Despite talk of political polarization, polls conducted by both those on the left and right of the spectrum show that much of the American population are united in what they view as the most crucial political issue: jobs. From a CBS/New York Times poll in June, 53% said that the ‘economy/jobs’ was most important problem over 7% who said it was the ‘budget deficit/national debt’. A similar Fox News poll had jobs at 50% and the deficit at 22%.

There are even contingents within the media on both the left and right who agree about the causes of joblessness within the U.S.

An article in the Huffington Post from Dec, 2010 says that companies are indeed hiring, but that it’s just increasingly outsourced. This year, in April, a Wall Street Journal article happened to agree with this assessment. David Wessel reported that “companies cut their work forces in the U.S. by 2.9 million during the 2000s while increasing employment overseas by 2.4 million.”

The problem occurs with talk of solutions. Last year, a Washington Post article reported that American companies aren’t not hiring due to a lack of funds, saying, “Nonfinancial companies are sitting on $1.8 trillion in cash, roughly one-quarter more than at the beginning of the recession.” Wessel’s article put the blame on the U.S. not being as business-friendly as markets overseas, and in contrast Robert Reich wrote in the NY Times that it was because the middle class had lost its purchasing power and should be better supported by the government.

Unfortunately for the unemployed and underemployed American people, this debate doesn’t seem to be coming to an end or up with an actual solution any time soon.