I have joined the Jobs Party

There is an obvious solution to many of our economic woes, a way to stimulate the economy, improve the lives of millions of Americans, and even curb global warming along the way... Create government jobs!

A federal jobs program, a 21st-century equivalent to Franklin Roosevelt's WPA and CCC, is exactly what the nation needs right now. We need high speed rails and effective forms of public transportation--and thousands could be put to work building them. There are countless potential "green collar" jobs in our cities and towns, doing things like installing photovoltaic systems, passive solar heating, and good old insulated windows. Our National Parks have a huge maintenance backlog of bridges, buildings and other infrastructure in need of repair. Many people who lost their jobs in the recession are from technical fields like construction and automotive and would bring valuable skills to such projects. And new recruits would have a grand opportunity to learn from the experienced. There are so many projects for the public good that we could undertake with the right federal investment.

And many of you are asking "how are you going to pay for it?" Consider the following calculation, which I borrowed from Bob Fertik on the new Jobs Party website:

"In December, Republicans demanded - and won - an extension of Bush's tax cuts for the rich costing $858 billion over two years.

Amazingly, that same $858 billion could create jobs for all 14.5 million unemployed Americans paying nearly $30,000 per year!"

I advise everyone to tell your senators and congressmen to create jobs now!

CCC workers constructing a road, 1933, Franklin D. Roosevelt library and museum, public domain