Our Economic Recovery Plan
We must build a new economy out of the ruins of the old. Creating an economy of shared prosperity and sustainable growth will require fundamental changes in strategy, priorities and policies. Among other things, we need comprehensive financial reform to curb the financial casino, a new engine for economic growth to replace the bubble-bust economy of the past decades, sustained public investment in areas vital to our future, a revived manufacturing sector leading the new green industrial revolution, expanded but balanced global trade, and workers empowered to organize so that the blessings of future prosperity are widely shared.
Read our mainfesto: "Building The New Economy: The Challenge Ahead"
» Read the "Main Street Recovery Program" | List of endorsers | Podcast | Analysis and commentary | Discuss our Main Street Recovery Plan on Change.gov
What We Must Have
An economic stimulus must be substantial in order to succeed. Economists are coming to agreement that small measures won't budge America's $15 trillion economy. China recently announced a $586 billion stimulus program, planning to invest 7 percent of that country's gross domestic product a year for two years. To lift this economy, an American plan needs to invest at least 3 percent of gross domestic product, or $450 billion, a year for two years.
Public investments must be strategic to be effective. Both tax cuts and bailouts for the rich are ineffective means for stimulating our economy. We need to avert mass layoffs, create new jobs, and build infrastructure that will increase America's productivity. The most effective plan would:
- reduce dependence on foreign oil and address global warming,
- repair our crumbling bridges, roads, and levees,
- provide aid to states so they can avoid layoffs and continue to provide needed services,
- increase aid to education,
- expand research and development,
- tackle the health care crisis, and
- provide aid to those most in need.
Our recovery program must be sustained to build a strong economy. Lifting us out of recession is vital, but not sufficient. America needs a long-term effort to build an economy, not based on asset bubbles and rampant speculation, but on sustained, balanced growth.
The Latest: An Economy for All
Why Obama Should Be Attacking Casino Capitalism — Both Romney’s Bain and JPMorgan
- May 22, 2012
From robertreich.org
I wish President Obama would draw the obvious connection between Bain Capital and JPMorgan Chase. That way his so-called “attack” on private equity is neither a personal attack on Mitt Romney nor a generalized attack on American business. It’s an attack on a particular kind of capitalism that Romney and JPMorgan both practice: Using other peoples’ money to make big bets which, if they go wrong, can wreak havoc on the economy. It’s the substitution of casino capitalism for real capitalism, the dominance of the betting parlor over the real business of America, financial innovation rather than product innovation. It’s been terrible for the American economy and for our democracy. It’s also why Obama has to come out swinging about JPMorgan. read more » On Wednesday, Fight For A Fair Transportation Bill
By Isaiah J. Poole - May 22, 2012
It's about time for us to break into the closed-door negotiations in Congress over a surface transportation bill.
Gingrich and Booker: Dragged Into a Conversation They Can't Hold
By Terrance Heath - May 22, 2012
This strange political season gets stranger by the day. The things I'm hearing and seeing from Newt Gingrich and Cory Booker today reminded me of a song from one of the last (and, in my opinion, underrated) albums by Culture Club; my favorite band from my 80's youth. The lyric that comes to mind is from the band's 1984 single, "Mistake No. 3," when Boy George sings of people getting "dragged into a conversation they can't hold." It's been 28 years, and I still can't figure out what that song's about. But, it's not hard to figure out that, despite coming at Mitt Romney's Bain Capital history from opposite sides, Newt Gingrich and Booker let themselves get dragged into conversations they can't hold. read more » The Irresponsibility Of John Boehner
By Stan Collender - May 22, 2012
Originally published at Capital Gains and Games. It’s not hard to understand the political motivations behind Boehner taking the position he took on the debt ceiling. He needs the support of the House GOP caucus to remain Speaker. All indications are that, as has been the case since the 2010 election, House Republicans are not in a compromising mood on anything having to do with the federal budget. Threatening another cliffhanger battle as he did last week doesn’t provide the leadership Boehner said was needed to deal with this. Instead of simply complaining that the president had “lost his” courage when it came to the budget, Boehner should have displayed some of his own. read more » What the Bain Debate is Really About
By Terrance Heath - May 22, 2012
The 2012 presidential election may go down as one of the strangest political seasons in recent memory, for the simple reason that the influence of the financial sector in politics, policy and the economy has caused Republicans to sound like Democrats and Democrat to Sound like Republicans — usually with confounding results. When Republicans sound like Democrats, like Newt Gingrich attacking Mitt Romney's record at Bain Capital, they tend to start arguments they can't win. When Democrats start sounding like Republicans, like Cory Booker defending Bain Capital, they tend forfeit arguments they could win. That's because, in both cases, the politicians are arguing about the wrong things, in order to avoid the real argument — the one America needs to have, and Americans need to win; the argument over what kind of economy we will have going forward. read more » Budget Cuts Have Consequences: Ask Andrews Air Force Base
By Stan Collender - May 21, 2012
Originally posted at Capital Gains and Games.
I can't tell you the number of focus groups I've watched and polls I read where the overwhelming opinion was that federal spending could be cut without any decrease in the quantity and quality of what the government does.
Et Tu, Cory Booker?
By Digby - May 21, 2012
Appearing on NBC’s “Meet The Press” on Sunday, Newark Mayor and Obama bundler Cory Booker said he was “uncomfortable” with the Obama campaign’s attacks on Mitt Romney’s career with Bain Capital.
“It’s a distraction from the real issues,” Booker said, of both attacks on Bain and ... read more »
The Rise of the New Economy Movement
- May 21, 2012
From alternet.org
