Back home for their long congressional recess, lawmakers are finding out right away what’s on the minds of most Americans today— Jobs. Duluth, Minn., resident Dan Kingsley, a member of Operating Engineers (IUOE) Local 49, says:
So many of these new people that were elected campaigned on jobs, jobs, jobs and we’ve really yet to see that develop and what they’re doing to help develop those jobs.
Kingsley and several dozen union and community activists rallied outside Rep. Chip Cravaavck’s (R-Minn.) district office Tuesday chanting “Jobs. Not Cuts.” Many later attended a town hall meeting in Deer River to hold Cravaavck accountable for his support of tax breaks for the wealthy and corporations instead of working for an economy that strengthens the middle class and creates jobs.
Similar scenes are being played out across the nation this August as part of a summer of accountability aimed organized by grassroots, community, faith and other groups including the AFL-CIO.
In Dunn., N.C., about 30 people gathered outside Rep. Renee Ellmers’ (R-N.C.) office calling for an end to tax breaks for the wealthy and for Congress to focus on the job crisis. Among them, Agnes Batts told WRAL News:
They should be standing up saying, “Tax the rich. Make them pay their fair share.”
While Rep. Lou Barletta (R-Pa.) was meeting with business groups in Wilkes-Barre, more than two dozen union and community activists were outside the private club to present him with a jobs report card.
Unable to meet with the Barletta, they made do with a life size cardboard cutout of the representative, who got a report card most of us would want to hide from our parents;
•Job Creation: F;
•Saving Jobs: F;
•Fair Taxes: F;
•Overall Job Performance: F.
Federal lawmakers aren’t the only ones being held accountable this summer. In Nashua, N.H., about 100 people held a “No Jobs fair” outside the statehouse. The delivered a “New Hampshire needs More Good Jobs Now” petition to the office of House Speaker Bill O’Brien (R). Says New Hampshire AFL-CIO President Mark McKenzie:
We want to draw attention to really what is one of the biggest problems in this country, which is the lack of really good jobs for people. I think whether you’re young or you’re old or you’re middle-aged, I think that’s a problem that faces us all.
Sandra Gagnon, a mother of two college age children facing higher tuition because of state budget cuts to education—including teacher layoffs–told the Associated Press:
When you cut public-sector jobs: teachers or police, firefighters, court workers…it essentially also results in a cut in private-sector jobs because the laid-off public workers now don’t have money to spend in their community.
The Arizona Daily Star reports that an overflow townhall meeting in Tucson “with progressives showing up in force” greeted Sen. John McCain with loud chants of “Where Are the Jobs.” When McCain said he wanted to cut the corporate tax rate, it triggered “a round of angry outbursts.”
As well it should have.
