Maybe it’s time to rebuild America (Nov. 19)
By Chuck Doud
The Madera Tribune
When Presidents Bush and Obama hurled some $1 trillion in bailouts at the nation’s banking system, they assured us that money would trickle down and that the banks would feel free to lend that money out, which in turn would stimulate the economy and create new jobs. Banks generally did the opposite. They stopped lending, even to many of their best customers.
The two presidents probably should have instead followed the lead of former President Franklin Roosevelt, who spent money in the depths of the Great Depression to built vast public projects, which put people to work. It also gave the country something to show for its money — improvements that we enjoy today.
Obama said he would spend stimulus money on “shovel-ready” projects, and in some cases that happened. But just as often, the money was used to help states avoid having to lay people off as the recession deepened.
While there’s nothing wrong with that, the results are amorphous. Obama has had a hard time saying just which jobs were saved and how.
He would have been smarter to declare that the country would embark on big public-works projects to rebuild the nation’s infrastructure. New and rebuilt bridges, new and rebuilt highways, urban freeway improvements, park improvements, new dams, new sewer and water systems, new schools, new office buildings for federal purposes — these are all needed, and the need grows greater.
This would have put hundreds of thousands to work on things the country can use. It would have kept contractors busy. It would have kept the suppliers of construction materials and equipment busy.
In the long run, it would have been a bargain. Because that work will need to be done anyway. A lot of it is overdue.
The California high-speed rail project is an example of a big public works project that once completed will benefit the state for many years.
