Reinvest in America

Many of the current crop of presidential hopefuls have been talking about the economy. The Democrats like to talk about how their party saved the economy, the Republicans like to talk about how the Democrats have ruined the economy for the past six years, and all of them love to talk about how they are the only ones with the secret for fixing the economy. However, none of them talk about what they are going to do, other than making broad statements about “getting America back to work.”

Of course, the reason they never tell us what they actually plan to do is that they have no intention to do anything at all. The system is currently working perfectly, as far as they are concerned; after all, their corporate masters and their friends on Wall Street are all making record profits. If any of them is elected, they will proudly announce that they have created 300,000 new jobs and not mention that nearly all of those are part-time jobs without benefits. Regular Americans will keep getting poorer while these politicians pat themselves on the back.

None of the Republicans or Democrats have any intention of tackling the real problems that are the cause of America’s decline. Obviously, one of the biggest issues that has led to the decline of the American worker is the corporate practice of outsourcing. This one practice has absolutely devastated American industry and is responsible for the stagnation of wages for workers.

Since the families left the farm with the Industrial Revolution, as goes industry, so goes our country, with up and down swings. So who in leadership thought outsourcing would not have a drastic impact on the economy? The penalties for companies that are outsourcing must be sufficient to take the profit out of leaving town. At the same time, companies could be given incentives to build new facilities with lower taxes, reduced interest loans, and other building incentives.

Many of today’s industrial structures are aging, having been built prior to World War II, and should be upgraded and enlarged. Rails serving Industry should be upgraded to reduce transportation costs, and reduce the pressure on the interstate highway and air systems. Cheapest transportation is water, next is rail. With improved rail service, passenger and freight pressures on the interstate highway system and on air could be significantly reduced. Many significant advances have been developed in rail equipment that could be implemented.

In many ways we are still living in the steam engine era. Time is long overdue to move on. Our air traffic control and facilities systems are struggling to get by, in desperate need of being up-sized and modernized. We have already covered in our blogs some of our infrastructure problems (bridges etc.). This could be an era of significant improvement across our country, in many different parts of the country, and at the end, we will wind up with a help shortage instead of not having enough good jobs for every one as is the case today.

The time is long overdue to start taking care of our country, and not the 1% and their servants in elected positions in Washington. America needs to wave goodbye to the Democratic and Republican parties, because they have proven through their actions that their only priorities are to line their pockets and make life easier for their friends in the 1%. If we want an America that is strong again, that has jobs for everyone who is willing to work hard, then we need to look to independent politicians to take back this country in the name of its people. That’s why I’m running for president, and I urge you to join me by casting your vote for Art Drew in the 2016 presidential election.