U.S. needs another civil works program

We look for free enterprise to create our national wealth and employment opportunities. However, free enterprise eliminated 3 million jobs in the 2000's while creating 2.4 million jobs overseas. Those lost jobs are not coming back.

Both Barack Obama and Mitt Romney agree that the today's principal economic problem is jobs and that the nation's infrastructure needs repair. Repairing a leaking roof is not a partisan issue. The nation's infrastructure is in crisis, and we need action now to rebuild and maintain the nation's port, road, bridge, water, sewage treatment, rail, and air systems. Furthermore, the construction industry has a multiplier effect of creating several jobs for each construction job provided.

Harold L. Ickes at theU.S. Department of the Interiorcould hardly spend a dime, like today's infrastructure managers, so PresidentFranklin D. Rooseveltappointed Harry Hopkins, a social worker, to head the Civil Works Administration. Within 10 days, he had put 800,000 people to work, 4 million in a few months. Less than 2 percent of the money spent during the entire program went to overhead and there was never a whisper of scandal.

We need action like that today.

James Lefter, Bel Air