So, if the govt could create all of these jobs, why don't they just do it? I mean, why would we ever have unemployment if the govt could just pull the magic job producing switch?
Because no one is arguing that the government should step in an hire every unemployed person, even now. What we're saying is that now is a very good time to shift consumption of certain things to right now. That largely relates to repairing/building new infrastructure because it's a long-term investment that will continue paying dividends into the future.
We've got borrowing costs below the rate of inflation, cheap labor and materials and lots and lots of infrastructure that needs work.