Tag: Employment

It Is Jobs, G*ddammit!

From the VOMITORIUM

As an intro…..the Congress has defeated another jobs bill…..a simple put people to work bill was killed by amendments that made it unusable…….I still say that this is all a plan to keep the economy in the tank until the 2012 election….if so….all the players need to be shot for their participation in this political game…..

If you are a political person then you will remember the election 0f 2010……how Dems were bad guys…Pelosi was a communist plant…….the Prez was a socialist….and jobs were issue number one…..the people voted for the Repubs to return our country to greatness and to put us back to work……and how has that worked out for you?

Since taking control of the House in January of 2011, how many jobs bills have the Repubs offered up?  In case you have been under a rock….the number of jobs bills offered is….ZERO!

We have heard them tackle abortion, ethanol, deficit and the national debt…..but not ONE of them is too concerned with jobs or it would have truly been more important.  And now we are bombarded with the legality of the Libyan mission…..granted I am opposed to the action and yes it needs to be explained but NOT as a major issue to divert people’s attention from their (GOP) disastrous Medicare proposal….they had Weiner’s weiner as a diversion and now that is gone they need another one…..and Libya is it!  And when that one is no konger politically advantageous they will move on to…….immigration.

My point is…..JOBS!  That should be foremost on anyone’s political agenda and once we go back to work then worry about the other crap….and yes, all the other is pure CRAP!

If there is a master plan here…..could it be to keep the economy in the toilet as much as possible for the next election?  Are they playing a political game with people’s lives?

IT’S Jobs G*DDAMMIT!  The politicians have lied to the voter…yet again….how many more times do you need to be f*cked before you look for a change…..and I mean a real change….not some smooth talking politician that promises and NEVER delivers….

The voter needs to wake up…..they are game pieces that are discarded when NO longer needed.  How long will the comatose population continue to go through the political game unaware of their absolute uselessness after voting?  Does the voter know how silly they look to observers?

Just a thought!

Finally! A Jobs Plan

After 14 months of being in power, the House has taken on all issues but the ONE they ran on….JOBS!  We know what they want to do to women….or what they will do to Medicare……and that they will NOT commend the Seals for their efforts to get Osama……and we definitely know what they think of the Prez health act…….but what about the jobs?

Your wait is over!  The Repubs now have a jobs plan…a real one and it is in print.   A Rather Sparse Jobs Plan……… look at it! ….read it and weep!  It is the most vague and worthless use of 10 pages of paper…..if we remove the clip art and reduce the size of the font….it would fit on a piece of toilet paper……(Now there is an idea)……..

But at least we NOW have a GOP plan…..and let the jobs begin!

Give Us A Break!

We hear over and over how Obama and his policies have killed economic activity and jobs…..or that tax cuts will produce more employment…..or that the….well you get the idea….it is all so much crap!

Why would I say such a thing?

One of the shining lights, according to some, is Caterpilla…the heavy duty machine manufacturer….but look at this…

Seeking to bolster one of its more profitable business areas, Caterpillar Inc. agreed to acquire MWM Holding GmbH, a German maker of power-generation equipment, from 3i Group PLC and related investment funds for 580 million euros ($810 million).

3i, a British private-equity firm, bought the Mannheim, Germany-based company in 2007 for 360 million euros. The planned purchase is another move by Caterpillar to expand businesses outside its core areas of construction and mining …

Or maybe this….

Construction-equipment maker Caterpillar  said Tuesday it will buy locomotive maker Electro-Motive Diesel for $820 million from a private-equity firm.EMD is one of the world’s oldest and best-known makers of locomotives, producing its first engine in 1922.  The brand will remain unchanged as EMD’s brand is well-known in the rail industry.

So Caterpilla is spending about $1.5 billion on acquisitions….this will NOT create jobs…if anything some jobs will be lost because of the purchases…..none of this is to help put people back to work…..it is about the bottom line…the profits and the stock prices……business has NO desire to hire more people now and in the near future…it is more profitable the way it is today…..

So, give us a break!  Stop harping on the extension of benefits for corporations…they have NO intention of hiring more people…..nice try though….but I am not that stupid as to believe the hype!

It’s Jobs, Stupid!

Finally, the admin has addressed the need for jobvs on Main Street, they have already made Wall Street more profitable and now they want us normal people to go back to work….a helluva idea…..it is about time……he is in a hurry noiw because the Dems are losing support and will most likely lose one House of Congress in the next election…..but what does he propose…..

Obama is proposing initiatives to help small businesses grow and hire new staff, spend money to modernize roads, railways, bridges and tunnels, airports and seaports and a new program to provide rebates for consumers who retrofit their homes to become more energy efficient, such as weatherization measures, a White House official said. The official didn’t release further details.

How does that sound to you lowly workers?  Time magazine composed a list for the admin to consider:

Target an Industry and Stimulate Demand

Pay Companies to Hire People

Hire More People to Work for the Government

Boost Access to Credit for Growing Businesses

This is a lame attempt, in my opinion…….pay companies to hire people?  What will that accomplish if unemployment is still high there will be NO demand for the product and with an increase in inventories….lay-offs will follow…..I am still working on this one…..what good is a rebate to weatherize one’s home if one has NO job to afford the materials to weatherize?

And then there are the ideas that the Repubs have onb fixing the job market……Cut regulations. Freeze spending. Cut taxes. No new taxes…..gee the same crap that they propose for every situation that needs a fix….don’t you just love the originality?…..

Let’s pause, for a second, to appreciate the brilliant rhetorical framing. A no-cost jobs plan! Without adding a single dime to the deficit, the Republican’s plan will ameliorate the worst unemployment crisis in 30 years. One wonders how a political party capable of such innovative thinking ever lost its hold of power.  (thanx to Andrew Leonard for the observation)

And the Repubs just keep saying that the Obama technique has failed and failed miserably….but the CBO does not agree with that assessment……that it had added 1.2-3.2 points of GDP growth that would otherwise have not occurred and added 600,000 to 1.6 million jobs……So without the stimulus, judging from the CBO report, one can assume that the economy would still be contracting, and unemployment would be higher than it is now.

I will agree that it is jobs, stupid…..but things are not looking like these will be a long term sustaining answer to the problem…..neither party is doing what is needed to put Americans back to work….

Another “Up” Side To Health Reform

We have all heard the argument for health reform….more insured people…healthier people….cheaper insurance….on and on….and yes we have all definitely heard the supposed downside if there is reform coming from the GOP mostly.

But with all said could there possibly be other benefits if health reform is passed?

Liz Wolgemuth writing for U.S. News And World Report:

If healthcare reform makes insurance much more affordable to individuals and businesses, it could result in a greater variety of career options for workers. For one thing, it would reduce barriers to entrepreneurship. Reform also could make it easier for workers to leave employers to whom they are “job-locked,” or committed to solely for health benefits–a situation more common to older workers and those with pre-existing conditions.

It also could ease one of the greatest obstacles to older workers’ job searches–even more pressing after nearly two years of recession and rocketing unemployment rates. “One of the long-standing barriers to hiring elderly workers is healthcare costs,” says David Autor, an economist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Because rates are higher for smaller employers, “if that concern were taken off the table,” it would be easier for more businesses to hire older workers,

This would, in general, be a good thing for the economy. Workers who choose to stay with employers merely to receive health insurance are not ideal for employers, who benefit more from motivated and productive workers. At the same time, workers are not helped by staying in jobs so they can maintain their coverage. There is what Lahey describes as a “loss of well-being” when, say, an older worker is ailing but continues to work until he or she reaches 65 and can be covered by Medicare. Yet many workers, particularly low-income ones, feel that’s what they have to do.

Could there possibly be any disadvantage?  There is ALWAYS going to be a disadvantage to any government reform.

Small businesses pay as much as 18 percent more than large firms for the same health insurance policy, according to the president’s Council of Economic Advisers. Employees at small businesses also tend to get leaner benefits packages and pay higher deductibles. “Small firms are likely to be at a competitive disadvantage in the market for hiring workers,” according to the council’s report. While Obama’s goal may be competitive parity, opponents to existing healthcare reform legislation have argued that payroll taxes to pay for more affordable healthcare or mandates for levels of coverage could be prohibitive for small businesses.

There you have a few good versus bad of any health reform…weigh that as you struggle to make any sense of the noise coming out of Washington during the health debate.

Jobs For Americans

A slogan of the Palin/McCain ticket.  A promise of more joibs created if they are elected.  Nice slogan, but where will thew jobs come from?  Oh yeah, tax cuts will produce more jobs.  Thinking……we have had tax cuts for about 8 years and the unemployment rate keeps climbing to where it is now, at 6.1%.  When Bush took office it was in the 4% neighborhood.  So now explain how the tax cuts will create Jobs, if you please.

In April he said:

In addition to rapid and targeted help for those families hurt by the mortgage crisis, it is essential to reduce the burdens on businesses and workers by lowering taxes, streamlining regulation, tackling health care costs, opening markets to American goods and helping those workers in need. Today’s news also underlines the need to focus on innovation, which grows the economy and creates an urgent need for effective worker re-training.

Basically, this is his message after every jobs report….tax cuts and incentives will create 2 million jobs in the years to come.

From Obama’s , The Blueprint For Change, there are the usual sub-texts about job creation and poverty.  But as with McCain there is NO direct confrontation for the creation of jobs, only vague crap about this program will create “x” amount of jobs, but nowhere do they give specifics.  Like I said just vague promises that may or may not be successful at creating needed employment.

Green Collar Jobs

If Obama is elected he has promised to create upwards of 5 million green collar jobs.  A noble endeavor, but in case one is interested there are places to go for them now.

So where do you start your green job search? We’ve collected some of the best websites for job listings and other resources for a new earth-focused career.

  • Grist Job Board: Environmental groups from around the country post their jobs here. Also, Grist’s Kevin Doyle has a series of articles about the green job market.
  • TreeHugger Job Board: Dozens of green business and organizations list their openings here. Subscribe to the RSS feed for the latest updates.
  • Jobs With the National Park Service: Love the great outdoors? You could work anywhere from Hawaii’s volcanoes to Yellowstone’s geysers. The park service has 16,000 permanent employees and another 10,000 seasonal employees each year.
  • World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms: If you’re interested in the fast-growing field of organic food (no pun intended), you could volunteer on a farm to get experience. This site connects volunteers with farms around the planet.

Another green tip: Many companies encourage applying online these days, so you can email your resume. But if you have to print it, look for high-quality paper made with recycled fibers. No point killing trees when you’re applying for an earth-friendly job!

US Hiring Decline

If one is out there looking for work then the sad news is there is little to choose from.

A private survey projects a continued decline in the hiring intentions of U.S. employers during the fourth quarter.

“The continuing softness in hiring activity comes as no surprise as weakening market conditions are causing many companies to carefully adjust their hiring in line with the demand for their product or service,” said Jeffrey A. Joerres, chairman and CEO of Manpower, in a statement Tuesday.

Survey data shows that six of the 10 industry sectors surveyed will decrease hiring slightly during the fourth quarter compared with the third quarter, continuing a downward trend.

Mining is the only sector that expects to raise staff levels during the fourth quarter, according to the survey. Employers in the durable and non-durable goods manufacturing, transportation/public utilities, wholesale/retail trade, finance/insurance/real estate and services sectors all expect to decrease hiring.

GM And The Workers

More than a quarter of General Motors Corp.’s hourly workers are expected to leave by the summer as a result of a recent buyout and retirement offer, the company announced today amid reports that Chairman and CEO Rick Wagoner will announce additional restructuring measures at its annual meeting next week.

GM said 19,000 of its 73,000 hourly workers have signed up for buyouts and retirement offers, GM announced this afternoon. Workers will be expected to leave by July.

While the number leaving is far higher than that of a similar program at Ford Motor Co. earlier this year, it is a bit below the number GM targeted under its special attrition program offers, also called the SAP.

“We had hoped that 20-25,000 would take the SAP at GM – setting up at least 12,000 hires this fall,” said Sean McAlinden, chief economist at the Center for Automotive Research in Ann Arbor. “I think GM assumed this also. So GM is much closer to its target than Ford.”

GM still has the capacity to build 1.7 million of its largest vehicles, from Escalades to Silverados, in North America, McAlinden said. “They probably only need 1 million units at most due to the structural change in the market. … So, we worry. Pontiac East, Flint Truck & Bus, they are all at risk.”

GM already announced this week that it is speeding up the elimination of a shift each at those pickup plants, even though they had been down for weeks because of the UAW’s strike against American Axle & Manufacturing Inc., which supplies those factories. The latest announcements leave them each with just one shift. It is considered inefficient and costly to operate plants with just one shift.

The workers are paying the price for the ratification of the lame contracts that the auto industry gave them.  The Workers need to be more protected and their unions are failing them in the category.