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Infrastructure: A star player in the jobs bill?

UT-Econometer

Roger Showley, SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE

Sunday, September 18, 2011

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Kelly Cunningham, National University System

Answer: No

Besides there not being any such thing as shovel-ready projects, Obama’s own commission states the permitting process can delay projects for years and in many cases cause projects to be abandoned. After record trillions of dollars already poured down the bottomless pit, if government spending is truly the answer, we would now have a booming economy with plenty of jobs. The fundamental fallacy is the notion that politicians "grow the economy" by taking money out of the private sector and spending it wherever they deem it politically expedient. And when the actions fail deceitfully, proclaim things would have been worse without it.