As business leaders, government officials, academics, and others gather in Washington this afternoon for a jobs summit to discuss methods for creating jobs, I sit in my garage apartment waiting for my "expedited" food stamps interview.

I am 26 years old — a relative noob to the educated work force — and unemployment is at its highest since the year I was born. With six unemployed competing for every available job it's no wonder my fledgling resume isn't getting me anywhere. I can't even get the same foodservice or retail jobs that put me through school because people just aren't spending what they used to in these areas. I can't collect unemployment because I've never truly been an employee, rather an independent contractor.

Proposals will include another round of stimulus, hiring credits, a payroll tax holiday, and public service employment.

The first round of stimulus money didn't affect me one iota. I wasn't entirely against stimulus, but I knew all along it wouldn't help little old me. Unemployment benefits are great, sure, but I don't qualify, and neither do any of the other self-employed who are losing business. When you consider the explosion of providers in the freelancing pool fighting for gigs that pay half what they should due to desperate bidding wars, the unemployment figure is much more grim than 11.2% — try 17.5%.

Hiring credits, payroll tax holiday, and other tax breaks sound great! But also won't affect me until the pool of unemployed drains down to those with as little "experience" as I have. Bah. The only tax solution I would benefit from is a revision of tax code that eases the burden on the DOUBLE-TAXED self-employed.

Which brings me to Public Service.

I have long dreamed of the day that I could walk into city or county government offices and sign up for a public service job. I think that ANYONE willing and able to work and contribute to society but without the opportunity to do so should be able to find a guaranteed $8/hr job working for the public good.

Granted, $8/hr is not a living wage, but the security of a guaranteed paycheck would ease my hunger and rent fears while I pick up extra gigs on the side. $8/hr is better than $0/hr.

To those who whine about the "spending" associated with public service jobs, I say it isn't empty spending. There is PLENTY to be done to promote the public good and help our fellow citizens, improve our infrastructure, and care for our children. Imagine an army of peace and service here at home — millions strong — helping each other instead of the banks and corporate dickwads.

You might think it sounds like some crazy, lazy hippie-liberal-socialist-WPA bullshit, but think about it. I want a Corps that isn't for youth. It's better than welfare because it puts us to work immediately, but somehow we kept welfare and not employment; few people alive now actually remember anything about it. We've got partisan propagandas and the written record, (and as a writer this doesn't reassure me).

Public service is a basic, obvious solution until businesses can come correct to strengthen themselves on the dollars we're spending and rehire us at better salaries, so we can spend more money, and so on and so forth. A moderate, common-sense solution to a problem that is affecting ALL of us; liberal, conservative, or other.

Duh.