The FCC embraces its New Deal roots and helps the Internet move away from unrestrained greed

(Seal of the FCC, image courtesy of Wikipedia.)

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) was created by the Communications Act of 1934 "with the blessings of President Franklin D. Roosevelt" ("Federal Communications Commission," The Museum of Broadcast Communications). However, according to Dr. Susan L. Brinson, professor of mass communication at Auburn University, it wasn't until 1939 that the agency acquired its true New Deal sea legs. During that year, Larry Fly was appointed FCC Chair. Fly was a "tenacious and devout New Dealer" who began to transform the FCC into an aggressive regulator, and aimed to "diminish the concentrated monopolistic power that controlled the broadcasting industry and simultaneously encourage competition." This new direction, of course, "startled and angered the broadcasting industry and their politically conservative defenders in Congress." (The Red Scare, Politics, and the Federal Communications Commission, 1941-1960, pp. 25-28, 2004)

The FCC has an extraordinarily complex history, but let's fast-forward to today, a time where telecommunications companies frequently have monopolistic control over markets and where Americans are paying more money for slower Internet service than residents of other developed countries. The big news, as we have all heard by now, is that the FCC has come down in favor of net neutrality, thereby wresting some power away from the telecommunications companies and giving it to consumers. Can there be any doubt, that if the FCC had not supported net neutrality, telecommunications companies would have eventually put all non-wealthy Internet customers in the slow lane and all wealthy Internet customers in the fast lane? I mean, that's what Corporate America does, that's its modus operandi. Steak & shrimp dinners for wealthy executives and investors, and bread crumbs & mush for everyone else.

(FCC Chairman Larry Fly, third from left, and other officials around a new television, in 1939. Photo courtesy of Wikipedia.)

As their counterparts did back in the day, the telecommunications industry and their "politically conservative defenders in Congress" are whining, moaning, wringing their hands, and predicting the end of the world. The political right, more generally, has been engaging in their usual conspiracy theories for a while now--in this case, blathering on about "Obamanet," losing national sovereignty, and how net neutrality will turn us all into socialists. In other words, the usual stoking of fear in order to convince Americans that it's best to give complete decision-making power to millionaires & billionaires, democracy be damned. Fortunately, FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler highlighted the obvious, "The Internet is simply too important to allow broadband providers to be the ones making the rules" ("Net Neutrality Prevails In Historic FCC Vote," Huffington Post, February 26, 2015).

Chairman Wheeler is embracing his agency's New Deal roots--roots of courage and strength in the face of organized money. Let's hope he continues to do so, as the fight is surely not over yet.

(For a good summary of the net neutrality issue, see "What the FCC's New Neutrality Ruling Means For You," Huffington Post, February 26, 2015)  

67+ water main breaks in the Hampton Roads, Virginia area--in only 1 week--causes residents to lose water and jeopardizes emergency services. A new WPA could help with that.

(In the video above--from Monday, February 23rd, 2015--"10 On Your Side" news reports on the never-ending water main breaks in the Hampton Roads, Virginia area. Original YouTube link here).

"10 On Your Side" News, in Portsmouth, Virginia, recently reported that "Since Friday, Virginia Beach alone has fixed more than 30 water main breaks. Newport News had 10 over the weekend, Norfolk crews reported 11, and Portsmouth counts 16 breaks since this time last week." The breaks are occurring mostly on "older pipes" and the pipes are given "band-aid" repairs. Amazingly, these breaks are just a small fraction of the quarter of a million water main breaks that will occur in the United States this year.

These Hampton Roads area water main breaks have caused residents to lose water service and are jeopardizing emergency response. A water operations manager said, "Certainly, if a fire happens, you don’t want to tell the firemen that the water main broke and they can’t put out a fire."

During the New Deal era, WPA workers installed 357 miles of new water lines in Virginia. We could do the same today, and more, were it not for Republican and Tea Party politicians in Congress who are trying to starve the federal government of revenue (or, "starving the beast," as they like to describe it), thereby reducing federal assistance to the states. (See, e.g., "States Seek Alternatives For Highway, Bridge Funding," Associated Press, Huffington Post, February 21, 2015)

A New Deal for Montana

(The flag of Montana, courtesy of Wikipedia.)

Seven interesting New Deal facts and figures for Montana...

1. Civil Works Administration (CWA):

In January of 1934, there were over 21,000 Montanans working in the CWA, building or repairing schools, roads, bridges, and more. 

(From the "Analysis of Civil Works Program Statistics," p. 18, 1939)

2. Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC): 

Between 1933 and 1942, 25,690 men in Montana worked in the CCC. "This figure included 17,687 junior and veteran enrollees, 5,069 Indians, and 2,935 non-enrolled camp officers and supervisory workers." 

(From Perry H. Merrill's book, "Roosevelt's Forest Army: A History of the Civilian Conservation Corps," 1933-1942, p. 146, 1981)

3. Pubic Works Administration (PWA): 

By 1939, the PWA had contributed $20 million in funding towards 161 infrastructure projects in Montana. In today's dollars, that's about $330 million. 

(From "America Builds: The Record of PWA," p. 285, 1939).

4. National Youth Administraton (NYA):

During academic year 1939-1940, 207 schools, colleges, and universities in Montana participated in the NYA program, employing about 3,000 young men and women. 

(From the "Final Report of the National Youth Administration, Fiscal Years 1936-1943," pp. 246-247, 1944).

(WPA poster, courtesy of the Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.)

5. Public Works of Art Project (PWAP):

Between 1933 and 1934, in Region 16 of the PWAP (Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and Montana), unemployed artists were paid to produce 33 murals, 72 sculptures, 332 oil paintings, and more, to decorate public buildings and parks. 

(From Public Works of Art Project, "Report of the Assistant Secretary of the Treasury to Federal Emergency Relief Administrator, December 8, 1933 - June 30, 1934," p. 8, 1934)

   

6. Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA): 

In February of 1935, 630 college students in Montana were employed in FERA's College Student Aid Program. This was a program "undertaken in order to enable young persons who would not otherwise have been able to do so to continue their education, and thereby reduce the influx of young workers into the labor market" (recall that during the Great Depression there was a large drop in the demand for labor). 

(From the "Final Statistical Report of the Federal Emergency Relief Administration," pp. 64 and 232, 1942)

7. Works Progress Administration (WPA):

Between 1935 and 1943, WPA workers in Montana produced 2.8 million articles of clothing; served 4.7 million school lunches; created or improved 10,000 miles of roads; built or improved 3,000 bridges; installed or improved 17,000 culverts; engaged in 400 projects to build, repair, or improve schools; created or improved 105 parks; installed 133 miles of water lines; constructed 88,000 linear feet of new airport & airfield runway; and more. 

(From the "Final Report on the WPA Program, 1935-43," pp. 134-136, 1946)       

    

***Explore New Deal projects in Montana...on the Living New Deal Map!***

Potholes and Billionaires

(Potholes and alligator cracking are plaguing our nation's roads. Photo by Brent McKee.)

About a month ago, in the Huffington Post, Stephen Seufert suggested that a new CCC-type jobs program could put unemployed young adults to work installing solar panel roads. It's a great idea, considering that (a) the technological development of solar panel roads is already well underway, (b) solar panels roads could melt snow & ice and also produce energy, (c) America's roadways are falling apart, and (d) the latest data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that youth unemployment is still very high (for example, the unemployment rate for 20-24 year-old men is currently 11.5%).

In sum, Seufert is advising us to connect the dots, addressing several problems with one overarching policy. But he is very aware of the main hurdle that confronts his proposal. After reflecting on the Depression-era Civilian Conservation Corps, he writes: "The Greatest Generation earned such a title because they worked together and contributed unique individual talents during unprecedented hardship. They understood individualism without valuing the common good/general welfare leads the world down a dark, destructive path. Decades later, we now have a healthy dose of individualism but are lacking in the common good."

Yep, that sounds about right.

(With super-rich Americans vacuuming up more and more of our nation's wealth--and with Republican & Tea Party politicians protecting them from increased taxation--precious little is available for our nation's infrastructure. For example, instead of replacing crumbling bridges, we just put patches on top of patches and hope for the best. Photo by Brent McKee.)   

Yesterday, an Associated Press article described the sorry state of America's road infrastructure, and the sorry state of its funding. Of course, we already know that Republicans at the national level are trying to "starve the beast" by reducing revenue--and trying to shrink the government by reducing spending--so they can give more tax breaks to their super-wealthy campaign donors, which ultimately has the effect of strangling federal infrastructure assistance to the states. Such actions also have the effect of shifting the revenue burden from super-wealthy Americans to middle-class & poor Americans. For example, a Republican politician in Missouri, echoing the wishes of his Republican colleagues all across the country, wants to raise his state's sales tax, a regressive tax that disproportionately hammers the middle-class & poor. He says, "You're seeing states all across the country that are looking to do something, because they realize you can't count on the federal government." No kidding? That's probably because your entire political party is trying to "to shrink government to the size where we can drown it in a bathtub."

The problem behind all this foolishness, of course, is political spending by right-wing millionaires & billionaires. They give gobs of money to Republican & Tea Party politicians who, in turn, cater to their anti-government fantasies. And the rest of us suffer for it. Schools, public libraries, roads, bridges, water lines, and more are underfunded and/or falling apart. And then...WE are hit with higher taxes, tolls, fees, and fines at the state & local level, in an attempt to make up the revenue difference. Yes, the most wealthy are coddled, while those who are struggling with stagnant wages, rising prices, and suffocating debt are told, again and again, "Sorry, you have to pay more...and more...and more."

Make no mistake about it: Your wallet is being drained, and your car is hitting potholes, to fulfill a political desire to please billionaires--six of whom have more wealth than the bottom 40% of the American population combined. So, don't hold your breath waiting for a federal jobs program that will hire unemployed young Americans to install high-tech roadways. Instead, open your wallet. The right-wing billionaires are sending over their political marionettes to pay you a visit...and they're bringing their vacuum cleaners.

FDR's Second Bill of Rights vs. Republican Governors

(In the video above, we see FDR deliver his Second Bill of Rights speech in 1944. The original YouTube page for this video is at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3EZ5bx9AyI4.)

 
In his Second Bill of Rights speech, President Franklin Roosevelt called for new set of rights for American citizens. Among these were the right to "adequate medical care," "protection from the economic fears of old age," and the "right to a good education." FDR and his New Deal policymakers wanted to make the lives of middle-class and low-income Americans better. For awhile, they were successful. With New Deal policies and infrastructure in place during and after World War II (for example, FDIC, Social Security, and New Deal roads, schools, and airports) the American middle-class grew like never before or since.

Today, on the other hand, Republican governors all across the country are making the lives of middle-class and low-income Americans harder, in order to grant or maintain tax-cuts-for-the-wealthy. Consider these five examples (note: some of these proposed budget cuts might now be law):

1. In Wisconsin, with his state's budget pulverized by tax cuts, Republican Governor Scott Walker wants to cut $300 million from higher education.

2. In Kansas, with his state's budget pulverized by tax cuts, Republican Governor Sam Brownback wants to cut $45 million from K-12 and higher education, and reduce pension contributions by $41 million.

3. In Louisiana, with his state's budget pulverized by tax cuts, Republican Governor Bobby Jindal wants to cut funding from higher education by hundreds of millions of dollars.

4. In Arizona, with his state's budget pulverized by tax cuts, Republican Governor Doug Ducey wants to cut $75 million from higher education.

5. The new Republican Governor of Illinois, Bruce Rauner, doesn't want to be outdone by his fellow right-wing zealots. He wants to cut funding for higher education, kick low-income people off Medicaid, and reduce pension plans for public employees. But, with respect to his own multi-million dollar personal fortune, he hasn't proposed that it be taxed at an increased rate, not even by a tenth of a percent. The state's current income tax rate is 3.75%, a rate that Rauner no doubt thinks is too burdensome for him and his mega-wealthy buddies--yes, better to deprive low-income workers of health insurance, reduce the income of future retirees, and force a tuition increase on college students, than to create a horrible situation where the super-rich can't afford to buy more mansions and private jets.

(New Deal policymakers thought adequate health care was important for all Americans, regardless of income. Sadly, many right-wing politicians today feel just the opposite, which is why so many have fought tooth-and-nail to prevent low-income Americans from receiving Medicaid assistance. WPA poster, courtesy of the Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.)

All these Republican-engineered budget cuts (the five examples above are just the tip of the iceberg) place an increasing financial burden on middle and low-income Americans. But why is this happening? Answer: Because the right-wing millionaires & billionaires funding the political campaigns of these Republican governors want their personal fortunes protected while everyone else takes a hit. In Kansas, for example, Koch-funded Sam Brownback is going to divert money away from highway funds to plug a budget hole, so that multi-billionaires like the Koch brothers don't have to pay another dime in taxes. To put it another way, the majority of Kansans have to see their roadways begin to deteriorate, and their car maintenance bills increase, so that the most wealthy Kansans can hoard more money, go on more vacations, send their kids to affluent private schools, and soak & gloat in 24-karat gold bathtubs.

The craziest thing of all, of course, is that tens of millions of people keep voting for Republican & Tea Party politicians, even as their wages stagnate, their personal debt increases, their retirement is put at risk, the infrastructure they use crumbles, their state's reserve funds are burned through, their sales taxes are increased, and the funding for their children's schools is decimated.

Economic self-flagellation at the polls is an amazing thing to witness. As for me, I prefer FDR's Second Bill of Rights.

Texas parks, playgrounds, and athletic fields

(The Seal of Texas, image courtesy of Wikipedia.)

During the New Deal era, the Civilian Conservation Corps "designed and built more than 50 state parks throughout Texas" (see "The Look of Nature: Designing Texas State Parks During the Great Depression," Texas Parks and Wildlife). 

Meanwhile, the Works Progress Administration engaged in 771 projects to create or improve Texas parks, playgrounds, and athletic fields (see Final Report on the WPA Program, 1935-43, p. 135).

New Deal policymakers thought that hiring the unemployed to work on useful public projects would have lasting benefits for the nation. History has proven them correct.

Gwendolyn Bennett and the WPA

(The description for this undated photograph reads "Miss Gwendolyn Bennett, director of the Harlem Community Art Center of the N.Y.C. WPA Art Project, is shown beside an example of her work." Photo courtesy of the National Archives and the New Deal Network.)

Gwendolyn Bennett (1902-1981) led an interesting life as a poet, artist, and political activist. During the communist witch hunts of the late 1930s and 1940s she was continuously harassed by Congress's paranoid (and often racist) "House Un-American Activities Committee" (H.U.A.C.). 

For more information about Bennett, see "Gwendolyn Bennett papers, 1916-1981" (New York City Public Library, Archives & Manuscripts) and "Found! A Gwendolyn Bennett Painting" (International Review of African American Art). To see a few more photos of Bennett, see "Gwendolyn Bennett Photograph Collection" (New York City Public Library, Digital Collections).

The Great Right-Wing Revenue Switcheroo...continued

(Trickle-down economics, brought to you by the political right.)

Two weeks ago I wrote a blog post titled "Ten Ways The Political Right Is Vacuuming Money Out Of Your Wallet With Their Trickle-Down Economics. Welcome To 'The Great Right-Wing Revenue Switcheroo.'"

Since then, we've seen news stories highlighting how governors and legislators in Ohio, Maine, North Carolina, Texas, Kansas, New Jersey, and other right-wing led states are planning to (or already have) cut taxes on the wealthy while raising them on the middle-class and poor.

(***See, for example, "North Carolina GOP Looks to Raise Taxes On Students And Defrauded Homeowners," ThinkProgress, February 16, 2015, "States Consider Increasing Taxes for the Poor and Cutting Them for the Affluent," New York Times, February 13, 2015, and "Brewing 'Perfect Storm,' GOP Lawmakers Push Millionaire-Friendly State Tax Schemes," Common Dreams, February 16, 2015***)

Even Democrat-led states have been forced to adopt or maintain tax systems that put a disproportionate burden on the middle-class & poor. This is because Republicans have fought hard to keep taxes on the wealthy historically low at the federal level, which has resulted in a federal government less willing & able to assist the states. Thus, the states have had to address this lack of assistance by placing a higher revenue burden on the non-wealthy, through a variety of increased taxes, tolls, fees, and fines.

(WPA workers building a new bridge in Harford County, Maryland, 1936. During the New Deal, the federal government gave massive assistance to the states for infrastructure projects. Today, the burden is more likely to be placed on the middle-class & poor--at the state & local level--through increases in sales taxes, property taxes, fuel taxes, "sin" taxes, bridge tolls, DMV fees, water rates, and so on. Photo courtesy of the University of Maryland College Park Archives.)

In my previous blog post about this issue, I mentioned how the middle-class & poor are often a captive population because they are tied to their job locations. Thus, state policymakers target this captive population for revenue increases. Well, sure enough, in explaining his desire to place more of a revenue burden on the middle-class & poor, Maine's Governor Paul LePage said: "When you’re a millionaire in Maine, you leave. I’m trying to keep them here." The end game of this philosophy (as well as other philosophies associated with trickle-down economics), it seems, is to grant tax immunity to the wealthy (after all, we can't tax our holy "Job Creators," right?) and place the entire revenue burden on the non-wealthy.

But the craziest thing about this entire situation is that tens of millions of American voters continue to vote for Republicans who, in turn, keep increasing the revenue burden on those very same tens of millions of voters (!)--either directly with a tax increase, or indirectly by cutting taxes for millionaires & billionaires and creating a budget gap that has to be plugged with some sort of revenue stream that inevitably hits the middle-class & poor with greater ferocity. What makes me really mad, however, is that these increased taxes, tolls, fees, and fines hit me too...even though I didn't vote for the trickle-down tricksters. In other words, conservative voters are taking me for a ride on their crazy train, against my will, and vacuuming money out of my wallet...

...and the name of this crazy train is "The Great Right-Wing Revenue Switcheroo."

WPA Poster: "Carmen"

(WPA poster, courtesy of the Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.)

Unearthed film footage from the New Deal: The CCC restores Fort Frederick in Washington County, Maryland

(Fort Frederick. Photo by Brent McKee.)

The construction of Fort Frederick, in Washington County, Maryland, began in 1756, "at the outset of the French and Indian War," and was mostly completed two years later.  During the war, Fort Frederick served as a "staging area and supply base for English operations further west." During the Revolutionary War, Fort Frederick was used as a prison camp, and "thousands of [British] prisoners were kept there." In its third tour of duty, during the Civil War, Fort Frederick saw a small amount of action when "Confederate troops tried to dislodge the Union soldiers [stationed there] but were unsuccessful." (See Fort Frederick State Park History, Maryland Department of Natural Resources).

After the Civil War Fort Frederick fell into disrepair. But, like in so many other historic areas across the country, the New Deal came to the rescue. The CCC boys of Camp SP-1 Company No. 1353 restored the fort's walls, built structures around the fort, and even performed some archaeological excavation (although, according to at least one author, not with the greatest methodology). Today, with the help of that CCC work, Fort Frederick is a National Historic Landmark.

(The 3-minute silent video above shows the CCC boys of Camp SP-1 Company No. 1353 at Fort Frederick, circa 1933-1939. The workers can be seen repairing the fort's walls and digging for artifacts. The video is composed of a series of clips I pulled from a longer video, the quality of which was very poor. It is my belief that this film has not been seen by the public since the 1930s, if at all. For more information about this film, see the National Archives web page at http://research.archives.gov/description/11737.)

  
A typical day for the CCC boys of Camp SP-1 Company No. 1353 looked like this (from a document at the CCC museum at Fort Frederick):

5:45am: reveille [a bugle wake-up call], washroom

6:00: exercises

6:15 beds made, inspections

6:30 mess call [breakfast]

6:45 police grounds [cleaning up trash, leaves, sticks], roll call, announcements, sick call

7:00 everyone to trucks, tools gathered, prepare to go to job site

7:15 trucks roll

7:30 work

11:45 lunch whistle

12:45 back to work

4:00 return to camp, tools returned, etc.

5:00 assembly, announcements, inspection, colors [a ceremony honoring the U. S. flag]

5:15 meal

5:45 free time

7:15 classes begin

9:30 return to barracks

10:00 lights out

(The CCC built this structure near the fort, which now serves as a CCC museum. Photo by Brent McKee.)

(A display case in the CCC museum. Photo by Brent McKee.)

(Photo by Brent McKee.)

Youth Unemployment: The world needs a new Civilian Conservation Corps, not politically-backed tax evasion.

(In addition to working for the nation, CCC boys also learned skills. These CCC enrollees are learning about auto repair in Menominie, Wisconsin. Undated photograph, provided courtesy of the National Archives and the New Deal Network.)

The Problem of Youth Unemployment

In a new report from the International Labor Organization, we learn that there are about 74 million unemployed teens & young adults across the world. William Reese, CEO of the International Youth Foundation, says that the 74 million figure probably doesn't even come close capturing the full amount. ("Youth Unemployment, Inequality Keeps Rising," Inter Press Service, Common Dreams, February 8, 2015)

Youth unemployment is also a problem in the United States. For example, according to the latest Bureau of Labor Statistics information, the unemployment rate for young American men, ages 20-24, is 11.5%.

Massive Illegal Tax Evasion

In other recent news, investigative journalism has "has opened a crack of sunlight into the exclusive and highly-secretive world of Swiss banking and the manner in which the world's criminal elite hide their vast wealth, launder their profits, and avoid tax payments from governments around the globe. ("'Biggest Banking Leak in History' Details Nefarious Tactics of Global Tax-Dodgers," Common Dreams, February 9, 2015)

This isn't a new type of revelation of course. For example, we know that 22,000 wealthy Americans, with the aid of Credit Suisse Bank in Switzerland, illegally evaded taxes and "cost US taxpayers $337.3bn in potential revenue." Republican Senator John McCain called it the "the largest amount of tax revenue lost due to evasion in the world" ("Credit Suisse 'cloak-and-dagger' tactics cost US taxpayers billions – senators," The Guardian, February 25, 2014).

In another recent case, some wealthy Americans sued Swiss bank UBS because the bank helped them evade taxes. In deciding against the wealthy Americans (in an appeal) the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals wrote, "The plaintiffs are tax cheats, and it is very odd, to say the least, for tax cheats to seek to recover their penalties ... from the source, in this case UBS, of the income concealed from the IRS. This lawsuit, including the appeal, is a travesty" ("Judge Slams UBS Clients' 'Travesty' Of A Lawsuit, Calling Them 'Tax Cheats'," Reuters, Huffington Post, February 7, 2013).

A Political Protection Racket for Tax Evasion

Senator McCain's concern about these illegal tax evasion activities is a rare concern among Republican leaders and politicians. For example, in 2014 the Republican National Committee (RNC) "called for the repeal of a U.S. anti-tax-evasion law, siding with big banks, libertarians and American expatriates that have criticized the Obama administration statute." The RNC and other critics feel that pursuing tax evaders is "unfair government overreach and invasion of financial privacy." This led one financial expert to state, "It is mind-boggling that a major political party would even consider endorsing a resolution to facilitate tax evasion" ("Republicans bash U.S. law targeting offshore tax dodgers," Reuters, January 24, 2014).

Republicans have also repeatedly sought to restrict or reduce funding for the Internal Revenue Service, thereby hampering that agency's efforts to investigate criminal activity by wealthy Americans. (See, e.g., "Policing Tax Evasion Could Save Billions, But Republicans Won't Fund Enforcement," Huffington Post, April 29, 2011.)

Why are so many Republican politicians & leaders promoting crime? Well, it's likely that even though this promotion of crime won't "resonate with average U.S. voters," it will "help the party raise campaign funds" from the very people whose tax evasion they're protecting.  

Money Lost from Illegal Tax Evasion Could Fund a New Civilian Conservation Corps 

(Instead of promoting tax evasion, political organizations, like the Republican National Committee, should be promoting opportunities for "work, play, study, and health," for the untold millions of unemployed & impoverished youth around the world. WPA poster, image courtesy of the Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.)

  

The amount of money lost through illegal tax evasion, let alone corporate tax avoidance & sketchy tax shelters, could fund Civilian Conservation Corp-type programs around the world, putting many of these tens of millions (more likely hundreds of millions) of unemployed youth to work. And, considering the environmental challenges facing the planet today, it would be a perfect time to do so. During the New Deal, the CCC planted about three billion trees and also worked to prevent & fight wildfires. One can easily see how these types of activities could help us today.

Let's not sugarcoat things here: Many super-wealthy Americans, and many super-wealthy people around the globe, are hiding untold trillions of dollars of money in secret places and in secret accounts, to sate their bottomless greed. And these hideously selfish activities are contributing to mass youth unemployment and environmental degradation. Further, as long as we continue to vote for politicians who turn a blind eye towards tax evasion, collect campaign money from tax evasion, and even promote tax evasion, we are aiding and abetting the crime.

The world needs a new Civilian Conservation Corps, not politically-backed tax evasion.

Boil water notices, gravel roads, and robbing highway funds: Destroying our infrastructure to please right-wing millionaires & billionaires

(Many Americans have to boil their drinking water when an old water main breaks. Unfortunately, America's energy infrastructure also breaks down quite a bit so, instead of a kitchen burner to boil water, perhaps we'll have to start using a campfire--just like our great-great-great-great grandparents used to do with their drinking water. With so many of our political "leaders" ignoring infrastructure, in the race to cut taxes for their super-wealthy campaign donors, maybe we'll even have to start collecting rainwater to drink. Now, that's progress! Photo by Brent McKee.)

Boiling Water

This past Friday, citizens of Newark, Delaware were told to boil their water because of a break in a 75-year-old water main and the resulting concern about E. Coli contamination. The water main break was just one of a quarter-of-a-million breaks we can expect in our aging water infrastructure this year. Hence, Americans all across the country will have to boil their drinking water. For example, in various parts of West Virginia, there were three boil water notices on February 5th, one on February 4th, seven on February 3rd, one on February 2nd, two on January 30th, two on January 29th, three on January 28th, and so on and so on.

(Insert the voice of the Soup Nazi from "Seinfeld"): "No more paved roads for you!"

(A newly paved road in Cumberland, Maryland, 1937. Today, nearly 80 years later, some areas of the country are deciding that they'd rather pamper the wealthy than maintain paved roads. So, they're converting some paved roads to gravel roads. Photo courtesy of the University of Maryland College Park Archives.)

In Texas, they're beginning to convert paved roads into gravel roads. In the article, "Plan to Convert Roads to Gravel Despite Pushback" (Texas Tribune, August 19, 2013), we learn that Texas doesn't have enough money to repave certain roads. We also learn that "Efforts to increase taxes on the companies that are profiting from the energy boom to cover the road repair costs failed to gain traction" in the Republican controlled-state. A rancher who will be affected by the pavement-to-gravel conversion said, "Texas used to have the best roads...I just can't believe the Department of Transportation is going back to the dark ages." (Also see "Texas must invest in infrastructure to support oil boom," San Antonio Business Journal, August 20, 2014).

Tax breaks for the wealthy + no taxes for business = The need to sneak money away from your highway funds

In Kansas, Republican Governor Sam Brownback and his fellow trickle-down tricksters are proposing to divert $158 million from the state's highway fund to plug budget holes caused by their massive tax-cuts-for-the-wealthy and their complete tax elimination for businesses. The diversion is causing concern across the state as needed repairs will be delayed. In response to the questioning of his policies, Brownback said, "If you've got a better idea, great. Let's hear it. Criticism, fine, but come up with your ideas" ("Kansas Gov. Brownback's Budget Hits Cherished Highway System," Associated Press, Huffington Post, February 7, 2015).

Here's an idea for you Governor Brownback: Stop pampering the super-wealthy at the expense of your infrastructure.

Infrastructure madness vs. the New Deal

America's infrastructure madness shows no sign of abating. Republican Congressman Paul Ryan recently pooh-poohed President Obama's infrastructure improvement proposal (calling it "envy economics"), the Koch brothers are planning to spend 900 million dollars to manipulate our political process (and thus keep taxes low on millionaires & billionaires), and millions of people, far from being discouraged by all this, seem to be moving further and further to the political right, just as the Kochs have paid for. It seems that no amount of budget damage, infrastructure damage, or democracy damage, can dissuade millions from having faith in the voodoo of good ol' trickle-down economics.

During the New Deal, things were very different. For example, instead of facilitating theft from highway funds, New Deal policymakers invested heavily in America's roads, streets, and highways. The WPA alone created, repaired, or improved 650,000 miles of roadway across the nation, including...are you listening Mr. Brownback?...nearly 20,000 miles of roads in Kansas.      

In any event, make sure you have several big pots handy. There's a good chance that you'll be boiling lots of water these next several years.

WPA Exhibition of Posters

(WPA Poster, image courtesy of the Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.)

FDR's Memoirs

Above: What if President Franklin Roosevelt had lived a much longer life and decided to write a memoir of the New Deal? In the book The FDR Memoirs: A Speculation on History (1973), author Bernard Asbell utilizes historical research and interviews with family members to write such a memoir, stepping into the persona of FDR. The book is well written, very interesting, and I highly recommend it. Here is one of "FDR's" many recollections: "The 'laziness' of WPA workers now became a target for New Deal opponents, as expressed by a new brand of jokes. Have you heard of the doctor who announced the discovery of a new medicine for cancer, but nobody can get any? The medicine is sweat from a WPA worker...Let me tell you what several million lazy reliefers accomplished  leaning on their shovels. By October 1937 they had built 1,634 schools and improved 16,421 others; built or improved more than twenty thousand gyms, stadiums, firehouses, hangars, courthouses, hospitals, and other public buildings...The story of WPA--of men and women in trouble who wanted to give generously for what they got--is a story of accomplishment that changed the physical face of America" (p. 220). (The image above is a scan from my personal collection).

The New Deal and Football

Above: The newly built football stadium at Fort Hill High School in Cumberland, Maryland. WPA laborers built the stadium in 1936-1937. Work included building the grandstand, installing the running track, and excavating & landscaping the playing field. Photo courtesy of the University of Maryland College Park Archives.

  Above: 1937 Thanksgiving Day football game between Fort Hill High School and Allegany High School. Photo courtesy of the University of Maryland College Park Archives.

Above: WPA workers building the football stadium. Photo courtesy of the University of Maryland College Park Archives.

 Above: The Fort Hill High School football stadium today, from the opposite angle of the three photos above. The school complex you see in the background was also built circa 1936-1937, with funds from the New Deal's Public Works Administration (PWA). Photo by Brent McKee.

 Above: In November of 1936, WPA administrator Harry Hopkins addresses a crowd at Louisiana State University's (LSU) football stadium, recently expanded by WPA workers. The WPA project at LSU was just one of thousands of recreational projects performed by WPA workers. For example, the WPA built 2,302 new stadiums, grandstands, and bleachers across the nation (Final Report on the WPA Program, p. 131). Photo courtesy of the FDR Presidential Library and Museum.