Obama’s economic plan, exactly what we need

President-Elect Barack Obama recently announced his plan to help the economy.  This plan is exactly what the country needs right now, it will not only create countless new jobs, but it will also repair America’s failing infrastructure and get us moving towards alternative energy.  His plan is to invest money in public works projects that will repair our infrastructure which will create millions of jobs, and invest in alternative energies that will create even more jobs.

As a country, our infrastructure is failing.  Our roads, bridges, highways, electrical power grids, water pipes, etc. are falling apart.  There is an urgent need to re-vamp our infrastructure, which this plan will do. 

It is no secret that we need to start moving towards alternate sources of energy, which this plan will do.

And perhaps most importantly, both of these things will create countless new jobs, which is the key to helping our ailing economy. 

Critics of the plan say that it will not work for various reasons.  They say things like; It won’t create enough jobs to make a significant difference to our economy, the jobs won’t be created soon enough, and that it won’t significantly impact our economy. 

I point these people back to 1932, the year Franklin Delano Roosevelt was elected president, and America was in the midst of  The Great Depression.  The Great Depression mirrors our economic situation today, and the key for solving today’s economic crisis is looking at what action FDR took at fighting the economic crisis in the ’30s. 

So the question is, what did FDR do to fight The Great Depression?  The Answer is he invested government money in public work projects and energy.  

First, he created the CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps) which hired people to do public works projects.  Which is what Obama is doing in his plan.

The CCC played a major role in ending the depression, it did public works such as building roads, planting trees, and helping in soil-erosion and flood-control projects. 

Another public works organization that Roosevelt put together delt with energy.  The TVA (Tennessee Valley Authority) transformed the Tennessee River Valley, it took advantage of the natural resources of the valley and turned them into energy, creating new energy and jobs.

Both the CCC and the TVA are considered two of the most successfull programs that Roosevelt created.  They both played a very significant role in ending the depression.

So creating jobs through public works and energy production helped us out of the worst economic crisis in our history, is it crazy to think that it will work this time?

-Andy Hellier

~ by rantsfromandy on December 10, 2008.