Editor, Manteca Bulletin,

Sadly, a majority of our elected leadership in Washington do not have a clue about how to improve our economy, and they are disconnected from the interests and concerns of most of us who live in the U.S.A. In fact, their actions appear to weaken, not strengthen it.

Am I being too harsh? I am not angry, just frustrated. With a national unemployment rate of almost 9% and higher rates in some states and localities, the Federal government demonstrates its concern for the American unemployed and under-employed by doing the following:

1. Gives tax breaks to major corporations that ship American jobs off shore to foreign lower-paying labor markets;

2. Allows (with the passage of HR 3012) for the unlimited importing of foreign workers to take high-skill and higher-paying American jobs, because American technology companies lobby for the legislation, and they are not doing enough to train and employ qualified American workers;

3. Opposes the safe and environmentally sound development of existing American and Canadian fossil-fuel resources that would create thousands of jobs, make America virtually energy independent, and give us time to develop alternative fuels;

4. Operates a program called EB-5 that is supposed to give foreigners visas if they invest $1 million to build a business in the US that creates at least 10 jobs. The 12/26/11 edition of the New York Times reports that the program has “spawned cynical practices that are stretching the rules and violating the spirit of the law.”

5. Believes that the current economic crisis is created largely by a bad housing market. Without keeping and growing jobs in America, we will never have a good housing market again, because no one will be able to buy them.

Think about this and see if you agree. Write your members of the House and U.S. Senate, have a voice, and vote accordingly. America’s economic future depends on it.

Happy New Year! We shall overcome!

David Jinkens
Manteca
Dec. 29. 2011