I wanted to share this recent op-ed by my friend, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi.

The op-ed is timely as we seek to retire the Bush deficit while keeping the focus on creating jobs in the states.

Hard-working moms and dads across America want a balanced approach to strengthen our economy and create jobs. People understand that to create jobs, a modern economy requires modern investments. The vast majority of Americans believe our country’s future—our children’s future—is worth the effort and worth the investment.

Let me know what you think.

Jobs., Opportunity., Now,

Martin O’Malley

Pelosi: Unlike GOP, Democrats will focus on jobs

By Nancy Pelosi

The American people have made it clear: Our nation’s top priority is job creation. No recovery can take place until we address kitchen table concerns of America’s families: having a steady paycheck, being able to make ends meet, and helping our small businesses and entrepreneurs attract customers, grow, and hire.

This week, we’ve crossed the bridge from an obsession with the national debt and a real risk of default to a discussion of job creation. As the legendary Willie Nelson recently said: Americans are “much more worried about ceilings over their heads these days than they are about the debt ceiling.” He’s right, and Democrats know that nothing is more critical to Americans’ economic security than good-paying jobs.

In Congress, our work must be putting people back to work. To meet that charge, Democrats have proposed our “Make It In America” initiative, led by Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer. It presents ideas backed by both parties: to rebuild our roads, bridges, and rail lines; to invest in innovation, broadband, clean energy, and new technologies to create the jobs of tomorrow for our businesses and workers.

Make It In America is a manufacturing strategy designed to create jobs and keep America No. 1, and it will fulfill President Obama’s goal to out-innovate, out-educate, and out-build the rest of the world. This is not a partisan agenda or cause; it is an American priority.

Take infrastructure, for example: Business and labor agree with the need to rebuild America by bringing the public and private sectors together. As the presidents of the Chamber of Commerce and the AFL-CIO said in a joint statement in January, infrastructure “projects not only create jobs and demand for businesses, they are an investment in building the modern infrastructure our country needs to compete in a global economy.” One way to fund these projects, which has bipartisan support, is through an infrastructure bank.

Consider fairness in our trade relationships: In the last Congress, an overwhelming, bipartisan majority in the House passed legislation to demand China stop manipulating its currency and start playing fair in global trade — an action that could create more than one million American jobs and enhance our economic and national security. On behalf of our workers, our entrepreneurs, and our small businesses, we can, and must, pass this legislation again.

Read more: http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/forum/2011-08-03-pelosi-debt-deal-future_n.htm