Kucinich: Need Concrete Plans to Rebuild Infrastructure

August 17, 2011 For Immediate Release
Nathan.White@mail.house.gov (202)225-5871

Need Concrete Plans to Rebuild Infrastructure; Focus of Efforts should be to Get Back to Work

Kucinich Building Support for the National Emergency Employment Defense Act; "Time to Get Real about Creating Jobs"

Washington D.C. (August 17, 2011) – Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) today wrote to colleagues to enlist support for his dramatic, new, concrete plan to get Americans working again, rebuild our crumbling infrastructure and to take control of our monetary policy from private banks to promote the public interest. "It is time to get real about creating jobs. Not just talk about it. But come up with real, concrete proposals which can put America back to work," he said. Kucinich is planning to introduce the National Emergency Employment Defense Act later this year.

Dear Colleague:

Our nation is in crisis. The economy is still on the edge of a precipice. The old ways aren’t working and won’t work. We can’t continue down the road that takes us deeper into debt and despair. There is a way out.

That is why I am introducing The National Emergency Employment Defense (NEED) Act of 2011. It will end the debt. It will rebuild America. It will make the American Dream a reality for everyone; for today’s generation and for the generations to come. It gives our youth unrivaled career opportunities.

The NEED Act assures a sustainable fiscal path. It can reduce deficits to nothing, without tax hikes, spending cuts, or inflation. And it will pay off the national debt as it comes due. My legislation can end the recession, unemployment and the foreclosure crisis.

The Constitution vests the power over money with Congress. Congress gives this power to the banks. In the last 10 years, banks have added an average of $500 billion to the money supply per year. This is a huge amount of power that Congress has given away.

The banks have shown that they’re incapable of using this power responsibly, or in the widest economic interest. Instead they’ve wasted most of it by pumping it into a series of unproductive bubbles. The loss to the nation is truly enormous, especially considering the opportunity cost of the real wealth that could be created with first use of that money.

My bill reasserts the Constitutional right and responsibility of Congress to furnish the nation with a money supply fit for purpose. No more wild swings from economic boom to bust. No more erosion of purchasing power. We can at last have a stable currency. To do this is surprisingly simple. My legislation does three things:

· Incorporate the Fed into the Treasury and make monetary policy truly accountable to the Congress and the American people.

· End the banks special privilege by no longer allowing them to create our money supply when they make loans, through a simple and non-disruptive accounting change.

· Invest money into renewing our crumbling infrastructure, making it fit for the 21st Century; creating real wealth and millions of good jobs at the same time.

These essential changes will ensure our economy is the most efficient and prosperous in the world. It will raise demand for American-made goods at home and abroad and reduce our trade deficit.

I look forward to your support in restoring America’s economy to full health.



Sincerely,

/s/

Dennis J. Kucinich

Member of Congress