Sample Letters to the Editor #1- Jobs

I am planning a series of "letters to the editor" designed to try to change the focus of political questions and discussions. Humbly {G} I offer them to all as models

Feel free to copy (and edit them) for your own locations. (Please add a comment to this blog entry, or email me at rjw.progreesive@gmail.com if you use one.)

I believe a significant short coming of Democratic politics is the failure to affect the focus and language of political discussion. I'm aiming to make the letters succinct with easy to grasp concepts.

Today's (which I sent to the Toledo Blade in Ohio)
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To The Editor:

Where Are The Jobs? Who Makes the Hiring Decisions?

Unemployment is still pretty high as of early May, 2010. Unemployment peaked at 10.1% in October 2009, but is still high at 9.9%.

The Federal government has spent a lot, billions, to stimulate the economy, channeling those billions through the private sector to execute the many projects covered by the Stimulus Act.

The government can encourage hiring, it can help create opportunities for job growth, but it is the private sector which decides when to hire workers and how many to hire.

Over that past year, corporate profits have gone up, spectacularly in some industries, and worker productivity (how much work companies get out of their employees) has risen more than any other year since 1963.

But unemployment remains stubbornly high.

One can understand that businesses are reluctant to hire. But corporate America (which has contributed to so much in our lives) seems to have forgotten the lesson first taught by Henry Ford: hire and pay workers enough so they can afford to buy the products produced by our economy.

So, where are the jobs? All we can do is ask American businesses for an answer: they are responsible for making the hiring decisions.

Sincerely,

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Attention Fact Checkers: My sources:

Productivity: http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-05-06/productivity-of-u-s-workers-rises-more-than-forecast-update2-.htm

Profits: http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-05-07/u-s-stock-futures-gain-on-bigger-than-forecast-jobs-growth.html

National unemployment: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/08/business/economy/08jobs.html