The President Said, Hire those who are on long term unemployment

I must say that my present employers hires from temp agencies and we train them in our training center for various plant and assembly work. We are hiring in the plant BTW but you need to move to Pa to get it. The self starter in me wants to slap folks back to reality that think someone is just waiting for them to walk in the door. To Chucks point I can say with certainty that I know this happens as I have had people I know do the same thing. I guess my moral up bringing get in the way of me doing that. It is a tough subject. That's why folks get away with stealing from the government. No one wants to take control fear of hurting the truly needed.
 
This seems like a good place to remember this great post, from summer of 2011, by one of our own:


I think that all the hand wringing about "America's Decline" is overstated. We now simply just have to compete with the rest of the world on more or less even terms for the first time in many decades. And the US facilitated that process more than any other country in the world!

First, let's understand why we rose to the position we have occupied since WW II:

1. The world's industrial production capacity was decimated by the war, except for ours. Every industrialized society was devastated and it took decades for it to recover. We simply had no competition of any real size. It's easy to be the "600 lb gorilla" when there's no competition. We helped rebuild some of this with the Marshall Plan. We became fat, complacent and inefficient. Recall the GM and Ford of the '70s?

2. China was an insular, closed society for hundreds of years. Their population and its potential as an industrial society was sealed off by Communism and Mao Zedong's Cultural Revolution. Other smaller countries were similarly closed off by Communism and/or control by Communist countries. Nixon's visit to China cracked the door open and the realization that capitalism is superior to communism took the door off the hinges.

3. Other than the telephone and telegraph companies, there was no way to get data electronically from one point on the globe to another quickly and cost-effectively. Satellite communications and the Internet removed this barrier.

4. Getting physical goods from one point to another was more expensive, and less predictable. Other than the airlines and the Flying Tiger Line, there weren't any alternatives of any size for getting goods across the oceans quickly and easily. The invention of container ships and services like FedEx lowered this barrier.

5. Technology has made it easier to transfer knowledge, resulting in the instantaneous transfer of information with the resulting impact on education. Intel, Microsoft, Apple and others blew this barrier out of the way.

6. The creation of the WTO leveled the playing field substantially in the '90s, making it harder (although not impossible) to engage in protectionism. The US was a prime mover of that organization so that our companies would have more open access to other more populous countries.

There are other macro trends that fed into this as well, but I think you get my point. We simply have to compete now and we don't like it.

There are a couple of things that have to happen:

1. Quit thinking that it's the government's responsibility to deal with this. It's not. The innovation that made us a great nation did not come from our federal government. It came from innovative private individuals. As long as the citizenry thinks the "answer" will come from Washington DC, the longer we will lag in competitiveness. We need to get the government out of our businesses and rebuild a sense of individual responsibility and freedom. Waiting on the government to solve our problems is going to be "Waiting on Godot". It won't happen.

2. It's time to rethink manufacturing. We can (and in some cases already are) taking back manufacturing by utilizing the latest technology to automate plants and production. We still have the best engineering brains in the world and the best engineering schools in the world. We need to re-imagine doing things like making Levis jeans in the country, and doing it faster and cheaper than China can. Many people say it's impossible...has anyone tried?

3. China's population is demanding a middle-class lifestyle more and more. Wages are going up and that will make them less competitive. The same forces that made us less competitive will also work against them. Economic forces work without prejudice as to country and economic system.

4. The costs of logistics between countries are increasing, due to oil prices. This makes long distance transportation less attractive and by converse will make a locally produced alternative more attractive. This is a mega-trend that will not reverse.

Bottom line is that we need to quit feeling sorry for ourselves and quit waiting on the government to "fix it". It's up to us.
 
That's an eye opener Mike. We are now the most influential country in the world. Yes all of the above is true but in safeguarding our way we must continue to evaluate our position and internal structure to stay that way. But now I'm preaching to the choir.

Having traveled around the world I can tell you that folks are baffled by our politics. They can't believe such a system even works. That's the beauty though. They would not know what to do with us even if they invaded. So many guns and independent thinkers here. They back on cultures that have populace that are repressed and the people have no vision. They know that taking our country is one thing but keeping it is quite another.

All of that said, we are now tarnished and looked upon as a nation that has diminished integrity. We are not reliable and our word is no longer our bond. We have left those that help us in harms way. We say one thing as a world power than cower when pressed to act. Yes our former administration may have been the shoot and ask later but the rest of the world knew that.

Now they bloody our nose knowing no one will repay the favor. We will just be very concerned about it and hide in the corner.
 
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Having traveled around the world I can tell you that folks are baffled by our politics. They can't believe such a system even works
You got that right!
One of the things I could not believe is that for the biggest Democracy in the world, technically you don't even have "one man (woman), one vote". The Electroral College technically has all the power and can change the popular vote, as I understand it, if they so wish. Notwithstanding, the awful amount of money spent on elections here and all the sickening razzamatazz leading up to it which IMHO cheapens the whole event. I think in the UK (and many other countries too) it's all done and dusted within a few weeks, here it drags on forever and forever......
 
Weren't there a few Obama apologists on this board a while ago? Maybe they can explain this. They have, for some reason, not been as active as they once were. Buyers remorse????? Just saying.
 
One of the things I could not believe is that for the biggest Democracy in the world, technically you don't even have "one man (woman), one vote".....

The United States is not a democracy. The US has a constitutional democratic republic form of government. The constitution creates a balance between the 3 branches of government and lays out a method by which the president is selected by electors selected by the states. Most states electors vote as instructed by the popular vote if their states. We have only elected Senators popularly for the past 100 years, the constitution set them up as representatives of the state and the were usually elected by the state legislature. Now they act and are more like super representatives.

The electoral college was and is a compromise between those that wanted the states to elect the president and those that wanted a popular election. The EC was set up to keep states powers more equal. The House of Representatives is a fully popularly elected body, each representing their voters. The Senate was to represent the states, the president was to represent the country, and the Supreme Court was to settle disputes.

To see this power compromise in action look at California and Vermont, their selection of the president to represent the country is somewhat neutralized by the EC. California has 55 EC votes and Vermont 3, however, though California is 57 times largerthan Vermont it is only 18 times more powerful in the EC. Without the EC politicians would only campaign and work for the biggest cities and states.

Take a look at who wants to do away with the EC and think about their motives.

MM
 
Weren't there a few Obama apologists on this board a while ago? Maybe they can explain this. They have, for some reason, not been as active as they once were. Buyers remorse????? Just saying.

Considering the political ratio in play here, trying to set the record straight is just p*ssing up a rope.
 
Hey Obummer, keep the raise and keep the change. I don't work for you and I never will. Last time I checked, you are on MY payroll. Putz!!!!
 
What happens to the "long term" unemployed when they turn down the job that has been offered to them? Will they them lose their benefits while they wait for their old higher paying job to return to them? There are jobs out there...just not "those" jobs! I will be hiring one person in March, how am I supposed to know who's been unemployed the longest, when I'm not even allowed to report the ones that have turned down the job when they make more being unemployed? I will hire the one that's best for me, not the one thats been unemployed for the past three years!
 
What happens to the "long term" unemployed when they turn down the job that has been offered to them? Will they them lose their benefits while they wait for their old higher paying job to return to them? There are jobs out there...just not "those" jobs! I will be hiring one person in March, how am I supposed to know who's been unemployed the longest, when I'm not even allowed to report the ones that have turned down the job when they make more being unemployed? I will hire the one that's best for me, not the one thats been unemployed for the past three years!
How much you paying?
 
$10 per hour for the first 30days, if they stay 30days and can work without a babysitter, then it goes up from there.
VA min wage is $7.25 per hour.
 
There in is one of the problems, something is wrong if they are making more staying unemployed then taking a job.
 
Just a quick google search
According to government figures, the average weekly benefit check is $300 a week
So if you are paying $10 an hour you are talking $400 a week less taxes and stuff take home what 275 or or so. There is the problem. Not only that, lets face it we are not talking a living wage at $10 an hour.

 
Just a quick google search
According to government figures, the average weekly benefit check is $300 a week
So if you are paying $10 an hour you are talking $400 a week less taxes and stuff take home what 275 or or so. There is the problem. Not only that, lets face it we are not talking a living wage at $10 an hour.

Working and living in poverty, not much of an incentive to go to work is it.
 
The entry level pay starts at 16. So $640.00 before taxes and his garnishment...
 
The United States is not a democracy. The US has a constitutional democratic republic form of government. MM
I think most of us know the US is a constitutional democratic republic, learned all you wrote at the Citizenship test. I was just confirming what Old School wrote that foreigners have difficulty understanding the US system which I did too initially. Heck, even many from the US don't understand it either, ever seen Jay Leno's Jaywalking! The US while not technically a pure democracy, is perceived as such by many abroad, especially as she's often trying to take the "democractic way" to many other nations, mainly dictatorships. Turning to the EEC, as far as I know the EEC has, and I expect always will be, while it exists, "jobs for the boys". Suspect if it's ever dismantled Belgium will nearly crumble, apart from chocolate and I think some beers, not sure how it will fare:)
 
As I said...$10 to START. For 30 days they make $10, after that it's based on them! When Kat left she was at $18, even after all she has done she's worth every penny and more.
 
Hmmm, not sure how much I should comment...you guys will start to realise why Australia is struggling at the end of the mining boom. The only country that supposedly missed the GFC, with a Labour Government that squandered the boom.

I have been paying my 18yo Daughter $17 an hour to pack boxes, that was just above the award rate for the role.

I have a young guy of about 22 who is employed full time in the role. Basically around $23.50 per hour, plus 10% Superranuation, plus 20 days annual leave per year, 13 public holidays and 10 sick days.........

We wont even go to the Sales Guys....maintained company vehicles, phones, laptops, etc etc.

And that is why this country cannot compete with overseas prices, and the internet is quickly killing business here


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