Washington, D.C. is America's Construction Capital

CityCenterDC construction cranes with Capitol dome in background.

In the nation's capital, construction cranes are as familiar to the city's skyline as the Washington monument and Capitol dome. Recession? What recession? It is boom times in Washington, D.C. If anti-government, anti-growth Republicans in Congress ever decided to work with President Obama to get the economic recovery moving faster (or if moderates and progressives take over this November), it would be amazing to see the rest of the country build housing, retail, office and infrastructure at the rate D.C. is doing right now.

In these troubling times, construction cranes carry much symbolism. A construction crane represents jobs, progress, innovation, hope for the future. Construction cranes are the antidote to awful austerity and a stalled economy. Construction cranes are brilliant reminders that when the public sector and private sector team up for the benefit of the country, then the future of the United States of America is bright indeed.

Book Review: Paul Krugman’s ‘End This Depression Now!’

(Cross-posted at Winning Progressive)

Right now the disconnect between Washington’s political-media class and the American people is astounding. Somehow in the midst of this economic catastrophe, the conversation steered away from fiscal stimulus and job creation to deficits and spending cuts. Meanwhile, millions of unemployed and underemployed Americans continue struggling to make ends meet.

Along comes Nobel Prize-winning economist and New York Times columnist Paul Krugman with his new book “End This Depression Now!”. Since 2008, Krugman (and a few other courageous individuals like former Obama economic adviser Christina Romer and economist Joseph Stiglitz) has been a voice in the wilderness calling for bigger and bolder government intervention to stimulate job growth while political leaders on both sides of the Atlantic fail to meet the challenge of this economic crisis with timid half measures and awful austerity. In America, the Republican Party is ruled by anti-government hysteria and free-market fundamentalism.

Infrastructure Bank Would Boost Economy

Yes, the latest jobs report made for a depressing day here in the United States of America. But are there solutions to our economic and employment problems? One potential answer is the creation of a National Infrastructure Bank that would fix our crumbling roads and bridges; make it easier and faster to build a high speed rail network; and start to make a dent in getting Americans back to work.

MSNBC.com is reporting that the BUILD Act is gaining traction in Congress. It has bipartisan support amongst many Democrats and Republicans, and also has the backing of two groups usually on opposite sides of the ideological spectrum -- the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and AFL-CIO.

The dismal economic and jobs news is only one compelling reason to move forward with a dedicated source of funding for these projects.

The American Society of Civil Engineers has given American infrastructure a D grade and has said we need to spend $2 trillion over the next five years to fix our infrastructure.

And China is investing massive amounts of money into high speed rail and other major infrastructure projects. A little over a week ago the first bullet trains on the Shanghai-Beijing rail line started running. China is also committing huge amounts of money into research and development to eventually get high speed trains across the country to reach speeds of up to 300 miles per hour.

Where is America's competitive fire? Do we want to get left in the dust by Chinese high speed rail?

If you care about the future of the United States of America as much as I do, then please call your Representative and Senators and tell them how important a National Infrastructure Bank is to fixing the economy and creating jobs and demand they support the BUILD Act.