Tag: Jobs

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!

Jobs–Issue #1

2010 Election series

Lecture #5

In less than week we have our thrilling yet somehow moronic mid-terms–and we all have heard the boring ads…..that healthcare is killing America….tax cuts will create jobs….the unemployed are lazy……social security is killing the country…..that the car is in a ditch….and on and on……all in all it is all a mind f*ck….no matter which side of the spectrum you wish to stand……it is ALL a mind f*ck!

The only thing Americans and I mean real Americans…you know the type…they work for a living and scratch out a small existence month to month….are worried about is….JOBS!  Where are the job?  Will I have a job next month?  Will job market improve?  All in all….this mid-term is about JOBS and JOBS alone!

Now friends…ask yourself, which one of the babbling idiots will really have a plan to create jobs?

Tax cuts?  Let’s see how many have the tax cuts creating so far?  Will privatization of SS create jobs?  Tell me, oh great sage, which one of the “people” and I use the term loosely have a REAL plan for job creation?  Would like an answer?  Alrighty then……not one of the candidates has a real plan to create a single job…they do have a slick tongue to deceive the mindless…and this mid-term will illustrate just how gullible the American voter really is…..sorry guys….YOU HAVE BEEN DUPED!  Again!

You know an intelligent being would learn from their mistakes…not so with the American voter…..they just keep flushing their vote down the toilet….time after time……a pathetic indictment of the American political system….

Another One Bites The Dust (Again)

In the beginning there was a person that the people wanted to lead them into a new world….and this person brought with him his advisers….and soon after the man took his rightful place in the halls of governance…his advisers started falling like flies….

The Obama team is losing people quicker than a Hair Club for Men….first it was his National Intel Director and then his budget dude, Orzag and shortly after that came the resignation of Romer, an economic adviser and now (may I have a drum roll, please)…..it is time for Summers to turf out in a dead run……

Summers, In my opinion, should NEVER have been allowed anywhere near economic policy…why?  It was his policy with Clinton’s help that de-regulated Wall Street and set the stage for the biggest financial crisis sine the 30’s….I ask at the beginning of the Obama strategy, why he would allow this man to help make economic policy, considering his track record……

With all that said…the departure of Orzag, Romer and Summers, how long will we have to wait until Geithner is shown the door or better yet shoved through it…..I question any thinking that puts the very people that helped cause our economic crisis in any position of authority or to influence policy….

Are They Listening? Illegals And Jobs

From the Scriptorium

Recently the dialog on immigration has returned to the airways, thanks in part to the passing of the new law in Arizona….we see so many in protest on one side or the other….you have heard all the rhetoric from both sides of the aisle….like illegal immigrants are taking jobs needed for Americans in this recession…will the last American out of Arizona please turn off the lights…..and so many more little placards used to lather up the protesters…..But is any of that true?  I am posting on the economics of illegals and nothing else…..the economics of illegal immigration on the jobs market.

From the website factcheck.org……

Most economists and other experts say there’s little to support the claim. Study after study has shown that immigrants grow the economy, expanding demand for goods and services that the foreign-born workers and their families consume, and thereby creating jobs. There is even broad agreement among economists that while immigrants may push down wages for some, the overall effect is to increase average wages for American-born workers.

I have heard all the blame that is being passed around….it is NOTHING new……..was uttered during the Cubans arrival here and again when the South Vietnamese landed on our shores…..all the rhetoric being yelled is nothing but recycling from decades past.  None of the predictions those anti-immigration folk came to be true…but yet the Right and some on the Left keep recycling BS from the past……get a new line….your present one is a bit tiresome……

Before I get the inevitable hate mail let me be clear….I believe that the immigration laws and techniques need to be updated and made more clear….but that ball is in the government’s court….and you know just how worthless that is……

Hey, Lou Dobbs are you listening?

Repubs On Jobs Creation

FLASH!  Zip!  Bang!

We have heard all the big ideas from the President and his boyz….he will put America back to work with the use of the left over TARP funds…..but what about the Repubs?  Do they have any ideas on how to end the rising tide of unemployment?

Ask and thou shalt receive……

Yesterday the Repubs in Congress offered up their plan for the creation of jobs…..(may I have a drum roll please)……..and their plan is………

Republican lawmakers Wednesday presented President Barack Obama with their plan to tackle unemployment, proposing a freeze on tax hikes until the jobless rate falls below five percent.

The plan also calls for more domestic production of energy, including oil, as well as corporate tax cuts intended to encourage firms to repatriate earnings collected abroad and the approval of pending free trade deals with Colombia, Panama and South Korea.

Tax cuts?  Approval of free trade agreements?  Wait!

The GOP is becoming more pathetic as each week goes by…..tax cuts?  That is their answer for a failing economy, the health crisis and now jobs…..it is tired and a proven failure…….oh then, we have the approval of free trade agreements…..think about that for a moment…… (insert pause of contemplation)…….. did not the out sourcing of American jobs overseas basically begin with the NAFTA debacle?  How many jobs did that piece of manure save or create in the US?

I cannot figure out why it takes Repubs so long to come up with a statement on any given issue……seeing how they have the same idea no matter the situation….TAX CUTS!  Maybe they, the Repubs, should spend less time playing golf or slinging insults at the opposition and try to come up with a REAL plan to save jobs……Just a thought……

A Jobs Summit?

Oh Please!

Jobs…..Jobs….Jobs!

Are you kidding me?  After a year of losing jobs and economic clout, the White House wants a jobs summit?  Let me see….for a year now it has been important to make sure that the banks get their backing for the gambling …..than to make sure that John Q. Public fed his family…and NOW it is important……excuse me if I feel that this is a bit late in coming….or is it just a response to the political attacks from the Right?

As written by Jerry White wrote for wsws.org:

Indeed, the administration has provided unlimited resources to stabilize “the financial system,” i.e., the bankers who are responsible for the financial collapse. But this has had nothing to do with a revival of lending, let alone slowing the wave of foreclosures and personal bankruptcies. On the contrary, the big banks have used the public funds to extend their grip over the financial system, hand out billions in bonuses and resume the same type of reckless speculation that produced the economic catastrophe.

Obama then declared that the Recovery Act had “created and saved more than a million jobs”—a claim that has been exposed as a wild exaggeration. And even if it were the case, the number pales in comparison with the more than 3.5 million jobs that have been lost since the stimulus package was approved last February.

In reality, the administration is pursuing a deliberate policy of high unemployment and reducing workers to a state of perpetual insecurity. The constant threat of job losses is being used to force workers to accept a drastic and permanent reduction in their living standards and a sharp increase in exploitation. US corporations have already seen a nearly 10 percent increase in productivity this year, as they force fewer and fewer workers to produce more and more.

In other words, American workers must accept a harsh reduction in consumption as credit is reduced, homes are lost, social programs slashed and they are forced to live on much less. At the same time, the labor cost gap with Third World countries must be closed so the US can be transformed into a cheap labor platform to send US exports around the world.

If you believe that the admin is concerned about Main Street then I suggest to take another hit of the bong….you are delusional.  This should have been issue ONE from the very beginning…not some lame promises of a jobs creation that has not materialized….But a jobs summit?  A bunch of gamblers from Wall Street will get together and decide which direction the government will…all the while children go to bed hungry….what a country!

If Americans are not working, then Americans are not spending and it Americans are not spending then consumption sucks…..If we want a good consumer price index and want Americans spending, then JOBS should have been the answer 12 months ago…..not a second thought after throwing billions maybe trillions at Wall Street so that they could continue their evil ways……

It boils down to the truth…….banks had a feeding frenzy at the banquet provided by the taxpayer…..and in return they, the taxpayer, gets the scraps that was left by the banks..is that about it?  What a great thing for the country to do for its revenue base…..

It Is All About Unemployment

The recent “optimistic” report on the employment scene was good news and then it was bad news…I know…I know…what the hell does that mean?

The number of Americans receiving claims for unemployment benefits dropped for the first time since January, adding to evidence the job market is starting to thaw.

And in the same report this was given:

Initial claims rose by 3,000 to 608,000 in the week ended June 13, in line with forecasts.

The average number of claims over the last four weeks fell to the lowest level in four months, an indication that the U.S. economy is stabilizing after the worst recession in half a century. Even so, companies are likely to be slow to hire new employees, sending unemployment rates higher, analysts said.

Okay…make up my mind for me….is it good or bad?

As usual no one wants to mention the poor bastards who have NO claims left…that have come off the rolls or just stopped looking.  This is the same type of reporting that goes on weekly……any good news is in the big type and the not so good is later in the report in small type.

Here is a truer judgement of the employment picture:

Forty-eight states and the District of Columbia recorded unemployment rate increases in May, the government reported Friday. One state registered a rate decrease, and one state had no rate change.Several states and regions posted their highest unemployment rate since the report debuted in 1976.

Over the year, jobless rates were higher in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

Please stop believing all the crap they throw……things are NOT getting that much better….only for the guys and gals on Wall Street…they got their bailout while the rest of us can starve….makes NO difference to Washington….they have jobs.

Native Americans Get Stimulus

About time!

American Indians stand to gain almost $3 billion as part of the economic stimulus moving through Congress, money that could help some of the nation’s poorest communities rebuild roads, improve health care and boost employment that has lagged behind the rest of the country for decades.

The Senate Appropriations Committee on Tuesday included $2.8 billion for Indian tribes in its portion of the nearly $900 billion economic stimulus bill, and a House version to be voted on Wednesday includes a similar amount. That includes hundreds of millions of dollars for schools, health clinics, roads, law enforcement and water projects.

Indian Country has a long way to go in terms of reviving tribal economies. According to the National Congress of American Indians, real per-capita income of Indians living on reservations is still less than half the national average, unemployment is twice that of the rest of the country, and eight of the 10 poorest counties in the United States are on reservations.

That group originally asked for $6.1 billion in the stimulus, an amount that they said would generate more than 50,000 jobs.

No Good News Cometh

The number of people continuing to seek unemployment benefits has risen sharply, according to government data released Thursday, indicating that laid-off workers are having a harder time finding new jobs as the recession enters its second year.

The Labor Department also reported that initial applications for unemployment insurance dropped by 24,000 to a seasonally adjusted 467,000 for the week ending Jan. 3. Wall Street economists expected initial claims to increase, but analysts said the new figure reflects the difficulty the government has in making seasonal adjustments over the holiday period.

The four-week average of initial claims, which smooths out fluctuations but also includes the shortened holiday weeks, fell by 27,000 to 525,750.

The US government loans to the auto industry, conditioned on a massive attack on the wages and jobs of auto workers, are being used as a spearhead for broader attacks on the working class throughout the country. This attack has already begun, with numerous companies recently announcing pay cuts and layoffs for the coming year in response to the deepening economic crisis.

Many of the new pay cuts affect salaried positions. While cuts to the pay packages of top executives are largely designed to lend the impression of “shared sacrifice,” the salaries and pensions of wider layers of managerial and professional personnel—a large component of the US “middle class”—are being significantly reduced.

President-elect Barack Obama warned that without immediate steps by the government to revive the economy, family incomes will drop, the unemployment rate could reach “double digits” and the U.S. risks losing a “generation of potential and promise.”

Obama’s speech, which aides billed as a “major” economic address, is part of a broader pitch to Congress and the American public as he works on selling his $775 billion, two-year economic stimulus plan to pull the U.S. out of a recession. While the excerpts released by his transition office didn’t provide specifics of the plan, advisers said the full speech would expand on previously reported elements.

He also will again call for using the government’s “full arsenal of tools” to unlock credit markets and “a sweeping effort” to stem home foreclosures. Obama also is promising to overhaul financial-markets regulations and crack down on “reckless greed and risk-taking” on Wall Street to restore confidence in markets.

Sometimes I feel that this economic crisis is accomplishing what the conservatives have wanted for years–the death of the middle class.

Obama And Jobs

The economic plan announced Saturday by President-Elect Barack Obama, with the goal of “saving or creating” 2.5 million jobs in 2009 and 2010, is a measure that has already been outstripped by events. The deepening crisis of American and world capitalism could destroy that many US jobs in the next six to nine months alone.

The collapse of the auto industry itself would wipe out 2.5 million to 3 million jobs according to most estimates, canceling out the entirety of Obama’s plan, even if it were to be enacted quickly and in full by the incoming Democratic-controlled Congress. The broader recession, well under way, is expected to increase the ranks of the unemployed by a million or more by next spring.

Obama announced his jobs plan in a brief radio speech on Saturday morning, excerpts of which were also posted on YouTube. He noted the most recent, extremely ominous, economic figures: “New home purchases in October were the lowest in half a century. 540,000 more jobless claims were filed last week, the highest in eighteen years. And we now risk falling into a deflationary spiral…”

The gauzy, patriotic rhetoric conceals a lie. The economic and class divisions in the United States are not small; they are the largest and widest in American history. Never has such a tiny minority of the population monopolized such a huge proportion of overall wealth, to the detriment of the vast majority. As for the demand that action be taken “above all, together,” it means that the financial aristocracy, which is responsible for the crisis, should not be compelled to pay for it. Instead, the burden will be placed on the backs of “all,” i.e., on working people.

Obama aides signaled the next day that he was retreating from his campaign promise to roll back the Bush administration’s tax cuts for the wealthy. Top adviser David Axelrod, appearing on two Sunday television interview programs, did not contradict reports that Obama would instead allow the Bush tax cuts to continue for another two years, when they are scheduled to expire. Another Obama adviser, William Daley, former Clinton commerce secretary, told NBC’s “Meet the Press” that a continuation of the tax cut for those making over $250,000 a year until its scheduled expiration at the end of 2010 now “looks more likely than not.”

In other words, these selections demonstrate that Obama will pursue economic policies determined by the same class interests upheld by his Republican predecessor. The primary concern will be the defense of the financial system—i.e., the accumulated wealth of the financial aristocracy, embodied in the giant banks, hedge funds and other huge financial institutions, whose parasitic and speculative operations precipitated the current crisis.