DIM MEMORIES, BENEFITS CUT, FOOD-STAMPS LIMITED, (Frazer Chronicle)
The United States has a sick economy, is experiencing a slow jobs recovery and there is generally little job security in the business world today. Some of the worlds biggest banks talk about the "toughest times in global banking history since at least the early 1930's.
I do know this, it's tough to buy a car "on the cuff," and you can forget buying a house.....the "big ticket" items, those purchases $15,000 to $150,000 dollars.Small business can't get a loan, and even big established business is lead by the nose through hoops to get a loan, bail-outs be dammed.
Corporate American is shipping low paying jobs over-seas by the cart load and the general public blames them for wanting to make an additional buck. Shipping American manufacturing jobs out of the United States, to my way of thinking is wrong, but I fully understand the reasoning behind the move, "a bottom line mentality, money".
Every day, "well.....almost every day," I read about some environmental regulation that is being de-regulated so that business can create new business and jobs.This has always been the way of it, a sacrifice of green lands, or wet-lands so that corporate America can forge ahead with concrete, steel and emissions not only into local water tables, but surface water-ways and the sky above.
Let's get one thing straight right here and now, I don't know how to make this any clearer, no branch of government and no elected official can create a job, no pressure can be brought to bare by the government to make the private sector create jobs. The president and all of his authority cannot force business to create jobs, it's completely up to the private sector.
Of course there are certain pressure releasing factors that the fed can do to "help push" industry towards the creation of jobs, but in the final analysis, the private sector makes or breaks job activity in the United States.
Some people in the country have "dim memories" of jobs that they once held, it's because some millions of people have been out of work for more then a year. A great portion of these people are older workers who were strategically terminated before their pension matured, or a particular number of years of service were attained and it was going to cost the company bu co bucks.
These kinds of unemployed, "in their fifties" have looked for jobs in their pay grade and have found little or no success. They have lowered their sights, yet have had little luck, and now have figured that they are un-employable, and basically have given up. Even if they find a job it will be so much lower in pay that they won't be able to maintain their lifestyle.
When people are out of work for a year and more, their skills often decline, their professional links shrink and companies hesitate to hire them, and the problem of chronic unemployment feeds on itself. Long term unemployment sets this recession and weak recovery apart from any other period since the Great Depression. Though the economy has survived job recoveries before, no previous recovery has such a high proportion of the unemployed been out of work this long.
Long term idleness lowers job skill levels, makes it harder to match unemployed with available work. Once job hires pick up, employers complain that they can't find people with the new skills that they need. Companies already are having trouble filling advanced manufacturing jobs.
Other problems with the chronic unemployed should be obvious, drawing unemployment compensation can create an attitude of entitlement, food stamp use topped more then 45 million earlier this year, a record. Older workers, unable to find jobs often draw early Social Security benefits, many also have health problems and end up on government disability programs.
The safety nets offered by states are shrinking, welfare, food subsidies, state health programs and state and or government housing assistance is simply drying up. With the winter months in the Mid-West just around the corner, living in a car, under a bridge, in a cardboard box, or on different park benches every night is out of the question. Utility help has been cut more then half, "piling on the unemployed," in a difficult upcoming season.
All of those people that are out of work for extended periods have been hit hard, but the most effected are clearly the elderly and the kids. Fixed incomes can be a death knell for some with the health issues that they have. Kids need so much, it becomes almost impossible to successfully care for children, a stable living atmosphere, three square meals a day, safe, warm and dry housing and a little space of their own often is unavailable.
What started our current circumstance, why does it continue and when will it end, these are questions that economist pose, the elected officials try and explain and that everybody points fingers at as reasons. You know what, the vast majority of the chronically unemployed, those folks that have been on the skids for more then a year, could care less about those questions, or their answers, they just want their jobs and their lives back.
Nine in ten of these unemployed people have worked dam hard to achieve the American dream, their own house, a car and a half, two point five kids, a boat, a dog, and a little savings in the bank for retirement. Really the only thing "extra" these people asked from their companies was to make good sound business decisions, and to keep their work areas clean and safe. In their wildest dreams, these workers never figured that the company would ship their jobs over-seas. Now many of these people sit and wait for their jobs to return.....good luck on that one.
The United States has a sick economy, is experiencing a slow jobs recovery and there is generally little job security in the business world today. Some of the worlds biggest banks talk about the "toughest times in global banking history since at least the early 1930's.
I do know this, it's tough to buy a car "on the cuff," and you can forget buying a house.....the "big ticket" items, those purchases $15,000 to $150,000 dollars.Small business can't get a loan, and even big established business is lead by the nose through hoops to get a loan, bail-outs be dammed.
Corporate American is shipping low paying jobs over-seas by the cart load and the general public blames them for wanting to make an additional buck. Shipping American manufacturing jobs out of the United States, to my way of thinking is wrong, but I fully understand the reasoning behind the move, "a bottom line mentality, money".
Every day, "well.....almost every day," I read about some environmental regulation that is being de-regulated so that business can create new business and jobs.This has always been the way of it, a sacrifice of green lands, or wet-lands so that corporate America can forge ahead with concrete, steel and emissions not only into local water tables, but surface water-ways and the sky above.
Let's get one thing straight right here and now, I don't know how to make this any clearer, no branch of government and no elected official can create a job, no pressure can be brought to bare by the government to make the private sector create jobs. The president and all of his authority cannot force business to create jobs, it's completely up to the private sector.
Of course there are certain pressure releasing factors that the fed can do to "help push" industry towards the creation of jobs, but in the final analysis, the private sector makes or breaks job activity in the United States.
Some people in the country have "dim memories" of jobs that they once held, it's because some millions of people have been out of work for more then a year. A great portion of these people are older workers who were strategically terminated before their pension matured, or a particular number of years of service were attained and it was going to cost the company bu co bucks.
These kinds of unemployed, "in their fifties" have looked for jobs in their pay grade and have found little or no success. They have lowered their sights, yet have had little luck, and now have figured that they are un-employable, and basically have given up. Even if they find a job it will be so much lower in pay that they won't be able to maintain their lifestyle.
When people are out of work for a year and more, their skills often decline, their professional links shrink and companies hesitate to hire them, and the problem of chronic unemployment feeds on itself. Long term unemployment sets this recession and weak recovery apart from any other period since the Great Depression. Though the economy has survived job recoveries before, no previous recovery has such a high proportion of the unemployed been out of work this long.
Long term idleness lowers job skill levels, makes it harder to match unemployed with available work. Once job hires pick up, employers complain that they can't find people with the new skills that they need. Companies already are having trouble filling advanced manufacturing jobs.
Other problems with the chronic unemployed should be obvious, drawing unemployment compensation can create an attitude of entitlement, food stamp use topped more then 45 million earlier this year, a record. Older workers, unable to find jobs often draw early Social Security benefits, many also have health problems and end up on government disability programs.
The safety nets offered by states are shrinking, welfare, food subsidies, state health programs and state and or government housing assistance is simply drying up. With the winter months in the Mid-West just around the corner, living in a car, under a bridge, in a cardboard box, or on different park benches every night is out of the question. Utility help has been cut more then half, "piling on the unemployed," in a difficult upcoming season.
All of those people that are out of work for extended periods have been hit hard, but the most effected are clearly the elderly and the kids. Fixed incomes can be a death knell for some with the health issues that they have. Kids need so much, it becomes almost impossible to successfully care for children, a stable living atmosphere, three square meals a day, safe, warm and dry housing and a little space of their own often is unavailable.
What started our current circumstance, why does it continue and when will it end, these are questions that economist pose, the elected officials try and explain and that everybody points fingers at as reasons. You know what, the vast majority of the chronically unemployed, those folks that have been on the skids for more then a year, could care less about those questions, or their answers, they just want their jobs and their lives back.
Nine in ten of these unemployed people have worked dam hard to achieve the American dream, their own house, a car and a half, two point five kids, a boat, a dog, and a little savings in the bank for retirement. Really the only thing "extra" these people asked from their companies was to make good sound business decisions, and to keep their work areas clean and safe. In their wildest dreams, these workers never figured that the company would ship their jobs over-seas. Now many of these people sit and wait for their jobs to return.....good luck on that one.
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