One of five people in this country is bleeding over this sour economy according to the last U6 broaod unemployment figures. That level of depression doesn't ordinarily end by itself. In the 1980's a wonder called the PC ended such a depression. That magnitude of technological use created economic advance is very rare. There is no reason to think any private sector development will resolve this depression.
There is only one sure fire way to turn around this jobs miasma - a federal jobs policy to build neceassary for optimal private sector growth infrastructure.
If the private sector grows as much as it mights over the next 20 years it needs a lot of road work done to repair roads that literaly are crumbling away as evidenced by recent spectacular bridge collapses. Internet II would be a huge shot in the arm and create whole new industries while allowing cloud computing to massively lower the cost of buisness. Broadband over powerline would open all of rural America to what most of us had in the last millenia - unlimited broadband. Wind farms and hydrogen fueling plants are investments in ending the shipping of our money to ME terror sponsers. This all must be done. so what keeps us from solving so many problems in one fell swoop?
Fear. fear that the conservatives would make fun of the debt. In the last Depression we piled up much more debt than has ever before or since been accumulated. And we then went on to achieve the greatest prosperity in human history in the next 20 years. Debt itself didn't do that - it was the infrastructure improvements in roads and schools and airports and communications and power that brought about the changes that balanced books again swiftly. Those improvemeents also brought employment back to the level it was prior to the Stock Market Crash Before Pearl Harbor. But Conservatives have been unchallenged in lying about the solution to Depressions for decades. Democrats either challenge them now or they will impoverish America through policy based on lies while they lose office.
Now we face the siren song of more corporate welfare as a solution. It is the solution of the Republican politicians problems only. Corporate welfare like tax credits or even regulation won't create the consumers necessary to ending the Bush Depression. Only a jobs program can do that. Increasing the numbers of workers is the only way out of a depression and in an deflationary spiral the only way to do that is with a federal jobs program. When we make that jobs program one that builds necessary infrastructure we will expand private sector growth rapidly.
We have only fear to keep us from the best and only sure workable solution!