Young Voters Launch Briefcase Brigades to Highlight Youth Jobs Crisis

Today, hundreds of young people all over the country are going to deliver a simple message to their local congressional office, "We're ready -- where are the jobs?"

These young people are dressing up for an interview and bringing briefcases to demand Congress comes up with a plan to deal with the youth jobs crisis. Since Van Jones mentioned the idea for these Briefcase Brigades at Powershift, over 31 groups have sprung up in 22 states.

Briefcase Brigades speak to the challenges we face that politicians just aren't listening to. We are the most educated and tech savvy generation, yet unemployment for Americans under 30 is 16.7%, double the national average. The average student loan debt facing graduates today is over $24,000. Our generation is graduating off a cliff - each year, graduates are stuck facing off in the labor market with unemployed graduates from the prior year.

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And yet, the conversation in Washington revolves around how deep to cut the programs we need, while education costs soar and many qualified job seekers can’t find work. They claim cuts to education and job creation programs will benefit us, but cutting necessary investments threatens the economic recovery and our future well-being. The entirety of the debate over the budget has been about how much to cut, with no attention given to the urgent need to expand opportunities for our generation and protect our priorities for the future. Long term deficit reduction cannot come at the expense of investments that create the jobs younger voters desperately need.

As Washington focuses on addressing the nation’s debt burden, young voters are taking a stand and telling their members of Congress that job creation is what we need right now. Despite our generation's considerable political importance, neither party has a plan to address this growing crisis. We want to tell politicians of both party who think that young people care more about deficit reduction than jobs to pay closer attention. As the 2012 election approaches, the voice of young voters will only grow in importance. We’re finding our voice and speaking out about the issues that affect us personally.

Young voters are organizing Brigades around the country, including New York, Washington, Boston, Orlando, Columbus, Minneapolis, Madison and Atlanta, and many other cities. This is the first step in building a movement to resolve the youth jobs crisis.