While in town to address the National Conference of Black Mayors, the Rev. Jesse Jackson took the time to stop by for a discussion of the issues of the day with the Review-Journal editorial board.
His top concerns were the same as ours — jobs and foreclosures. Las Vegas leads the nation in the rate of foreclosures and the official unemployment rate is bumping at 14 percent, though, if you add in those who have given up looking for work and dropped out of the labor force, the figure is approaching 25 percent.
In his customary subdued tones with his customary turns of phrases — “we’ve watered the leaves, but not the roots” — Jackson held forth on the need for second round of stimulus, one that is bottom up, rather than top down. He also noted is hard to negotiate a home loan modification if you don’t have a job.
At one point I asked him if it might not be better, rather than sending our tax money to Washington and having it sent back for specific purposes, to simply let the people and small business owners keep their money by cutting taxes so jobs could be created. He was not averse to that being part of a second stimulus effort.
Maybe the Rev. Jackson and the editorial board of the Review-Journal are no so far apart after all.
The interview lasted an hour and a half, but we have posted video of a couple of minutes on our Web site.
