Working two jobs and still underemployed

Wall Street Journal ^ | 12/2/09 | Jeanne Dugan

[LuvFreeRepublic]

I don't know what is going on, but it is sickening. Comments directed at whether his age adds up, why he was making what he was, him making that much too soon, etc.

Bottom line, the guy is busting his back end and so is his wife to hang on, and most on this thread are trying to discredit him. Unbelievable.

[central_va]

Nice try, Bump.

I always thought I would have it made when my annual salary was greater than a stripper. They make over 100K per year.....

[RonF]

I've got a B.S. and an M.S. and have been working steadily for the last 26 years, the last 20 of them in IT. I still don't make $100K. So I sympathize with the man's personal situation but I can't comprehend that he has a right to expect to get a job that good with the education he has. His prior salary was probably artificially inflated by a union, and that sent the jobs overseas.

[Graybeard58]

A machine operator can mean a lot of things.

C.N.C. operators are in demand and with some over time and depending on the area, $100,000 is entirely believable.

[central_va]

The guy was making more than a degreed professional. He can have his job, I don’t care. It’s the WSJ that made his salary public. It is somewhat shocking.

[Vermont Lt]

He could have been running a political machine. Who knows?

[FightThePower!]

I understand this guy is having a difficult time, but he was way over paid. He should have saved 1/2 his income.

[DonaldC]

Well regardless if his compensation was right or not, he was living the American dream and is now finding it much more difficult. At least it sounds like he has a work ethic, just not focused enough to get new skills effectively, maybe.

[LuvFreeRepublic]

News flash, some people do make more than a professional with a degree. So what; it happens. And salary info available to the public. Quite often it is. This guy is a hurting American and he is being cut down and yet what I see in this guy should be admired.

[lowtaxsmallgov]

“Bottom line, the guy is busting his back end and so is his wife to hang on, and most on this thread are trying to discredit him. Unbelievable.”

C’mon, this guy was working at Delco = auto industry = UAW = death to American manufacturing.

Bottom line is that with unions they push the price of labor up, and with higher price comes a lower quantity demanded. It’s just plain and simple economics. I don’t know the guy, but I know that when HS grads doing blue collar work are making north of $100K, then their job is jeopardy. That’s why unions need their power cut down to size, ultimately they put themselves out of business. Witness the auto industry. GM has been losing market share for over 35 years. DOA. RIP. This guy should have switched careers long ago, couldn’t see it coming?

[AngelesCrestHighway]

I know a guy who was earning $100k in a Ford engine plant in 1988! Drilling holes. That included overtime.

In the Tiger Woods tradition......

[central_va]

Ok, I lived below the poverty level for many years getting my education. I was even homeless as a junior in college, living between the undergrad gym and my car. I guess he is getting his life style education now. He might be bitter, or he might realize how good he had it. Who knows? I can't seem to feel sorry for him.....

Funny, I have never seen any "jounalist" write my story, what it is like to put yourself thru college on your own. Living like a dog, studying engineering, hoping you have enough to pay tuition and be able to buy ramen noodles to last the semester.

[Gritty]

There are a lot of Americans in this tough sort of job situation out here.

Now the Democraps intend to legalize 10s of million more low end job seekers who will compete to suck up jobs at this end of the job ladder?

Swell, huh?

[Age of Reason]

Why should white collar workers be paid significantly more for shuffling papers, than the people who actually make something?

[Age of Reason]

know a guy who was earning $100k in a Ford engine plant in 1988! Drilling holes. That included overtime.

And in 1988, I knew a twenty-something who was making $100K selling mortgages to people who couldn't afford them.

I'm sure those drilled holes lasted longer than those mortgages.

[bert]

The article is propaganda. The guy is the subject of propaganda and fair game.

The world he crapped on is gone forever.

[lowtaxsmallgov]

To ask the question is to answer it - that guy isn’t making anything anymore, is he? Obviously he was paid too much.

[TonyInOhio]

[central_va]

I guess you can train an unskilled assemblyline worker in hours. A BS,MS or PHD costs thousands and requires years of effort. A trained skilled machinist should make respectible pay, I agree.

[LuvFreeRepublic]

Lots of people face hardships. Some do sooner; some do later. I look at the quality of their character and how they respond to hardships. Do they have the strength to face hardships and are they compassionate enough to value these same strengths in other Americans, whenever they are put to the test. Apparently you did not read the part about this family living like "dogs".