Many people are critical when they learn that government gives direct financial assistance to private developers. But rather than complaining, two advocacy and organizing groupsthe Milwaukee Inner-City Congregations Allied for Hope (MICAH) and the Good JobsCoalitionare urging that workers see some benefits, too, above andbeyond generally expanding the city’s tax base.
The groups havedeveloped a city ordinance, which will be introduced by AldermanAshanti Hamilton in the Milwaukee Common Council, that attaches areasonable employment requirement to any projects that receive morethan $1 million in direct financial assistance from the city. Theproposed ordinance says that 40% of the worker hours on any projectreceiving over $1 million in direct financial assistance shall beperformed by “unemployed residents or residents at a disadvantage withrespect to employment and that the contractor give fair considerationto all segments of the population, including women and minorities.”These employees shall be paid the prevailing wage for southeastern Wisconsin.The proposal is an extension and modification of two very successfulexisting programs. MICAH has been doing a head count and believes theproposal has the necessary votes to pass it on March 3.
Hero of the Week: Spc. Kristoffer Walker
This couldn’t have been an easy decision. But Spc. Kristoffer Walker of Green Bay isn’t returning to Iraq. Walker enlisted in the Army after 9/11 and served one year in Iraq.He later joined the Army Reserve; his unit was called up in July anddeployed in October. Now home on leave, Walker said he won’t return tothe battlefield. “I signed up to defend the Constitution and defend thecountry against foreign enemies. But I’m not going to do somethingimmoral and contrary to the contract I signed up for,” he told areporter.
Jerk of the Week: Charlie Sykes
OurJerk of the Week is talk-show host Charlie Sykes, who either justdoesn’t get it or just doesn’t want to get it. The world is in theworst economic crisis since the 1930s, and our new president has actedswiftly to address the issue with a strong stimulus package. Putsimply, a stimulus package needs to get money into the economy so thatgoods and services are produced and people are employed. In turn, thosepeople spend their salaries and create even more jobs. If people werepaid to dig a hole and bury a newspaper, it would have the samestimulus impact because these shovelers would then spend their wagesand create more jobs. If we are going to spend $787 billion, obviouslywe would like to get some real benefits for the money. This requires avariety of programs to quickly and effectively get the money working inthe economy and addressing real needs. Economists across the politicalspectrum understand that direct government expenditures are far moreeffective than tax cuts because a portion of the tax cuts will not bespent. Actually, any college freshman taking Macroeconomics 101understands this as well. But not Charlie Sykes, who is still arguingthat this package will not stimulate the economy because it is avariety of Democratic programs. Charlie either doesn’t understandEconomics 101 or he does and chooses to misinform his listeners. So,Charlie, are you dumb or just a liar?
