An Open Letter to Nancy Pelosi
Dear Madam Speaker:
Don’t abandon the jobless. Many did vote Republican. Many, many more voted for your Democratic colleagues.
The jobless, how ever they voted, were not casting ideological or partisan ballots. Their ballots were cries for help, cries from the heart to go back to work, to rebuild their lives. And they sought help in all the right places: their neighborhood polling places.
The votes they cast did not turn on extending unemployment benefits. What drove the jobless to the polls was the hope that their government would step in, act decisively, and jumpstart job creation. They voted for jobs, pure and simple.
True, not all of the 31 million Americans idled by this Grave Recession voted. But millions did. And their votes reaffirmed a fundamental tenet of American political life: In the Congress of the United States, the most pressing problems facing our Nation can be solved.
In the 111th Congress, your support for the jobless was unwavering. You fought tooth and nail against those whose only answer to our national jobs crisis was “no, no, never.” And your courageous leadership on a host of job creating bills did not go unnoticed by Ur Union of Unemployed and its 3,400 cube leaders and jobs activists.
So, as we head into the waning days of this Congress and prepare for the legislative battles of the next two years, I urge you to make the jobless your allies. Become their champion. Make their fight for jobs your highest priority.
Madam Speaker, just as you have done throughout your career, continue to force the issue. Make Congress to do whatever is necessary to put Americans back to work.
In Unity – Strength,
Rick Sloan
Acting Executive Director
Ur Union of Unemployed
Madam Speaker, just as you have done throughout your career, continue to force the issue. Make Congress to do whatever is necessary to put Americans back to work.