NEDERLAND —  

On August third of this year, the United States Department of labor publicized statistics that showed the country had 163,000 new jobs. But that was not enough, because the unemployment rate grew anyway, to 8.3 percent. Unsurprisingly, Romney-Ryan and the Republicans blame Barack Obama for that horrendous situation.

The truth, however, lies in an entirely different direction. The fault lies with GeeDubya Bush, who — with advice and help from “Shotgun” Cheney — cut taxes for the richest 2 percent among us.

That, of course, was the largest reason for our present shortage of revenue. It's also the reason that there are still 5.2 million Americans who have been out of work for a very long time. Too long.

Richard Trumka, president of the AFL-CIO, explained...

“Given the depth of the recession and the damage done by thirty years of anti-worker policies, we knew recovery would be slow and difficult. But we did not dream Republicans in Congress would take every opportunity to slow and stymie the recovery process from day one — cynically hoping that Americans would blame the President for the damage they inflict on the economy.

“The key to building a durable recovery that leads to long-term shared prosperity is empowering workers to share the benefits of productivity and growth. But Republicans continue to obstruct vital policies aimed at creating jobs and restoring growth while they hold the middle class hostage to their demands for tax cuts to benefit the richest 2 percent of Americans. Their stubborn and shortsighted obstruction of any measures that might boost job creation puts our recovery at risk.”

And, according to the “Progressive Populist” news...

“Yale University Professor Jacob Hacker and Roosevelt Institute Nathan Lowentheil (7/31/12) released their paper, 'Prosperity Economics; Building an Economy for All', which argues that current austerity policies have failed and are holding back growth and increasing inequality in the US. The paper calls on the federal government to start rebuilding the American dream.”

The report proposes the US should:

“Invest 250 billion per year for the next six years to rebuild our nation's crumbling roads, bridges, ports, airports, and public transportation.

“Guarantee every worker has a voice in the workplace, including a quick, fair process for workers to choose union representation and have power to bargain collectively.

“Enforce stronger penalties on companies that violate labor laws.

“End Bush tax cuts for the wealthiest 2%

“Restore America's manufacturing by ending the trade deficit and tax incentives for offshoring.

“Provide help to the states and localities to hire back teachers, first responders, and other public servants.

“Protect existing pensions and provide a simple, universal mandatory pension for all that could guarantee a lifetime benefit to provide real retirement security to workers.

“Protect the right to vote to ensure every voice is head in the political process. Repeal disenfranchisement and voter ID (Already done by a federal court, of course) and adopt same-day vote registration, provisional voting and other measures to maximize voter access.

“Free government from corporate interests by reinstating the firewalls between investment and banking.”

Okay, yeah, I agree with most of that. However, the two guys from Yale and Roosevelt Institute left out the most important point. We must pass an amendment to strike down the “Citizens United” decision by the US Republican majority Supreme Court.

It's rather amazing that the president of the AFL-CIO and Professor Hacker and Nathaniel Lowentheil seem to agree on most all the points to recovery.

That, however isn't as shocking to me as the fact that President Obama, Democrat, seems to be after a sort of grand bargain with the Republican Party, even if he is elected. He must somehow be pushed more to the left, if you please, by Democratic congressmen and the rest of us.

For example, the rest of the points made above are completely moot if we can't repeal “Citizens United”...if we let Corporate America keep on ruling, we've had it.

And it would be nice if the Democratic Party could give voters an idea of what's at stake here...what will affect their lives and those of their children and grandchildren. Instead of silly teevee messages.

Neal Morgan of Nederland is a retired educator. Contact Morgan at neal.morgan1@yahoo.com.