[OPINION] How Obama can use the Earthquake to Create Jobs

The 5.8 magnitude earthquake that struck in Virginia and was felt throughout the eastern United States on Tuesday could be used by President Obama to create jobs. The president has said that he will present his new jobs bill in a speech shortly after Labor Day and if he wants a successful bill, he could use the earthquake as the reason for creating much-needed infrastructure jobs across America.

Luckily, there have currently been no reported deaths from the earthquake and the damage scale for the most part seems to be minimal, but the earthquake should be a wake-up call for the American people that we need to fix our country’s crumbling infrastructure. One of the biggest concerns during the earthquake was not only how the old buildings on the East Coast were standing up, but also the state of the North Anna nuclear power plant in Virgina, which had to be shut down. Fixing our old nuclear power plants is just one way this country can create new jobs.

More on jobs, jobs, jobs after the jump…

Posted by:

Justin Burkhardt

Kicking Us While We’re Down!!

Yesterday, the US Senate defeated a measure that would provide $1.3 billion for summer jobs for young people. They also voted to end relief efforts for poor families with young children. Although Republicans were the loudest opponents, some Democrats also voted against the measure. Perhaps they are not feeling the future.

I think this is an amazingly dumb move. All of us have friends and family members that would benefit from these jobs. But if our nation’s leaders don’t have the heart to stand up for us, we will stand up for ourselves.

Over the next several weeks, legislators in the House and Senate will be jockying to get this measure back in some version of the jobs bill. The margin of defeat was incredibly close in the first round of voting, and our pressure in this period of negotiation could make the difference between failure and success.

Sign your name to our “Lead on Youth Employment” petition and we will hand deliver your message to your elected officials in D.C.!

The Senators that voted against this measure think we aren’t paying attention. They are flat wrong. It is time for the youth of America to stand up to the people who are selling our futures short.

Fill out our “Lead On Youth Employment” petition and we will hand deliver your message to your elected officials in D.C. Make sure you sign even if your Senator voted yes. Show them that we appreciate their support and expect them to do more for our generation.

Sign our Youth Employment Petition now.

This is up to us. We can only blame ourselves if we don’t step up.

Biko

Posted by:

Biko Baker

Senate Passes Jobs Bill

Aided by a handful of Republicans, Senate Democratic leaders on Monday kept alive a $15 billion job-creation measure and are poised to pass the measure later this week. Five Republicans, including new Sen. Scott P. Brown (Mass.), joined 57 Democrats in voting to break a filibuster of the jobs bill, after a suspenseful buildup in which members of both parties wondered whether Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) could cobble together enough support to clear the legislative hurdle.

Read more at the Washington Post.

Posted by:

The Editor