We must create new jobs, not shift them

Our recently elected governor campaigned and was elected on a platform of balancing the budget and bringing 200,000 new jobs to Iowa over the next four years. I am especially concerned about his ideas for bringing in those new jobs. We need more jobs, but we don't need to be stealing Illinois or Wisconsin jobs. They don't have enough jobs either.

We need to create new jobs, not just shift them from one state to another. Our state, and more importantly, our country, is starving for jobs.

Unfortunately, creating new jobs will not be simple. We have lost millions of jobs to other countries that will never return. The jobs of the future are going to require education and skills most of our unemployed work force do not have. That means more money from a country and a state that are already failing to balance their budgets.

So where do we start? First, let's assess one of the resources we have and use it. Our institutions of higher learning have the most comprehensive and widespread network of opportunities in the world. Thousands of non-American students are being trained in our colleges and universities every year. We often provide it for them at little or no extra cost than if they were an American citizen. What if we charged them 10 times as much as we charge a U.S. citizen and take that income to train 10 of our own citizens? That would be a start.

John Krumbholz

Cedar Rapids