President Obama: Jobs and Unemployment

With a nationwide unemployment of 12 million, 3.8 million jobs in the U.S. remain unfilled.  If all available jobs were filled we could cut the unemployed number in the U.S by nearly one third.  The number of unemployed would be the same as it was in 2004 (8.2 million) when President Bush told Americans to “get a job” and to be like his friend and not bitch and moan about it (imagine the public outrage if President Obama had said something like that).  President Bill Clinton stated “there are already more than three million jobs open and unfilled in America today, mostly because the applicants don't have the required skills."    President Obama is investing in community colleges to provide education and career-training programs, ensuring that everyone who works hard can get ahead.  In contrast, Presidential Candidate Mitt Romney cut funding for community colleges in Massachusetts by 17%. By 2006, tuition in Massachusetts was 59% higher than the national average.  I searched indeed.com to see how many jobs were available in Miami, FL the results were 17,812 full-time positions.  130 of the results were for shift manager which just requires basic skills that should be taught to students in school.  We should see improvements in skills being taught in schools once the results start coming in from President Obama’s Race to the Top initiative, which has already helped spur 46 states to raise standards by rewarding innovation and positive reforms in local schools.  America needs to be educated and ready for the future in order to be competitive in the workforce.  If we don’t reform our Nation’s schools soon manufacturing jobs will be leaving the U.S. for skilled labor instead of cheap labor.  Millions of manufacturing jobs are being lost to automation all over the world.  US manufacturing output is increasing all the while the number of jobs is decreasing because of productive advancements in robotics.  In the future, many will need an Associate’s degree in Robotics Technology or a Bachelor’s in Engineering to work in the manufacturing field. 

 

For decades, Mike Hummon, an unemployed substitute music teacher, was frustrated in his quest to become a school band director.

Now, he good-naturedly endures frustrations of a different sort as a 53-year-old student in an accelerated manufacturing class.

He isn't just seeking a new career as an operator of computer-controlled factory machines. Hummon, a dishwasher, two social service workers and several laid-off manufacturing and construction workers are on the front line of a campaign to close a puzzling gap in the labor market that has many U.S. employers struggling to find skilled workers despite the 7.8% jobless rate.

They're among 64 students taking part in a new program at two Minnesota community colleges called Right Skills Now that trains them in just about 4 months to run computer numerical controlled (CNC) machines. At graduation, they're virtually assured a job in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area at a starting wage of about $18 an hour after a six-week paid internship.

Experts say the program could serve as a national model for employers needing skilled workers yesterday and many jobless Americans unable to spend two years earning associate degrees.

It's one of the early efforts to close the nation's much-bemoaned skills gap. Economists say many unemployed workers don't have the skills for new, highly technical jobs in manufacturing, health care, information technology and other fields — mismatches that keep unemployment higher than it should be in an economic recovery.

“Last year, Darlene Miller, a member of President Obama’s Council on Jobs and Competitiveness, approached the Manufacturing Institute, the industry's workforce training arm, and the two groups developed the fast-track program. The first session, at the Minnesota colleges, ended in late spring, with the vast majority of students landing jobs after graduating.”   -USAToday

A Right Skills Now program recently began in Nevada, and one will soon launch in Michigan. The initiative is expected to spread across the country and graduate more than 100,000 in the next few years as part of President Obama's goal of awarding manufacturing certifications to 500,000 community college students by 2016, says Jennifer McNelly, who heads the Manufacturing Institute. Courses in welding, production and other factory skills are also planned.  A pipeline of skilled factory workers is sorely needed, especially with Baby Boomers retiring. A year ago, 600,000 skilled manufacturing jobs were unfilled, and 80% of manufacturers couldn't find proficient workers, according to a survey by the institute and Deloitte.

After shrinking by 2.3 million in the recession, manufacturing employment has grown by 500,000 since early 2010 on rising exports and a resurgent auto industry. Many former apparel and textile workers whose jobs were shipped overseas lack the skills to operate automated machines in expanding sectors such as autos, aerospace and medical devices.

Mike Hunter, a 23-year construction worker who's been out of work since he was hurt on the job a year ago, says simply, "I needed to do something different."  The program "gets you in the workforce so quickly,"

Hunter says the hourly pay of a CNC operator is comparable to construction, but he expects to earn more because the work is steadier.

The Right Skills Now approach — rapidly giving workers specific expertise — could be a new protype. Manufacturers that routinely trained new employees no longer have the time or resources because entry-level skills are more sophisticated in a digital age, says Anthony Carnevale, head of the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce.

"You really need something to get you through the door" at a firm — then acquire more skills later, Carnevale says.

By contrast, workers who take two years to earn an associate’s degree may find their skills less relevant upon graduation in light of ever-evolving technology, says Deloitte director John Hagel.

A stream of qualified CNC operators can't come quickly enough for New Hope-based Custom Mold & Design, which has sought several for months. General Manager Mark Morris says the company, which makes factory molds, robot parts and surgical tools, could boost production by 50% if it were fully staffed. Instead, raw metal for planned jobs piles up and some CNC milling machines sit idle, doors open and inner chambers darkened.

Dave Swanson, operations manager of Viking Drill & Tool in St. Paul, was so desperate for a CNC operator that he hired Ryan Lohoner even before Lohoner completed his Dunwoody class. Lohoner, 36, who was laid off from his courier job last year, more than doubled his former $10 hourly wage.

2.5 million American manufacturing jobs were lost to outsourcing in the last decade.  38% of North American manufacturers surveyed by manufacturing sourcing Web site MFG.com in June 2011 had plans to research a move back to North America.  S. 3816 (111th): Creating American Jobs and Ending Offshoring Act would have given tax cuts to American manufacturers that bring jobs back to the United States.  S. 3816 provided tax cuts for manufacturers coming back to the U.S. by taking the tax cuts from outsourcers.  Without this proposed amendment outsourcers can deduct costs for moving expenses to leave the U.S. and stick it to the U.S. taxpayer.  S. 3816 was blocked by the Senate GOP in September of 2010.  Based on my calculations assuming that 1/3 of the manufacturers in the Survey were U.S. based and adjusting for the fact that automation allows one U.S. worker to do the work of 3, had the Senate GOP voted in favor of the Democrats bill we would have brought back 108,333 manufacturing jobs in addition to the 459,000 U.S. manufacturing has added since January 2010—the most growth in a decade.  If re-elected, President Obama plans to sign legislation like S.3816 after it is passed by Congress.  But he can’t do it alone. Remember his 2008 campaign slogan “Yes We Can”.  Well I bolded the WE for a reason.  If the President could pass bills without Congress his slogan would have been “Yes I Can”.  In the upcoming election if you want to see real “change” please vote out any Congressional obstructionists.  I will post a list of elected officials who blocked S. 3816 in the comments soon. 

President Barack Obama’s signature health care legislation will provide an economic boost to Maryland, according to a report by the Hilltop Institute at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County.  The report said it would create 26,000 jobs in the health care and other sectors and pad state and local coffers with $237 million in new tax revenue each year. Additionally, by 2020, 330,000 more Marylanders would be given health insurance.  State savings were projected at $672 million.  I searched indeed.com using the terms “health care” refined by full-time jobs in Baltimore, MD.  The results as of 10/9/2012 were 4,090 jobs in the “health care” industry.

Moody’s Analytics, in an August forecast, predicts 12 million jobs will be created by 2016 based on the current trajectory of the U.S. economy and Macroeconomic Advisors in April also predicted a gain of 12.3 million jobs.  If re-elected president Obama will have created an estimated 12,632,000 jobs in his eight years as President even if we continue with all the blockage (I couldn't think of a better word, Congress is constipated) in Congress.  Imagine how great our country could be if we vote out all the incumbents who want to attach abortion and religion to every bill.

If you support President Obama and you'd like to donate follow this link

GOP Congressional Candidate's Crazy Conspiracy Theory

Recently, Republican mayor of Utah and GOP congressional candidate, Mia Love, received an envelope that contained images showing Love, her husband and a hooded Ku Klux Klan member and aborted fetuses.

Mrs. Love believes that she's become a target because of her opposition to the Obama administration and claims those kinds of attacks are being used to divert her from the issues of the congressional race. 

Mia Love’s conclusion is completely illogical.  It is a known fact that some Christians, ant-abortionist groups and Pastors believe that Planned Parenthood has connections to the Ku Klux Klan and is “accomplishing” “what the Ku Klux Klan could only dream about”

For instance, the anti-abortionist group Klan Parenthood is linked to the harassment of a Colorado Springs woman.  Klan Parenthood has pictures of fetuses and a Klan member on their website.

I am concerned that a person who could be elected to Congress believes such an irrational and farfetched conspiracy theory (Michelle Bachmann part 2?). 

Mitt Romney: No Tax Cuts For You

Presidential Candidate Mitt Romney, in an interview with CBS News Wednesday, said “This is a campaign, not about character assassination, even though that’s what I think has come from the Obama camp by and large,”

Isn’t accusing your opponent of character assassination actually assassinated your opponents character?  It’s ok Mitt we‘re all grownups here we know elections involve character assassinations.  But I think Mr. Romney should know that he is the one assassinating his own character every time he has been dishonest with the American people about his plan to permanently cut taxes (I read his plan on his campaigns website).  Mr. Romney needs to muster up the courage to tell his super packs that he is not going to cut taxes and that they should stop running false ads on his behalf. 

 Mr. Romney told a crowd in Westerville, near Columbus Wednesday he is “going to lower deductions and exemptions,”

A staff member told The Wall Street Journal another scenario would maintain deductions for people who earn $100,000 or less, consequently increasing revenue by allowing fewer taxpayers to get deductions.

“it’s not a tax cut,” a campaign staffer told the Journal referring to Mr. Romney’s tax reform proposal.

Mr. Romney told CBS’s “60 Minutes” in a broadcast that aired Sunday that because he plans to limit exemptions and deductions, most people will essentially pay the same taxes as before.

Romney has said lower rates would spur economic growth.  So if most people will pay the same taxes as before…There will be no spurring of the economy.

“But by bringing rates down, we’ll be able to let small businesses keep more of their money, so they can hire more people,” he told the aforementioned crowd in Westerville, near Columbus. “My priority is jobs and I’ll make it happen.”

I wonder what Mr. Romney’s plan is to fill the current 3.7 million unfilled jobs in America and to ensure that Americans are qualified to fill an additional 12 million jobs he plans on creating on top of that? 

I did read Mr. Romney plan released in September of 2011 that suggested filling jobs that Americans lack the skills to obtain with foreign nationals.  Mr. Romney’s plan suggests removing and or raising the limit of H-1B visas allowed in the U.S. annually.  This plan of action will not solve the unemployment rate that American citizens are facing. 

As for the 12 million jobs plan... Mr. Romney's plan is to do absolutely nothing and go down in history as the greatest president ever.  Moody’s Analytics, in an August forecast, predicts 12 million jobs will be created by 2016, no matter who is president. And Macroeconomic Advisors in April also predicted a gain of 12.3 million jobs.  Presidents are often at the mercy — or are the beneficiary — of broad economic trends, and Romney’s pledge appears to be an effort to take advantage of that.

Based on the facts in this article Mr. Romney’s character has not existed for at least a year so it couldn’t have suffered character assassination.

 

The American Taxpayer Saved the 2002 Olympics

A new commercial paid for by Restore Our Future snubs the fact that roughly 1,342,000,000 (that’s right 1 billion) of the taxpayer’s dollars funded the Olympic Games and Salt Lake City area infrastructure improvements needed for the Games to be a success.  The ad contains former Olympians snubbing the taxpayer's contribution and heralding Mitt Romney for allowing athletes to "realize" their "dreams" and for bringing a "huge sense of hope".  The following are quotes from athletes Kristi Yamaguchi and Derek Parra:

”Mitt allowed athletes like myself to realize our dreams” –Derek Parra

 “Mitt Romney brought a huge sense of hope”-Kristi Yamaguchi

``The Games won't ever be judged on a dollar basis,'' Romney said in April of 2002. ``The Games will be judged by the feelings and memories that came from Salt Lake City.''  Romney was apparently wrong because the Olympic ad spends about 1/5 of the allotted time discussing dollars. The ad boasts that Romney created a $100,000,000 surplus even though most articles have the surplus pegged at $65,000,000.  That sure is some creative rounding up;)

The Mitt Romney business experience at the Olympics consists of “How to Get the Government to Bail You Out”. The American taxpayers should be thanked not just Mitt Romney. While he rails against “Big Government” “Handouts” “bailouts for General Motors” he himself did not refuse the 342 million dollars it took to save the Olympic Games under his direction nor did he speak out against the $1 billion in infrastructure improvements in the Salt Lake City Area needed for the games.  Apparently Mitt Romney wanted Detroit to go bankrupt but not Utah.

 Mitt Romney promised “complete transparency” when he took charge of the scandal-plagued Salt Lake City Olympics, a pledge that included access to his own correspondence and plans for an extensive public archive of documents related to the Games.

“All of the documents inside our organization are available to the public,” Romney said in a speech to the National Press Club in 2000. “Simply submit a form saying which documents you want. For instance: ‘I want to see all the letters written by Mr. Romney to [then-IOC President Juan Antonio] Samaranch.’ You’ll get ’em all.”

But some who worked with Romney describe a close-to-the-vest chief executive unwilling to share so much as a budget with a state board responsible for spending oversight.

“Transparency? There was none with [the Salt Lake Organizing Committee] when he was there,” said Kenneth Bullock, a committee member who represented the Utah League of Cities and Towns. “Their transparency became a black hole. It was nonexistent.”

The committee charged news outlets $25 per hour to research records requests, even if the requests were eventually denied.

Even within the organizing committee, access to information was sometimes restricted, according to Bullock, the committee member.

“Everything should have been accessible to the board, but it wasn’t because that’s not what Mitt wanted,” he said.

Letters between journalists and the organizing committee obtained by the Globe show reporters were sometimes denied access to records they believed were covered by the committee’s open documents policy. Only a week after Romney spoke to the National Press Club, the Utah chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists wrote a complaint to the committee.

Technically Romney and the Salt Lake Organizing Committee had no legal obligation to preserve their records or make them public, even though the state paid $59 million, and the federal government spent $342 million on the Games and contributed roughly $1 billion more in indirect aid for transportation projects and other capital improvements in the Salt Lake region.

 “I led an Olympics out of the shadows of scandal” Mitt Romney states in a Washington speech but he does not acknowledge the fact that the government bailed him out.

The Government Accountability Office issued a report regarding Romney’s handling of the money as wasteful spending.
The 2002 Winter Olympics went down as the most expensive games in US history and Senator John McCain cited the games as “an incredible pork-barrel project for Salt Lake City and its environs”. It was not the custom of the US government to invest so heavily in a US hosted Olympic game, the money is supposed to come from sponsors, local cities and the US Olympic Committee.

Sources:

http://www.shorenewstoday.com/snt/news/index.php/regional/opinion/21967-romney-would-have-let-gm-and-chrysler-fail.html
http://articles.courant.com/2002-04-25/sports/0204250385_1_utah-athletic-foundation-surplus-salt-lake-city-olympics
http://www.politicolnews.com/mitt-romney-olympic-bailout-business-experience/
http://www.opposingviews.com/i/politics/2012-election/video-mitt-romney-makes-bizarre-claims-latest-campaign-ads
http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/politics/54542587-90/romney-olympic-records-lake.html.csp

http://www.boston.com/news/politics/articles/2012/07/24/after_romney_pledged_transparent_olympics_key_documents_were_destroyed/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OdWyxXBQvyM
http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2012/02/19/romney-2002-winter-olumpics/
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/07/25/us-oly-usa-tickets-romney-idUSBRE86O00A20120725

Training Grants and Job Placement for American Workers

The Obama administration is offering training grants just like those offered to people who have H-1B visa for US citizens that more than doubles the amount offered to non U.S. citizens. Here is the link You can read it on page 22 2nd paragraph.


The following is an excerpt from The National Economic Council May 2012:  The Administration has invested $342 million in competitive grants to provide American workers with training, job placement, and other assistance in the high-skilled occupations and industries for which employers are now using H-1B visas to hire temporary foreign workers. Of the total H-1B Technical Skills Training Grants awarded, more than $163 million has been designated to provide on-the-job training, allowing participants to learn new skills while earning a regular paycheck – a critical investment to help small businesses find skilled labor. 

President Obama is not threatening to your 2nd Amendment Rights

President Obama is not threatening to your 2nd Amendment Rights

Randall Gartman Merchandising Manager at CDC– BME Stihl posted the following comment on capitolcolumn.com:

“He (Ron Paul) will (endorse Mitt Romney) because he wants Obama out badly. Next president appoints judges and that is what determines the tiny bit of rights we think we might have. If Obama is elected, the judges he appoints will vote down 2nd amendment. Without that one we will face hard tyranny. Not soft like we have been facing.”

If the President was going to appoint judges to vote down the 2nd amendmant... he would have done it already. President Obama signed legislation letting people carry concealed weapons in national parks and in checked luggage on Amtrak trains.  The current administration only plans to continue “enforcing the laws on the books”.   The Obama administration has remained mostly silent on expressing any support for stronger gun laws.  Gun laws are not the focus of this administration.  The focus has been on the issues that voters deemed most important in 2008… healthcare and education. Most recently the administration has focused on the new most important issue to voters… job creation.  Currently there isn’t even permanent appointed leadership  at the agency that polices the gun industry.  As you can see there is no need to worry about the 2nd Amendment to the U.S. Constitution being struck down under the Obama administration.

Source: http://www.winningprogressive.org/questions-for-mitt-romney-on-guns-and-the-nra

Fast Food Kid’s meals are not as Unhealthy as you Might Think

A new report released Thursday asserts a Chick-fil-A kid’s meal is among the five worst fast food kids meals that claim to be healthy, The report is obviously slanted and biased.  The report, which was commissioned by the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, says Chick-fil-A's Grilled Nuggets Kids Meal contains the same amount of cholesterol as a McDonald's Big Mac.  Chick-fil-A’s grilled nuggets do not contain the same amount of cholesterol as a McDonald’s Big Mac.  The Big Mac has 75mg of cholesterol and the grilled nuggets have 65mg. 

According to the article, when the six grilled nuggets are paired with waffle fries and low-fat chocolate milk, the meal has 570 calories, 19 grams of fat, 75 milligrams of cholesterol, 1,150 milligrams of sodium and 23 grams of sugars, the report says.  The healthy kid’s meal was not meant to be paired with waffle fries and chocolate milk.  Six grilled nuggets only contain 110 calories.  When six grilled nuggets are paired with a fruit cup and milk the meal is only 250 calories.  Get 4 nuggets instead of six and the total becomes 220 calories.

The report claims that grilled chicken contains large amounts of PhIP, "a potent carcinogen that may play a role in the development of breast, prostate and other cancers."  But, PhIP occurs when any meat whether cooked at home or not that is cooked above 392 F or cooked on direct heat. 

The other kid’s meals on the list include the McDonald's Cheeseburger Happy Meal, the Sonic Kids' Jr. Burger Meal, and the Burger King Hamburger Kids Meal.  The McDonald's Cheeseburger Happy Meal includes a Cheeseburger, fries, apple slices, and a drink (I used milk in my calculations) at 520 calories the meal also contains 100mg of vitamin C (170%) and only 50mg of cholesterol (16%).  The Sonic Kids' Jr. Burger Meal is 550 calories when you order a Jr. Burger, APPLE SLICES W/FAT-FREE CARAMEL DIPPING SAUCE, and an Apple juice box and the burger only contains 35mg of cholesterol.  The Burger King Hamburger Kids Meal contains 380 calories and includes apple slices and a small drink (I used milk in my calculations).

The report was commissioned by the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine which promotes a vegan or vegetarian lifestyle.  Any meal you or a restaurant prepares for your child that contains meat will not meet the ideals of the PCRM.  Brooke Henley a dietitian at Central GA Rehab at Medical Center of Central Georgia totally disagrees with this reports assessment of Chick-fil-A’s kid’s meals.

Sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Physicians_Committee_for_Responsible_Medicine

http://www.bk.com/en/us/menu-nutrition/lunch-and-dinner-menu-202/bk-and-reg-kids-meal-229/hamburger-kids-meal-m2379/index.html

http://www.sonicdrivein.com/pdfs/menu/SonicNutritionGuide.pdf?0

http://www.mcdonalds.com/us/en/meal_builder.html

http://www.chick-fil-a.com/Food/Menu-Detail/ChickfilA-Grilled-Nuggets#?details=nutrition&variation=ORA_5816count

http://chick-fil-a.com/Kids/New-Meals-Fact-Sheet

http://www.bio-medicine.org/medicine-news/Carcinogens-found-in-Grilled-chicken-14915-2/

http://hapeville.11alive.com/news/news/119826-chick-fil-kids-meal-among-least-healthy