Jobs Are Priority One
In response to the letter to the editor from Delegate Landes and Senator Hanger (The Crozet Gazette, August 2011):
With all due respect to these gentlemen, the current national focus on the US debt is misguided. Yes, our debt is too high as a percentage of GDP. Yes, we need a long-term plan to address the issue. However, the US debt is not the issue upon which we should spend today’s time and energy. The solution to the current economic slowdown is complex, but our starting point should be revenue. Not new taxes, but the revenue created by more people working. Eliminating the tax breaks for wealthy Americans and curtailing subsidies to big business, would be a good start, but putting more people to work is the real answer. Where are the jobs programs? Our infrastructure is crumbling, our power grid is antiquated, we have stopped being a country that makes things. Until we address unemployment, the US debt is relatively unimportant.
Herb Thomas
Crozet
