LET'S TALK ABOUT "YOUR" JOBS

Nealz Nuze ^ | Wednesday, February 18, 2004 | Neal Boortz

[beaureguard]

Jobs .. and the economy. Those seem to be the issues that are driving many, if not most, of those who are supporting the Kerry candidacy.

First of all ... I'm going to repeat this simply because it makes the whiners so unbelievably angry. Listen up. They're not your jobs! The jobs belong to the employers .. not to you! You have job skills and, presumably, a willingness to work. Your task in a free economy is to get out there and find some employer with a job who needs your skills ... and strike a deal.

If you do not have the particular set of job skills that an employer needs, of if you have priced your labor out of the marketplace, guess what? It's not the employer's fault. The fault lies with you. Either develop a new set of job skills that are actually in demand, or adjust your pricing. The employer knows what he's looking for you. If you're not it .. it's your problem, not his.

Now ... you say you're going to vote for a Democrat this year because of jobs? You mean to tell me that you're going to vote against George Bush this year because you don't have a set of job skills that are in demand in our free marketplace? Yeah .. that makes a lot of sense, doesn't it?

Tell me. Just what do you want the president to do? You information technology people out there .. just what are you demanding? Do you want companies to stop outsourcing IT jobs to India? OK ... tell me how to do that. These companies aren't shipping parts overseas and completed products back. All they do is ship information overseas by phone lines or the Internet. Then that information is modified and shipped back the same way. What do you want the government .. the president to do? Do you want some federal law that prohibits companies from transmitting information overseas by the Internet, having that information transformed or modified, and then shipped back? And tell me just how do you enforce that law? Does that law then apply to you also if you seek information from a company that is located overseas, thus depriving a domestic company of your business?

Ditto for manufacturing. I've already told you the story about the California company that makes computer mouses. (computer mice?) This company ships the components to China. The mouse is assembled in China and shipped back, then sold for around $40. Why? Because the assembly is cheaper in China than it would be in the US. So, you say you want the president to force this company to have that mouse assembled in the US? Fine .. then the price for the mouse goes up to about $70 a pop and sales drop. As the sales drop the jobs of the people in this country who manufacture the components for that mouse go away. Then the 100 marketing jobs this company supports in California also go away. You see, perhaps you can succeed in forcing this company to assemble these mouses in the US, but there just isn't any way you can force the American consumer to pay 80% more for the "made in America" version.

As Bruce Bartlett says in an article listed in my reading assignments, "No nation has ever gotten rich by forcing its citizens to pay more for domestic goods and services that could have been procured more cheaply abroad."

What we are seeing here is a demonstration of the "government owes me" mentality of far too many Americans. Every time you arrive at a speed bump in your life's journey you start screaming to the government for help. Sure, the speed bump is going to slow you down a bit ... but just keep moving forward and things inevitably pick up speed again. Americans are becoming helpless whiners. The more helpless you are, and the more you whine, the more likely it is you're going to vote for a Democrat. Democrats specialize in stroking the malcontent.

Congratulations, whiners. At a time when America if fighting World War IV, the war against Islamic terrorism ... you're going to vote for a candidate who wants to treat terrorism as a freaking law enforcement problem because you've made some pitiful jobs choices. Pitiful.

[MrB]

American workers are unwilling to adjust the price of their labor to third world levels and suffer the hit in standard of living that this would bring about.

To increase the standard of living of everyone, these American workers need to learn skill sets that are not able to be done for low wages.

In other words, our workers are "freed up" from doing more menial things to do more skilled work.

[smith288]

Time for a depression in this country again. A severe depression where everyone gets clobbered.

umm...yea, that would rule... < /sarcasm>

[FITZ]

This article may or may not be helpful to someone who has suffered the problems you mention. That's not the point.

It could be the point at election time --- Carville said "It's the economy stupid", Clinton gets elected. The republicans say "Screw Americans --- they don't need jobs, corporation profits is the only thing that matters" and who is going to get elected?

[SeeRushToldU_So]

I agree with this article but Boortz makes it well known that he is a libertarian and will vote for the libertarian candidate.

My understanding of Boortz's choice is President Bush. He is voting for him on tax cuts and security issues, he thinks those two issues out way everything else.

I agree with Neal.

[MacDorcha]

you didnt read the history books to well.... the Depression affected those who didnt adapt and those who relied on the stocks the most. you can make yourself bullet proof by making the right decisions now. invest in land, learn some new trades, keep your money in the bank if it's there. if most of us did these things, we wont even stub our little toes.

[SeeRushToldU_So]

Time for a depression in this country again. A severe depression where everyone gets clobbered.

A depression would be helpful in your eyes? How?

[applemac_g4]

>To increase the standard of living of everyone, these
>American workers need to learn skill sets that are not
>able to be done for low wages.In other words, our
>workers are "freed up" from doing more menial things
>to do more skilled work.

That was the argument in the 80's. So people retrained and became computer scientists, silicon engineers, and radiologists. Now those jobs are going overseas.

This is an exchange rate problem, not a skills problem.

[smith288]

The republicans say "Screw Americans --- they don't need jobs, corporation profits is the only thing that matters" and who is going to get elected?

Tell me, what is your proposal? All im hearing is gripes about big bad corporations. Im starting to think you want govt intervention to force companies to hire...is this the case?

[MrB]

That was the argument in the 80's. So people retrained and became computer scientists, silicon engineers, and radiologists. Now those jobs are going overseas.

Couldn't be that they need to retrain again. No, you should only have to retrain once.

[FITZ]

these American workers need to learn skill sets that are not able to be done for low wages.

Such as??? Certainly not IT skills. Not engineering skills. Not tool and die skills. Watch a Jerry Springer show and figure out what kind of job skills those people are likely to learn --- most of them are lucky to learn the simplest factory worker skills --- but they still have to earn a living. If not I have to pay for their support since I'm still working.

[OnAMission]

I just hired 3 more employees (20% increase)and looking for another...and this is in New York State, where the economy supposedly is the most hard hit.

It's tough to find good employees in these parts and we are finding that we have to coax them with higher pay.

BTW..only one of these new people was "unemployed" when we found him, and he had a choice of many jobs to take at the time.

Democrats claim that there are millions of jobs lost over the past three years. Where are all these people?

[StatesEnemy]

Couldn't be that they need to retrain again. No, you should only have to retrain once.

Well gee.. ya think I could pay off the first student loan first?

[MeneMeneTekelUpharsin]

What is pitiful is that the youth don't want to lift a finger to do anything. It is a VERY small percentage who will do as they are asked in school. The problem starts with parents at home who do NOT teach their children to do chores, etc. and do not back up school teachers/officials when they ask the children to do something. Consequences coming...

[Taliesan]

Actually the Corporatistas hate the laws of economics that call for an equilibrium in wages vs profits.

There is no such "equlibrium". There is no such law of economics.

[biblewonk]

--snip-- Listen up. They're not your jobs! The jobs belong to the employers .. not to you! You have job skills and, presumably, a willingness to work.

I love this guy!

[Merdoug]

No. It is not government's job to "demand" that American businesses hire Americans. I believe the problem is two fold: the Federal government has put so many restrictions and money-grabbing laws on businesses that they are having a tougher and tougher time of it. I can see what my boss has to go thru keeping his business going, despite all of the red tape. That being said, businesses should have an obligation to have some LOYALITY to their country. If they think more of profits than the future of the Nation that ALLOWED them to have their nice business, they should have the integrity to hire Americans. Often, in big fat-cat companies however, integrity takes a back seat to profits. THAT is why illegal Mexicans are flooding this country and why companies are using slaves overseas. THAT is why one can only buy junk made in China now. THAT is why no more American workers take pride in making and buying American-made products. Capitalism is the BEST system going (and the only one that works), but, taken to extreme, it causes BLOODTHIRSTY RUTHLESSNESS that is DESTROYING this Nation. Unfortunately, since big-businesses can't think past what is best for THEM (since THAT personality is what makes a successful business, and failure to do so would cause their business to fail), they cannot see what they are doing to this country. What are the big-businesses going to do when no one here in America can BUY their shoddy Chinese-made products because there aren't any jobs? I say we do two things: remove restrictions and money-grabbing laws on businesses, break-up the monster mega-corporations (I hear the hisses now) and make it law that any corporation who hires over-seas slave labor CANNOT sell their goods to America. What will happen? Prices will go up, manufacturing jobs will explode here in America, and, eventually, prices will go back down some and Americans will be able to buy better quality products. No one will be as well off: Americans will no longer be able to buy a cheapo VCR for 30.00 and companies will not make obscene profits, but both will be better off and , more importantly, the COUNTRY will be better off.

[MEG33]

Kerry and the democratic party are for you.They probably would help not actually create the jobs you want but they would rail against big business ,tax them more, and feel your pain.

Kerry is going to be the jobs president,sounds like a winner..

[Republican Red]

I pleasantly stand corrected. I'm a Georgian who has been listening to Boortz for years. Neal has always been proud of standing up for his right to throw his vote away. Glad he'll be voting Republican this year.

[MrB]

Well gee.. ya think I could pay off the first student loan first?

Things are happening faster these days.
This last round totally caught me by surprise. I learned my lesson about complaicency, though.

[FITZ]

Maybe instead of promoting globalism, our government should be promoting a strong America and a healthy middle class. A few elites and many poor are what you find in every unstable third world country --- we should not want the same thing for this country.