President Blames Unemployment On Lack Of Tech Skills

IEEE ^

[Florida_Irish]

During a Wednesday morning (July 30th) press conference, President Bush was asked a question about jobs going overseas as a result of technological innovation. His response was:

"I fully understand what you're saying. In other words, as technology races through the economy, a lot of times worker skills don't keep up with technological change."

Many people have taken his response to mean that unemployment in the high-tech sector is the result of American workers who allowed their skills to become obsolete. This is an unacceptable explanation.

[Southack]

"it makes sense for this country to quit making it easy for our economic competitors to kick our butts and siphon millions of good-paying jobs away, leaving an ever-shrinking middle class caught between job loss and a rapacious government consuming more and more of their paychecks."

I'm all for making it tough on our economic competitors, and I'd love to see good paying jobs stay in the U.S., but your claims that our middle class is literally shrinking and that our government is taking more and more of our paychecks demand substantiation.

Sources, please. Size of middle class today versus size of middle class last year and last decade.

Tax take of paychecks today versus last year versus last decade.

[clamper1797]

WHAT ??????????? !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[monkeywrench]

"You do not have a right to a job because you were born in America."

As American taxpayers we do have the right to expect our tax dollars to benefit America! Instead, they're being used to enable, back up, and encourage companies to set up shop over seas.

[mhking]

So what is the lesson to high school and college students? Work hard, get a tech degree, and look forward to a career at Home Depot.

What!? He repeated the clarification of the phrasing of the question and now he's vilified even more for it?!? Feh. More liberal clap-trap. Yet another reason to beat up on GW...

[Spiff]

XV. Thou shalt not unnecessarily excerpt.

[Southack]

"Political careers rise and fall on just that. Try again."

On repeating back a question to a reporter?!

Nonsense.

[harpseal]

It always bothers me when people complain about jobs going overseas. You do not have a right to a job because you were born in America.

It bothers me when Marxists use this line to defend a bunch of government policies designed to destroy America. It bothered me when Bill Clinton did and does it. It bothers me when Hillary Clinton did it does it. Most especially it bothers me when the ignorant or treasonous here on Free Republic do it.

[Mamzelle]

Check out workman's comp in CA. That cost alone is driving a lot of business out of CA. Multiply those expenses by hundreds, and you can see how jobs get driven out of the rest of the country. Then a business gets to circumvent these costs by semi-slave labor. No "lawyer tax" in India. We've got an incredible ball-and-chain around our entrepeneurial ankles...

[babygene]

"If your employer can find someone to do your job for less, you need to make yourself more valuable."

Employers can find people overseas to work for less than the average American pays in taxes. In other words, we could all work for less if we didn't have to pay 40 to 50% of it in taxes.

[carton253]

Fine... have it your way.... all our jobs are going overseas... head for the hills, it's the end of the world... woe is us! woe is us!

[banjo joe]

Yep. If he want's to bring on the welfare state, I'll retire now at 70% of current salary.
My turn, I've supported enough coat-tailers by now.

[Texas_Dawg]

You are asking for economic arguments from a bunch of populist/socialist morons. FR is full of them.

[dirtboy]

So move or retrain. I can't afford to live in the South Hamptons.

I was responding to the posters claim that a $35,000/year job in Southern California is somehow a good salary, given the housing costs there.

BTW, I did retrain and I did relocate after my last layoff. I'm smart enough to hopefully stay one or two steps ahead of this process. But I don't care to live in a country where the middle class is being decimated, because I really don't care to have this country become another Argentina.

[MEG33]

I'm sure your vote will improve the situation.

[N3WBI3]

Youre right I left the part out where our *cough cough* conservative president is trying to plug Big Government to the rescue..

[RGSpincich]

Taken out of context with an agendized meaning attached to his non-statement.

[lelio]

The whiners who say they can't find any work in the tech industry are turning down jobs that pay $35,000 to $60,000 per year.

You try living on $35k a year on southern California. Perhaps you could if you lived out in the desert and owned a mobile home.

[hchutch]

People holding out their hand shouting, "Gimme gimme gimme" both me. I don't care it it's Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, or some "conservative" who is doing it. I find it EQUALLY disgusting.

[mhking]

Hell Ill vote (and trust me this is painful) Democrat for pres

If your misconstruing a comment in a press conference is what you hinge your entire vote on, then I feel even more sorry for you.

[N3WBI3]

And maybe tariffs or a reduction in the H1B population, we have no shortage of tech savvy people in this country