Tapsearch Com EditorAre small town Americans bitter? (LINK)
April 12th 2008 20:01
Bizarre Politics Reports:
Hillary says Small Town America is resilent
A current debate between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama about small town America being bitter about the lost of jobs should be a core debate. It tells the real stories behind the news.
In her statements, Hillary Clinton demonstrates she is in denial about the long lasting economic storm in our times. Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans exposed a silent depression residing in our land for a long time. Hillary and her husband were part of the cause and effect and the 1990s probably represent the highest point in the most massive dislocation of jobs in the history of the USA.
( The editorial cartoon below was first published in 1995 after it was obvious that NAFTA , GATT and Free Trade had abandoned the American worker )
Prior to the Free Trade era, workers were like paper clips. They held things together in their own companies and interconnected with others in society in balanced local value added economies. However, Free Trade came and discounted the value of labor. Workers became commodities to be traded. They were put on a world trading block to compete with one another for the same jobs. Workers became an expense in doing business that could be discounted. The drums of downsizing came with a flourish during the 1990s. Companies like AT&T discarded employees like paper clips. In 1996, Wall Street analysts predicted AT&T would be profitable after factoring in the millions in termination costs of employees. AT&T , as a corporation, survived easily. In 1993, just between IBM and AT&T / NCR computers a total of about 300,000 computer workers lost their jobs too.
Note these jobs were not heavy industry production jobs but high tech ones.
The unemloyment rate did not show the demise of about the thousands of jobs at these companies. Bill Clinton's unemployment rates indicated there was hardly any affect by the millons who lost their jobs during his term in office. The national unemployment rate was down from the recession levels of 1992.
The statistics did not tell the story or necessarily the truth. The basis for unemployment data should be this question--- How many people are drawing unemployment compensation. We later found out that only about 38 percent of all workers qualified for unemployment insurance. We found that the statistics did not really report the status of the 60 percent of workers who whose unemployment insurance ran out or those who never qualified. The statistics did not include underemployment, people working two jobs or those who were forced to dip into their savings to survive. The bankruptcy rate started breaking records while politicians blamed consumers overspending. They ignore the reports like the one noting that 47 percent of all small business persons maxed out their credit cards trying to keep their business afloat. You would think they would take this as an obvious warning sign of things to come but they did not. They also ignore the fact that many were caught with usury interest rates in the end.
Here are four tales about finding work after downsizing. ( We will provide you with many more from articles from the 1990s.)
These represent typical stories Hillary should be told about when debates the issue of people being bitter in small town America.
Charlene's husband was devastated by his job loss in 1994, He went into a state of depression and required daily medication and ongoing counseling. He can't work. Charlene is picking up the slack by working 60 ours a week on two data-entry jobs--- one full time and one part time. Neither job has benefits. Their health insurance costs are nearly $900 a month, their savings are used up and they have sold their second car. ( Note this is 1995 while Bill Clinton and Alan Greenspan were proclaiming prosperity.)
Mike was making six-figures as sales and marketing vice president until he was downsized in 1993. He did all the right things afterwards: He networked like crazy, contacted recruiters and answered ads. The result? A few interviews for position paying half what he was making, but no job offers. He's on the list fo finalists for an executive director's position for a trade association. The pay is $40,000. He'll take it if is offered. He's also taken courses on income tax preparation and plans to work for a tax preparation service part time on an hourly basis for the next few months.
John was a trust officer at a bank for 15 years. He managed investments for wealthy clients. He lost his job because of a merger in 1994. Despite sending out hundreds of resumes, he didn't land a single interview until a few weeks ago. He's looking into selling insurance and bonds and real estate, but selling on commission-only basis does not suit his personality. He is currently enrolled in some computer training courses.
Caroline lost her job in the mid-1995 because of funding for a corporate research grant wasn't renewed. She has a doctorate in biochemistry and 10 years of experience. A recruiter told her to omit references to her doctorate from her resume if she wants to get interviews for the corporate jobs. Her best chance for work is her field in teaching. Unfortunately the timing of ther job loss meant that there weren't any openings at the universities to which she applied. She plans on reapplying this spring and is working as a salesperson to pay the bills.
This is not 2008 - It's 1996 - based on article by Jim Pawak, a careers colmunist in Detroit
Read what happened after Ann Landers said - All you have to do when you lose your job is just get another one in our wonderful economy - this is from about 1998 - Click here for article It demonstrated how out of touch the media was during these times.
In her statements, Hillary Clinton demonstrates she is in denial about the long lasting economic storm in our times. Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans exposed a silent depression residing in our land for a long time. Hillary and her husband were part of the cause and effect and the 1990s probably represent the highest point in the most massive dislocation of jobs in the history of the USA.
( The editorial cartoon below was first published in 1995 after it was obvious that NAFTA , GATT and Free Trade had abandoned the American worker )
From 1995 and still applys today
Prior to the Free Trade era, workers were like paper clips. They held things together in their own companies and interconnected with others in society in balanced local value added economies. However, Free Trade came and discounted the value of labor. Workers became commodities to be traded. They were put on a world trading block to compete with one another for the same jobs. Workers became an expense in doing business that could be discounted. The drums of downsizing came with a flourish during the 1990s. Companies like AT&T discarded employees like paper clips. In 1996, Wall Street analysts predicted AT&T would be profitable after factoring in the millions in termination costs of employees. AT&T , as a corporation, survived easily. In 1993, just between IBM and AT&T / NCR computers a total of about 300,000 computer workers lost their jobs too.
Note these jobs were not heavy industry production jobs but high tech ones.
The unemloyment rate did not show the demise of about the thousands of jobs at these companies. Bill Clinton's unemployment rates indicated there was hardly any affect by the millons who lost their jobs during his term in office. The national unemployment rate was down from the recession levels of 1992.
The statistics did not tell the story or necessarily the truth. The basis for unemployment data should be this question--- How many people are drawing unemployment compensation. We later found out that only about 38 percent of all workers qualified for unemployment insurance. We found that the statistics did not really report the status of the 60 percent of workers who whose unemployment insurance ran out or those who never qualified. The statistics did not include underemployment, people working two jobs or those who were forced to dip into their savings to survive. The bankruptcy rate started breaking records while politicians blamed consumers overspending. They ignore the reports like the one noting that 47 percent of all small business persons maxed out their credit cards trying to keep their business afloat. You would think they would take this as an obvious warning sign of things to come but they did not. They also ignore the fact that many were caught with usury interest rates in the end.
Here are four tales about finding work after downsizing. ( We will provide you with many more from articles from the 1990s.)
These represent typical stories Hillary should be told about when debates the issue of people being bitter in small town America.
Charlene's husband was devastated by his job loss in 1994, He went into a state of depression and required daily medication and ongoing counseling. He can't work. Charlene is picking up the slack by working 60 ours a week on two data-entry jobs--- one full time and one part time. Neither job has benefits. Their health insurance costs are nearly $900 a month, their savings are used up and they have sold their second car. ( Note this is 1995 while Bill Clinton and Alan Greenspan were proclaiming prosperity.)
Mike was making six-figures as sales and marketing vice president until he was downsized in 1993. He did all the right things afterwards: He networked like crazy, contacted recruiters and answered ads. The result? A few interviews for position paying half what he was making, but no job offers. He's on the list fo finalists for an executive director's position for a trade association. The pay is $40,000. He'll take it if is offered. He's also taken courses on income tax preparation and plans to work for a tax preparation service part time on an hourly basis for the next few months.
John was a trust officer at a bank for 15 years. He managed investments for wealthy clients. He lost his job because of a merger in 1994. Despite sending out hundreds of resumes, he didn't land a single interview until a few weeks ago. He's looking into selling insurance and bonds and real estate, but selling on commission-only basis does not suit his personality. He is currently enrolled in some computer training courses.
Caroline lost her job in the mid-1995 because of funding for a corporate research grant wasn't renewed. She has a doctorate in biochemistry and 10 years of experience. A recruiter told her to omit references to her doctorate from her resume if she wants to get interviews for the corporate jobs. Her best chance for work is her field in teaching. Unfortunately the timing of ther job loss meant that there weren't any openings at the universities to which she applied. She plans on reapplying this spring and is working as a salesperson to pay the bills.
This is not 2008 - It's 1996 - based on article by Jim Pawak, a careers colmunist in Detroit
Read what happened after Ann Landers said - All you have to do when you lose your job is just get another one in our wonderful economy - this is from about 1998 - Click here for article It demonstrated how out of touch the media was during these times.
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