Here’s my no-cost economic reform plan for
America: All politicians and economists who keep blathering at us that
things really are in good shape if only people would get over their
“mental recession” must henceforth wear clown suits and sit on
whoopee cushions.
I’m talking about the clowns with straight
faces who wag their fingers at us for using the “R” word. Then,
out trots clown in chief, George W., to deliver this punch line:
America’s economic fundamentals are “sound.”
Sound? They tell us that America’s unemployment
rate is only 5.7 percent — so, be happy, go shopping. I hate to burst
a clown’s balloons, but that’s nearly 9 million of our people,
1.5 million more than were out of work a year ago. No laughing matter.
Meanwhile, corporate chieftans are downsizing and offshoring jobs likes
cats shedding hair, and it’s clear that they don’t plan to stop
anytime soon.
Sound? Hidden in their happy employment numbers is a
painful economic reality for millions of working-class families who do have
jobs. They are people who were working full time, but have had their hours
chopped to part time, meaning their incomes have dropped precipitously.
This involuntary downsizing is the stealth thief in today’s economy,
and there’s nothing sound about it. More than 5.3 million Americans
are now working part time against their will — a jump of more than a
million in the past year.
To seed real expansion, government and business must
switch to a vigorous policy of percolate-up economics. A good place to
start is with a historic, multibillion-dollar national effort to rebuild
and extend America’s infrastructure. Let’s enlist and invest in
millions of our people to do the productive work that America needs done
— from fixing our roads and bridges to retrofitting every home and
building for energy conservation, from making our Internet system world
class to connecting population centers with high-speed trains.
These are big national goals that are worthy of this
great country, allowing people to lift America up themselves — both
economically and spiritually.
Jim Hightower is a
national radio commentator, columnist, and author.
This article appears in Aug 14-20, 2008.
