A Letter to our Leaders

Dear President Obama and Speaker Boehner,

Something I learned when my children were teenagers was compromise. I learned not to be bothered with the small things and to concentrate on the larger, more life changing events. I would not nor could not tolerate lying, cheating and dishonesty. Instead I tried to listen, ask questions and negotiate. As an employee in corporate America I stuck to these same principles. Most of the time it worked, too.

Why can’t these same simple values apply within our government? Why have months and now, years passed without civil negotiation and compromise? Have you looked on LinkedIn lately? Have you seen the groups full of hopeless job seekers? Have you read the stories of heartache and disillusion? Our people are desperate. They are turned down for positions because they are seen as too old or too overqualified. They have tried every tactic imaginable to get into a job that may be several steps lower than what they had in the past just to get a paycheck. Our people need help. As a job search trainer I have had over 60 people crowd into a small conference room just to learn one new employment tactic. People from affluent areas, people from cities, and people from the suburbs are all suffering.

Name calling, bullying and childish behavior from our elected officials doesn’t help and only adds to the frustration. Come on, we teach our kids how to behave through civil discourse; it’s time for some real conversation in Washington.