More Free Trade Pacts?
Posted: 26 May 2011 Filed under: Economics, Government, Labor, Observations, Trade | Tags: International Trade, Jobs, Jobs Loss, Postaday2011, President Obama, Trade Agreements, Workers 2 Comments »Back in the 1990′s, I wrote several pieces about what the proposed free trade acts would do to the economy in this country…I believed then that they would do NOTHING good and on the contrary would cost American jobs and loss of industry…of course, in those days I was called a commie for NOT wanting to see a free trade act….not much has changed……….I am still called a commie more likely a socialist but not many know the difference……why do I rehash the past?
Well, guess what? The Obama admin is proposing a…..wait for it……a free trade act……that is right…yet another free trade agreement……
This time it is agreement with Panama, Columbia and South Korea and the White House has said that it will create American jobs…..really? Is that not what NAFTA was suppose to do? Don’t hurt yourself…..that was the promise. Now if anyone recalls, candidate Obama said that reforming NAFTA to make it more worker friendly would be a priority for his admin…..that was pretty much a lie…there has been NO reform of NAFTA. It seems that the Obama admin has allowed corporate America to write up these newest proposals….and guess what? It will put millions of Americans back to work……REALLY?
If that is true why would they say this?
The Obama administration said on Monday that it would not seek Congressional approval of free trade agreements with Colombia, Panama and South Korea until Republicans agree to expand assistance for American workers who might lose jobs as a result… The announcement puts the White House in line with Congressional Democrats who have made expanded benefits a condition of their support for the trade deals. (Quoted from the NY Times)…
Let me see if I have this right? The trade agreements will create jobs but before it goes into effect the Congress must make provisions for any job loss that is created by the agreement……..”The administration is simultaneously selling the trade deals as engines of job growth while admitting that the deals will likely kill so many American jobs that Congress must preemptively cough up money to clean up the corresponding economic wreckage.” (Quoted David Sirota in Salon.com)….
You still do not think it is all one big game in Washington? Just once I would like for the American people to get all the info before they go off half cocked….I know….a silly notion!
The Truth Will Piss You Off!
Posted: 22 April 2011 Filed under: Business, Economics, Fiscal Policy, News, Observations, Public Policy, Taxation | Tags: Corporations, Jobs, Jobs Loss, Postaday2011, Tax Breaks, Tax Cuts 3 Comments »From the VOMITORIUM
BTW….every one have a Good Friday and a pleasant Easter…..
We hear everyday about the debt and the deficit and the plans…cut taxes….raise taxes…..kill Social Security…..Kill Medicare…..but the biggest lie of all is the no taxes on the rich because they will create jobs if they pay less taxes….to me that is a lie…..why?……..they have been paying less taxes for years and how many jobs are they creating….especially NOW?
But put all that aside for now…..put your conserv ideas and your lib inclinations and try to wrap your head around these figures……
The US Commerce Department released a report today throwing into sharp relief just how drastically US multinational corporations are shifting jobs overseas. During the 2000s, US companies cut 2.9 million jobs in the US, while hiring 2.4 million abroad—including an increasing number of highly-skilled workers, the Wall Street Journal reports. That’s a big reversal from the 1990s, when they hired 4.4 million at home and 2.7 million abroad. These big companies employ roughly a fifth of all US workers. “It’s definitely something to worry about,” says one former George W. Bush adviser. Companies generally defend the trend by saying that productivity has increased in their US factories, and that they are chasing sales abroad. “We’ve globalized around markets, not cheap labor,” says GE CEO Jeff Immelt. “Today we go to Brazil, we go to China, we go to India, because that’s where the customers are.”
Does that piss you off just a bit? Corporations that have taken billions in taxpayer money and they repay our generosity like that…..it s a bitch, huh?
Now people….what are you willing to do to change all this misuse of your trust?
American People Are Idiots! (They Can Be)
Posted: 7 March 2011 Filed under: Government, Observations, Politics, Society | Tags: Jobs, Jobs Growth, Jobs Loss, Political Lies, Postaday2011, Republicans, US Congress, Workers 2 Comments »Tough talk, huh? I apologize if this hurts your feelings or you are offended….but the statement stands! I will explain why I say this…..and then maybe you could possibly understand that statement….unfortunately if they show the same mental deficiency they do as they vote…then I may be yelling at a wall….
We have for decades (and by we I mean the American voter as a whole) voted on lies and misinformation and each time when the deception is exposed we just shut our minds to the idiocy of our ways and continue to be ignorant…….
Last election the American voter swept in a whole new bunch of liars….on the promises of an improving economy, most especially jobs…..after two months. ……name ONE bill offered that would possibly create a job……(pause here for the scratch of head and ass)…..you CANNOT!
AS an example, my state recently voted out a Rep that was given a 90% voting rating on middle class issues and voted into office a Repub that was kept away from interviews by his own campaign manager because he would make Nevada’s Sharron Angle look like a Mensa candidate…..but the voters bought all the crap about Dems and Pelosi stuff got rid of a guy that was actually voting WITH his constituency and their concerns and interests……how is that for idiocy?
Instead we have assaults on health care, abortion, unions, planned parenthood, NPR and the list goes on and on….all the work that is being done in Washington has absolutely NOTHING to do with jobs…..just the agenda they set decades ago and refuse to stray from the failed policies……..where are the jobs bills?
Then there is the threat of a government shut-down….where if the Dems and prez do not see it the way the Repubs want them to see it…then they will shut-down the government until their ideas are adopted or when there is a compromise in the Repubs favor……where would this create a job? Just what part of a shut down would be beneficial to the economy?
Then we go to the states….all the hoopla over the attacks on unions (perceived or not) the threat by governors is to start laying off workers…..now….what part of that sounds like a job creating proposal?
The Americans people are idiots! I repeat my original statement…..they voted for Repubs overwhelmingly because they were under the false assumption that they would improve the economy and thus would improve the livelihood of the American public…….each time Americans vote they prove my premise….they vote for lies and then they set about bitching about their public officials…..that is the height of stupidity……..what is even more stupid is that they will not look for an alternative…..they like being able to whine and blame the officials for their plight
So now I ask Americans…..are you pleased with the jobs being created….NO? Tough crap! You voted for these jerk wads now stop whining and live with your decisions….embrace your stupidity! Take responsibility for the condition of the country and the a/holes that YOU elected…….
BTW, where are the jobs?
Is Obama Protecting BP?
Posted: 16 June 2010 Filed under: Business, Energy, Environment, Government, Observations, Society | Tags: Jobs Loss, Oil Spill, Political Theater, pollution, President Obama 8 Comments »Daily Agitator
Last night the President made his first speech from the Oval office…this was his opportunity to take the lead on the Gulf oil spill….to show the American people that he is in charge and BP will be made to pay……..(pause for reflection)……..he failed! I heard NOTHING that had not been said before…..mostly it was his optimism that all will be made right……he told me all about the Noble Prize winners in his cabinet and the commission he has appointed to deal with the spill…..commission?……we do NOT need a commission…we need a CORK!
There has been so much back and forth on how Obama has handled the Gulf oil spill…Repubs are making it a politically weapon for their elections…the Dems are defending the actions of Obama and his response to the spill….and the media is just doing nothing more than fanning the flames of discontent……everyone on the air whether politician or journalist seem to be having an agenda to pursue…and while they are doing this the people effected by the spill keep getting further and further screwed by the very people that are there to “help”…..
in an article written by Hiram Lee…….
Last week the Interior Department released a statement to the press with a new estimate placing the amount of oil leaking into the Gulf at 12,000 to 19,000 barrels per day. The numbers came from a survey conducted by the National Incident Command’s Flow Rate Technical Group, a team consisting of government scientists and representatives from universities across the US. The White House stood by the new estimates and BP executive Robert Dudley appeared on national television to promote them.
In reality, the scientists conducting the survey reported this estimate only reflected the “lower bounds” of their findings, meaning that the numbers represented the very least possible amount of oil flowing into the Gulf.
The escrow account that the Dems are proposing…..is it a way to protect BP from the massive lawsuits heading their way?
“The BP chiefs will suggest to Mr. Obama that the rhetoric from the White House and other parts of the administration is destabilising markets and damaging US investors, who hold 40 percent of its shares,” the Times writes. “The BP executives will tell the administration that the company can afford to pay an already announced first quarter dividend as well as meet its bill for coping with the Gulf of Mexico spill.”
Any “truce” will be on the backs of the those devastated by the crisis. This is because all sides in the discussion—the Obama adminstiration as much as BP—start from the premise that the BP and the oil industry as a whole must remain under the control of private investors, whose money-mad drive for profit created the disaster and has dictated every step of the response.
I have NO doubt that BP will NOT be held totally accountable for the is spill….just as Exxon was NOT held accountable for the Valdez incident……,IMO, BP will be protected from the entirety of the spill….and in doing so…this whole scenario will be re-visited again in the future….just like the financial crisis….in 10 years we will be deal with it again…..Why? because NONE of the SLUGS in Washington have the guts to really repair a broken system….they just throw minor diatribes at it and hope that it will go away….
Do You Still See A Recovery?
Posted: 6 August 2009 Filed under: Economics, Fiscal Policy, Government, News | Tags: Corporate Media, Economic Growth, Economists, Jobs Loss, MainStream Media Leave a comment »I* have listen to all the cheerleading from the financial pundits that the economy is slowly turning around and yet when I go around talking with the people in my area that is not exactly true. It is an attempt to make people think things are better so they will spend and borrow….you know commit the same mistakes that has been committed in the past.
In an article for Bloomberg, Shobhana Chandra wrote:
Household income in the U.S. is weakening as the influence of the government’s stimulus plan wanes, prompting economists, Federal Reserve officials and a Nobel laureate to warn that consumer spending may struggle.“Consumers have started to change their behavior and they are going to save more,” said Richard Berner, co-head of global economics at Morgan Stanley in New York and a former researcher at the Fed. “You have pressure on wages, you have employment still declining.”
Wages and salaries, which drive recoveries in spending, fell 4.7 percent in the 12 months through June, the biggest drop since records began in 1960, according to Commerce Department figures released yesterday. The Obama administration’s tax cuts, extended jobless benefits and a one-time Social Security bonus have helped mask the damage done by the worst employment slump since the Great Depression.
Personal incomes, which include interest income, dividends, rents and other payments as well as wages, tumbled 1.3 percent in June, more than forecast and the biggest drop in four years, yesterday’s Commerce report showed. Excluding the effects of the stimulus plan, June incomes would have dropped 0.1 percent after no change in May, according to the report. In May, one-time additional payments to Social Security recipients boosted incomes 1.3 percent.
Nothing on Main Street says there is a recovery…..I have said that the government needs to create demand…kind of like the cash for clunkers gimmick to get the consumer spending….but that is good….but with job losses still raising the gimmicks will not be as effective as they hope.
If you are an investor then you will love the news from the financial clap trap, but if you are working and worrying about what tomorrow will bring then you care little for what the markets are doing.
Auto Bailout Moves To Senate
Posted: 11 December 2008 Filed under: Business, Economics, Government, News | Tags: Auto Industry, Jobs Loss, US Congress 4 Comments »A proposal to bail out the big three U.S. automakers passed the House of Representatives but its prospects looked grim in the Senate where supporters faced an uphill struggle on Thursday to keep it alive.
But prospects for passage in the Senate were grim. Democrats were short the 60 votes necessary to overcome procedural hurdles. Without the support of a dozen or more Republicans the bill would fail, a Democratic aide said.
Let us be real….the Repubs have been trying for years to break unions and this is an opportunity to break one of the biggest. The sad part is they will sacrifice the economy and jobs for Americans to do it.
Sen. Shelby of Alabama is the leading opponent to the auto bailout, ask him how much in incentives and tax breaks and cuts did his state throw at Toyota to get them to locate in the state. It would be a godsend to Toyota and Alabama if the Big 3 were to fail. Bet the total would be close to the amount of the first installment to the Big 3. The insincere crap about wanting to help the auto industry and save jobs is just a lie.
This assault on the American auto industry will have lasting effects and has all the earmarks of coming back to bite them in the ass.
Senate Extends Unemployment
Posted: 21 November 2008 Filed under: Economics, Government, Labor, News, Society | Tags: Economic Crisis, Jobs Loss, Unemployment, US Senate, Workers Leave a comment »The Senate approved a House bill to extend unemployment benefits by at least seven weeks on Thursday, sending the measure to President Bush on the same day the Labor Department reported continuing claims for jobless benefits hit a 26-year high.
Jobs Lost Hit 14 Year High
Posted: 10 November 2008 Filed under: Economics, Labor, News, Poverty, Society | Tags: Financial Markets, Jobs Loss, Jobs Outlook, Unemployment Leave a comment »A total of 240,000 jobs were lost last month on a net basis, significantly more than had been anticipated, again pointing to a prolonged and severe downturn. “We’re heading for a deep recession,” Nariman Behravesh, chief economist at IHS Global Insight, told Bloomberg News. “Banish the word mild from your vocabulary. It’s big, it’s bad, and it’s broad-based.”
The Labor Department revised its jobless figures for September, from the initially reported 159,000 net job losses to 284,000. Total employment has declined by 1.2 million in the first 10 months of 2008, with more than half of this fall recorded in the last three months. Economists estimate that the economy must generate an additional 100,000 jobs each month just to keep up with population growth.
Jobs were shed across a number of sectors:
• Manufacturing employment declined by 90,000 in October, including employment in fabricated metal parts (11,000 jobs lost), furniture and related products (10,000) and motor vehicles and parts (9,000).
• Construction employment fell by 49,000. The Labor Department noted that since peak activity in September 2006, construction employment has fallen by 663,000.
• The employment services industry lost 51,000 jobs.
• Retail trade employment declined by 38,000, with auto dealerships (20,000 jobs lost) and department stores (18,000) the worst affected.
• Financial sector employment fell by 24,000 and is down by 200,000 jobs since its peak in December 2006.
The rising unemployment rate is having a devastating social impact. According to the New York Times, only 32 percent of the officially unemployed are drawing state benefit checks because of onerous eligibility restrictions and other conditions designed to drive people off the books.
Moreover, the real jobless rate is far higher than the official 6.5 percent figure. The Labor Department’s monthly report acknowledged that the number of “involuntary part-time workers”—that is, those who are unable to find full-time work, or those whose hours have been cut back to part-time levels—increased in October by 645,000 to 6.7 million.
Also not counted as unemployed are those “marginally attached to the workforce”—i.e., those who wanted and were available for work and had looked for a job in the last year, but not in the four weeks preceding the survey. A total of 1.6 million people were in this category in October. Among the marginally attached were 484,000 “discouraged workers” who have stopped actively looking for employment. Other marginally attached workers include those who were unable to look for work in the preceding four weeks due to school attendance or family responsibilities.
When the involuntary part-time and marginally attached workers are counted, the unemployment rate stands at 11.8 percent, up from 11 percent in September and from 8.4 percent a year earlier.
Commenting on the Labor Department data, the Wall Street Journal’s Sudeep Reddy and Justin Lahart noted, “One of the more worrisome aspects of today’s report: signs that the labor market was declining substantially even before the worst of the credit crisis hit… If conditions were that bad before October, they’re likely to be far worse in the months to come as companies adjust to the new credit environment and consumers retrench with added pressure on housing and credit markets.”
Congratulations, It’s A Recession
Posted: 4 October 2008 Filed under: Economics, Fiscal Policy, News | Tags: Economic Crisis, Economic Indicators, Jobs Loss, Recession Leave a comment »Yes Irene, it is a recession…let the good times roll…
As the presidential election season nears its climax, there is growing evidence that the country is slipping into the deepest recession in decades.
The latest marker came Friday, when the government reported that employers shed 159,000 jobs in September, far more than expected. That was the worst one-month drop in more than five years and brings to 760,000 the number of jobs that have disappeared this year.
Economists say the accelerating pace of job losses, combined with the most severe credit crisis since the Great Depression, make it increasingly likely that the government bureau that determines business cycles will eventually stamp “recession” on this one.
“This should remove any lingering doubts that the economy is in a recession,” said Dean Baker, co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research. “The rate of job loss is accelerating and the unemployment rate is virtually certain to cross 7% early in 2009.”
August was when the unemployment rate jumped from 5.7% to 6.1%. That rate, calculated using a survey different from the one used to determine job losses, was unchanged at 6.1% in September. Economists took little comfort in that, however, pointing out that the jobless rate doesn’t count people who have given up looking for work, nor those who have had to settle for part-time work.
“Factoring in discouraged workers, unemployment is closer to 7.9%,” said University of Maryland economist Peter Morici. But this is not the figure that “they” want you to know.
But wait the good news is that is all unimportant because the $700 million bailout will create jobs and all will be alright. Really? And I have a bridge for sale.
More High Tech Jobs To Be Lost
Posted: 8 August 2008 Filed under: Labor, News | Tags: Economic Crisis, Hign Tech Jobs, Jobs Loss, Unemployment Leave a comment »Memory chip heavyweight Hynix Semiconductor Inc. announced plans to close down its only North American plant, located in Eugene, Oregon, in the next two months. The closure will result in the elimination of over 1,400 jobs. As of August 1, the first pink slips had already been handed out.
The closure of Hynix’s Eugene plant is the largest loss of jobs in Oregon this decade. Kim Jong-kap, chairman of the South Korean company, flew to Oregon to personally convey the news to the governor and the mayor of Eugene. The July 23 announcement apparently caught state and local officials by surprise.
Hynix, the second largest producer of memory chips in the world after Samsung Electronics, has been battered by the unusually steep decline in global prices for memory chips. The average price fell a dramatic 39 percent in 2007.
Laid off high-tech workers will find themselves job-hunting in an economy that is reeling from the collapse of the housing market and rising fuel prices. Over the last few years, two major high tech companies, Intel Corporation and Hewlett Packard, have downsized operations in Oregon.
Unemployment in Oregon currently stands at 5.5 percent, identical to the national level. However, losses in well-paid construction jobs, down 7,500 jobs since June 2007, have been balanced by gains in notoriously lower paying jobs in retail and the leisure and hospitality industry. June was the first month since May of 1996 that Oregon’s unemployment rate was equal to the national rate. In 2003, Oregon led the nation, and exceeded the national rate by 2 percent, with an 8.5 percent unemployment rate.
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