[sarcasm]

She is 19, and simply wants work as a receptionist or office assistant to support herself and her year-old daughter.

Where is the father?

[mcook4]

Thats a typical problem.

[IncPen]

She is 19, and simply wants work as a receptionist or office assistant to support herself and her year-old daughter

When we say to her "Don't have sex, get an education" - we're cranky conservatives imposing our values on her.

Now they want our money to fix her mistakes.

And they wonder why we're angry.

[CROSSHIGHWAYMAN]

As a potential EMPLOYER, before I would hire any young, single mother, I would want an assurance that after I spend MY time and money to train her, she would not have another child and leave.

Frankly speaking, she is a BAD risk!!

[SBeck]

Doesn't matter, she has the right attitude, she wants to work, she is taking a course to help her and she wants to be independent. You ask, "where's the father" in a way that says, "where was her personal responsibility when she made an error of judgement?" Well, the same question could be asked of the upper-middle class teenage cheerleader from an affluent area who has her parents income to bail her out. (Incidentally, her father is a retired O-6 and the mother is a prominent member of church and community).

So before you start pointing fingers please remember compassionate conservatism.

[weikel]

Every idiot can get a job( if your 17 or older anyway I had trouble getting one before then child labor laws and all).

[mikenola]

After 30+ years of the Great Society, minorities still haven't woken up. Minority scholarships, set asides, quotas - it's all right there for the taking. Yet some still don't take advantage.

Being female hispanic, in Boston. Cmon! The liberals universites are there waiting to increase their diversity. Sign up!

But wait, i guess that would require some work and commitment wouldnt it?

sheesh

[cactmh]

Uhm, the more marketable skills you have, the better you will be during all economic phases. I find it hard to believe that this is even "news".

[FITZ]

"My age right now, if you want to find a decent job, unless it's like Walgreens, it's really hard to get a foot in the door," Ramirez said

She should have considered all this before having a baby with no husband. Where are her own parents? Why didn't they teach her to wait until she was educated, older and married before having a baby? Does she think her skills should qualify her for something more than Walgreens?

[FrogMom]

She has been unable to find a job since she graduated from high school. A half-dozen interviews have produced no offers that pay enough or meet her child-care needs.

Okay. She's 19. When did she graduate? Last June? Last January?

"A half-dozen interviews" Eight months? Two months? Longer? I would suggest that part of the problem is that she's not looking REAL hard.

[GoredInMich]

Oh, those EVIL EVIL conservatives. They took the time to get an education, and work hard for what they have, and its just not FAIR, that they still have jobs, and I don't. Who cares that I have NO skills and NO experience.....it is ALL THIER FAULT. Help us, Mr. CLINTON, and MR> DASCHLE>..........PLEAAASSSSEEEEEEEEE

[JZoback]

Joblessness hits the poorly educated hardest by far

Who's the genius who thought that header up

Same as "Sky is blue on cloudless day?"

[Junior]

The military! You'll get training, be doing something positive, and you'll be paid. And, from personal experience, it's a great way to get your head straight.

[Congressman Billybob]

This article has the wrong title.

"Ignorance Causes Joblessness" There, that's better.

Conressman Billybob

[Ward Smythe]

"My age right now, if you want to find a decent job, unless it's like Walgreens, it's really hard to get a foot in the door,"

Kay Coles James, Director of the Office of Personnel Management in the Bush Administration was Secretary of Health and Human Resources for Virginia Governor George Allen when Welfare Reform was passed in Virginia. She shepherded through the legislation and implementation.

She was the child of a single mother on welfare who grew up in some of the poorest areas in Richmond. I've heard her say on many occasions, "as long as there are toilets to clean, my children will have food on the table."

In other words, all work is good work, there is no such thing as a "bad" job. With only a high school education, this young woman should be glad that Walgreen's wants to hire her.

[JENINMO]

She is 19, and simply wants work as a receptionist or office assistant to support herself and her year-old daughter

Yoo hoo, "I want to work as a receptionist" you have to have computer skills. Office Assistants do more than file, and can we be certain that her "high school" education included alphabetization. We hire a lot of entry-level positions, and the skill level (up to and including the ability to read and write) is very low. Don't have kids if you aren't married, and get some skills........

[FenianOfEire]

A half-dozen interviews have produced no offers that pay enough or meet her child-care needs.

In other words, she's getting job offers, but is refusing to take them for the stated reasons. You have to start at the bottom and work your way...

[waterstraat]

I disagree. From what I have seen, this recession hits the old white guys the hardest.

Any young person can get a job today, and a promising career if they work hard. Even the auto companies, after several announced layoffs, are quietly hiring young people to fill all those empty positions.

No one around here wants to hire a 50 year old man that has been layed off. All of the major companies around me have had big layoffs in the past year, letting go all of their old men. To replace them, they are all hiring contractors, new college graduates, and immigrants on h1-b visas. Today, Big companies do not want to hire any 55 year-old trainee, they want to hire a young new college graduate.

[Honcho]

Joblessness hits the poorly educated hardest by far

Sky is blue! News at eleven!