Larson Wants to Put America Back to Work

Rep. John Larson held a forum Thursday night at the , which focused on getting people back to work while reducing the budget deficit.

Whenever Larson returns to his home state, there is one thing on peoples’ minds, jobs.

“I have heard it loud and clear,” he said. 

Judi Van Alstyne explained to Larson how she worked at a company for 20 years. Over time, her whole 160-employee department was laid off and replaced by workers in India.

“They gave away our jobs,” she said. 

Rep. Antonio Guerrera, D-29, told Larson that people are concerned about losing their jobs and their children’s future.

“There is no middle class,” Guerrera said. “Why are we going after the people who are so vulnerable? Today, I am scared for my children.”

Larson said the country needs to focus on developing more manufacturing jobs and educating our workforce.

The biggest supporter of the middle class is President Barack Obama, Larson stated. The president is trying to “install a middle class” while balancing the needs of the people, not the parties, Larson added. 

“The president has done a remarkable job,” Larson said. The president has taken the responsibility to bring “this country together,” Larson said.

Larson also discussed the debit celling debate with audience by calling it, “great political theatre.”

“The debit celling was totally unnecessary,” Larson, who did not vote for the debit celling legislation, stated. “It was a manufactured crisis.”

He added that the United States has never defaulted on any payment and the debit celling has risen several times under many different presidents.  

A “deficit super committee” was created to reduce the budget deficit by $1.5 trillion over the next 10 years. The 12-member committee will meet for the first time on Sept. 16. 

On that day, James Clyburn, a House Democrat from South Carolina, will introduce a piece of legislation written by Larson.

The legislation will ask the council to develop a plan to cut unemployment from 9.5 percent to 5.5 percent by 2014 along with reducing the budget deficit. By reducing unemployment, the Congressional Budget Office said the budget deficit would be cut by 25 percent.

The “deficit super committee” would have three options to develop a job creation plan. The committee could do the job creation plan themselves, create a subcommittee (which would require members being added to the committee) or make a separate committee altogether.

The “deficit super committee” will have until Oct. 14 to gather ideas on reducing the budget deficit from all the members of the standing committees in the House of Representatives and the Senate. The committee will then have to present their plan by Nov. 23 and be voted on by Dec. 23.

If the “deficit super committee’s” legislation is not accepted, there will be a two percent cut across the board on non-vital services including medicare. Larson wants a “trigger” placed in the legislation that would force the “deficit super committee’s” plan to floor of the House of Representatives for a vote, no matter what.