Wealth creation should be aim

Carl Staib (Letters, Feb. 11) is right that Congress isn’t creating new wealth with the current stimulus package. Staib is also correct that they’re just moving money around – money which has no inherent value.

However, Congress and the president could (1) create new wealth, (2) create hundreds of thousands of jobs and (3) jump ahead in worldwide competitiveness if they would simply focus on the right problems.

Think about what Grand Coulee Dam did for not only the Northwest but for the nation. That’s wealth creation in the form of energy to do the work of industry and farming.

How about some massive projects to completely streamline the energy grid, not by some poorly defined future time, but with year-by-year benchmarks and within five years? How about water management that would ensure water for all purposes according to the same schedule? How about high-speed, high-energy technology trains and new road beds across the country, not only for passengers but for freight, again according to a similar schedule?

All of this is wealth production, and it could all be done for $800 billion. Plenty of good jobs now, and the stock market would go nuts.

Larry Vandervert

Spokane