Put America Back To Work
America has work to do: We need new schools, more teachers and better roads, bridges and transit systems. At the same time, millions of people who are ready, willing and able to get these jobs done are still unemployed.
It’s time to put America back to work. We can rehire teachers and firefighters who were laid off in the recession. We can put people to work building and rebuilding schools and fixing our roads and bridges. And we can pay for it by cutting $200 billion in wasteful subsidies and tax loopholes for the biggest corporations.
Right now, Republican leaders in Congress are too busy playing political games, holding our economy hostage so they can pursue their extreme agenda.
Instead of putting America back to work fixing our economy, they’re trying to weaken our economy by gutting the very programs that make us strong – and putting even more jobs at risk.
This past summer 86 Fair Share organizers worked in 22 cities across the country, from San Diego, California to Concord, New Hampshire; from Albuquerque, New Mexico to Green Bay, Wisconsin. We spoke to more than 185,000 people about the American Jobs Act, an expansive measure that would put people back to work fixing roads and bridges, and would improve public safety, education and more. It could be paid for by closing corporate tax loopholes and removing subsidies for wealthy companies that don't need them.
Even with millions still out of work, Congress has failed to make putting America back to work a top priority. In fact, the Republican leadership in Congress is now advocating cuts to transportation, job training programs and our retirement security in the name of solving our debt problems. These cuts will mean more people out of work and endanger the whole economy.
These cuts couldn't come at a worse time. When times are tough, we need to buckle down and make the smart investments that help America to compete in the global economy and put people back to work.
Americans who work hard and play by the rules should be able to find a decent job that pays a living wage, and part of government’s role is to facilitate this. Government must make long-term investments that will create jobs and increase general prosperity, but which no private economic actor has the motive or means to make.
We should fund these job-creating investments by making millionaires and for-profit corporations pay their fair share of taxes. And, federal tax policy should encourage businesses to provide good jobs here in the U.S., not incentivize outsourcing or shipping jobs overseas.