OK, I get it: centrism, rational compromise, incrementalism, all that stuff, is now extremely unpopular in the left Left. Even Barack Obama, who in my opinion gets it exactly correctly and has done, is doing, and will do the best job of any president in my lifetime, is out of fashion.
We are now considered idiot centrist Dems, or the Left Behind as some have put it.
But that's not my question.
My question is, what can we do about the jobs situation?
“It's the economy stupid” has morphed ever so slightly into “What about jobs?”
If we can't improve the jobs situation right now and put some optimism on the table, then we're screwed. The other side will win, which means that the high moral purpose of the “intelligent progressives” will again become completely irrelevant (if it ever wasn't).
By “improve” I don't mean designing grand plans that definitely will have extremely convincing positive theoretical influence on jobs and the economy. Those are useless if we want to regain our majority or even to maintain our current ground, even if they will fix the environment, grow unions, and solve the immigrant crisis. If we can't find jobs for a substantial number of unemployed people in the next 6-8 months, then I just don't see how we can win the coming election.
There are several levels of possible action, it seems to me. We have to pick our causes carefully. Spending money and creative energy on issues that will not improve the economy in a way that will get a bunch of people hired may still be great, important issues, but they will be at best irrelevant and probably counterproductive to the extent that they will sap energy that could be directed toward jobs.
Just one example of the kind of thing I'm thinking about (although it is not enough and might not even get implemented) is Amazon's recent offer to hire 7 000 people in exchange for a 2-year delay in collecting California sales tax. If Amazon's math is correct, that the revenue resulting from those jobs will more than equal the anticipated increase in revenue from collecting all that sales tax, then this idea should be considered. If it fails because it involves making a deal with a corporation, or because it is reportedly supported by some Republicans, then in my opinion, Democrats will be cutting off our nose to spite our face.
Personally, I'd like to see a hundred plans like Amazon's between now and November 2012.
If we want to be the majority, even the Keystone XL plan should be viewed in that light. Yes, it's very bad for the environment. But it reduces the likelihood of another oil war, the environmental damage with the pipeline will be slightly less that if the oil were shipped to Asia and elsewhere, and more importantly, we could be talking about as many as 100 000 jobs!
And in any case, it's Steven Harper and Ed Stelmach who are the responsible politicians here, not Barack Obama. Convince Harper and Stelmach to block all exploitation of Albertan tar sands, and that's a victory. Allow the exploitation to continue but throw away all those jobs anyway, that's stupid.
Jobs + stronger economy = Democrats in the majority.
Shitty economy + no jobs = Republicans and teabaggers in charge.
Doing anything but concentrate on jobs, jobs, and more jobs will be counterproductive and idiotic.
Greg Shenaut