Finally someone has come up with a concrete plan to help the long term unemployed, the 99rs, and the other chronically unemployed and unemployable.
The Republicans and the right wing has no plan to help these people. Their sollution to every problem is tax cuts to the rich. But in the free market economy, Corporations and businesses will only hire the cream of the crop. It is an employers market and they can afford to be choosey. They have in many cases declared they won't even consider job applicants who do not have a current job, because they fear the unemployed have lost their job skills.
So if the private sector will not hire the unemployed, especially the long term unemployed who generally have some deficiencies in education or job skills who will?
The government is the employer of last resort. Providing jobs, job training, and education, is better than people starving or living a life of crime on the street, and providing jobs is better for the dignity and self worth of the employees than unemployment.
Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.) has introduced a plan which would create 2.2 million jobs and decrease the unemployment rate by 1.3 percent. Her plan would implement:
The School Improvement Corps would create 400,000 construction and 250,000 maintenance jobs by funding positions created by public school districts to do needed school rehabilitation improvements.
The Park Improvement Corps would create 100,000 jobs for youth between the ages of 16 and 25 through new funding to the Department of the Interior and the USDA Forest Service's Public Lands Corps Act. Young people would work on conservation projects on public lands including the restoration and rehabilitation of natural, cultural, and historic resources.
The Student Jobs Corps would create 250,000 more part-time work study jobs for eligible college students through new funding for the Federal Work Study Program.
The Neighborhood Heroes Corps would hire 300,000 new teachers, 40,000 new police officers and 12,000 new firefighters.
The Health Corps would hire at least 40,000 health care providers, including physicians, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, nurses, and health care workers to expand access in underserved rural and urban areas.
The Child Care Corps would create 100,000 jobs in early childhood care and education through additional funding for Early Head Start.
The Community Corps would hire 750,000 individuals to do needed work in communities, including housing rehab, weatherization, recycling, and rural conservation.
All of these programs would give highest priority "to the longterm unemployed -- the so-called "99ers" who have exhausted both their state and federal unemployment benefits. Federally extended unemployment benefits are set to expire this year, even though nearly 14 million Americans remain out of work and it takes the average worker nine months to find a new job."
The plan would be paid for by "separate legislation introduced by Schakowsky called the "Fairness in Taxation Act," which would raise taxes for Americans who earn more than $1 million and $1 billion. It would also eliminate subsidies for big oil companies while closing loopholes for corporations that send American jobs overseas."
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/201...So what do you think is the most important, fixing the economy, providing jobs and lowering unemployment, or reducing the deficit? 60% of the people think the economy should be the highest priority while the deficit came in a distant second place with 16%.
http://www.pollingreport.com/prioriti.ht...What do you think is the most important jobs or tax breaks for the rich? We have tried Tax cuts for the rich for the past 10 years and the rich have not kept up their part of the bargain. All of those tax cuts which caused most of the national debt, didn't get us any jobs.
During Clinton's terms we raised taxes on the rich and "that tax increase was followed by seven years of the best economic growth in our country's history, where everyone prospered, including the poor, the middle class, and the wealthy. The stock market tripled in value. There were 22 million new jobs added to the economy, the federal budget was not only balanced but we had a surplus and, according to the Census Bureau, the percentage of Americans living in poverty fell every year during the Clinton years – from 13.6% to 9.6%."
http://thepragmaticprogressive.org/wp/20...