Say Anything Blog

Carpenters and steelworkers and electricians, oh my!

Thousands of jobs and a smoother commute are just some of the possibilities that may grow out of a new transportation plan tied to the economic stimulus package in Washington. News 3’s Jerry Brown was on hand as Senator Harry Reid laid out the impact of $1 billion in possible funding.

“All you have to do is drive around, and even though the economy is not as vibrant as it was, there are still traffic jams here in Southern Nevada,” explains Senator Reid.

Easing Las Vegas’ traffic jams would be one benefit of the new federal economic stimulus package advocated by local and state officials. But Senator Reid explains that the main objective is clear: get people off unemployment and create new job opportunities.

“All economists agree that one way to alleviate the pain of this deep recession is to create jobs. We have jobs that are ready to go forward in a matter of weeks.”

Washington’s economic stimulus package includes $1 billion for transportation projects right here in Southern Nevada, from roadway rehabilitation and major street and highway improvements, to technological and transit upgrades.

And if every project goes forward, approximately 47,000 new area jobs will be created.

“It’s not just going to be asphalt, it’s not just going to be concrete. It’s going to be electrical work, it’s going to be carpentry work, it’s going to be steelworkers work,” explains Jacob Snow of the RTC. “It’s really going to run the gamut of what people are out there looking for - those kind of jobs are going to be coming back if this passes.”

Here’s the problem: What happens when these projects are over and the labor of all these carpenters and steel workers and electricians is no longer needed?  Do we just invent more government make-work to keep them employed at yet more cost to the American taxpayer?

I don’t have any problems with improve our infrastructure, but calling it economic stimulus is nonsense.  The jobs created will be short-lived, and the expense to the overall economy will be huge (Obama’s national spending package will represent 5% of our GDP, more than the 3.2% of our GDP military spending represents).

If we want to fix our economy we need to unburden the people who actually create the jobs.  That means lower taxes, and less regulation, for private industry.  Period.