Al Franken: “today I want to talk about jobs. Lately it seems that everyone says they want to talk about jobs and that we will get…”

“today I want to talk about jobs. Lately it seems that everyone says they want to talk about jobs and that we will get around to tackling jobs next week or the week after. I would like to kick off the discussion today, right now, and follow it up with what I plan to do about jobs. I would not be the first to observe that times are tough right now. Our Nation is still reeling from the most disastrous economic collapse in a generation. Failed regulatory policies--or really, just deregulation--bad lending practices, and Wall Street recklessness all contributed to the current crisis, double-digit unemployment for the first time in 25 years. Millions of American families are relying on their unemployment benefits to put food on the table and to pay their rent. Some are looking down at their final unemployment check, wondering what they are going to do next. For every single job opening, there are six unemployed workers. Too many people are left without options or hope in this dismal job market. My feeling is that the American people, especially those folks out of work, need their advocates to say: We have to do this now.”