Bringing It Back To Jobs

May 04, 2012 11:26 am ET

SUMMARY: The April jobs report out today is a reminder that it all comes down to Americans' top priority: jobs. Regardless of the economic issue at hand, here's how to bring the focus back to jobs.

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KEY MESSAGES

UNEMPLOYMENT RATE

Republican politicians admit their top priority is defeating Obama.
It's no wonder they fought so hard to cut millions of American jobs and lay off our firefighters, teachers, and nurses. Now they're pushing the Ryan-Romney budget to kill 4 million more jobs.
So when they talk about unemployment not improving faster, they're not complaining -- they're bragging.
We have a long way to go before our economy's fully recovered. We could get there faster if Washington Republicans were trying to put Americans back to work instead of making Obama fail.

Words to use: Americans who can't find a job; People who work for a living;
Americans pounding the pavement
Words to avoid: The unemployed

The 1% & 99%

When people who do well in America do well by America, we can pay for job creation and put Americans back to work -- and that means more customers with money in their pockets.
But Republican politicians would rather take from working families so the richest 1% can pay even less. They think those who benefit the most should pay the least and need tax loopholes regular workers can't get.
Americans are fed up with a complicated tax code rigged to favor the wealthiest few, and politicians trying to keep it that way. The truth is America does better when we all do better.
As Warren Buffett tells it, the only class warfare in America is being waged by his class -- and they're winning.

Words to use: The richest/wealthiest 1%; The 99%; All of us; Regular Americans
Words to avoid: "Top" 1%

TAXES

We should be putting money in the pockets of real job creators: the middle class whose spending keeps our businesses thriving and hiring.
Everyone paying their fair share means America can invest in the things that keep our businesses thriving -- maintaining the roads they use, keeping their stores safe, and educating the workers they hire.
But Republican politicians would rather give more tax handouts to millionaires living off their wealth while making millions of working Americans and struggling families pay more.
We tried it their way with "trickle down" economics and all we got to show for it are massive deficits and a shrinking middle class. But when President Clinton told millionaires and big corporations to pay their fair share, we got millions of new jobs and strong economic growth.

Words to use: Tax giveaways; Millionaires and billionaires; Big corporations;
Reward work instead of wealth; Working families; People who work for a living

SPENDING CUTS

Cutting spending means cutting American jobs -- we can't cut our way back to prosperity. In tough economic times we should be hiring Americans, not firing them.
They want to lay off the Americans who keep our country running -- the teachers who teach our kids, the nurses who keep us well, and the cops who keep us safe.
When politicians cut investments in America, Americans lose their jobs. This takes away customers from our stores and money from our pockets -- and that means less hiring everywhere.

Words to use: Middle class jobs; People who keep America running;
Nurses, cops, firefighters, food inspectors, engineers, air traffic controllers
Words to avoid: Government workers

DEFICIT

The best way to handle our debt is to put Americans back to work. That's what families do when they're working off a debt -- they work more.
It's simple math: more tax giveaways for the 1% that don't create jobs mean less investment in the things that do.
Let's be honest here: They're not serious about deficits. Otherwise they wouldn't have fought so hard for the Bush tax cuts and two unfunded wars behind the record deficits we're dealing with today -- and they'd get rid of tax giveaways for millionaires and big corporations right now.
The reality is that they'd rather gut Social Security and Medicare than make millionaires and big corporations pay a few more cents on the dollar in taxes.

Words to use: Default crisis; Social Security and Medicare;
Benefits we already paid for
Words to avoid: Debt ceiling; Debt crisis;
Entitlements; Mandatory spending

REGULATIONS

Freedom doesn't mean playing the game without rules or a referee -- that's just the freedom to cheat. The laws we put in place help responsible businesses succeed by doing the right thing and hold reckless corporations accountable.
What's keeping us from creating jobs isn't that we need dirtier air and water, more reckless Wall Street banks gambling with our retirement, and more dangerous workplaces.
What our businesses need are more customers -- that's why employers aren't hiring -- not regulations or uncertainty about regulations.
Actually, asking businesses to meet higher standards can put people back to work and spark new breakthroughs and new industries.

Words to use: Safeguards that protect us all; Common sense protections; High standards;
Level playing field; Cutting regulations = cutting corners

We develop messaging by aggregating, analyzing and distilling polling, tested messaging, and expert recommendations, and monitoring the media to identify what is and isn't working. See here for some of the experts and organizations we draw on.