There are ways to improve the economy without it costing the taxpayers one [CORRECTION: additional*] penny; without it requiring additional legislation; and without it becoming a political football in the halls of Congress. [*use saved money that is no longer being spent to keep 90,000 returned troops in a foreign war.]
The best payoff is that there would be a bigger payoff for workers who have seen little but wage erosion in recent decades. So says Robert Kuttner in an American Prospect article.
How? It takes executive gumption and putting the Labor Department to work more actively supporting labor -- specifically, adhering to actions that raise workers' wages.
For too long this country and its working middle class have been abused by industries that have engaged in a concerted effort to drive down workers' pay. For too long Democratic presidents have neglected or hesitated to use existing tools to put more power in the hands of American labor. For too long this president has neglected to "get around" the Just Say No Party (aka Republican) and its agent, the Chamber of Commerce, that have blocked the proposed Employee Free Choice Act, "which would restore rights to organize or join unions that have existed on paper since the 1935 Wagner Act."
Economic and political factors have converged making now the perfect time for President Obama to flex his legitimate Executive muscle. Now is the perfect time to enact liberal solutions to problems caused by past conservative governments, and reinstate the American Worker to his honorable position in an effective capitalist economy. To boot: to save the Middle Class and restore the floundering economy.
For starters, government could begin the direct public employment of the unemployed and create jobs that pay decent wages. President Obama has nothing to fear but fear itself of being labeled a Socialist. He can defend himself from such charges simply be referring his critics to that hoary Wall Street firm, Goldman Sachs.
In 2006, economists at Goldman Sachs, sounding almost Marxian, reported that "the most important contributor to higher profit margins over the past five years has been a decline in labor's share of national income."
Mr. President, get in touch with your inner FDR instead of admiring your inner Ronald Reagan, Start a 21st C. WPA wherein every job pays a union wage, not a minimum wage. Germany's low unemployment compared to the USA's during the current recession is due to its strong unions and Labor laws being enforced. Our workers deserve the same treatment at the hands of their government as German workers.
Enforce existing laws that
already prohibit theft of wages and phony classification of permanent workers as temps or contract hires and guarantee the right to organize or join a union and to be paid a minimum wage. None of these statutes is adequate, but under George W. Bush, the executive branch did its best not to enforce them.
Put the Labor Department to work spending the $25 million in its 2011 appropriation for enforcement of wage and hour standards, and reverse the deliberate sabotage of those laws that has been going on for nearly a decade.
Wield government's power as a contractor.
Federal procurement, directly or indirectly, influences about one job in four in the entire economy.
Reward contractors who engage in good labor practices. Freeze out corporations that are labor scofflaws from government contracts. In March 2009, President Obama issued three executive orders making it more difficult for government contractors to mistreat their employees, but with no meaningful enforcement mechanisms. Another executive order, setting up an embryonic system for giving modest preference to "high road" companies, is still working its way through the OMB, its details being challenged at each stage of review.
It's past time for a government-wide effort targeting systematic violators of labor law and decent standards. It's past time for the president to make higher wages a priority. It's past time for this Administration to set a goal of full employment.
President Obama needs to be consistent in seeing to it that companies with abusive labor practices do not get a taxpayer subsidy of federal contracts until they respect that workers are not "expendable factors of production." At the same time, government should reward companies that engage in the principles of the Employee Free Choice Act with its considerable business.
Companies that undercut fair union wage scales erode the playing field for well-intentioned companies that see workers as partners in production rather than foes to profit. As the single biggest contractor in the country, the Federal Government can level that playing field by showing preference to businesses that do right by their employees and keep well paying jobs in America.
No tax dollars needed. No new laws required. No political compromises suffered. Just America back at work, leading to a revitalized middle class and a healthier economy. Who wants to say "no" to that?