Reply #7: If you mean "weather this" as in 20-22% unemployment, and we are halfway there,

[galileoreloaded]

and the ability of our nation to borrow at competitive rates (not to mention us, the people), then I don't know if I want to see what that looks like. wether

Many of us, scratch that, most of us, are going to hurt badly, and previous policies since 1968 are to blame. There is really no political answer to this, unfortunately, nature will have to run its course.

Before people begin labeling me as a freeper, think for a moment about previous FDR solutions like the WPA. Many here advocate an infrastructure investment, and they are correct, especially if you structure that on a cost plus basis.
BUT, the conditions do not exist today as they did in the thirties, when an an engineer and a bunch of workers went out and built a road, recorded it, and kept going. Now, it would take 2-3 YEARS to get through the design, entitlement, and regulatory agencies, only to have to put down a big fat 20% down payment on the work, which no agency does or is set up to do legally, because the majority of local US contractors probably don't have the cash to make the first payroll or equipment payment.

This will take many, many years to recover from, and my biggest fear is that the Repubs threw this thing, knowing that the next prez will be relatively shackled by massive government borrowing costs and horrendous socio-economic issues, and will be readily compared to Herbert Hoover, with his Hoovervilles, albeit with a high visibility, mass marketed 2008 style political lynching thrown in for good measure.

Remember, at the end, FDR had to withhold oil from the Japanese to instigate Pearl Harbor, which is the real reason people went back to work, to fight, fly, sail, and build. Don't believe me?? Google is your friend.

Edited for spelling