TAMPA, FLORIDA -- Though the first day of the Republican convention was disrupted by the hurricane that wasn't, the rest of the week is following the carefully planned script. As will, I'm sure, the Democratic convention next week in Charlotte. Speeches will be delivered, standing ovations will be given, and balloons will drop as a smiling family waves from the dais. Both conventions will portray their respective parties as well-oiled machines, ready to churn out solutions to our many crises. But don't mistake the shows for reality, which is not following the same smoothly executed script, which includes 20 million Americans who are unemployed or underemployed, while jobs go unfilled because job seekers lack the right skills or training. It would be hard to overstate the devastating human consequences behind those numbers. At The Huffington Post, we're committed to telling those wrenching stories. But there is a real danger that by focusing exclusively on what is not working, the media are missing out on recognizing what is working -- the opportunities that are available, and the creativity, ingenuity, compassion, and entrepreneurship Americans are tapping into in order to create jobs.
That's why we've chosen to use the unique opportunity offered by the conventions -- with 15,000 credentialed media present -- to launch a multi-part effort to put the spotlight on solutions, innovative ideas, and the men and women who are actually creating jobs right now. The conventions are, of course, inherently partisan affairs, but there's nothing left-wing or right-wing about coming together to address the jobs crisis.
This week in Tampa, and next week in Charlotte, we're going to hear a lot about what each party intends to do to create jobs. But it's increasingly clear that whichever side of the aisle you're on, no magic solution will be coming out of Washington any time soon. As John Bridgeland, CEO of the public policy firm Civic Enterprises, who has been instrumental in our effort, told me, "we need all hands on deck and there are concrete steps the private sector, fueled by the entrepreneurial spirit of the American people, can take right now to help jumpstart further progress." In order to tap into that "all hands on deck" spirit, and our nation's surplus of resilience and creativity, we need to change the narrative.
And to help do just that, The Huffington Post will be hosting panel discussions at each convention, which will center on those creating jobs right now and on ways we can scale what is working for the kind of disruptive change we need to end the crisis and look ahead to a better future.
Panelists in Tampa will be Ohio Governor John Kasich; Scott Case, CEO of Startup America; Walter Isaacson, CEO of the Aspen Institute; Allen Blue, co-founder of LinkedIn; Laura Ingraham, syndicated radio host and Fox News contributor; Judith Rodin, CEO of The Rockefeller Foundation; Brad Smith, General Counsel at Microsoft; Sanford Shugart, President of Valencia College; Marc Freedman, CEO of Civic Ventures; Jeremy Heimans, CEO of Purpose; and Mark Kvamme, director of JobsOhio. In Charlotte, panelists will include Julián Castro, Mayor of San Antonio and Democratic keynote speaker; Rosario Dawson, actress and Founder of Voto Latino; and musician Will.i.am.
I'm also delighted that Tom Brokaw is moderating both panels. As a journalist and as a storyteller, in books like The Greatest Generation and The Time of Our Lives, he has chronicled the American experience in his own distinctive voice.
As a boy, Brokaw was captivated by the small locked box of $25 war bonds tucked away in his parents' closet -- which, he wrote, had "a kind of sacred quality." And it's true -- the spirit of cooperation, collective purpose and shared sacrifice represented by those bonds is sacred. And "the greatest generation" acted on that spirit to make our country stronger and better. But it wasn't just about fighting the war. In the decade after World War II, as John Bridgeland put it, "that generation volunteered more, joined organizations more, voted more, gave charitable contributions more and were active neighbors helping those in need more than the generations that came before -- and would come after them." Our nation pulled together to educate its workforce and build the economic engine that created the American middle class. Facing an uncertain future, Americans summoned a spirit of optimism, ingenuity, and resilience.
Along with our lunch panels, we'll be hosting a jobs expo, bringing entrepreneurs of all stripes together to showcase the ways they're creating jobs and providing training to America's workforce. We want to open up the lines of communication, and get entrepreneurs and policy-makers talking. And we hope these conversations will continue long after the balloons have deflated. The jobs expo will be all about how -- how we are already creating jobs, how we can learn from each other, and how we can take those solutions to the people and places that need them most.
More than 70 entrepreneurs will appear at each convention expo. They include the Millennial Trains Project, founded by Patrick Dowd, a former JPMorgan analyst, who is organizing cross-country train rides that will bring enterprising young Americans together to see the country's regional challenges and brainstorm solutions; Kickboard, a tech start-up that uses tablets to help teachers cut down on paperwork, centralize student data and share it with other teachers, administrators, and parents; Zeel, a company that connects patients to the health providers they seek; ConnectEDU, which uses a sophisticated algorithm to connect students with the colleges most likely to accept them -- just like Amazon uses customer information to recommend books you might like; and Opportunity Finance Network, whose CEO Mark Pinsky said, "Our hope is that this venture will help kick-start a whole different attitude about what's possible."
Today we'll also announce that more than 30 companies, non-profits and foundations have partnered with us to make specific promises to address the jobs crisis. They include The Rockefeller Foundation, which will award $1 million to an organization with the most innovative solution to create jobs; The Ford Foundation, which is investing $150 million over the next five years to address the factors contributing to the skills mismatch and assist working people to gain economic security and develop new businesses; and The Skoll Foundation, which has committed $250,000 to a challenge that will fund the most creative and innovative ideas from non-profits working to create jobs.
And I'm delighted that The Huffington Post, along with Crowdrise, will be partnering with The Skoll Foundation in order to fulfill this promise. In coming up with a name for the challenge, we wanted to conjure the barn-raising spirit that has always been part of the American DNA. So we're calling it JobRaising.
Finally, to tie it all together, we've created a dedicated HuffPost section called "Opportunity: What is Working," featuring news and updates on all these projects, as well as blog posts of entrepreneurs, philanthropists and ordinary citizens, as well as governors and mayors, on what is working, and ideas about what would work.
We can rekindle the American Dream, but to do so we'll need to summon the American spirit. We're not letting government or our national leaders convening here in Tampa and in Charlotte off the hook, but we cannot just be bystanders waiting for them to act. There is much to be done, but there is already much being done. By putting the spotlight on what is working, we hope to change the narrative away from a fatalistic acceptance of our jobs crisis to the ingenuity and resilience that have always defined our country.
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Will we ever get these jobs back? Without carrots or sticks, not bloody likely. We don't have to ponder why corporations are paying so much for this election. (Using foreign labor cost savings to purchase immunity with impunity). Their man Romney has the perfect resume to oversee furthered corporate representation without taxation.
The practice is unsustainable. We cannot buy their products without jobs. But who is strong enough to stand up to corporations, as they spew soul-deadening hate and lies over their media?
Our false national narrative centers on social moral issues, dividing friends and family, and distracting us as corporations steal our democracy, undercover. The only war worth fighting right now is the one to restore our government to the (actual) people. Corporations who refuse American labor, avoid US taxes, exploit our stock exchanges and environment; who force their candidates sign a pledge as a condition for funding, should not get free access to our markets. An entity to themselves, they will not self-regulate, nor stop until our nation is used up.
Obama 2012. We are not our enemy.
There is a solution to the jobs problem and it could quickly put hundreds of thousands of people back to work. It is not pro left or right. It is not from any corporation, it's outside the government control, it's totally voluntary, works in about one week, and helps all with little sacrifice from anyone.
National Hiring Day - This is a day that corporations are encouraged to hire new employees. Corporations are called on to put patriotism first and help their country in
hard times. Those corporations that cannot hire, are asked to stop firing for that month.
http://wp.me/p5S9X-nv
Let's say you run a business, by hiring one person, you are a part of this. Many others hire one or more. Then because you (and others) hired one or more, thousands have gotten jobs, lost insecurity and worry, and are ready to buy from you and others. AND they have a good reason to support your company. Just one hire from enough businesses and the whole country has a big boost. You help a little and get good will from thousands that find jobs, in return.
In fact in my understanding based on my own theory of evolution in terms of four basic forces US is the quit-essential Homo Sapiens with special emphasis on the later aspect. And so even though for a while things may seem to be going down it cannot fail for ever if Human Beings are to survive and grow in "God's scheme of things and which is with which we are most concerned.
As a corollary if US stands and grows the whole world stands and grows for it is like head/mind of the world. To have a bit more idea read latest post on my blog: Clint Eastwood's cameo, Charles Dawkins tweetjoke... http://bigtamasha.blogspot.com/2012/09/clint-eastwoods-cameo-charles-dawkins.html?spref=tw
Instead we should have been studying Job Ed: how jobs are created. Romney has a special talent in job creation and I hope we hire him.
I do however believe that he will preside over the US as if it is a business - The “Actuarial In Chief”. Venture Capitalist’s Goal is to make money, jobs - should they come, are a by product. Downsizing affords no time for emotion, sympathy and not much empathy - it is about one thing only, the bottom line. Determine what you are going to get ride of, do it and keep moving. Romney will attempt to quickly downsize the Federal Government. The first impact will be a rise in unemployment.
Corporations are sitting on $3T in cash and banks are not making sufficient loans to small businesses. Small business demand is down because consumers have cut back. At the convention Romney said he will create 12M net new jobs in 4 years = 3M/year averaging 250K/month. The greatest number of net new Jobs created, over the last 12 administrations, was a 241k average/month under Clinton, 2nd was Carter, 3rd was Johnson and 4th was Reagan (167K/m). How is this going to be done? - Corporations get off the $3T, banks increase loans to small businesses, 241K jobs per month coming from where/how (especially considering history) and consumers begin buying again? I need both President Obama and Governor Romney to address these questions.
The United States was founded by Locke Liberals fighting against the Burke conservative big money oligarchs.
Thanks to Fox and Rush Our citizens have forgotten that our founders were for free education with modest room and board if needed. They were against the accumulation of wealth.
"When economic power became concentrated in a few hands, then political power flowed to those possessors and away from the citizens, ultimately resulting in an oligarchy or tyranny." John Adams
Our founders were anti big money corruption.
Our founders tossed East India Tea because it was taxed too little.
But the dupes now have that all backwards.
The dupes are now loyal serfs.
ANYONE REMEMBER WALKING THE PRECINCT TO REGISTER NEW VOTERS? TAKING VOTERS TO THE POLLS? IT MEANS FACE TALK WITH THE VOTERS IN YOUR PRECINCT,
MY PRECINCT HAS BEEN DOWNGRADED TO A MAIL ONLY PRECINCT BECAUSE THERE ARE LESS THAN 250 REGISTERED VOTERS IN THE PRECINCT.
I INTEND TO CHANGE THIS, BUT I NEED THE HELP OF OTHER REGISTERED VOTERS WHO SPEAK THE LANGUAGES OF MY NEIGHBORHOOD: SPANISH, TAGALOG, CHINESE. I CAN'T EVEN FIND AN OFFICE CALLED A DEMOCRATIC HEADQUARTERS!
This just shows what the American people can accomplish when we all come together and work as we should, united. The American spirit has been hampered by the last twelve years of nothing but job loses, corrupt banking practices and a failed health care system. The government has not set the faith in it's people since the time of Tom Brokaw's Greatest Generation. This is what the American people need, a good swift kick in the spirit.
Donut Hole #1 - They will reopen the Prescription Drug Donut Hole and they will create Donut Hole #2 - Medicare Voucher of $6,400+/- goes to insurance companies and seniors make up the difference or go without. Maybe it is time to start manufacturing those old donuts to sit on because it will be a rough, bumpy and painful ride.
Mr. ? - Xerox, Kodak, Steve Jobs, Bill Gates,. and where did they get money to
expand,. who's money is in the banks?
Through the innovations of millions of employees,. businesses have realized a
more competitive edge. If it weren't for these contributions of ideas,. many
businesses would fold,. jobs and investments lost.
People forget that the first bailout of GM in the 80s was with employees 40b
retirement fund,. facilitating Rick Wagner's Brazil, India, and Chinese market
development, not even mentioned in Wikipedia, or anywhere easily found.
And,. what of all the years where the Big Three made record profits while
paying decent living wages? If auto workers benefit packages where too
generous,. where's the concern about congressional compensation?
Willie Lynch(Carl Rove) again,. turn people against one another while those
in power abscond with the bounty of everyone's efforts.
tax revenues are back near 2006 levels....
w's peak employment had 4 million more working than today, obama is barely back where he started in the number of employed.
j
Given the last Republican President, I don't think we can afford to risk it again. George W. spent money like a drunken sailor and walked away from his debts.