The Unemployment Catastrophe: You Too, Should Be Infuriated!

[LongTomH]

From theAmerica's Future Now 2010 conference: The Unemployment Catastrophe: You Too, Should Be Infuriated:

What if the nation's jobless crisis received the same 24-7 media attention that the environmental disaster in the Gulf of Mexico is now receiving?

hat is the question that comes to mind as several progressive leaders addressed the nation's unemployment catastrophe at the America's Future Now! conference.

It is prompted in particular by New York Times columnist Bob Herbert, who this afternoon lambasted the "let them eat cake" attitude toward the unemployed of the political elite and the chattering class. "I'm not just affronted by that attitude. I'm infuriated by it," he said.

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At a press conference at AFN, Terry O'Neill of the National Organization for Women laid out a four-point plan that should be the top priority of not only progressive activists but every elected official: First, enact a strong jobs bill, such as the Local Jobs for America Act. Second, extend the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program, a product of Clinton-era welfare reform that is woefully inadequate in the face of today's recession but at least puts some dollars into the hands of largely single mothers with children. Third, strengthen enforcement of equal pay laws, so that economic recovery is not shortchanged by the economic inequality of women earning only 77 cents for every dollar a man makes (68 cents for African-American women, and 58 cents for Latino women). Fourth, strengthen. not weaken, Social Security and Medicare.

The four-point plan would go a long way to restoring jobs; but, there are a lot of issues that still need to be addressed. Chief among them is the issue of offshoring of jobs. Also, recognize the fact that American 'Captains of Industry' made a decision four decades ago, to change their emphasis from making things to 'playing games with money,' in Kevin Phillips phrasing.