The role of the federal government

With the effects of the credit crisis still rippling through our economy, we need more than bailouts and better regulation for our major financial institutions. First and foremost, the working class urgently needs the creation of millions of new jobs to replace those that have been slashed in virtually every sector of the work force as corporations hunker down to protect their bottom lines.

It seems likely that clean energy initiatives could contribute to the necessary job growth, and start our return to prosperity, by rewarding those who work a little more and globe-trotting CEOs a little less. Reducing our reliance on oil that has to be transported half-way around the globe has real and immediate benefits for the climate, the economy, and our national security.

Meanwhile, many Americans face the prospect of personal economic disaster not solely because they’ve lost a job, but because they may lose their overpriced health insurance as a consequence – if they haven’t already. Over half of personal bankruptcies in this country are triggered by medical expenses. The cost of providing health care coverage is needlessly high while insurance companies pay CEOs tens of millions of dollars annually, while 50 million Americans are uninsured. Insurance companies aren’t working to control the costs of our health care.

Productivity has doubled in this country over the past 3 decades, but the cost of health care has tripled the rate of inflation over that same30 years, while salaries and corporate profits in companies “too big to fail” have skyrocketed. The problem isn’t confined to deregulation on Wall Street: the U.S. lost 3 million manufacturing jobs during the previous administration, while companies sought tax credits for outsourcing. Washington has spent years looking out for the multinational corporations who buy their influence, and our economy is shedding jobs faster than ever and the rate of home foreclosures is breaking all records.

The role of government has to include holding business accountable, nothing else will stop the abuses that have led to this mess. We don’t need bigger government – it grew beyond all reckoning under the Bush~Cheney administration – we need better government.

Senators and U.S. Representatives have good health care coverage, job security, and so much discretionary income that some Senators have more homes than members in their immediate family. We need to get back to what our founding fathers described, a government for the people that worries a lot less about the already-rich.