Packaging For Tomorrow

Eric Kaad asked:


The fastest method of economic recovery lies in the creation of commercial construction jobs. The fact being, that when you build a structure it creates an immediate demand on both the skilled labor and manufacturing sectors to produce.



Obviously, residential construction is not what is being advocated due to the high inventory of unsold homes already on the market, but rather the thousands of private commercial capital improvement projects which are on hold resulting from the lack of credit needed to finance their projects.



Even after receiving the first $700 billion from the Bush administration, banks are not willing to lend money to institutions who can demonstrate that the proposed improvements will create cash flow in repaying the debt.



There are aspects to the Obama stimulus package that will create jobs in the long term, however the package lacks any near term benefits. When you look at some of the larger elements of the package they break out as follows:



Energy: $60 billion; Tax cuts: $275 billion; Education: $140 billion; Infrastructure: $90 billion; Financial Aid: $102 billion; Healthcare: $110 billion



With the exception of infrastructure, tax cuts, and about half of what is allocated for energy, the rest is strictly financial aid and cannot be considered stimulus. Tax cuts, on the other hand, will spur some level of spending, but in this economic climate will most likely go to basic necessities as opposed to the purchase of non-necessities.



Construction activity creates manufacturing demand and when combined together, construction and manufacturing represent the largest pool of workers in the country.



During post WWII and early 50s an infrastructure boom occurred with the Interstate Highway System project, which rolled back unemployment lines to the lowest levels ever.



The intent of the Obama infrastructure stimulus is the same, however falls short when you consider the years of planning required before breaking ground as well as the level of technological advances that have occurred since post WWII in reducing labor man hours for road work projects. Over the last 50 years, construction technology and equipment in terms of road and highway construction has improved to the point where they are now considered Material heavy and Labor light.



Additionally, seeing as how most of our infrastructure already exists, these projects would be relegated to improvements rather than full scale construction projects the lackluster notion being, building a house is more labor intensive than painting a house.



Although maintaining roadway infrastructure is important, the economic benefit of aiding private commercial projects would be realized immediately.



Commercial building projects are labor intensive involving the entire spectrum of work trades ranging from carpentry to electrical to mechanical disciplines. In addition, the components required for the structure are manufactured and engineered which compliments the broader manufacturing industry as a whole.



The opportunities exist in the Healthcare, Institutional, and Research sectors and come in the form of building additions and large interior renovations for existing facilities.



The demand for these projects is created by the need to keep up with the technological innovations of capital equipment. Additionally advancements have been made in building science; most notably in the areas of operating efficiency and environmentally friendly construction solutions.



If banks will not lend money for commercial building projects the unemployment lines will continue to swell.



Commercial construction is and has always been the catalyst to economic prosperity and will undoubtedly create an instant demand in our manufacturing sectors. Government stimulus in the form of financing will put people back to work almost immediately as most of these projects are already designed and considered to be shovel ready.



Even though Obama may not care for Joe the Plumber from Ohio for his tough questions, he has the ability to win the respect of Joe the Plumber by putting him back to work and getting our economy back on track.





Poohcat1 asked:


Any way you look at it, tax breaks, rebates and tax relief are all handouts to someone. If you give a 3% tax break to corporations and the wealthy, it is a handout that they didnt have before. If you give a tax break, rebate or tax relief to the tax paying middle class, it is a handout they did not have before. If you give a check to those that do not pay taxes and call it tax relief, it is still a handout.
I think that the question we have to address is which option (if any) is best for America, American jobs and therefore the American people as a whole.
We saw the lack of results when the stimulus package was handed out last June and July. The money in 98% of the households went to pay down debt or to pay every day living expenses. Statistics show us that very little of it went to the retail markets and an even smaller amount went to savings. Did this bring an increase in jobs? Obviously not! Our jobless rate is higher now than it was then. So can we honestly believe that giving tax relief or tax cuts or rebates again to the middle class and the poor are going to result in an overall improvement in the nations economy?
During the years of Reganomics (trickle down economics), the United States saw unprecedented growth in jobs and general strength and vigor in the stock markets. No tax relief or handouts were given to the middle class.yet the overall state of middle class Americans improved substantially as jobs became easier to get and new innovations and inventions generally made our lives easier. It stands to reason then that providing incentives to large and small businesses alikerather than to individuals is much more likely to create jobs ..thus a better economy for all of us.
The problem as I see it with Sen. Obamas tax policy is that he is COUNTING on the American people who receive this tax relief to somehow join together to help build a better American economy for all. Our experience with the stimulus package has already shown us that this is not likely to happen.
The problem with McCains tax policy is that he is COUNTING on the goodness of the corporations and the rich to use the tax breaks to create new jobs. Frankly, without specific requirements that must be met by those corporations and the largest of the so called small business sector, this is not guaranteed to help either.
My proposal is to keep in place the tax levels currently given to large corporations, but insist that they meet specific requirements to remain at that level. Requirements such as, No jobs being outsourced to other countries and those already outsourced must be brought back to America and to American workers. Another requirement would be that funds belonging to these corporations can not be placed in offshore accounts, but must remain in American financial institutions. This proposal I believe would lower the jobless rate significantly thus improving the overall economy. When people have jobs, the economy grows. All businesses then become more profitable as the demand for their products becomes greater.
John McCain comes closer than Obama to being able to do this.
Please give me your opinion.

L


Tags: American Economy, Asking The Right Question, Inventions, Jobless Rate, Living Expenses, New Innovations, Retail Markets, Sen Obama, Stock Markets, Tax Breaks, Tax Cuts, Tax Rebates, Tax Relief, Unprecedented Growth, Vigor