Wealth is NOT created at retail, nor by the credit "industry." The creation of wealth takes place when a useful product is created through mining, processing, manufacturing, and/or cultivation. Value is added to a product when it transported from the site where it was created to the place where it will be put to use (or consumed).

Because of this, the bailout of the financial sector has not, will not, and cannot create the wealth needed to achieve full employment and a rising standard of living. The financial sector can only expedite the transfer of wealth between other economic entities, such as manufacturers and consumers. The past thirty years, during which the financial sector has been the focus of the US economy, has seen the greatest transfer of wealth in the history of the planet--from consumers to manufacturers and investors (with retailers and lenders profiting disproportionately), from the working class to the wealthiest individuals, from small businesses to large corporations, and from the United States to its overseas suppliers of consumer products.

What is needed, in order to restore our nation to its former prosperity and preeminence in the global economy, is not additional bailouts which will expedite the further transfer of wealth. What is needed is effective action which will enable our corporations and our people to increase the amount of wealth that they create. We need a "Marshall Plan for America."

In the years following the Second World War, our government took the initiative in addressing the economic woes afflicting Western Europe, where the industries and their ability to create wealth had been destroyed during the war. We used American resources in several ways; first, we assured that the immediate needs of the people were met through foreign aid programs which provided food, clothing, and rebuilt housing for the people of Europe; second, we provided money and equipment needed to rebuild the infrastructure which had been destroyed in the great conflict--rebuilding railroads, constructing highways and bridges, and repairing ports, airfields, and transportation facilities; third, we provided capital and equipment to rebuild the manufacturing ability of Western Europe, so the people in those nations would be able to create wealth for themselves, providing jobs for the people (and the means for sustaining their families), and producing the vital manufacturing base which would allow these nations to accumulate the capital for future investment and long term prosperity.

Now, after three decades (or more) of thoughtless "profit-taking" by management, abandonment of American workers and the transfer of manufacturing jobs overseas, and outright fraud on Wall Street, we have reached a point where it should be obvious to everyone that a "consumer economy" CANNOT SUSTAIN ITSELF. We have to produce value in order to create wealth and assure prosperity for the widest number of our citizens. For that reason, I think that a "Marshall Plan for America" should be instituted, closely following the example that we set in Europe more than a half-century ago. We need to rebuild our crumbling infrastructure, improve our transportation systems (including ending our dependence on imported petroleum), invest in new and more efficient manufacturing systems, and rebuild the industrial base which made us the wealthiest nation. If the private sector is unable or unwilling to provide the needed capital, then it is the DUTY of the government to serve its people by working to assure their well-being, prosperity, and security during all the years ahead.