Economy Is Sick - And It's Not Getting Better

I was listening to several economic pundits on CNN yesterday (yes, I'm sort of a masochist) and most of them seem to think the recession is over and there's not really anything to worry about. Wall Street will continue to make money and the economy will grow. There's no need for the government to sink a bunch of money into job creation. Jobs will magically be created when the government cuts more, especially corporate taxes.

Frankly, that's the biggest load of horse manure I've ever heard. These pundits obviously don't have to live among the denizens of Main Street or they wouldn't be spouting that kind of crap. The corporations are already sitting on about $2 trillion in cash, but they're not creating enough jobs to even keep up with the new people entering the labor force (and most of the jobs they do create are in other countries).

There is only one economist who seems to see the truth -- Paul Krugman. Krugman is honest about what is happening in America. He says we still haven't come out of the recession, and we won't until we start creating massive numbers of jobs. Main Street has over 14 million people out of work -- not counting the two or three million who have given up trying to find a job and the more than eight million who are forced to work part-time because they can't find full-time jobs. We won't be on the road to recovery until we start putting these people back to work (and I don't mean in minimum wage-no benefits jobs).

Regardless of what the Republicans would have you believe, corporations and other businesses don't create jobs (no matter how much money you give them). Jobs are created by consumer demand. And until consumers once again get back to work they are not going to have the money to create that demand. We must prime the pump, and the only way to do that right now is through government spending (since the corporations are unwilling to do it).

Huge investments need to be made in transportation and other types of infrastructure, and if necessary, even "make work" jobs. We need more money flowing through the economy at large, not less (like the massive government cuts are going to do). Job creation is much more important than cutting the deficit, and really is the best way to cut the deficit. When more money is flowing through the economy, then spending and demand increases (along with tax receipts), and that creates even more jobs (and more tax revenue, since workers pay taxes).

The idiots in Washington don't seem to know that. They think they are actually helping the economy with their recent ridiculous antics. Fortunately the folks on Main Street are smarter than that. At least that's what a new poll released by CNN/ORC International shows (taken between August 5th and 7th of 1,008 adults nationwide -- with a 3 point margin of error). Here's what the people think about the "recovery" praised by the pundits:

HOW WELL ARE THINGS GOING IN THE COUNTRY TODAY?
very/pretty well...............24%
very/pretty badly...............75%

WHAT'S YOUR VIEW OF ECONOMIC CONDITIONS TODAY?
Starting to recover...............9%
No recovery, but it's stabilized...............31%
Conditions continuing to get worse...............60%

DO THE CUTS IN SPENDING IN DEBT CEILING BILL TREAT ALL AMERICANS FAIRLY?
Treats all fairly...............27%
Benefits the rich more...............62%
No opinion...............11%

It's clear that Main Street doesn't have the confidence in the economy being expressed by the pundits and politicians. Maybe those pundits and politicians should get outside of Washington and the New York Financial District and talk to the people on Main Street. They might learn something -- if they're willing to listen.