If you were the President, what would you do to jumpstart the economy?

Personally, I think healthcare reform needs to start at the local level. The infrastructure is already there. All we need to do is get qualified nurses and aides to fill the need. There should be a government program to train nurses and aides to assist at these local health clinics. I think that would be a good start.

Other ideas?

:-)

:)

All of the projects take time to create/visualize, and the final plans for them taken even longer. In cold weather states it means that we will have to wait until next spring before construction workers finally start to be hired in mass for the large projects. Unemployment will start to make a more significant dip when this happens. I think this might just blow a hole in the GOP's theory that they are going to easily walk in and take over congressional seats due to high unemployment rates. Just at the time they think they can use this argument unemployment will start to fall.

In response to the OP, there needs to be more urgency on developing green projects, plans and jobs. There are probably millions, if not billions of buildings that need to be retrofitted to be more energy efficient. Setting up small business grants for doing this and doing it through reconciliation would also go a long way to move hiring in this area very quickly.

The Dems allowed way too much input from the Republicans into the stimulus package which led to a high percentage of tax breaks being taken from what could have been real job creation. They need to learn to plow through their crap.

One thing that I have noticed is that their is a exceptionally high number of temporary employees being hired as "adds" (not just replacements) at work. This is a very good sign that there will not be lays off and that the company is actually planning on expanding the number of permanent jobs. I have not seen this level of temps being hired ever.

Overall, the first sign of a boost in employment is the heavy hiring of temporary employees. I went through the Reagan recession and just happened to be one of those temps. I gain a permanent status in just a few short months as did many other of the temps.

Retrace all steps of deregulation that led us from ROOSE-VELT (Dutch term for "Bed of Roses") into BUSH (which is what happens when you neglect a bed of roses).

it could be genius....

:hi: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

people always forget that lol

and cut the defense budget in half.

I'd also start aggressive funding of high technology research for many things from alternative energy to robotics.

at at least take a stab at the defense budget.

Also, tax the rich at a much higher rate on a consistent basis, penalize corporations who outsource by smacking them with a huge tax, and start imposing windfall taxes on industries who have profited at the public expense.

I would also try to create jobs that would help people, like Habitat for Humanity does. Hire people who are out of work to help restore New Orleans, build some livable public housing for people who are barely making it, and stop privatizing functions that the government used to get done for half the price and with much better quality.

How about giving that amount to the bottom. Imagine how many tv's, refrigerators, computers, new businesses, etc., would be bought/started if we the people had the stimulus package?

But of course, you and I know that would make too much sense, and would also attack the existing class structure. If anyone is going to benefit from government spending, the rich have to benefit the most.

would the bottom be able to do that?

too many people have the misconception that the money was simply "given" away to the banking interests.

But then banks aren't loaning money to help the economy. My thought was the little people on Main Street would put money back into the system; thereby, causing manufacturing to grow, sales to grow, etc., which would make jobs grow and then taxes would be put into the system. It just makes sense to me.

if you stop to think about it- no, it doesn't make sense.

the tarp money were loans, not giveaways.

had the money been used to give everyone a $5,000 loan/credit line at 5% interest- THAT might have made more sense.

The TARP money didn't stimulate the economy. I believe my way would.

it was meant to keep the financial system from collapsing.

and no- your way would not have accomplished that.

it's called 'economics'...take a class.

My way wouldn't have kept the financial system from collapsing. I'm not sure the TARP money was needed for that. Reminds me of weapons of mass destruction. I believe the economy would be jump started if people were spending money. I just wonder if that money had gone to the people if the economy would have been jump started. I'm not convinced the TARP money was needed.

if you don't want to take a class- at least read a book.

over the past number of years, the government has tried the direct-stimulus route a couple of times, sending checks directly to the people. it just doesn't have much of a long-term stimulus effect.

for big purchases. The economy didn't have room for as much pure garbage as it has in the last ten years and it generally grew at a more even pace.

SO - people either have to get used to a more modest standard of living OR they have to support fixing the financial sector so credit flows freely again.

Fixing health care helps our businesses compete globally, because the rest of the world really does have the right to have businesses (not be exploited by our corporate lords) and eventually they would overtake us anyway, with or without outsourcing, etc.

To do a full scale criminal investigation of the top 5 bank holding companies executives.

Throw about 4 or 5 of these fuckers in jail for life, you'd be amazed how quickly the economy starts to recover.

I've read quotes from rich guys claiming they lost 99% of their net worth in the recent downturn, which means they might actually need that Social Security Check to survive.

Therefore, we should raise the cap (only the first $110K are taxed) to get a bigger contribution from the wealthy, and if we raise it enough, we could even lower the rate for everyone and still get more money in the system.

If you aren't familiar with how SS is taxed, it is a FLAT tax on the first $110K, so if you make one dollar or $110K, you pay the same percentage of your income in SS tax. If you make over the cap, you pay a progressive LOWER percentage of your income in Social Security tax to the point that for the very wealthy it's about as much as they spend on one lunch.

Remove contractors from the support of our military and use their markup to create businesses in this country that can support our troops. Build our own guns and armored vehicles again.

China: they might refuse to loan us the money to buy their weapons; then we'd be in real trouble.

Preferably ones that would offer on-the-job training for unskilled labor. Also, programs like the Civilian Conservation Corps should fully revived in order to employ America's youth who are facing record unemployment because of the recession.

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Accelerate Mortgage Refinancing -- As long as people are afraid of losing their homes, they're not going to spend. People in jeopardy of losing their homes should be able to refinance at fixed rates (whatever the current market rate is) with no ability from lenders to interfere.

Repeal the Bush Tax Cuts -- pour that money into public works and training programs.

Get the hell out of Iraq and Afghanistan (as quickly as possible without jeopardizing national security) -- Pout that money into healthcare.

pay for health care for all fund education (no more fundraisers) and start building high speed rail all over the US.

10% of the US defense budget is only about $50B. You've been smoking something really good to believe that $50B will pay for national healthcare, public education, and nationwide high speed rail.

sheeeesh. Some people just talk out their ass with no thought.

For the 2009 fiscal year, the base budget of the Department of Defense rose to $518.3 billion. Adding emergency discretionary spending, supplemental spending, and stimulus spending brings the sum to $651.2 billion.<1><2> Defense-related expenditures outside of the Department of Defense constitute between $274 billion and $493 billion in additional spending, bringing the total for defense spending to between $925 billion and $1.14 trillion in 2009

2007
If the additional elements of defense spending continue to maintain the same ratio to the Pentagon’s amount—and we have every reason to suppose they will—then in fiscal year 2007, through which we are now passing, the grand total spent for defense will be $1.028 trillion. I confirmed the rough accuracy of this forecast by adding up the government’s own estimates of fiscal 2007 outlays for the various additional defense-related items, obtaining a total of $987 billion—an amount only 4 percent less than my ratio-based estimate. Future defense-related supplemental appropriations for fiscal 2007, which would hardly be surprising, might easily bring the lower estimate up the higher one.
http://www.independent.org/newsroom/article.asp?id=1941

make sure no more of our jobs go overseas... this along with hcr should help.

Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Works_Progress_Administration

:shrug:

:hi:

Up and down throughout the decade. The WPA did not put everybody back to work.

http://www.hyperhistory.com/online_n2/connections_n2/great_depression.html

They contributed...

They fixed numerous things...

It mattered.

:shrug:

so that manufacturing comes back to the United States.

Also tax the hell out of any company that outsources American jobs so that it would be cheaper for them to employ people here (not in India or China).

That should keep the repugs in tears for years.

Legalize and tax prostitution. Lower the drinking age to 18. Release any prisoners incarcerated for minor offenses pertaining to the 3 newly legalized options.

Then, I'd end the occupation of Iraq and start withdrawing from Afghanistan.

That would be a good first week, I'd say.

prosecute the fraudsters on WS, clawback bonuses and other ill-gotten gains, break up the TBTFs, restrain the financial sector, drastically cut the military budget.

Your question was specifically about the President, though. The number one thing he could do is fire Geithner, Summers and Bernanke and appoint less corrupted and incompetent people.

The only way to create new jobs is through the creation of new industries.

It's stunning how much is going on out there that I guess people think is happening from money falling from the sky.

We have a 10% unemployment rate - not 25%. That's what public works does.

On edit: Not Everything - just everything immediately doable that wouldn't disrupt the economy more than it already has been. Raising taxes aside, that should be done pronto.

The rigged, politicized, incomplete U3 figure is 10%. The figure that anyone who is serious about unemployment pays attention to is U6, which is at 17%. U6 calculations are far closer to the calculations used in the 1930s than the U3 is.

The WPA and Roosevelt's programs did not bring unemployment to 3% the way some people around here think they did. It hovered around your 17% mark through the 30s, even with everything Roosevelt was doing to alleviate all the problems he was dumped with. And he was attacked by the left then too.

just wait until Bernanke & Co. gets through with us

major investment in R&D and broad implementation of existing technology.

:evilfrown: :bounce:

Repeal the Bewsh tax cuts NOW. Up the wealthy's (anyone $2 mil a year or higher)marginal rate to 45%. Unflatten the SS/FICA tax. Implement a trade transaction tax of 0.25% (they won't even miss it). Withdraw from Iraq immediately. Gradually withdraw from Afghanistan. Use tax money to fund universal health care for all. Seriously work on path to subsidized college education. Regulate the media. Flip off as many fuming and screaming corporate assholes from my double bulletproof glass encasement as possible.

One-year capital gains tax hiatus

Outlaw bank and credit card late and overlimit fees

Halve self-employment taxes

etc

Forget about subsidizing Wall Street; subsidize Main Street. 1000 microloans to small businesses will do more to simulate the economy than 1 big one to a megacorp..

1: End all of these programs throwing money into the mortgage-debt/insolvent-bank furnace
2: Adopt a Constitutional amendment prohibiting the borrowing of money at any level of government
3: Shut down the Federal Reserve
4: Limit the federal tax code to 10 pages or less; eliminate all deductions and reduce the overall rate proportionately.
5: Bring home all of our military forces and close down every last military base on foreign soil.
6: Empower and fully fund a team of prosecutors to go after each and every person and institution engaged in any form of financial fraud.
7: Repudiate the national debt as odious
8: Pour resources into establishing energy independence
9: Eliminate work visas and deport all illegal aliens
10: End the War on Drugs
11: Declare that professional lobbying is bribery and prosecute both sides of the exchange appropriately
12: End all industry and interest-group subsidies
13: Get the government out of the loan business (housing, student, other)

This is just off the top of my head. Given time I can stretch this list to a few hundred, maybe even a few thousand.

all their annual bonuses for 5 years. They still get to keep their jobs and annual salary, but the bonus pay goes to the taxpayers who bailed out their fat cat business...so they can call it even, naw make it ten years. After that I would prosecute to the fullest extent of the law all criminals under the Bush administration, starting with Dick Cheney. I think our dollar would zoom right back here, around the world at that news alone. Then I would withdraw all our troops back State side and make sure they are well taken care of, along with free healthcare to all citizens. I would do away with the narrow job creating system and go back to a public works type system in hopes we could save our federal infrastructure from total collapse. I would release all non-violent drug offenders and decriminalize mary jane. I would charge a federal tax on weed and raise the legal drinking age to 23.

I think those few alone would get us moving far faster and in the right direction.

an apollo-like program to make us energy independent in 10 years.

nationalize all first mortgages at 3%

national credit card for each person- $5,000 limit, 5% fixed rate.

free education that includes two years of college or post-secondary vocational training.

there are LOTS of possibilities.

but he needs to start acting on some of them SOON.

:P

Plenty of work that needs doing.

It's sort of like the Pentagon but without the wars, doing more useful domestic stuff. We could just take some money from the Pentagon to do it even.

and invent the National Daycare Corps so parents could accept jobs. The Healthcare reform bill will supply us with lots of new jobs, too, let's just expand Medicare and medicaid right away! The result--small business get a "stimulus check" in the amount of what they used to spend on insurance for employees. Welcome back, General Motors!

taxes then don't do business in the U.S. or b) Same as a.

jobs package and a mass reinvestment in infrastructure.

material pursuits -- it would be a good time. I like your idea tremendously.

Paid for by huge tax increases at the upper end of the income scale.

Politically impossible, unfortunately, but that's what I'd want to do.

the insurers and go for Universal single payer, repeal the Bush tax cuts and go back to a pre-Reagan tax structure, ban spec home building and give tax incentives for renovation and other home improvements that would help sellers, follow Brazil's lead and plant a billion trees to combat climate change, soil erosion and put thousands to work, invest in better schools with more teachers, invest in public artworks...I'm sure I could think of many more if I weren't so tired for job hunting. :-(

A tariff should represent the living wage of those making a product for sale. Then it competes in the market.

Start investigating everything with all those soon unemployed health insuring billing workers.

...

1/ stop the war,
2/ do not bail out a compagny in a liberal economy
if you're butcher goes broke he also gets nothing
3/ invest in hydrogen cars, you do have a factory all ready
4/ tax all weapons
5/ country loans @ 4%
6/ invest in free schools for everybody
7/ legalize and tax weed
8/ freeze defends budget
9/ tax on capitals
10/ general individual pension investments
11/ sell-off shore bases
12/ stop NASA
13/ tax on off-shore money
14/ start up a huge national bank,

I would have put $50-100K into the hands of working and unemployed Americans, to pay down/pay off mortgages and other debt, or for those of us who were managing to remain debt-free, to start up enterprises or invest for our retirement, or spend as we see fit. Also to college students to free them from student loans.

Even kids going crazy drunk with the money would have done less damage than giving the money to the banksters.

It would provide the stability needed to allow capital to flow to alternative energy projects. I'd offer tax credits to help offset some of the costs the consumers will have to bear.