Strategic Messaging

To propagate a message is to spread propaganda.

It's hard to see eye to eye when you're looking in different directions.

"As long as you stand by your principles, compromise is not a dirty word." -- NJ Gov. Chris Christie re-election campaign ad.

    Election season is upon us, and it's useful to remember that while the approach may differ and the words sound better, the goal and purpose of the message have not changed. America's economic problems have not gone away. And while they have receded a bit, unless both Republicans and Democrats work together, the recession now roiling in Europe will send a second Great Recession wave across the Atlantic.
   Consider: A job fair designed especially for ex-offenders had to be canceled because three thousand people -- triple the expected number -- showed up in Philadelphia and police were called to maintain order. There were no problems, except that the sponsors were overwhelmed by the turnout of those seeking work.
   In Europe, recession has become official for the 27-nation Union, as output fell in the first quarter, following an earlier decline in the fourth quarter of 2012. The euro zone has shown negative growth numbers for a full year. The standard measure is that two consecutive fiscal quarters with negative numbers constitutes a recession. In the euro area, GDP was off by 0.2 percent, and 0.1 percent for the entire EU grouping. And while U.S. GDP rose by 0.6 percent in the first three months of 2013, that was a bare improvement over the 0.1 percent in the prior quarter.
   Also in Europe, the statistical agency of the European Union reported that construction was down, inflation was a minimal 1.2 percent, producer prices were down throughout the 27 nation EU and retail trade was off in the 17 countries that use the common currency of the euro.
   In Britain, "the economic recovery remains weak and uneven," the Bank of England reported

   So while Europe is stumbling and the U.S. is wobbling, politicians in Washington are still playing the blame game, with Republicans insisting all America's issues are the President's fault, even as they refuse to compromise, listen to alternatives or even budge from their preconceived notion that austerity is the answer, regardless of the question.
   They "stay on message," as the saying goes, and while the strategy may vary and the wording differs, the goal is the same: Unfettered, free-market capitalism with no government intervention is the be-all and end-all of economic Truth.

   When the Great Storm of 2012 struck the East Coast, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, a Republican, and President Barack Obama, a Democrat, showed they could work together for the greater good of rebuilding the Jersey Shore.
   It's time to extend that spirit of cooperation to a national level.