A guest column from AAM Field Coordinator Mark Musho: Odds are a funny thing. Sometimes it’s pretty tough to figure out how they come up them. The odds of getting struck by lightning are 576,000 to 1.  The chances of catching a ball at a major league ballpark are 563 to 1.  The odds of winning the mega lotto are 18 million to 1, while the chances of striking it rich on Antiques Roadshow are 60,000 to 1.  The odds of becoming president 10 million to 1 and apparently the chances of an elected official holding a public forum on the economy and jobs without it spiraling into a free for all are 2 to 1.  I’m basing these odds on last week, when I attended two forums hosted by Congressman Patrick Murphy in the 8th Congressional District of Pa.   The forums where held to foster a discussion on the present state of the economy in the district and what could be done to bring more jobs into the area. The 8th District of Pa. encompasses all of Bucks County and parts of northeast Philadelphia and the inhabitants are as diverse as the landscape. The 1st forum was held Thursday evening in Upper Bucks at Pennridge High School.  Upper Bucks is beautiful rolling hills of bucolic farmland, with agriculture its leading industry.  The forum was attended by approximately 100 people.  The panel for the event included Mike Russo, executive board member of United Steelworkers Local 4889; Scott Paul, Executive Director of the Alliance for American Manufacturing (AAM); and, Jim Horan, CEO of Y-Carbon.  The panel was moderated by Congressman Murphy.  [Left to Right: Mike Russo, executive board member, USW Local 4489; Congressman Pat Murphy, 8th District PA; AAM Field Coordinator Mark Musho; AAM Executive Director Scott Paul] The format for the evening consisted of opening remarks from panel and moderator, then questions collected from the audience on index cards.  This method seemed to work for a while as the panel discussed topics such as green technology, Chinese imports and their effect on our economy and the need to bring back and strengthen domestic manufacturing.  Mr. Russo and Mr. Paul both spoke of creating a manufacturing policy and the need to level the playing field for domestic manufacturers.  Jim Horan spoke of the struggle for new businesses to obtain capital to get operations up and running, thereby creating jobs in our communities.  About an hour into the program is when a handful of attendees started shouting out from the audience trying to disrupt the program.  To the credit of everyone on stage they spent the rest of the meeting trying to keep the discussion on track.  The next forum was held Saturday afternoon at Bristol High School in Lower Bucks. Bristol is a blue-collar neighborhood just a couple of miles outside of Philadelphia.   It was surrounded by several large manufacturers; U.S. Steel, Dial Soap, Rohm & Haas, and 3M. These facilities are either no longer there or are reduced to minimal operations.  The format for the program and the panel were the same.  However, due to the lack of disruption, the panel had an opportunity to really delve into the discussion of jobs and what is needed to bring back manufacturing to this area as well as the rest of the country.  Questions from the audience covered a wide array of topics but the central theme was the same, how do we go about making things in this country again. The answer from all panel members was unanimous.  The first step we need to take is to create a national manufacturing policy.  The panel discussion was relative and informative and the audience seemed truly engaged.  Congressman Murphy at both events reaffirmed his commitment to bringing jobs to the district. He spoke of revisiting and strengthening trade agreements like NAFTA and CAFTA.   He also addressed China and its need to become a better trading partner by dealing with currency manipulation and opening up their markets to our U.S. exports. In regards to China, panelist Scott Paul added that we need to address “government subsidized imports” such as paper that are flooding in to our markets and putting domestic manufactures at risk. As I left the auditorium in Bristol I couldn’t help but wonder, what are the odds that the rest of the House, Senate and Leadership in Washington will understand this message and do something about it? I was also thinking that the odds for dating a super model, 88,000 to 1, weren’t that bad.