To put it another way, the AFL-CIO wants to spend America out of existence.
Via HuffPo:
Union leaders were the most upbeat about Tuesday night’s speech. Damon Silvers, policy director at the AFL-CIO, said the speech exceeded his expectations. “His rhetoric was spot-on, and it described the real scale of the country’s needs,” he said.
But Silvers acknowledged that Obama’s specific policy proposals amounted to either policies that Obama could pursue without Congress’ cooperation or ones that would make obstructionist Republican lawmakers look “really extreme, because they are.”
“We would like to see the rhetoric more fully fleshed out,” Silvers said. “But it’s understandable given that it’s clear that this Congress this year will not act in the national interest.”
Ultimately, Silvers said, the economy needs a $4 trillion public investment program over 10 years — with investments focused on education and infrastructure — to make the economy competitive enough to support a strong middle class in the long run. While Obama’s speech did not outline such a large-scale project, it did highlight the scale of the country’s problems, he said.