President Barack Obama has had a busy week trying to rally Americans around the country to support his new $447 billion jobs plan.  The so-called American Jobs Act is a combination of infrastructure spending (rebuilding our crumbling roads, bridges, rails and schools) and tax breaks (payroll-tax holidays for new hires, lower rates for workers and employers.) There's also a component to retain teachers, police and firefighters (union and taxpayer-financed jobs and benefits.)  And, there's an extension of unemployment benefits.  

Naturally, the plan has detractors.  GOP members of Congress and various interest groups have spent the week lambasting parts of the plan.  Their main objection:  Taxing the wealthy to pay for a lot of it and supporting mainly public-sector jobs.  Unemployment nationally remains stubbornly fixed at 9.1%, despite predictions after the first federal stimulus plan passed that it would bring rates below 8% by now.  Pennsylvania's rate sits at 7.8%.  A new Census Bureau report shows more Americans slipped into poverty last year, adding new urgency to the fight.

So, tonight at 8, we want to cut through the rhetoric of Washington and delve into what's really at the root of stagnant employment and wages and how we can jumpstart job creation and consumer spending.

Our guests are well equipped to answer your questions.  Scott Ehrig is vice president and state investment manager at M&T Bank/M&T Investment Group.  Kevin Shivers, state director of the National Federation of Independent Business, represents 14,000 small businesses in PA.  A recent NFIB survey of its members shows plunging optimism about the economy.  Jerry Oleksiak, a special education teacher from the Upper Merion School District, is vice president of the PSEA, the state's largest teachers' union.  And, Dr. Stephen Herzenberg, executive director of the Keystone Research Center, studies the effect of public policies on the labor market.  

As lawmakers decide whether to spend more to create jobs, a dozen members of Congress -- the so-called deficit-reduction "supercommittee" -- work to trim government largesse. Pennsylvania Sen. Pat Toomey, a supercommittee member, is intent on reforming the tax code and making it "revenue neutral."  The goal, he says, would be to widen the net of those paying federal taxes while lowering their tax rates.  The effect, Toomey argues, would be higher productivity and more revenue for the federal government.  The committee must find ways to reduce the deficit by $1.5 trillion over the next 10 years.   The president will unveil his own plan for deficit reduction on Sept. 19.

We'd love to hear YOUR ideas on job creation and deficit reduction.  Join the conversation!