[finnman69]

The resident FR Bush hater rears his head on Elecion Day.

[Tijeras_Slim]

You are my sunshine my only sunshine
You make me happy when skies are grey
You'll never know dear how much I love you
So please don't take my sunshine away

The other night dear as I lay dreaming
I dreamt that you were by my side
Came disillusion when I awoke dear
You were gone and then I cried

You are my sunshine my only sunshine
You make me happy when skies are grey
You'll never know dear how much I love you
So please don't take my sunshine away

You told me once dear there'd be no other
That no one else could come between
But now you've left me to love another
You have broken all my dreams

You are my sunshine my only sunshine
You make me happy when skies are grey
You'll never know dear how much I love you
So please don't take my sunshine away


Happy Election Day Willie!

[ghitma]

"He will miss out on his pension and faces job-hunting now at age 52."

I don't understand how he will miss out on his pension.
After 28 years he must be vested!

[tx_eggman]

Willie,

If we had some eggs we could fix bacon and eggs ... if we had some bacon.

Damn, you sure are a gloomy SOB

[wideawake]

Remember - all Americans are entitled to a job from the day they turn 18 until the day they turn 65.

Layoffs are immoral and should be illegal.

Power to the people.

Workers of the world unite - you have nothing to lose but your chains.

[conservative cat]

This person is a whiner, but it is a valid observation about a lot of life's losses. I was one of the first I knew to be laid off in '01 (post Clinton's stock market crash). People had a "So sorry, but glad it wasn't me" attitude... Until it started to happen to them. I don't understand how her one relative is an unemployed nurse practitioner. On what planet would that happen on?

[NavVet]

Laid off after 28 years and forfeits all pension rights, "Yeah right"

Hello Troll,

Before you go, make sure to add, "Layoffs will be outlawed under Kerry, and he will make minimum wage 100.00 an hour, so we'll all be wealthy."

[I still care]

Life is tough. The same thing happened to a friend of mine when Clinton was president - fired the month before he became eligible for a pension, after working for a company 19 years.

There have always been deceitful employers and always will be. And people will get laid off, get disabled, and run into financial trouble - That is why God gives us brains, to prepare and deal for the hard times when they come. And families to give us a hand.

People somehow always seem to think that good times are the natural way of life, and they are entitled to always do well. But the natural law is that nothing stays the same, good or bad, and you better be ready to deal.

[PeteB570]

No problem here.

I'm self employed. Because of that I don't have access to the "social safty net".

Maybe instead of "Get a job" it should be "Make your own darn job".

[Protagoras]

Still campaigning for Kerry I see.

[RAY]

Go find a damn job!

[L98Fiero]

Oh.....My.....God. Some guy got laid off. Bush has got to go.

28 years and no vested pension? Maybe he should have done a 401k. My projected 401k after 28 years is in excess of a million dollars.

[afnamvet]

Thanks Willie for strengthening my resolve to volunteering 2 more hours today in offering rides to the polls.You are a great motivator!

[Max Combined]

Give it a rest.

[VRWCmember]

Her daughter's husband was laid off in July from a company where he had worked for 28 years. He will miss out on his pension and faces job-hunting now at age 52.

Wow! What happened? Did Bush outsource this guys pension to the northern alliance warlords in Afghanistan?

[EEDUDE]

Willie,

This has been going on for years. This is not Bush's fault and he can't fix it. Neither can Kerry.

It is not within their power.

I got laid off from Motorola 2 years ago at age 50.

Many companies just seem to want to get rid of older employees and hire folks right out of college.

If you want to blame anyone, blame the corporate bean counters and MBA's who think they're getting a great deal hiring someone right out of school for $10,000/yr less and laying off someone with 20 years of experience.

Generally speaking, it's no bargain, but then the folks who make these decisions are seldom held accountable. They can just show the CEO how much money they "saved", and don't have to explain piss poor quality, waste, ignorant mistakes, etc.

CEO's just focus on next quarters profits since thats what their bonuses are based on.

Experience counts, but most US companies don't know how to measure its value.

Government CAN'T fix this crappy situation.

[LoudRepublicangirl]

My father got his Masters Degree at the age of 55 and taught until he was 68.

[stuartcr]

Probably been reading about how great the economy is, and couldn't believe it could happen...

[Alouette]

I haven't had a full time job for a year and a half.

I started my own small business (a non-profit historical research foundation) and applied for 501c(3) status.

I don't expect to make a lot of money from it (yet) and I still check Monster every day, but I don't sit around and whine all day long.

OK, maybe I do sit around and whine sometimes BUT AT LEAST I'M DOING SOMETHING MORE THAN JUST THAT.

[Ruth A.]

My husband is laid off right now. We are keeping our heads above water by praying and working hard where we can.

That said, there are worse things than being un- or underemployed.

Keeping the terrorists out of the country and pushing them back until they are gone are more important. No matter how long it takes, this is the bigger fight.