Protesters: Kinzinger's Actions a 'Slap in the Face'

After Senate Republicans blocked action on the American Jobs Act this week, the president said he'll keep trying to rally public support.

And although Republicans in the House have said they won't even consider the $447 billion plan, area activists have spent this week protesting at the local offices of congressmen.

About 25 protesters organized by liberal activist group MoveOn.org packed the office of Congressman Adam Kinzinger (R-Manteno) on Thursday afternoon to deliver a petition asking for the first-term representative to put more of a focus on job creation in the 11th District, which covers Frankfort, Mokena, New Lenox and other areas of Will County.

"We can’t cut our way out of this," said Sue Myers, a Frankfort resident and organizer with the South Suburban MoveOn Council. "We need to invest in jobs and make the millionaires and billionaires pay their fair share."

Myers specifically cited opposition to Kinzinger signing the Grover Norquist pledge never to raise taxes and the representative's record on job creation.

Monica Morales, a 21-year-old Joliet resident, said she's been unemployed for two years after working at a warehouse in Elwood. She pleaded with Kinzinger staffers to get the message across that more jobs need to be created.

"It’s a slap in the face," Morales said about Kinzinger's opposition to the jobs bill. "Why is he in that position if he isn’t going to do his job?"

Job creation is something Kinzinger doesn't necessarily believe is part of his job, though. "We can create an environment for job creation, but we cannot create jobs," he said during a speech this summer.

The group collected about 500 signatures from Kinzinger's constituents this week and delivered the petition to his Joliet office. Similar protests have been going on across the country this week, including one Tuesday at Illinois Congresswoman Judy Biggert's office: