Congratulations Arnold ! It requires a lot of courage to make bold and independent decisions. What you are trying to do, makes perfect sense. Consumerism leads to money going to China; whereas infrastruture spending leads to money being circulated among Americans (a little part might ultimatelybe used to buy Chinese goods). For govt. spending, think of some applicaion fee/ recertification fee for the non-status (illegal) immigrants. If they can rent an apartment, admit their kids in schools, get driving licenses, there could be a way to timpose an annual fee on this category while they remain on the list of wait-ins. Consider a $1000 a year a family. This could results in billions a year;for govt spendindg.
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If we were to come up with an analogy, I'd compare our situation to running a company. Imagine trying to compete in today's business world of BlackBerrys, e-mail alerts, videoconferences and PowerPoint when all you have is an IBM Selectric typewriter and a single telephone landline. You're going to get beat. And when you think about America's aging infrastructure, we're going to get beat, too—by our competitors China, India, Europe and Brazil. Travel overseas and you see faster commuter trains, better public transportation, double-decker freeways, and more efficient ports. Meanwhile, infrastructure spending as a share of gross domestic product in the United States has dropped 25 percent over the past 20 years. So, government spending is at an all-time high, while investment in our critical infrastructure is at a historic low.
Recession or no recession, our nation desperately needs to update infrastructure that lags behind that of even some developing countries. But it is also true that a recession is the perfect time to put money into long-term investments like massive public-works projects because it creates jobs while pumping up our economy. It's like hitting two homeruns with one swing. FDR knew that when he created the New Deal.
Californians didn't know this in 2006 when they said yes to $42 billion in infrastructure investments. But what has been an added benefit is that the money from those investments is being pumped into our state's economy right now, when it's most needed. For every $1 billion in infrastructure projects, we create 18,000 jobs—and that's a conservative estimate. In 2008 alone in California, we've committed more than $10 billion dollars in infrastructure investment, which will create at least 200,000 jobs over the life of that investment. And when our state unemployment rate has broken 8 percent, that kind of investment has a profound effect.
A massive national infrastructure investment program would give a boost to our economy right now. We have already identified $136 billion in projects across the country that, within 120 days of the new president's administration, would lead to orders from American factories and job offers to American workers. Steel beams would be ordered, as would cement, design employees and more. More than $28 billion of those projects are in California, and that would mean at least 500,000 jobs here, beginning immediately. Time is of the essence, and all infrastructure dollars must produce real results. The members of Building America's Future strongly support a "use it or lose it" requirement to any infrastructure investment to ensure that new funds will be used to put Americans to work immediately and not languish unspent or tied up in red tape.
By following California's lead, the new administration will be improving the quality of life for Americans, enabling us to compete better with our competitors around the globe, and putting shovels in the ground immediately in order to create needed jobs. The nation's governors stand ready to help.
© 2008
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