I am really excited that the long overdue battle over immigration reform and a path to citizenship has finally begun in earnest. While I am heartsick at the reason, it is good news that common sense gun safety laws are once again being discussed in this country almost two decades after we finally passed the Brady Bill. And the on-going, never ending budget fights remain urgently important in terms of stopping more damage to middle class and poor people in America. I know I will be engaging daily in the vitally important battles over all these issues, and I expect my progressive allies all over the country will be as well.

But I remain troubled, profoundly troubled, by the fact that fundamental economic issues seem to be the last thing on anybody’s minds in DC. Our economy may be slowly getting better, but we still have a very serious jobs crisis in this country- nowhere near to full employment and not on a path to get there for many years to come. Our manufacturing sector is still only limping along and our trade deficit remains catastrophically high. Our infrastructure is still badly in need of repair. Wages for most workers are still stuck in neutral or slipping compared to inflation, and a third of those who found new jobs after losing them in the great recession are being paid less than in the old job. Our housing market is getting stronger in some metro areas, but is still very weak overall in terms of prices, homeowners under water, and numbers of foreclosures and empty homes.

And looming over these economic problems is quite literally the elephant in the room: these gargantuan Too Big To Fail, and apparently Too Big To Jail, Wall Street financial conglomerates.

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The danger of this ridiculous Fox News-inspired meme at the Republican convention is clear in this clip. You can stand there all day long and say you built stuff, but who cares if you built it without someone actually paying for it? In small business owner Steve Cohen's case, the stimulus bill brought him $2 million in government contracts and $220,000 in direct stimulus funds. That's right, Steve Cohen. President Obama helped keep your business afloat. Forget Congress, because if you're going to assign all the blame to Obama, he should get all the credit, too.

Media Matters:

Screen Machine has received more than $2 million in government contracts, including nearly $220,000 in stimulus funds, and claims a "long and proud history of supplying heavy-duty American Made equipment to government agencies and the US Military."

Mr. Cohen is in the heavy equipment business. With so much stimulus money going toward road and highway repairs, retrofitting bridges and the like, Mr. Cohen's business stayed afloat during the Great Recession because the stimulus and the government helped him stay afloat. When confronted about that reality, he had this to say:

"There was a tremendous amount of money that went to all sectors. It would be very hard for a Mitt Romney, or a presidential candidate from any party, to go to any manufacturer and find someone who was not directly, or indirectly, affected somehow," said Steven Cohen, president of Ohio-based Screen Machine Industries, which hosted a Romney event in July and received stimulus contracts worth nearly $220,000.

"I think it would be irresponsible for an American manufacturer not to go after their fair share," Cohen told The Associated Press this week. "The question is whether it was a wise investment. That's for someone else to answer."

Well of course it was a wise investment. It kept Mr. Cohen in business, saved jobs, and helped rebuild infrastructure desperately in need of rebuilding.

President Obama may not have built that, but he and the American taxpayers paid for it. How utterly dishonest to stand up at the Republican convention and forget that fact.

Voters are much more focused on the economy and jobs than they are on the deficit and debt, and they see manufacturing as a key component of improving the American economy. Those were among the key findings of a national poll and focus groups conducted on behalf of the Alliance for American Manufacturing. Poll respondents said they believe that manufacturing is "central and irreplaceable" in determining the strength of the economy of the United States. The results show increasing support for U.S. industry, growing concern over China's role in our economy and a strong sense that no one in Washington is doing anything to improve the job situation. Nearly 90% of Americans favor a national manufacturing plan that includes "Buy American" provisions, that cracks down on unfair trade practices by countries such as China, and that includes incentives for research and development.

The AAM said the purpose of the poll was to send a "wake-up call" to Washington. In particular, the organization points out that Republican leaders (and to a lesser extent, Democratic leaders) are significantly out of touch with their constituents. The polling showed consistent results across party lines and including the majority of tea party-identified voters. Representative quotes from voters in the focus groups were: "We become a third world country if we lose manufacturing" and "The playing field isn't even, China is cheating."

Other key numbers from the poll:

-When given an “either/or” choice, just 29% want Washington to focus on deficit reduction while 67% favor job creation.

-Less than a third (32%) believe the U.S. is the world’s strongest economy, with the plurality (39%) saying it is China. Yet, 88% believe it is possible for the U.S. to have the strongest economy in the world and 95% feel that it is either very or somewhat important.

-“Creating manufacturing jobs in the U.S.” and “strengthening manufacturing in this country” are the top voter priorities for the President.

-Only 50% of voters believe that the President is working to create manufacturing jobs – an 11% drop from 2010. Congress fares even worse – 41% say Democrats in Congress are working to create jobs, and 32% see the GOP working to create jobs.

-90% have a favorable view of American manufacturing companies – up 22% from 2010.

-97% have a favorable view of U.S.-made goods – up 5% from 2010.

-32% identified manufacturing as the “most important” sector for our economic strength – surpassing all other sectors by a wide margin. 54% identified it in their “top two.”

-62% say that that manufacturing is a “critical part of the American economy” and reject the view that high-tech and services will replace it.72% have an unfavorable view of goods made in China and 83% have an unfavorable view of companies that go to China to manufacture.

-86% favor a national manufacturing strategy “to make sure that economic, tax, labor and trade policies in this country work together to help support manufacturing…” – up 8% from 2010.

-87% see a role for government in supporting manufacturing – 49% say “whatever is necessary” and another 38% for limited role of “incentives, and trade policy.”

-94% support a tax benefit for companies that conduct R&D in the U.S. and make their new products here.

-91% support increasing investment in “retraining and education programs to ensure workers gain the tools they need to compete in modern, high-tech factories – up 4% from 2010.

-90% support Buy American policies “to ensure that taxpayer funded government projects use only U.S.-made goods and supplies wherever possible.”

-90% support tax incentives for companies that “invest in new equipment and plants for manufacturing.”

-89% support investing “more in rebuilding and repairing bridges, roads, and other basic infrastructure.”

-95% favor keeping “America’s trade laws strong and strictly enforced to provide a level playing field for our workers and businesses.”

-59% say we need to “get tough with China and use every possible means to stop their unfair trade practices…” – only 34% say we need to “be careful…because they own such a significant portion of our debt.”

On Thursday, the AAM held a conference call to reveal the findings from a national survey and several focus groups of likely 2012 voters. The results were compiled by the Mellman Group and Ayres & McHenry. AAM will continue to poll these topics regularly to make sure that the media and Washington politicians know what the people's priorities are in the areas of jobs and manufacturing.

The full report is available on the AAM website.