We have a problem with employment in this country. We are filled with passionate, talented, and skilled people. We waste all that untapped potential by forcing people to work bullshit jobs that don’t pay enough for the workers to live yet can make the owners some of the richest people on earth. As workers we have no way to stand up for ourselves. We must take the work that’s offered but what if we had a choice? That’s where the federal jobs guarantee comes in.

I envision a three-tiered system of projects that can empower workers by offering a guaranteed union job. This will not be a “public/private” partnership which are the true source of waste fraud and abuse. This will be our tax dollars in use, putting us to work and making our country great.

Tier One: Housing, Infrastructure and Public Amenities

These will be the biggest projects. We need the manual labor and technical knowledge to build and build big. This is white and blue collar jobs. The housing will be public, the infrastructure will improve movement and commerce and the amenities will be public spaces where we all can gather.

Tier Two: Community Centers

I propose we fund thousands of community centers across the country. Here we will pay people to teach, host, coach or organize different groups, courses, or teams that will be free at the point of use. Any goods or services provided will go back to the community center. This will help foster a sense of togetherness and allow people to share their passion, talents, and gifts with the people around them. Leaders and organizers will be compensated and the community will have a safe space to engage in free activities.

Tier Three: Maintenance

Universal childcare, healthcare, housing, and education comes with a hell of a lot of jobs. All these things must be maintained by the best people. To get the best people we must pay good wages to union jobs with pensions.

Some might ask how can we pay for all of this? Can we really guarantee everyone a job? The funny thing is we pretty much already do that, it’s called I.C.E and the military. Their output is just imperialism at home and abroad, but the money is there.

Healthcare, Childcare, Housing and Education. These are the things bosses dangle above our heads to keep us in our place, which is down. To guarantee these things we need people to work these jobs. That goes to the federal jobs guarantee. If these things were offered universally with little to no cost at the point of use it would force private sector employers to go above and beyond to entice workers. We’re taking back the power.

Housing: We need millions of units built and they’re going to be public housing with the price being based on income. We should also make one new city in each state with different layouts and purposes.

Childcare: With so many people working or going to school, childcare is a must. Not only will this produce jobs but it will take the burden off struggling parents who are held back for the lack of care.

Healthcare: Healthcare is a human right. We need a universal system (AKA Medicare for all). Universal healthcare means all healthcare. The government has no business getting involved with abortions or trans healthcare. Leave the sick people and peoples health to the doctors.

Education: All state schools will be free at the point of use. All community colleges will be free at the point of use. We will open new trade schools and partner with others. We will cut funding to private universities, they have enough money. We have to rethink how we fund our public k-12 schools. Our country is too large and fractured economically to tie school funding to property taxes.

Not everyone wants to work for the government or for someone else. That’s totally understandable. If you and six people can come up with a solid business plan the government will give you a $250,000 loan, interest free to start a Co-Op. Let a million small businesses bloom.

The price of food, gas, pharmaceuticals, most goods and services are controlled by mega corporations that are given billions of dollars of subsidies. If these companies can’t drive their prices down to an acceptable rate we’ll revoke said subsidies and give them to someone who can deliver. If no corporation can deliver to our satisfaction we can nationalize the industry. Perfect Example: The Airlines.

Oil is a finite resource, and every day there’s less of it than the day before. That’s just reality. Ignoring that fact is bad business and bad leadership. We should be investing in renewable energy, not because it sounds good, but because it’s the smart move for our future. When clean power gets cheaper, everything else gets cheaper, from groceries to gas, and it creates solid, good-paying jobs that actually last. It’s time to stop pretending the old way works and start building the future we all deserve.

We have over 130 military bases overseas. Our biggest “rivals” China and Russia have 1 and 13 respectively. All these bases and forever wars cost money, blood, and resources. Why do we do this? Does it make us safer, does it make the world safer? I don’t think so, I think it is all so a handful of multinational companies can get rich with our money and we suffer at home while others suffer abroad. Everyone hates us and we have nothing to show for it. It has to end and we will spend that money at home, it is our money.

Israel is a genocidal apartheid state. At a bare minimum we need to cut all funding and cut all diplomatic cover. After that we must do everything to bring about a one state solution with a right of return for all displaced people from between the river and the sea.

We are a nation of immigrants, always have been always will be. There are people who think that there is some immigrant crime wave or somehow these people are a burden or danger to our society. These are all lies. These people are our friends, family and our neighbors. They are the most exploitable of all of us and that is why politicians can demonize them and pay no cost.

We are going to fix this two-fold.

If you are a corporation or a business who hires undocumented workers, you the corporation will pay the fines and the managers and executives will go to jail. We will document the undocumented and keep it pushing. If a CEO can go to jail for using undocumented labor I think the “problem” will self correct.

The second fold is conditional mass amnesty for all immigrants within our country: full blown citizenship, full stop.