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Health & Fitness

The Deadlock In Congress Re: How to Create Jobs and What We Can Do Locally to Break It

A proposal to organize town-hall meetings during the congressional recess regarding the issue of the deadlock in Congress on how to create jobs.

 

If you just want to have fun this summer, then don’t read this post (because we suggest that you devote three weekend days in August to attending town-hall meetings…).  On the other hand, if you enjoy politics and believe that We the People need to stop complaining about the economy and the gridlock in Washington and do something about it – then please read on...

 

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The economic news last week hit us (more about who we are in a moment) like a kick in the teeth (see below).  And, particularly since this is just the latest insult/injury among many others coming out of Washington these days, we MUST do everything in our power to get folks in this community to put our heads together and conjure up a plan to address the deadlock in Washington regarding how to create jobs in our economy.

 

Find out what's happening in Santa Cruzwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

But, before we present a suggestion we have, here is just a quick sample of that economic news we mentioned…

 

MoneyNews.com: (Headline:) Dow Plunges 275 Points, Wiping Out Year's Gains After Dismal Jobs Report.  (From this article:) The stock market suffered its worst day of the year Friday [June 1] after a surprisingly weak report about hiring and employment cast a pall of gloom over the U.S. economy…  It was the Dow's steepest one-day drop since November…  The report [from the Labor Department], considered the most important economic indicator each month, also said that hiring in March and April was considerably weaker than originally thought.

 

Commerce Department: U.S. economy slowed faster in the first quarter than originally reported.  And, per MSNBC (from this article): [This raises] concerns that the U.S. could be at risk of following Europe back into recession.

 

Commerce Dept: (again, from the same Commerce report, I presume – from the same MSNBC article): Gross domestic product expanded at a 1.9 percent annual rate in the first quarter, less than the 2.2 percent the government had estimated last month. That compares to the 3.0 percent rate set in the fourth quarter of last year.  And, per MSNBC (same article), an investment advisor stated: Anytime you dip under two percent, we always head into recession.

 

And then comes the Blame Game…

 

Obama blames Congress (for the Labor Department’s dismal jobs report – see this).  Romney blames Obama (see this).  And this is about where we blew a gasket.

 

Now, in case you are asking: Who are you and what is this suggestion about doing something about the deadlock in Congress on how to create jobs in this country?  Let’s get to that…

 

We are a very nascent, local non-profit (see our website, here).  We are conducting an informal survey in our community to determine the level of interest in a series of “e-town-hall” meetings (see explanation below).  These town halls are our suggestion for how We the People in this community could develop a plan for addressing the issues we have mentioned above.  For example, we suggest that we invite several (as many as possible) of our congressional representatives (local/regional) – particularly those who have voted against Obama’s American Jobs Act, or voted for alternative proposals – to participate in these town halls and explain, in detail, their justification for voting the way they have.  These town-halls (perhaps three?) would be scheduled (if possible) on Saturdays/Sundays during August/September (during the congressional recess), when these representatives should be in their home districts.

 

We also suggest that we invite economic experts to participate in the town halls (via internet conference – which is why we call these “e-town halls”).  We believe that, with the help of economic experts (nationally recognized economists/academics/other experts…), we should be able to focus on the primary subtopics related to this issue (what is the best way to create jobs in the economy) and then reach a consensus (or at least a super-majority?) in the town-hall meeting (among all the participants: representatives, experts and citizens) on a general plan to achieve the goal – job creation.

 

We encourage everyone to read our Announcement (recently posted on Patch, which contains more details about our suggestion/proposal, ) and then let us know what you think about our suggestion.

 

Doing something constructive always makes us feel much better about this mess in which we find ourselves, currently, in this nation.  Please join us and contribute in whatever way you can.  We believe that our children’s/grandchildren’s future in America is at risk and we must all take action, immediately.

 

Good Night and Good Luck.  ( -- Edward R. Murrow)

 

John French

Founder, Article V Convention for Our Children’s Future

http://articlev4ourchildren.nationbuilder.com/

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