Readers of this blog know I am skeptical about the jobs summit to be held tomorrow. 

Given the Obama's administration's disappointing, ineffective, apparently disinterested track record about this critical economic survival issue, there is a factual basis for my skepticism.

We probably will be underwhelmed by the results of this summit and disgusted with this administration's post summit non-solutions to this unemployment crisis.

However, the AFL-CIO NOW blog posted this recently: "....urgent need to create jobs for the more than 26 million unemployed or underemployed workers looking for work in an economy in which one in three Americans have either lost his or her job or live in a household with someone who has.

"The summit, set for Thursday, Dec. 3, will include more than 100 experts and leaders from business, labor, government and community organizations, including AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka and Nobel laureates Joseph Stiglitz and Paul Krugman.

"At the summit, Trumka will discuss the five-point plan proposed by the AFL-CIO and our allies to create jobs and boost the economy, which involves:

1. Extending the lifeline for jobless workers through unemployment insurance, food aid and health care assistance.
2. Rebuilding America’s schools, roads and energy systems.
3. Increasing aid to state and local governments to maintain vital services and prevent layoffs.
4. Fund jobs in our communities, focusing on distressed areas.
5. Put the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) funds to work for Main Street by increasing lending from community banks to small and medium-sized businesses.

Jonathan Tasini at Working Life writes: "The president, having just announced that we would be wasting tens of billions of dollars more in a pointless, tragic, immoral war in Afghanistan, will hold a job summit tomorrow. It is a very small point but telling that we would first be told that vital resources will be spent in a conflict that is unwinnable (in whatever way you define "win") and, only then, do we turn to the human crisis at home--at which point I guarantee you that some political voices will tell the country that, sorry, the cupboard is bare, there is no money to spend to put people back to work.

"To move to the positive, here are four proposals from the Center for Economic and Policy Research about what can and should be done:
     1.    Flexible employment credits to allow employers to shorten work hours instead of laying off workers: Each month, employers are laying off close to 2 million workers. If the government gave employers tax credits to shorten work time while leaving pay unchanged, it could reduce these layoffs. If the number of layoffs fell by just 10 percent, this would have the same effect on employment as adding 200,000 jobs a month or 2.5 million a year. Germany has used this mechanism to keep its unemployment rate from rising, even though it has experienced a steeper recession than the United States.

     2.    Support for education, health care and other vital state and local government services: Under budget pressure, state and local governments across the country are cutting these services and laying off workers. Aid from the federal government can allow these workers to keep their jobs and services to continue to be provided.

     3.    Direct job creation: There are parts of the country where the unemployment rate now exceeds 25 percent, with youth unemployment well above 40 percent. To prevent a generation of young people from being locked out of the job market, it is important to have public service jobs that can employ people immediately.

     4.    Right to rent for homeowners facing foreclosure: If homeowners facing foreclosure had the right to remain in their homes as tenants paying the market rent for a substantial period (5-10 years), it would provide substantial housing security to millions of families while stemming the nation's rising number of foreclosures. This policy could also provide an economic boost since it would free up money for millions of homeowners who are now struggling with mortgage debts that they cannot pay. This would in turn lead to a boost in consumption that would increase demand in the economy."