Our Sinking Economy

On Monday morning, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell below 9,900. It was the latest sign that that the $700 billion bailout bill passed by Congress last week at the behest of the Bush administration will do little, if anything, to address the fundamentals of the economic crisis.

Nonetheless, last week Senate Republicans used a filibuster to kill a modest stimulus bill that would have pumped needed money into Main Street. We need help for the real economy, not just for the mess on Wall Street.

But that's not all. Conservatives promise to continue and expand the Bush trade policies that are costing Americans their jobs.Conservatives also continue to push another huge tax cut for corporations, while rejecting direct job creation and new economic stimulus proposals. One analyst estimates that the major components of a so-called "jobs plan" proposed by Sen. John McCain would cost $280 billion and create fewer than half a million jobs in 2009—a drop in the bucket when compared to the jobs that are expected to be lost if this recession unfolds with the ferocity of recessions of the past 30 years. (More details in this Making Sense alert, "What About Our Sinking Economy?")

Here's the alternative: public investment in renewable energy and rebuilding projects for schools and infrastructure, expanded unemployment benefits, and aid to cities and states to avoid layoffs of teachers and cops. In the long term, we need a national strategy in the global economy that works for working people, while supporting workers with universal health care coverage, union-organizing rights, and fair wages.