Perfect Storm?

So much needs to be done. Pension reforms in each state and most industries. Job creation in industries just now emerging from the soup of creative evolution. New energy sources, scientific discovery, medical break-throughs, electronic products that nurture creative advancements, collaboration among governments and entrepreneurs.

Rebuilding the middle class now long beaten into subservience is a good goal to work on. Generating a new means of journalism, one that keeps score and gets to the bottom of political hype and misleading ideography. Open honest communication among people hungry for it. Journalism that describes, educates and examines truth closely. Well modulated and positive, yet just and accurate beyond doubt.

Understanding public employment is part of labor statistics – unemployment is not only private sector jobs, it includes government jobs, too. With governments at every level under budgetary pincers, there is no doubt why so many of their jobs have disappeared. Yet taxes have not gone down. Government expenditures have not abated. The sky has not turned rosy with such good news. No; only that employment is in the doldrums, new job creation is soft, blah blah blah blah….

Truth be told job creation is pretty darn good. Would love it to be double the current 172,000 new jobs, let’s say 350,000? Could be you know; just start hiring back laid off government workers. Don’t believe me? Ask city managers, agency heads of state subdivisions, and certainly major agency heads of federal departments. They have work to do but can’t get it done. Budget cuts have slashed employment figures. Negative growth in government employment has dragged down the unemployment stats for several years now. And the politicians would have you think this is because government policy is killing private employers.

Not true. Just the opposite.

Congress is on its famous summer break. Five weeks of vacation to return to home districts and face the music, er voters. That’s right. Congressmen and senators are free to return home and talk with all of us. Wonder what they will say? To whom?  Who is listening? Who is believing?

Seems to me we have a perfect storm of incredulity among voters. Most of us don’t believe what the pols are talking about. They have a lot of explaining to do. Why has nothing been done on the federal budget, the deficit ceiling, employment policy, pension reforms, filling vacant judge-ships, building new roads and bridges, supporting new scientific inquiry within the academic community, setting a timetable for discovering the next form of energy that will replace petroleum? Where are they on all of these issues?

They have been playing us dumb. Now it’s our turn to ask the questions and demand unimpeachable answers.

Call them. Visit them. Write them Give them the all-knowing eye when you hear nonsense from their lips! When enough of us do this maybe, just maybe, these public servants will return to our seats of government and do the job they were elected to do.

Perfect opportunity or perfect storm for truth?  You are the only one who can make it happen either way.

August 9, 2013