Letter: State economic plan is shortsighted
Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, left, and New York Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos (R-Rockville Centre), right, hand out a Regional Economic Council award of $101,600 to Hofstra University president Stuart Rabinowitz and New York State Deputy Assembly Speaker Earlene Hooper (D-Hempstead) at a ceremony in Albany last week. (Dec. 8, 2011) Credit: AP, 2011
Where are the real jobs? ["Leaders applaud state grants," News, Dec. 9]. The only thing I see is taxpayers' money going to private business or contractors and builders, who will create short-term construction jobs. It's just kicking the job problem down the road. What is the sense of building housing, sewers and transportation for people who are unemployed and can't pay rent, unless you're building for the future homeless?
The real problem is we have too many workers and not enough work, and that's not going to change. What we need are long-term manufacturing jobs.
What about the corporations who spend billions of dollars to have their products, like cellphones, manufactured in China and sell them here in the United States? Maybe we should do a little arm-twisting to bring some of those jobs back home.
What about windmills and solar panels? At least there is a long-term payback, with lower electric rates and a healthier environment.
Mike Houlihan, Islip
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