| By Dr. Jeffrey Lant Author's program note. You know and I know (and may be even they themselves know) the folks in Washington, D.C., those congress people, and even the president of these United States, just don't get it. I mean, it just seems like common sense, logical, that a human person needs a job and the income that derives from it. So today I'm going to do these exalted poobahs a favor. I'm not going to wait a moment longer... I've got a detailed plan for what the Honorable Barack can do -- right now. And he better use it, too, before all the folks without jobs hand him his hat... and some other gent his job. It doesn't cost trillions of dollars and your right arm. By Washington standards, it's cheap... and that's probably why they'll turn up their noses at it... because this plan isn't going to swell the ranks of the bureaucracy; it is only going to help real people get work and focus the president on what's important: having a job, like he does. For the incidental music to today's article, I've selected a pip of a tune. Your mom probably sang it to you when you were a kid. Mine did... and mom (who was a bit of a ham, like all good mothers) needed no persuasion, not just to belt it out, but pretend she was a train and that I was her favorite passenger. The tune is "I've Been Working On The Railroad." You'll find it in any search engine. Go now, find and sing it at the top of your voice. Feels good, doesn't it, especially if you've got a job! It's a traditional American folk song first published in a book of glees, "Carmina Princetonia", by Princeton University in 1894. Those privileged boys knew nothing about work, of course; but they did know a good tune when they heard it...and so did the Sandhills Sixteen who first recorded it. It was released by Victor Records in 1927... and was so popular everyone and his bro' recorded it, too. It's easy to see why. It's got traditional American pep and toe tapping rhythm. It's the way a bunch of folks would sound as they let off steam (and had a cool one, or two) after work... The key was "work." And that, Mister President, is why you need to listen to this tune and its lyrics and get the message: "I've been working on the railroad All the live-long day." A pie cutter, not a pie maker. To understand Barack Obama better, you've only got to remember that he's a lawyer. And while that isn't exactly illegal, it is certainly not what we need when the issue is, as it has been throughout his presidency, jobs, pure and simple. That's because lawyers are adept at dividing wealth (always keeping a good slice of it for themselves); they are not and never have been good at creating wealth. I like to say, lawyers can cut up a pie and distribute it... but they don't know a hill of beans about making pies. And that's Barack's problem and why he's having so much trouble... and why much more trouble is heading his way unless he gets the message and starts creating some jobs. And one more thing... the problem is even worse because he's a Harvard LAW grad. Now, I've got nothing against the "Harvards" (as Lyndon Johnson used to call them); I have two Harvard degrees myself. but you've got to understand something. Harvard Law graduates (the best trained lawyers on earth) are cool, detached, analytical to a degree. They have been trained in the mastery of words... not in the necessary skills for working with, inspiring and motivating people. And if you don't see Barack Obama in these words, you need to change your bi-focals. He was trained in a way that provides no assistance whatsoever in making pies and feeding Americans who need them. I'm here to help. I am always glad to pull a Harvard Law grad out of the drink... It helps humble that insufferable breed. Here's my suggestion designed to save the president's bacon and, while we're at it, put millions of Americans to work, which is where they ought and want to be. Here's where a knowledge of business, marketing, and the Internet come in handy. First, let's make sure we're focused on the right enemy and get Obama focused, too. He missed the boat (as every political junkie knows) by concentrating first on health care, gays in the military, etc. These were important, of course, but never as important (or as marketable) as JOBS. And here the Honorable Barack unquestionably muffed it. It's what put him in the soup and soured America. Real people never forgot that which Obama gave no indication of ever knowing; namely that having a job (with that all-important predictable income) is the key to the good life and the mental serenity that everyone needs. It's that "pie maker" thing I mentioned above. Declare war on the real enemy -- unemployment. Obama is the Commander-in-Chief of all the president's horses and all the president's men. He needs to act like it and select the right enemy: unemployment. This means setting the goal and going about the business of achieving it. Start by turning the Roosevelt Room into what it used to be: a military command center. Tell the nation that a 24 hour-a-day strategic center will work from there... and that it will help folks around the nation CREATE jobs... and recognize those who do. Make it clear that you, the president, will appear in this war center daily; also, that you will address the nation for 5 minutes or so. Monday through Saturday. Set up the necessary video facilities in the White House. Then get a website where the jobs being created are listed along with the folks responsible for thus helping achieve victory in the war for employment. Make it clear to your fellow Citizens just what you are doing and that you are calling upon them to help add new workers to their enterprises and organizations. Each day cite progress, outline problems, say what you're doing to solve them and make progress. Show the American people what YOU are doing... and then make it clear what they need to do. Americans like this kind of common sense approach. They can understand it, unlike mere statistics as reported by government agencies and run in newspapers. Your job is to keep it clear and simple so that even teen-agers understand. "Hi, fellow Americans, here's what we achieved together today." You pioneered in using the Internet to raise money and identify supporters. Now use it to motivate and recognize job creators of any kind for everything they do. Be enthusiastic! Always mention the names of these heroes in the war for job creation and growth. Make your website interactive like my Live Business Center. Have employers leave their job creation info... and have a staffer get back to them at once for all the details. Make sure you phone some of them... and always, always, always thank the people -- by name -- for what they do towards creating the jobs Americans need. And, remember, every job created has a tremendous ripple effect, the new job holder, his family, the children, the merchants where they shop, you get the picture. Turn it into a Big Deal.... because it is. One more thing: by doing this and embracing the American people and their needs and concerns, you'll not only save your soul; you'll probably save your presidency, too. And if you follow these recommendations and achieve success, you'll deserve it! |
