to help Democrats frame their budget argument as lawmakers enter the high-stakes super committee negotiations.
Under her plan, the following policies would be implemented:
The School Improvement Corps would create 400,000 construction and 250,000 maintenance jobs by funding positions created by public school districts to do needed school rehabilitation improvements.
The Park Improvement Corps would create 100,000 jobs for youth between the ages of 16 and 25 through new funding to the Department of the Interior and the USDA Forest Service’s Public Lands Corps Act. Young people would work on conservation projects on public lands including the restoration and rehabilitation of natural, cultural, and historic resources.
The Student Jobs Corps would create 250,000 more part-time work study jobs for eligible college students through new funding for the Federal Work Study Program.
The Neighborhood Heroes Corps would hire 300,000 new teachers, 40,000 new police officers and 12,000 new firefighters.
The Health Corps would hire at least 40,000 health care providers, including physicians, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, nurses, and health care workers to expand access in underserved rural and urban areas.
The Child Care Corps would create 100,000 jobs in early childhood care and education through additional funding for Early Head Start.
The Community Corps would hire 750,000 individuals to do needed work in communities, including housing rehab, weatherization, recycling, and rural conservation.
In addition, the bill would give priority to the longterm unemployed -- the so-called "99ers" who have exhausted both their state and federal unemployment benefits. Federally extended unemployment benefits are set to expire this year, even though nearly 14 million Americans remain out of work and it takes the average worker nine months to find a new job.
“The worst deficit this country faces isn’t the budget deficit," Schakowsky said. "It’s the jobs deficit. We need to get our people and our economy moving again.”
© 2011 Huffington Post
WASHINGTON -- Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.), a member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, announced on Wednesday that she will introduce a progressive-minded budget outline aimed at putting more than two million people to work.
Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.), a member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, announced on Wednesday that she will introduce a progressive-minded budget outline aimed at putting more than two million people to work.
Titled the “Emergency Jobs to Restore the American Dream Act,” the plan would cost $227 billion and would be implemented over two years. It would be financed by separate legislation introduced by Schakowsky called the "Fairness in Taxation Act," which would raise taxes for Americans who earn more than $1 million and $1 billion. It would also eliminate subsidies for big oil companies while closing loopholes for corporations that send American jobs overseas.
The congresswoman said that her plan would create 2.2 million jobs and decrease the unemployment rate by 1.3 percent.
"If we want to create jobs, then create jobs," Schakowsky said in a press release. "I’m not talking about "incentivizing" companies in the hopes they’ll hire someone, or cutting taxes for the so-called job creators who have done nothing of the sort. My plan creates actual new jobs."
Schakowsky’s proposal reads more like a progressive wishlist than legislation likely to be signed into law. But it does provide a template of sorts to help Democrats frame their budget argument as lawmakers enter the high-stakes super committee negotiations.
Under her plan, the following policies would be implemented:
The School Improvement Corps would create 400,000 construction and 250,000 maintenance jobs by funding positions created by public school districts to do needed school rehabilitation improvements.
The Park Improvement Corps would create 100,000 jobs for youth between the ages of 16 and 25 through new funding to the Department of the Interior and the USDA Forest Service’s Public Lands Corps Act. Young people would work on conservation projects on public lands including the restoration and rehabilitation of natural, cultural, and historic resources.
The Student Jobs Corps would create 250,000 more part-time work study jobs for eligible college students through new funding for the Federal Work Study Program.
The Neighborhood Heroes Corps would hire 300,000 new teachers, 40,000 new police officers and 12,000 new firefighters.
The Health Corps would hire at least 40,000 health care providers, including physicians, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, nurses, and health care workers to expand access in underserved rural and urban areas.
The Child Care Corps would create 100,000 jobs in early childhood care and education through additional funding for Early Head Start.
The Community Corps would hire 750,000 individuals to do needed work in communities, including housing rehab, weatherization, recycling, and rural conservation.
In addition, the bill would give priority to the longterm unemployed -- the so-called "99ers" who have exhausted both their state and federal unemployment benefits. Federally extended unemployment benefits are set to expire this year, even though nearly 14 million Americans remain out of work and it takes the average worker nine months to find a new job.
“The worst deficit this country faces isn’t the budget deficit," Schakowsky said. "It’s the jobs deficit. We need to get our people and our economy moving again.”
© 2011 Huffington Post
Friday, August 26, 2011
Why is the Obama administration helping the Big Bankers?
I'm a lifelong democrat but I find the actions of my president to be disturbing.
Friday, August 12, 2011
Contract for the American Dream with Cute Kids
A helpful video about the Contract for the American Dream.
We Support the Contract for the American Dream
Go sign this petition now if you're looking for a plan to create jobs.
Here is the contract in full:
CONTRACT FOR THE
AMERICAN DREAM
We, the American people, promise to defend and advance a simple ideal: liberty and justice... for all. Americans who are
willing to work hard and play by the rules should be able to find a decent job, get a good home in a strong community,
retire with dignity and give their kids a better life. Every one of us – rich, poor or in-between, regardless of skin color or
birthplace, no matter their sexual orientation or gender – has the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That is
our covenant, our compact, our contract with one another. It is a promise we can fulfill – but only by working together.
Today, the American Dream is under threat. Our veterans are coming home to few jobs and little hope on the home front.
Our young people are graduating off a cliff, burdened by heavy debt, into the worst job market in half a century. The big
banks that American taxpayers bailed out won’t cut homeowners a break. Our firefighters, nurses, cops and teachers –
America’s everyday heroes – are being thrown out onto the street. We believe:
AMERICA IS NOT BROKE. America is rich – still the wealthiest nation ever. But too many at the top are grabbing
the gains. No person or corporation should be allowed to take from America while giving little or nothing back. The superrich
who got tax breaks and bailouts should now pay full taxes – and help create jobs here, not overseas. Those who do well
in America should do well by America.
AMERICANS NEED JOBS, NOT CUTS. Many of our best workers are sitting idle, while the work of rebuilding
America goes undone. Together, we must rebuild our country, reinvest in our people and jump-start the industries of
the future. Millions of jobless Americans would love the opportunity to become working, tax-paying members of their
communities again. We have a jobs crisis, not a deficit crisis.
To produce this Contract for the American Dream, 131,203 Americans came together online and in their communities. We
wrote and rated 25,904 ideas. Together, we identified the 10 most critical steps to get our economy back on track and
restore the American Dream:
1. INVEST IN AMERICA’S INFRASTRUCTURE.
Rebuild our crumbling bridges, dams, levees, ports, water and
sewer lines, railways, roads and public transit. We must invest in
high-speed Internet and a modern, energy-saving electric grid.
These investments will create good jobs and rebuild America. To
help finance these projects, we need national and state
infrastructure banks.
2. CREATE 21ST-CENTURY ENERGY JOBS.
We should invest in American businesses that can power our
country with innovative technologies like wind turbines, solar
panels, geothermal systems, hybrid and electric cars, and
next-generation batteries. And we should put Americans to work
making our homes and buildings energy efficient. We can create
good, green jobs in America, address the climate crisis, and build
the clean energy economy.
3. INVEST IN PUBLIC EDUCATION. We should
provide universal access to early childhood education, make
school funding equitable, invest in high-quality teachers, and
build safe, well-equipped school buildings for our students. A
high-quality education system, from universal preschool to
vocational training and affordable higher education, is critical for
our future and can create badly needed jobs now.
4. OFFER MEDICARE FOR ALL. We should expand
Medicare so it’s available to all Americans, and reform it to
provide even more cost-effective, quality care. The Affordable
Care Act is a good start and we must implement it – but it’s not
enough. We can save trillions of dollars by joining every other
industrialized country – paying much less for health care while
getting the same or better results.
5. MAKE WORK PAY. Americans have a right to fair
minimum and living wages, to organize and collectively bargain,
to enjoy equal opportunity and to earn equal pay for equal work.
Corporate assaults on these rights bring down wages and
benefits for all of us. They must be outlawed.
6. SECURE SOCIAL SECURITY. Keep Social Security
sound, and strengthen the retirement, disability, and survivors’
protections Americans earn through their hard work. Pay for it
by removing the cap on the Social Security tax, so that upperincome
people pay into Social Security on all they make, just like
the rest of us.
7. RETURN TO FAIRER TAX RATES. End, once and
for all, the Bush-era tax giveaways for the rich, which the rest of
us – or our kids – must pay eventually. Also, we must outlaw
corporate tax havens and tax breaks for shipping jobs overseas.
Lastly, with millionaires and billionaires taking a growing share
of our country’s wealth, we should add new tax brackets for those
making more than $1 million each year.
8. END THE WARS AND INVEST AT HOME.
Our troops have done everything that’s been asked of them, and
it’s time to bring them home to good jobs here. We’re sending $3
billion each week overseas that we should be investing to rebuild
America.
9. TAX WALL STREET SPECULATION. A tiny fee of
1/20th of 1% on each Wall Street trade would raise tens of
billions of dollars annually with little impact on actual
investment. This would reduce speculation, “flash trading,” and
outrageous bankers’ bonuses – and we’d have a lot more money
to spend on Main Street job creation.
10. STRENGTHEN DEMOCRACY. We need clean,
fair elections – where no one’s right to vote can be taken away,
and where money doesn’t buy you your own member of
Congress. We must ban anonymous political influence, slam shut
the lobbyists’ revolving door in D.C. and publicly finance
elections. Immigrants who want to join in our democracy deserve
a clear path to citizenship. We must stop giving corporations the
rights of people when it comes to our elections. And we must
ensure our judiciary’s respect for the Constitution. Together, we
will reclaim our democracy to get our country back on track.
“I HAVE A DREAM. IT IS A DREAM DEEPLY ROOTED IN THE AMERICAN DREAM.”
– Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., 1963 March on Washington
HTTP://CONTRACT.REBUILDTHEDREAM.COM
Here is the contract in full:
CONTRACT FOR THE
AMERICAN DREAM
We, the American people, promise to defend and advance a simple ideal: liberty and justice... for all. Americans who are
willing to work hard and play by the rules should be able to find a decent job, get a good home in a strong community,
retire with dignity and give their kids a better life. Every one of us – rich, poor or in-between, regardless of skin color or
birthplace, no matter their sexual orientation or gender – has the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That is
our covenant, our compact, our contract with one another. It is a promise we can fulfill – but only by working together.
Today, the American Dream is under threat. Our veterans are coming home to few jobs and little hope on the home front.
Our young people are graduating off a cliff, burdened by heavy debt, into the worst job market in half a century. The big
banks that American taxpayers bailed out won’t cut homeowners a break. Our firefighters, nurses, cops and teachers –
America’s everyday heroes – are being thrown out onto the street. We believe:
AMERICA IS NOT BROKE. America is rich – still the wealthiest nation ever. But too many at the top are grabbing
the gains. No person or corporation should be allowed to take from America while giving little or nothing back. The superrich
who got tax breaks and bailouts should now pay full taxes – and help create jobs here, not overseas. Those who do well
in America should do well by America.
AMERICANS NEED JOBS, NOT CUTS. Many of our best workers are sitting idle, while the work of rebuilding
America goes undone. Together, we must rebuild our country, reinvest in our people and jump-start the industries of
the future. Millions of jobless Americans would love the opportunity to become working, tax-paying members of their
communities again. We have a jobs crisis, not a deficit crisis.
To produce this Contract for the American Dream, 131,203 Americans came together online and in their communities. We
wrote and rated 25,904 ideas. Together, we identified the 10 most critical steps to get our economy back on track and
restore the American Dream:
1. INVEST IN AMERICA’S INFRASTRUCTURE.
Rebuild our crumbling bridges, dams, levees, ports, water and
sewer lines, railways, roads and public transit. We must invest in
high-speed Internet and a modern, energy-saving electric grid.
These investments will create good jobs and rebuild America. To
help finance these projects, we need national and state
infrastructure banks.
2. CREATE 21ST-CENTURY ENERGY JOBS.
We should invest in American businesses that can power our
country with innovative technologies like wind turbines, solar
panels, geothermal systems, hybrid and electric cars, and
next-generation batteries. And we should put Americans to work
making our homes and buildings energy efficient. We can create
good, green jobs in America, address the climate crisis, and build
the clean energy economy.
3. INVEST IN PUBLIC EDUCATION. We should
provide universal access to early childhood education, make
school funding equitable, invest in high-quality teachers, and
build safe, well-equipped school buildings for our students. A
high-quality education system, from universal preschool to
vocational training and affordable higher education, is critical for
our future and can create badly needed jobs now.
4. OFFER MEDICARE FOR ALL. We should expand
Medicare so it’s available to all Americans, and reform it to
provide even more cost-effective, quality care. The Affordable
Care Act is a good start and we must implement it – but it’s not
enough. We can save trillions of dollars by joining every other
industrialized country – paying much less for health care while
getting the same or better results.
5. MAKE WORK PAY. Americans have a right to fair
minimum and living wages, to organize and collectively bargain,
to enjoy equal opportunity and to earn equal pay for equal work.
Corporate assaults on these rights bring down wages and
benefits for all of us. They must be outlawed.
6. SECURE SOCIAL SECURITY. Keep Social Security
sound, and strengthen the retirement, disability, and survivors’
protections Americans earn through their hard work. Pay for it
by removing the cap on the Social Security tax, so that upperincome
people pay into Social Security on all they make, just like
the rest of us.
7. RETURN TO FAIRER TAX RATES. End, once and
for all, the Bush-era tax giveaways for the rich, which the rest of
us – or our kids – must pay eventually. Also, we must outlaw
corporate tax havens and tax breaks for shipping jobs overseas.
Lastly, with millionaires and billionaires taking a growing share
of our country’s wealth, we should add new tax brackets for those
making more than $1 million each year.
8. END THE WARS AND INVEST AT HOME.
Our troops have done everything that’s been asked of them, and
it’s time to bring them home to good jobs here. We’re sending $3
billion each week overseas that we should be investing to rebuild
America.
9. TAX WALL STREET SPECULATION. A tiny fee of
1/20th of 1% on each Wall Street trade would raise tens of
billions of dollars annually with little impact on actual
investment. This would reduce speculation, “flash trading,” and
outrageous bankers’ bonuses – and we’d have a lot more money
to spend on Main Street job creation.
10. STRENGTHEN DEMOCRACY. We need clean,
fair elections – where no one’s right to vote can be taken away,
and where money doesn’t buy you your own member of
Congress. We must ban anonymous political influence, slam shut
the lobbyists’ revolving door in D.C. and publicly finance
elections. Immigrants who want to join in our democracy deserve
a clear path to citizenship. We must stop giving corporations the
rights of people when it comes to our elections. And we must
ensure our judiciary’s respect for the Constitution. Together, we
will reclaim our democracy to get our country back on track.
“I HAVE A DREAM. IT IS A DREAM DEEPLY ROOTED IN THE AMERICAN DREAM.”
– Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., 1963 March on Washington
HTTP://CONTRACT.REBUILDTHEDREAM.COM
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
What Ian Welsh said.
Technically, if you're been supporting us at the door (thank you) or reading the blog we've essentially borrowed the Bold Progressives line and said no cuts to social security, medicare or medicaid. It seems like that's what happened with the debt deal exception being medicare, which aids old people or your parents or grandparents, great aunts and the like. However, given the president's weak and/or non existent negotiating skills I honestly don't know how long that will continue.
Or here's a fun scenario, thanks to the Super Congress: social security, medicare and medicaid aren't touched but we lose the EPA and Americorps. I just don't consider this debt deal a victory. In fact, it looks to be a horrible loss which could repeal the New Deal. Just awful. Or as I've stated elsewhere: Bad optics. Bad policy. Bad president (When you score this much for the opposing team I begin to think that you're on the other side).
Ian Welsh speaks for me:
Or here's a fun scenario, thanks to the Super Congress: social security, medicare and medicaid aren't touched but we lose the EPA and Americorps. I just don't consider this debt deal a victory. In fact, it looks to be a horrible loss which could repeal the New Deal. Just awful. Or as I've stated elsewhere: Bad optics. Bad policy. Bad president (When you score this much for the opposing team I begin to think that you're on the other side).
Ian Welsh speaks for me:
What the Debt Limit Crisis Should Have Taught You
2011 JULY 31
This is not primarily about the Tea Party
It is about what rich donors want. The Tea Party does not even have the amount of muscle progressives do. Progressives can bring tens of thousands of people out, the Tea Party can rarely even get above 1,000. They are a convenient excuse to do what the Beltway and the oligarchs already want to do.
Where are you going to go?
Both Dems and Republicans are onside with cutting Social Security and Medicare. They are only third rails if there is someone else to vote for.
The deals being offered will cause a second downleg of the Depression and a worse one
We’re in a Depression. This is fact. Anyone who doesn’t call it that is gutless, stupid or uninformed. This will make it worse, not just for the US, but for the entire developed world.
Representatives work for the people who pay them
That isn’t really you. They don’t become multi-millionaires on their salaries, you know. It’s their donors, the people who hire their wives and children, the people who fund their campaigns, the people who give them good jobs when they leave government. If you want Reps and Senators to work for you, you must pay them better, you must fund their campaigns (and sharply limit outside funding) and you must make it illegal for them to EVER make more money in a year than their government salary (index it to an average of the median wage, the minimum wage, and CPI). You should do what Canada used to do and give them a good pension after 6 years. You DON’T want them worrying about their next job, or what they’ll do if they’ll lose.
Point being, they don’t work for you.
This is a representative plutocracy
I believe Stirling Newberry, in the early 90s, pointed this out first. Politicians are paid by people other than you. You are the product. Think of this as the Facebook rule, if you aren’t paying for something, then you are the product. The rich pay politicians to rangle you. The amount of salary and public funding most Reps get is trivial compared to how much money they get from donors, even during their time in elected office, let alone after they leave. You are the product, not the customer, of DC politicians. They do not represent you, and you should not expect your interests to be looked after except as an afterthought. When the oligarchs all agree that something needs to be done (like cut entitlements), it will be done, no matter how unpopular it is.
This “Crisis” is what Obama wanted
Again, if he didn’t, he would have raised the debt ceiling in the lame duck. Nancy Pelosi was always very good at getting those sort of basic housekeeping bills through. It would have passed. Period. Obama wanted to cut SS and Medicare, and he needed a “crisis” in order to do it. He also needed a Republican House, which he had, because his policies during 2009 and 2010 didn’t fix the economy.
You should have been working on nothing but primarying Obama since the day after the midterms
If you don’t understand why, I can’t help you.
There is no war but class war
Break the rich, or they will finish institutionalizing aristocracy. Period.
Saturday, July 30, 2011
Sign the Credo Petition Today! Make your voice heard!
The best solution for the president and the country would be for the president to invoke the 14th amendment solution. One way you can get involved is to sign the Credo Action petition: "Enough is Enough: Invoke the 14th Amendment and end the crisis."
Here's what it says:
Here's what it says:
Enough is Enough: Invoke the 14th Amendment and end the crisis
Tell President Obama to use his 14th Amendment powers, raise the debt ceiling without Congress, end this crisis, and tell the House Republicans to go take a hike.
For weeks now, House Republicans have been holding America hostage, and threatening to wreak havoc with our credit rating and our economy. They have refused to raise the debt ceiling unless their extremist policies are enacted, policies that place a higher priority on defending tax loopholes for corporate jets than on preserving Medicare and Social Security.
Enough is enough. Mr. President, it is time to use your 14th Amendment powers to end this crisis.
The 14th Amendment to the Constitution clearly states that the validity of the U.S. government's debt "shall not be questioned." Leaders from President Clinton1 to Representative James Clyburn to have called upon the president to invoke these powers.
Republicans, apparently unable to read, have tried to claim that doing this would be unconstitutional. But these same Republicans have held America hostage for too long. It is time for President Obama to move ahead without them, and use the powers given to him by the Constitution. If the Republicans really want to take their claims to court, let them. But right now, it's time to end this long, national nightmare.
Enough is enough. Tell President Obama to use his 14th Amendment powers to end this crisis.
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