Nothing, unless you're of the mind that a cabin, a shotgun and a kerosene lamp are all anyone needs to thrive. For those of us who use roads and expect them to be lit and value police and fire departments and -- like it when bridges don't crack and -- like it when buildings don't collapse and -- like it when levies don't break and -- think that a good education in public schools is important and -- want Medicare to be there for us and -- want Social Security to be there for us and -- care that those in poverty get the care they need Those are the things we all pay into with taxes. And contrary to a few anti-government zealots, we gladly pay those taxes to keep those things alive. And those taxes that allow those things to happen provide jobs for millions of our fellow Americans. And those millions of Americans who have those jobs pay taxes and buy a lot of things that keep the economy humming. We want all of that to happen. I heard an interesting statistic the other day. $1 billion in infrastructure spending (modernizing bridges and highways and buildings, building new bridges and highways and buildings, building high-speed rail systems to make commuting greener, faster and cheaper) produces 25,000 skilled-labor jobs. $200 billion in dedicated, core infrastructure can generate 5 million jobs. Money in the hands of middle-class workers will always generate purchase power and lift the economy. Money in the hands of corporations or the very wealthy goes to other countries or into savings and does very little to lift the economy. Thinking that if some people just get rich enough, they'll start creating jobs in droves has no basis in reality. The wealthy in this country have never been wealthier and the jobs aren't coming. The corporations are sitting on their largest cash reserves in history and the jobs aren't coming. And the jobs aren't coming because the middle class isn't buying products or services because they're squeezed.