800,000 Jobless Americans to Lose Aid (RATS SMELL BLOOD)

ABC News ^ | 12/28/02 | AP

[FITZ]

I am still waiting for evidence that President Bush has any intentions of cutting the size of the Federal government, or of trying to cut some of the waste, or of easing the burden on taxpayers, or of weaning welfare queens from the public teat, or that he has any sort convictions or ideals, or that he has a backbone, or...

Last I heard he was going to start including people in Mexico in on the Social Security system ---that will lead to a huge Social Security tax increast to American citizens and probably a cutting of benefits.

I think he loses this election when he gives our Social Security program to Fox and cuts Americans off unemployment benefits.

[FITZ]

We're also doomed when our government instead must find every Mexican and every Chinese a job instead of Americans. Bush might believe Americans don't need jobs, he seems to believe those are important for others however.

[Republic of Texas]

You'll get no disagreement from me on that point.

[EVO X]

We're also doomed when our government instead must find every Mexican and every Chinese a job instead of Americans. Bush might believe Americans don't need jobs, he seems to believe those are important for others however.

I think you have this concept all wrong. From what a can tell, people of various ethnic heritages are doing work and running businesses that Americans don't want to be bothered with.. Now the economy isn't so good and people are looking for excuses.

[freedumb2003]

>>From what a can tell, people of various ethnic heritages are doing work and running businesses that Americans don't want to be bothered with..<<

You miss the point. The working ethic of various nationailities have built this country into the great nation it is. But many come here to take advantage of our largesse and we should be restricting and controlling immigration (and retroactively eliminating illegal immigration) until we can take care of our own.

[Huck]

When most people whine, there are no jobs, that's code for, there are jobs, I just think I'm too good to take them.

You got that right. Check out monster.com for Maine. Looks like someone's hiring:

http://jobsearch.monster.com/jobsearch.asp?cy=US&re=14&brd=1%2C1862%2C1863&lid=464&fn=&q=&sort=rv&vw=b

[EVO X]

You miss the point. The working ethic of various nationailities have built this country into the great nation it is. But many come here to take advantage of our largesse and we should be restricting and controlling immigration (and retroactively eliminating illegal immigration) until we can take care of our own.

I got downsized 10 years ago. Nobody gave a sh@t back then. Nobody came to my defense and handed me a job. After 5 months of getting the layoff notice, I got a new job at about 2/3 of the pay of my previous job. It is a total waste of time to complain about being laid off. People that are laid off shouldn't be b#tching and moaning on FR. They should be directing their efforts at job hunting. Maybe JR should put up a job search catagory.

[wanderin]

They should start their own business or go back to school to learn a new trade.

In Oregon, if you go to school, you are not available for work. End of your unemployment benefits as income. A counselor at the employment office kindly warns people filing for benefits of this tidbit.

A great incentive to go to school.

[LS]

But Bush's privatization initiative is conceded to be the largest in history. And the only thing Algore shrunk was the military.

[LS]

I know, it can be tough. For the person out of a job, it appears that there is no sunshine. Sometimes people have to move.

Personal example: I am in a VERY competitive field. As a conservative, 90% of the deck is stacked against me in academics. As a white, I automatically cannot even teach 2/3s of the courses offered/hired for. I came out with 10 other people (Ph.D.s), virtually all of them smarter than me. Many had "bigger name" advisors. One guy had even been on the cover of people for his "research" (actually, a woman gave him a trunk with some of Washington's personal letters in it!).

This is not to brag, but to make a point: I was the only one of all those people (as far as I know, and I watch the faculty rosters) to get a full time tenured job.

What did I do? First, I was willing to move, immediately, wherever. I taught at a TINY school in the Wisconsin system just to get a "university" job. Second, I took part-time or non-tenured work, just to get my foot in the door. First time I did that, the faculty (almost all liberals) gave me a tenure track job, and I was tenured in record time, then promoted in record time.

Third, I outworked everyone. I published more than the rest of the department, put togehter; I taught GOOD classes, and I wrote outside of academia whenever I could.

Again, this is not to beat my drum, but to show you that if I---in a field as set against white conservatives as you can possibly get---can beat out better-qualified, smarter people, mainly by hard work and a willingness to do what it takes, I have trouble believing that in ANY other field it can be harder.

I always viewed "my" job as MY JOB. I had to make myself so valuable that no one could let me go. Too many people take their job for granted---not that they aren't happy to have it, but that they don't understand that THEY are responsible for ensuring their own continued employment.

[D. Miles]

My husband is in the healthcare field and he took a job once as a janitor until something in his field opened up.Your right you maybe told by some your over qualified, but then again, you may get the job! Some of us find ourselves having to return to school and retrain when our field gets tight. If you have a will to work, there is always a way!

[Cacophonous]

...call me when the fedgov actually shrinks...

[SheLion]

I always viewed "my" job as MY JOB. I had to make myself so valuable that no one could let me go. Too many people take their job for granted---not that they aren't happy to have it, but that they don't understand that THEY are responsible for ensuring their own continued employment.

Your one of the lucky ones, and I commend you for it!!! I am just thankful that DFAS moved into the old Loring Air Force Base and so thankful that my husband landed a job there! He has three years to go before retirement, so hopefully, DFAS will be here at least that long! The economy is so bad! Darlene

[visualops]

End of your unemployment benefits as income

That's a big part of the problem! People consider unemployment benefits an entitlement and a way to make money until something they like comes along.
Many people can't see beyond today, and think things will never change, and live beyond their means.
They had an article about this extension business, and mentioned a family, where the husband had been out of work since June. He actually counted on the extension, and now that benefits are running out, his wife is only now considering getting a job.
Cripes, that is just plain stupid!
Whatever happened to common sense?

[LS]

As a % of population and $ as a % of GNP, I think it has been flat for about 10 years. There is an article on this by Dwight Lee of the University of Georgia---a Libertarian.

[LS]

I don't believe in luck---God has nothing about luck in the Bible. He says that if you are obedient, He will bless you, so I worked from that principle. I know three ret. mil. guys who were downsized in the 1992-1995 period. Now, realize they all draw military pensions, so right away any job they hold is, in a sense, "double dipping"---and NOTHING wrong with that, don't misunderstand me. But it is not like they have to take any job to feed their families. Anyway, one runs a rec center in Indiana, which he commutes to from Dayton; one does consulting for several of the defense firms (having also been laid off from one of them---does that make him a "triple dipper?"); and another does similar consulting for a private company related to space work. He told me he could have had a better job out west, but wanted to move here (yuck!) to be closer to his family.

This is my point: if you (and not you personally!) REALLY want work, you will go wherever it requires, and take whatever job will get you the most money. You will not, as Randy Quaid ("cousin Eddie" in Christmas Vacation) says, "hold out for a management position."