Kevin Drum analyzes the latest figures regarding the long-term unemployed. The number of Americans who have not been able to find work for 27 weeks or more is double what it was during the major recession of 1982-83. Working against those unemployed Americans? There is one job opening for every 6.4 unemployed Americans. Yet the Fascist-Republicans are spouting that Americans who collect unemployment benefits are riding the gravy train. That flies in the face of reality. The truth is there just aren't enough jobs out there, and the Senate refuses to pass a major jobs bill of any substance (the one passed earlier this month will create a grand total of 400,000 jobs in an economy with 8 million out of work).
One billion dollars equals 30,000 jobs in infrastructure. Let's use the rest of the stimulus (about $40 to $50 billion) to build or upgrade roads, bridges and tunnels; let's invest in some major green technology. That sort of jobs bill would directly create well over a million jobs, and those jobs would create more jobs not directly related to the stimulus. No, such a program doesn't exactly "pay for itself" right away, but a) the stimulus money has already been released and b) it seems to me the tax revenue from the new jobs would help offset the costs, at least somewhat.
What the fuck is the Senate's problem!? Why don't they pass a substantial jobs bill? I'll tell you why. Because the Fascist-Republicans don't want to see this president succeed, and Harry Reid refuses to wield the power of his 59-seat majority.
That failure to put Americans back to work is about as unpatriotic as you can get.
