No Mr. Boehner, America is Not ‘Broke’

By Robert Creamer
Progressive America Rising via Huffington Post

Feb 15, 2011 – Once again on the Sunday news shows, Republican Leader John Boehner declared that "America is broke" — his premise for why we "can’t afford" important investments that are critical to America’s future.

In fact, of course, America is far from "broke". It is the largest economy in the world. After collapsing as a result of the recklessness of the big Wall Street banks — and Republican economic policies in late 2008 — the economy has, in fact, grown for six consecutive quarters. The stock market has almost doubled since the crash — regaining most of its value. Corporate profits are soaring. And American corporations are now sitting on close to two trillion dollars in cash.

What’s more, we still have the same highly-skilled, productive labor force and the same stock of plants and equipment that we did before the financial meltdown — the same ability to create the goods and services that are the real measures of economic wealth.

The problem isn’t that America is "broke." The problem is that economic growth is not being shared with most Americans. The problem is that the very rich are wealthier than ever and everyone else is falling behind. Not only does that mean that the massive store of wealth that we create today is not widely shared. It also means that — taken together — we have less wealth as a nation because so many Americans who could be creating goods and services are unemployed, creating nothing.

Continue reading If the Banksters Are Worried About Deficits, Let Them Close up the Gap →