Political Quotes

“Mr. President, during my recent travels across Iowa on my 99-county tour, I couldn't help but notice the number of ``Help Wanted'' or ``Now Hiring'' signs on storefronts along nearly every highway and Main Street. In an era where we seem to live through one unprecedented occurrence after another, the dire job situation has become the latest extraordinary event as millions of Americans remain unemployed, despite an abundance of jobs that need to be filled. In fact, the number of available jobs has reached an alltime record high, 8.1 million positions that need to be filled. And 44 percent of all small business owners have openings they cannot fill, another record. What makes this all the more stunning is that the Nation's unemployment rate increased last month to 6.1 percent. There are now more than 9 million jobless Americans, and nearly a third of those have been unemployed for a year or more. In Iowa, the number of unemployed slowly inched upwards in February and March, and we continue to have more job openings than we do job seekers. There are more than 62,000 job listings posted on the Iowa Workforce Development website, which exceeds the total number of Iowans filing for unemployment benefits. The jobs span a variety of occupations and locations in the State, and employers are desperate to fill them. The police department of Iowa City is urgently trying to hire 10 officers and is offering a $5,000 signing bonus to new recruits.…”