Democrats Revive Works Progress Administration

I'm only half joking.

See Wall Street Journal, "Roads Bill Gets Another Look":

The White House and congressional Democrats are working on a plan to jump-start passage of a stalled highway bill as the administration reworks part of its strategy for responding to high unemployment.

President Barack Obama recently shifted from calling for a national infrastructure bank that would finance transportation projects and create jobs to saying Congress should pass a bread-and-butter road-construction bill that would rely mostly on existing programs that could get projects under way faster.

One of the ideas under discussion is expanding a government-loan program designed to spur public-private partnerships, such as one planned in Los Angeles to develop a light-rail line.

With the support of the White House, Senate Democrats are lining up support from Republican colleagues, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, other business groups and labor unions to pass a two-year, $109 billion bill that would maintain existing funding level.

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Mr. Obama, during a bus tour across the Midwest this past week, began calling instead for a road-construction bill.

"Tell Congress to get past their differences and send me a road-construction bill so that companies can put tens of thousands of people to work right now building our roads and bridges and airports and seaports," Mr. Obama told audiences.

Franklin Roosevelt couldn't have said it better:

The Works Progress Administration (renamed during 1939 as the Work Projects Administration; WPA) was the largest and most ambitious New Deal agency, employing millions of unskilled workers to carry out public works projects, including the construction of public buildings and roads, and operated large arts, drama, media, and literacy projects. It fed children and redistributed food, clothing, and housing. Almost every community in the United States had a park, bridge or school constructed by the agency, which especially benefited rural and Western areas.

Toto, I don't think we're in the 1930s anymore. The ObamaDems just need to do some of that unleashing Maxine Waters was talking about --- unleashing the private sector with tax cuts, deregulation, and, come to think of it, some additional economic incentives for genuinely-needed highway construction. But folks can just forget about the rest of the Democrats' socialist welfare state. It's been a pork-barrel boondoggle so far, in any case. ASFLs.

RELATED: From Jim Powell, at Daily Caller, "Obama’s New New Deal at a dead end."

Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons.