[Havoc]

My rant - flame away. I've already been beaten into reconsidering my registration by some of you. I ain't a democrat, never have been and never will be; but, I'm wondering now why I'm republican, cause some of you make me ashamed of the word.

[Support Free Republic]

Rank	Location	Receipts	Donors/Avg		Freepers/Avg		Monthlies
9	Illinois	941.00	27	34.85	480	1.96	343.00	20

Thanks for donating to Free Republic!

Move your locale up the leaderboard!

[clamper1797]

Hang tough my friend ... I've been lambasted by the free traitors out here too.

[wesdale]

The government forcing someone to hire an american worker, at the expense of their company, is tyranny. You may be a Republican but you certainly are not conservative. Good luck finding new employment.

[Southack]

You're upset at losing an EDS job?! Good Lord, man...EDS pays meager famine-wages and employs little more than slaves for your first ten years there (presuming that you made the cuts to stay on).

Relax. Life can only get better after leaving EDS. Even a $7.50 per hour Wal-Mart job will look better.

[Asclepius]

So switch parties already. Go your way.

If you're unhappy with our commitment to free trade, throw in your lot with John Kerry et al. That's the beauty of Democracy and all that. But blaming anyone but yourself for what is your own decision belies the substance of your own position.

[Chi-townChief]

Good luck in the job hunt. But I doubt you'll get any help from Ketchup Boy or Nader.

[refermech]

The government is not resposible for your success or failure. You're having a tough time now but if you suck it up and do soething new you will find success on your own. Global competion is here to stay, so get competitive and enjoy the fruits of your labors. Or better yet start your own business.
I'll bet your attitude would change. Best of luck to you.

[Joe Hadenuf]

It seems today that I have to be a Mexican to get a fair shake in America. There are some 8 million of them here illegally as a tax on our system and working here taking jobs that Americans can do; but, which apparently, nobody wants to offer a fair wage for as long as they can get slave labor off the books.

There is so much neocon spin it's actually speeding up the rotation of the earth.

Now the Republican Governor of Florida has come out in support of millions of illegal aliens, and now wants to offer these criminals legitimate drivers licenses. The neo-cons are basically declaring war on the middle class.

What a winning combination!! Allow and pander to literally millions of illegal aliens that continue to flood our country, while outsourcing our jobs.

You betcha, are real winning combination !

[gonewt]

I agree with you entirely.

Bank of America (to name one) claims it has to "cut costs" by firing thousands of Americans, outsourcing those jobs to India, and yet paid its CEO over $20 million in 2002.

At some point, we've got to stop kneeling before the altar of the free market & take a good look at what's happening around us.

[brbethke]

No offense, but now that you've got this off your chest, what exactly do you want President Bush to do about it?

P.S. President Clinton was the one who signed NAFTA.

[awakened]

My hat is off to you for a well-written, honest, and sincere letter. Yes, we all love Bush... and I don't believe there's one of us who can blame him for the attacks of 9/11 or the economic (and other) fallout from them. But he is not perfect -- and it should be alright to say that even on Free Republic. All I can say is that you have been an unfortunate victim of bureacracy and greed, but to the positive side I would suspect that someone with your forthrightness and intelligence will soon find an equal or better position. At least that will be my prayer and my hope for you. If President Bush needs to be seen as "perfect" as criteria for being a member of Free Republic, then I think we're all in trouble. He's a good, good man in one of the most difficult situations in history. He needs prayer and loyalty -- not idolatry.

[Rockitz]

Ouch! Ping for later response.

[bikerman]

Quit your whining and sniveling reach down and grab your boot strapes and start over in a job or trade that wont be taken over by a Mexican or someone else been their done that 35 years in the electronics field. Time for a change doing truck driving for an oil company and loving it.

[BrooklynGOP]

My 2 cents. I was born and spent part of my childhood in the Soviet Union. The gov't, pretty much, guaranteed everyone a job and there was virtually no unemployment and everything was subsidized. That meant that while the average monthly salary was 150-200 roubles (mid 80's), a brand new car went for 6,000 (no cheaper) - 9,000 roubles.
Any questions?

[Mr. Bird]

One thing many IT people don't take into consideration is that the great successes in the industry have pushed a lot of the occupations into obsolescence. I can do things from my desk today that may have required five employees just 10 years ago. And at least one of those five would have been a techie to do things my machine does now.

IT departments were golden, invaluable to businesses just a few short years ago. What does it tell you that some of these same businesses will now entrust the function to Mexican workers, hardly the cream of the academic crop?

I honestly hope you bounce back and enjoy great future success.

[Random Access]

I have really bad news. I heard they are going to start outsourcing whining. You're screwed.

[pc52]

I feel for you, but my husband and I live in Texas, and my husband started his own business 6 years ago, with a total 3,000 dollar investment, he put on a credit card. We are not rich, but he has 2 part-time people working for him now..One of those VERY small businesses. but I say god Bless GWB for fighting for us 'little guys'. Keep your boots on, and you WILL make it, by the way, his job loss was under Billy Clinton. the economy was "booming", remember?
GOOD LUCK

[GregB]

You know what is so great about this Country. If you lose your job and can start your own business!!!!! I drive a school van and I am have been selling vitamins and my sponser was an NFL Kicker and I an now buying and selling used water trap sweepers.....I could not do that in Iran,North Korea or China....God Bless America!!!!!!!!

[babyface00]

I've been in IT for 12 years now. A couple of observations, all IMHO:

1) If you don't have a degree, don't expect to have a career in IT anytime soon. The entry-level jobs have been automated largely out of existance. A degree doesn't even get you in the door.

2) IT boomed during the dotcom bubble and also during the runup to Y2K. Those two booms are never coming back. We may see some moderate IT growth, but if you aren't working now, or don't expect to be soon, I'd bet against ever working in IT again.

3) There is a constant flow of kids getting out of college, trained in the latest hardware and software, and able "out of the box" to do things that it took dozens of IT people to do years ago, for a variety of reasons. Experience is valuable, but in IT, it is also often obsolete. If you haven't already specialized in an area that a kid out of college can't do, even if you can keep a job, it will be at an entry-level salary.

4) You can't, for all intents and purposes, constrain knowledge. People in India, or China, or wherever are going to learn technology soon after it spreads in the U.S. Outsourcing is one possible result. Another is importing workers with visas. Still others are the companies leaving the U.S. completely and moving to other countries. Finally, if none of that happens, new companies will form in the other countries and the products will infiltrate the U.S. market. As long as different countries have different regulations and tax structures, business will move to the companies with the lowest overall cost through one of the methods above. The process is a little slower with manufacturing, as moving the materials around incurs a significant cost. With many aspects of technology, that is not a consideration and knowledge and capital can freely move to the low-cost labor market, as long as that market has individuals with the necessary qualifications.

[cksharks]

Your too stupid to waste typing time on.