Advocacy is for the young.

I grew up watching Viet Nam war protests on TV. These "end the war marches" usually occurred on a college campus. This makes sense. Young people with disposable time and a guarantee of shelter and sustenance make great advocates. I'm not dismissing the energy and ideas of students. I'm saying that middle aged with family and no clue as where to sleep or how to eat means no energy to fight. Any energy is used to locating shelter and sustenance.  Striking the balance between job search and safety-net solicitation is delicate.

Wouldn't it be simpler to focus all energy into job search? Yes, but with 5 seekers for every job many seekers will be unsuccessful, no matter what.  So the battle for a lifeline continues and consumes energy that could be allocated elsewhere.

Any 99er I know is tired, but the 99ers must carry on.  There is another call to action in the works.  Please commit to join the fight (again). Your participation is necessary for all of us. Tier V to survive.

DC Rally Tomorrow: It's About Time

Our day is almost here. Tomorrow is the One Nation Working Together Rally at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC. It's about time.

I came to One Nation Working Together as a member of the long term unemployed. The USA needs good paying jobs for the sake of all citizens. One Nation stands for more than that: It stands for full equality, a safety net for those at risk and world class public education. In short One Nation Working Together represents middle class values.

During my formative years it appeared the USA was on track for embedding these middle class values permanently.  Somewhere between  my High School graduation and my kids entering middle school America took a wrong turn and turned on the middle class. This must be rectified. So it is about time for tomorrow's rally.

It is important that the rally is not the culmination of efforts to restore the middle class. The rally must be the beginning.  For me, my children and my grandchildren. So I intend to keep middle class values in my daily conversation. As just one guy in the Midwest I ask that tomorrow's rally become an annual event. America needs it and Americans deserve it.

What are your thoughts about tomorrow's rally? A beginning? The end? A stop along the way? What does the One Nation Working Together rally mean to you?

Bipartisanship can happen

I was going through the usual this morning and found this article via Ezra Klein's Wonkbook. Some Dems are considering pushing for extension of the Bush tax cuts due to the continued lack of economic improvement. This could be a godsend for the #99ers.  Extend the tax cuts across the board including the uber-wealthy and add a jobs program with extended unemployment benefits.  Since tax cuts and safety net would be lumped together their timing should be the same. Extend tax cuts thru 2011, do the same for long term unemployment benefits. Thru 2012, 2013, the longer the better.

I realize it would be near impossible to make the "numbers" work. So? That has never stopped Congress before. I believe the only goal for the 99ers should be jobs, jobs, jobs with a safety net until significant job creation can be achieved.  Many Congressional friends of the unemployed have been working tirelessly to provide that safety net but with only sporadic success.  Politics is the art of giving up something to receive something. This would put the needs of the most at risk with the wants of the least at risk.

Albert Einstein said "Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results."  Let the deal making begin.

For those attending the rally

In just a few hours the Wall Street rally to speed passage of the "Americans Want to Work Act" and additional rights for the long term unemployed will begin. The rally is sponsored by the Unemployed Workers Action Group. Attendees will wear buttons, wave signs and listen to speeches. They may even march around in a circle a couple of times.  After about an hour the rally is scheduled to conclude. But the narrative is not guaranteed and no one knows exactly what to expect.

When attendees arrive they join the ranks of abolitionists, suffragists, unionists and civil rights activists. Although it appears extreme to compare this single rally with some of the great equality movements of our country, those causes did not began as chapters of our history. They began as a select few spoke out against something they found fundamentally wrong. Today the fight for jobs with living wages and a safety net when those jobs disappear continues. Time will assign this cause it's appropriate place in history.

Should there be a counter rally or individuals that voice mean-spirited opinions it is important to remember the dignity of Jackie Robinson, the persistence of Susan B. Anthony, the non-violence of Dr. King. Rally participants represent these greats as well as themselves today. No one has the liberty of being goaded into counterproductive actions, it clouds the message.  Success is vital.

The rally will be successful. The greater the success the larger the target.  When naysayers minimize the rally or dismiss it's message please remember: One suicide prevented, one home saved, one family regaining benefits is God's work. Jobs and expanded safety nets will be achieved.

Distance prevents me from attending today's rally.  I will be there in spirit and thought.  My admiration and prayers go out to those that will be there. Thank you for giving my needs a voice. Together we will reach our goals.