Is this the reason we don't have a new WPA?

A 2011 study conducted by researchers from Northwestern and Vanderbilt universities suggest that only 19% of the very wealthy feel that government should “see to it” that people who want to work can get a job, and only 8% of the very wealthy agree with the idea that the “federal government should provide jobs…for everyone able and willing to work who cannot find a job in private employment.”

(See study here)

Among the general public? 68% and 53%, respectively.

The authors of the study write: “The New Deal idea of public employment apparently lives on in the minds of many Americans (though they are seldom given a chance to tell pollsters about it), but it has been rejected by the wealthy and by a consensus in Washington.”

If true, what a shame. Many Americans who lose their jobs--and have trouble finding new comparable jobs (or any jobs at all)--often lose their health insurance, their homes & apartments, and their ability to feed their families. They also see their credit rating destroyed and often have to declare bankruptcy--two things which can make it even harder to find employment again. Further, some people fall into depression and, in extreme cases, some people even kill themselves because of financial devastation.