Star Tribune: Jobs, Jobs, Jobs: Pols Zero In On Key Issue

"But for the Recovery Act [the stimulus program], we would have slipped into a Depression," said Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., in a floor statement on the budget last week.

Echoing Democrats' refrain that things could be much worse, Franken noted that job losses approached 800,000 in a single month when President George W. Bush left the White House.

But House Democrats know they will need to take a more positive message to voters in November. They are pressing a series of new jobs initiatives, including an effort championed by Franken and Rep. Keith Ellison, D-Minn., aimed at preserving up to a million jobs for teachers, firefighters, police officers and other public sector workers.

In the face of GOP calls for tax cuts to promote business growth, Ellison argues that "public sector jobs promote private jobs too...They boost the economy."