Structure the stimulus for the shafted.

January 26, 1:48 PMDC Corporate Ethics ExaminerJim Cunningham

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Consumers and employees have been getting the shaft.

I fear the stimulus will fail. Not because it’s too small. (Which it is.) Not because there’s not enough spending on infrastructure. (Which there isn’t.) I fear the stimulus will fail because the current anti-consumer, anti-employee culture will cause it to fail.

When was the last time the phrase, “The customer is always right”, reached your ears? It’s been a while, hasn’t it? While our backs were turned, the customer-is-always-right marketplace disappeared and was replaced by an anti-consumer culture that, at best, takes customers for granted and, at worst, sees them as prey. Businesses, rather than simply providing a quality product or service at a fair price, have instead become sneaky and made screwing their customers part of the standard business model. I dare you to try and get out get out of a quick-service oil-change shop without having them lie to you about what else you “need” to have done. Insurance companies force customers to call over and over again before they’ll send claim checks, clearly profiting from the small but certain percentage of people who simply give up. Even once-reputable industries have become snake oil salesmen and the current wisdom for consumers is once again “Caveat emptor”, a phrase that was once used to warn against ACTUAL snake oil salesmen. The nation’s largest fitness club famously doesn’t provide a method for customers to cancel their memberships. Do you remember the recording of that poor AOL customer and the customer service rep who simply refused to cancel his service? These days we’re lucky to even get a smile from behind the counter, let alone good service. (And the undisclosed fee for that smile will be showing up on your monthly bills.)

No longer are our banks and credit card companies content to make money the old fashioned way, off of the interest earned by lending you money. Now their business models revolve entirely around creating booby traps for you to fall into so they can charge you unreasonably high penalties and fees. I thought we were their customers?

Stealth inflation has permeated almost everything consumers spend money on. Unexpected fees pop up on our cell phone and cable bills (as well as fees to collect the fees). We get less and less in return for our money in sneaky new ways. Instead of charging more for a bag of chips or carton of ice cream, for example, manufacturers keep the price the same and reduce the container weight. (They think you won’t notice.) Have you paid extra to check a bag, eat a meal, or watch a movie on an airline lately? We didn’t used to, and we’re still paying the fuel surcharge even though gas prices have come down. You see, the thing about stealth inflation is that it’s difficult to reverse. Sure, you can reduce the price of a month of cable service from $40 to $30, but what of the other $30 worth of mystery fees on the bill? Do you suddenly put the chips back and reprint the bag? Not likely.

Consumers have been getting the shaft with regularity for quite some time. Pay attention to it for one day. I challenge you to go 24 hours without some business somewhere trying to screw you out of your hard-earned money. As consumers, we’re always looking over our shoulders – it takes almost everything we have just to be treated fairly and not be victimized.

And the government thinks they’re going to “stimulate” us to spend MORE money with these people?

And what of us as employees? It’s been a long time since good workers were considered a valuable asset who should be treated well and given security. Now a days, people are laid off at the drop of a hat. When things get tough workers are expected to sacrifice first, while management continues to afford luxuries. And when was the last time you saw a Christmas bonus? Have you heard of anyone receiving a signing bonus for a new job lately? Employers have grown quite accustomed to giving employees the bare minimum which, in this economy, isn’t very much. In the balance between supply and demand, workers are in huge supply – too huge - meaning we can demand very little. Businesses have learned creative new ways to cut benefits and get people to work longer hours for less and less money. When businesses are given tax breaks, instead of using them to give raises and hire more people, they, instead, invest overseas or use the money to invest in technology and equipment that replaces people. They use it for union busting.

And the government thinks they’re going to “stimulate” these businesses to use the money to hire MORE people and raise salaries?

So, in this culture, what incentive do consumers have to go out and spend? What incentive do employers have to hire new people, pay them well, and give them benefits? What will change and why would it? There’s nothing in the stimulus plan that stimulates a change in the current anti-people culture.

There’s only one way it can happen. We need to flip over this pro-business advantage and give more power to consumers and employees. And the only way to do that is to create enough jobs to cause a worker shortage. If good employees are in short supply, businesses will have to compete for them with better pay, better working conditions and generous benefits packages.

This will put people back on solid footing and give them buying power. Real buying power. “If you don’t treat me right, I’ll take my money elsewhere” – power. Power to not be taken advantage of. Power to have options. Power to spend a little bit more for better customer service. Power to choose to spend more on quality. Force businesses to compete for our dollars with quality and service and corporate values that match American values, instead of just trying to figure out new ways to screw us. Take power away from the credit card companies. You want to see how a free market really works? Wait until consumers have the freedom that comes from having the money it takes to have a real choice of what they buy: organic or green or pro-union or cruelty-free or “Made in the USA”. It’s been a long time since we’ve seen that kind of free market because in order for consumers to have a voice, they need the power that comes with a consumer and employee-friendly economy.

But the stimulus, as it stands, won’t lead us to this kind of economy.

Of the stimulus package, 40% is being spent on tax cuts and 60% on spending (and only a portion of that is on job-creating infrastructure projects). Tax cuts won’t change the anti-consumer, anti-employee culture. In fact, they’ll go a long way to preserving the status quo. Tax breaks inevitably and disproportionately go to the wealthy, and businesses use them in selfish ways that fail to trickle down.

Tax rebates that go to middle and lower class Americans are better but still ineffective because it gets spent to repay existing debt or simply absorbed into the higher cost of living. (Think, “Give a man a fish.”)

When people are given jobs – good jobs –it gives them security, long-term income, and power. (Think, “Teach a man to fish.”)

But “creating jobs” misses the point since the government can’t really create jobs – the government is dependent on businesses to create jobs.

All the government can do is generate WORK. And for this, there is only one formula: heavy on the infrastructure projects and little to no tax cuts.

I know. I know. It’s practically blasphemy to argue for more government spending and fewer tax cuts. So what?

We’re way overdue for someone new to get the shaft.