Former Congressman Alan Grayson (D-Orlando) said, while the Jobs Plan unveiled by President Barack Obama is a start, much more is needed to help struggling Americans and put millions who can’t find jobs, back to work. Â Job one for America should be to get Americans back to work and not what the Federal deficit might be in 2020, he told West Orlando News Online.
Lack of jobs for the 23 million people or so wanting full time work is just one of many problems that America faces, Grayson said. Other problems are the 50 million people without health coverage and who can’t see a doctor when they are sick, 47 million who depend on the government for food to survive and 15 million American families who owe more on their mortgages than the value of their homes.
“If people can’t find a job, it’s very hard for them to afford health care,” he said. “If they can’t find a job, it’s very hard for them to feed themselves. So, that’s job one for America– to get Americans back to work.”
Given the scale of America’s problems, Grayson said, he is shocked that some elected representatives are seeking to exploit the situation for their own political ends.  According to him, the political world is divided between those who want to help and those who did not. President Obama  is one of those who wants to help.
“It appauls me to see people view our problems as an opportunity to cut Social Security, to cut Medicare and to cut Medicaid,” he said. “This is entirely wrong.”
Grayson said, every spare dollar that the country has should be used to create jobs and if the wars were ended in Afghanistan and Iraq, some $150 billion would be saved annually. This would be sufficient to put 5 million people back to work right away and reduce the unemployment rate from 9 percent to 5.5 percent overnight.
