Why Are You Reading This Junk?

Now that President-Elect Obama's transition team has released the report of its internal communications audit, which confirms Prosecutor Fitzgerald's report that there was no inappropriate contact with Governor Blagojevich, we can move on to tackling the important issues.....

The absolute number one priority of the Obama administration seems to be the economy, and rightfully so. Vice President-Elect Biden met with top economic advisors today to discuss an economic recovery package. Biden seemed to echo what Obama had said previously at press conferences:

"Economists rarely agree, but on this score there’s overwhelming agreement that we need a robust and sustained economic recovery package,” he said at the meeting. "There’s virtually no disagreement on that point, with economists from left to right agreeing that the greater threat to our economy lies in doing too little.

I agree with the "go bold or go home" sentiment. This will not only have to stop the hemorrhaging of jobs in the short term but will also have to address the long-term sustainability of the U.S. economy. I have questions which will be answered as the Obama administration begins and progresses:

• How many infrastructure projects are "shovel-ready" and how many people can be put back to work in the short-term?
• How will we resurrect our manufacturing sector so that we can, you know, actually make stuff for domestic purchasing and exporting instead of living in this "information economy"? I can see shuttered factories being re-opened and used to manufacture solar panels, windmills, etc. in our new energy economy.
• Wages seem to have flat-lined, and the disparity between CEO and worker salaries is incredible. How will these concerns be addressed? Unions aren't the answer to everything and certainly have their problems, but I think that the resurrection of the labor movement could play a crucial role in negotiating for better wages and rebuilding the middle class. I'm willing to show my liberal stripes and support the unions for the time being.
  
• What kind of 21st century regulatory system will be put in place for the markets which apparently aren't self-governing and self-correcting like many people thought? Will we see a modern-day Glass-Steagall Act with a wide enough reach to apply to the interconnected, world-getting-smaller global economy?

More on this story as the new administration unfolds....