How many of us have examined the subtle erosion of American jobs happening right here in the Mid-Columbia? When customer service is needed, we call an 800 number and are transferred to "Peggy." Translation: foreign workers performing American business from a foreign soil. Question: How can foreign employees be the voice of American businesses if they are speaking from abroad?

A problem with our current economy is like-minded companies sending American jobs overseas. I desperately urge companies to restructure their local job force so all American business is performed by local, wage-earning Americans feeding American families.

This preserves local jobs, reducing the unemployment rate and economic millstone on taxpayers. We have an opportunity and duty to take a local stand on this national issue and watch as other communities follow our lead. Letters to the editor are read on a local and regional level. Collectively, our voice could trigger an effective occupy movement that puts Americans back to work. Because today it may be only his or her job; tomorrow it could be yours!

Murrel S. Petry, Richland