What We Can Learn From Joan Rivers

The rich and lengthy history of Joan’s career is well-known. She began appearing in 1961 with Second City comedy in Chicago and at comedy clubs in New York. She joined Candid Camera in 1965 and performed on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson in February 1965. Then followed regular appearances on The Tonight Show, as well as other television and movie performances, including this performance on the Ed Sullivan show in April 1967.

Throughout the 1970s and early 1980s, her popularity grew and employment opportunities were steady. Then in 1986 came the split with Carson, and the cancellation of The Late Show Starring Joan Rivers. Other rejections followed, but Joan never became too proud to work small clubs in Cleveland or upstate New York or suburban Wisconsin.

In the 2000s, she is back at the center of popular culture: appearances on Celebrity Apprentice (she won), The Simpsons, In Bed with Joan, and Fashion Police, to name just a few. (copied from What California Job Specialists Can Learn Today from Joan Rivers by Michael Bernick and posted on Fox and Hounds)

My Dad was another great example of finding work when many would have given up. He was a civil/structural engineer. Jobs were projects and once completed a layoff would quickly follow. On the day he married in Winnipeg, Canada. He boarded a train with his new bride, going to Vancouver, Canada. When that job ended two years later he landed a road construction job in north eastern Ontario, Canada. When that job ended he found a job in Erie, Pennsylvania. While none of it was exciting as Joan Rivers’ career he was doing exactly the same thing. Going wherever the opportunities existed.

Today some people are moving to North Dakota where oil has been found and the winters are miserable. The unemployment rate is 2.8%. In a country where jobs are in short supply those making that move are showing their ability to survive when the going gets rough.

An Incompetent President

I have always voted for the Democratic Party presidential candidate so this commentary was an unpleasant task.

It is not unusual to believe the current president of the United States is incompetent. I cannot recall one that received my appreciation while he held office. Presidents usually receive their lowest approval numbers in the last two or three years of their second term. So perhaps it is not unexpected that I too do not approve of Barack Obama’s presidency.

The difference is that I believe he will be listed as one of America’s worst presidents. The honor for worst, in my opinion, is Jimmy Carter. The reasons be addressed in another column.

President Obama came to office when the country was in economic collapse. It was not his fault. We have the Bush administration to thank for that horror. Banks were on the verge of bankruptcy, many large companies were experiencing rapid declines in sales that were jeopardizing their very existence, unemployment was at 7.2% and falling, home foreclosures were massive, etc.

What did the president do? He proposed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, his $800 billion stimulus bill for a $14.57 trillion economy. Was that enough? I don’t think so. Many economists said the stimulus should have been twice his proposal. The money was to be spent on “shovel ready projects.” There just weren’t very many of those projects immediately available. Although the administration claims that law created jobs the reality is the unemployment rate continued dropping through October 2009 to a rate of 10.1%. That rate did not decline to 9.5% until June 2010.

In the meantime the administration pushed his health care law (Affordable Care Act: AKA Obama Care) that has yet to prove its value in any significant way. That was the wrong focus. The introduction of that new program was a disaster. It is his signature program and yet it was not given the attention needed to accomplish a near perfect launch.

In other domestic issues he has been late to the table. Veteran’s Administration, gun regulation, domestic spying, immigration, and massive outsourcing of jobs are the issues that come to mind.

In foreign affairs the president has pulled back from every situation in the world. From drawing a red line in Syria, to a too fast draw down of troops in Iraq the president has not considered the unintended consequences of his decisions. Today Islamic terrorists are threatening Iraq, Syria, and many African nations. Now we are faced with thousands of children entering our country from Central America. He didn’t see the issue of thousands of children entering the country until the situation has become overwhelming? How can that be?

What we have here is a reactive presidency rather than a proactive presidency . The president reacts to situations. CNN and FOX seem to know what is happening before the president. He does not initiate attention to an issue.

Americans want their president to initiate the steps to resolve issues even before the public is aware. This is not a characteristic that can be evaluated until a person is holding the office of POTUS.

Barack Obama was the wrong choice for president. Sadly the Republicans did not offer Americans a good alternative. Perhaps this column should have been titled “America’s Broken Political System.”

Goodbye Middle Class

The J.C. Penney closing of 33 stores is a reflection of the decline of the middle class. Comments by readers of this Huffington Post article, I believe, accurately appraises this situation. There is nothing being said about how Penney’s will recover.

Sears Holdings Corp. (SHLD:US) plunged the most in more than a year after forecasting a fourth-quarter loss and saying sales during the holiday period dropped. The loss in the quarter ending Feb. 1 will narrow to $250 million to $360 million, or $2.35 to $3.39 a share, the Hoffman Estates, Illinois-based company said yesterday in a statement. The net loss a year earlier was $489 million, or $4.61 a share.

If these stalwarts cannot survive the message is clear. The middle class, that was the bread and butter for those retail stores, is shrinking away.

It is not an overnight event. As those middle incomes and retired middle class families die the replacements come in just two categories. They are the poor and the well to do. Evidence of this situation is the age of McDonald’s employees. The average age of a fast-food worker in 2013 was almost 30. That is data published by Bloomberg Businessweek. The Bureau of Labor Statistics says that more than 35% of the unemployed have been in that predicament for more than 27 weeks. Most of them had well paying middle class jobs.

Meanwhile the median annual compensation for the CEOs of S&P 500 firms is now reported to be above $10 Million. Carol Meyrowitz, the CEO of TJX, earned over $20 Million in 2013. TJX owns Marshall’s, TJ Max, and Homegoods stores. Anthony Petrello was the highest paid CEO earning more than $68 Million last year.

Of course the board of directors of every company is free to pay whatever they deem a fair salary. Government does not set salaries in a free society. Those CEOs must be worth the pay they receive. Or is it the rich protecting the rich? Does the CEO work harder than the clerk?

So what is to become of most Americans? Look for more food stamps, more housing subsidies, and more broken homes.

Private enterprise does not care about its employees. They are interested in maximizing their profits. Don’t like it? Open your own business. That is the way capitalism works.

Unemployed – Explained by two eminent economists

So how can over 873,000 people come off the unemployment line when there were only a little over 114,000 jobs created?

Luckily I found a transcript of a conversation between two eminent economists discussing this very
question!

Here we go, the recent unemployment report explained —

COSTELLO: I want to talk about the unemployment rate in America.

ABBOTT: Good Subject. Terrible Times. It’s 7.8%.

COSTELLO: That many people are out of work?

ABBOTT: No, that’s 14.7%.

COSTELLO: You just said 7.8%.

ABBOTT: 7.8% Unemployed.

COSTELLO: Right 7.8% out of work.

ABBOTT: No, that’s 14.7%.

COSTELLO: Okay, so it’s 14.7% unemployed.

ABBOTT: No, that’s 7.8%.

COSTELLO: WAIT A MINUTE. Is it 7.8% or 14.7%?

ABBOTT: 7.8% are unemployed. 14.7% are out of work.

COSTELLO: If you are out of work you are unemployed.

ABBOTT: No, Obama said you can’t count the “Out of Work” as the unemployed. You have to look for work to be unemployed.

COSTELLO: BUT THEY ARE OUT OF WORK!!!

ABBOTT: No, you miss his point.

COSTELLO: What point?

ABBOTT: Someone who doesn’t look for work can’t be counted with those who look for work. It wouldn’t be fair.

COSTELLO: To whom?

ABBOTT: The unemployed.

COSTELLO: But ALL of them are out of work.

ABBOTT: No, the unemployed are actively looking for work. Those who are out of work gave up looking and if you give up, you are no longer in the ranks of the unemployed.

COSTELLO: So if you’re off the unemployment roles that would count as less unemployment?

ABBOTT: Unemployment would go down. Absolutely!

COSTELLO: The unemployment just goes down because you don’t look for work?

ABBOTT: Absolutely it goes down. That’s how the current administration gets it to 7.8%. Otherwise it would be 14.7%. Our govt. doesn’t want you to read about 14.7% unemployment!

COSTELLO: That would be tough on those running for reelection.

ABBOTT: Absolutely.

COSTELLO: Wait, I got a question for you. That means there are two ways to bring down the unemployment number?

ABBOTT: Two ways is correct.

COSTELLO: Unemployment can go down if someone gets a job?

ABBOTT: Correct.

COSTELLO: And unemployment can also go down if you stop looking for a job?

ABBOTT: Bingo.

COSTELLO: So there are two ways to bring unemployment down, and the easier of the two is to have administration supporters stop looking for work.

ABBOTT: Now you’re thinking like the Economy Czar.

COSTELLO: I don’t even know what the hell I just said!

ABBOTT: Now you’re thinking like Obama.

The Great Society

President Lyndon Johnson’s campaign rally cry was all about creating The Great Society. Within days of his ascendancy to office he told us about his “War on Poverty.” The census bureau says in 2012, the official poverty rate was 15.0 percent. There were 46.5 million people in poverty.

I have stopped going to the Town Hall meetings sponsored by my congressman. For him they are a great way of showing his constituency that he is really interested in the people he represents. I was at his last meeting that was held at the local high school. I learned nothing. Pocket sized booklets of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution were free for the taking. These gimmicks have enabled him to be re-elected eight times.
The Declaration of Independence was the creation of the wealthy in 1776. The most famous signatory is John Hancock. Hancock was one of the wealthiest men in the Thirteen Colonies, having inherited a profitable mercantile business from his uncle. http://www.ushistory.org/declaration/signers/. It is the wealthy that made this country grow and succeed.

However it is the middle class that made this country an inspiration for the rest of the world. Thus far the 21st century has brought about that groups decline in significant numbers. If this country is to continue to be a beacon the government must take all action necessary to ensure those in the middle continue to thrive. As of this date the current congress has failed to “insure domestic Tranquility” and “promote the general Welfare” as directed in the preamble to the Constitution.

Recent evidence of a lack of effort to “promote the general Welfare” is the absence of legislation that would protect jobs and encourage hiring. Who cares? Not the mostly well-to-do members of Congress. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 25% in 2013. And you thought the representatives were representing you. They are not! They represent their best interests. That would be the money men who contribute to re-election campaigns.

The unemployment rate dropped to 6.7% in December. Sounds good. It’s all about smoke and mirrors. The BLS wrote in its latest report in January wrote, “The number of unemployed persons declined by 490,000 to 10.4 million,” but the bureau reported that only 74,000 jobs had been created. How can this be? Simple. More people stopped looking for work and are no longer counted as unemployed. The unemployment rate is a feel good number that does not tell us the real employment situation.

This situation reminds me of George Orwell’s 1984. Lies and double talk. Two and Two could be Five. Especially if the government says so. Town Hall meetings and the unemployment rate are two of the many government efforts to make you believe that our elected representatives are making America a great success story.

Don’t you believe it!

It takes more than the ballot box to change a 317 million population nation. Demonstrations and marches are needed. How many will be willing to participate? Not enough to make the changes. And so we march along as the peasants (the federal government hates that word) doing the bidding of our masters.

The American Skills Gap

The skills gap in U.S. manufacturing has hit a vast array of industries that are having trouble filling their workforce needs with properly trained workers who can step right in and help companies.

As an example, across the jobs spectrum in the laser industry, from designing equipment, to finding workers to install and repair laser machinery, to manufacturers that need skilled employees on the plant floor, the lack of workers with the necessary skills has become a major problem.

To believe an exhaustive new report by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the skill level of the American labor force is not merely slipping in comparison to that of its peers around the world, it has fallen dangerously behind. A new OECD study finds that the US is well behind its global competitors in math, reading, and computer skills.

The highly skilled in the United States earn a much larger wage premium over unskilled workers than in most, if not all, other advanced nations, where regulations, unions and taxes tend to temper inequality. So if the rewards for skills are so high, why is the supply of skilled workers so sluggish? The answer is not clear.

Socioeconomic status is a barrier. Not only is inequality particularly steep, little is done to redress the opportunity deficit of poorer students. Public investment in the early education of disadvantaged children is meager. Teachers are not paid very well, compared with other countries. And the best teachers tend to end up teaching in affluent schools.

To speed growth, we must close the widening skills gap that exists in all of our industries. Washington lawmakers do not appear to be inclined to take the proactive lead that is necessary. This means that large companies and industry organizations will have to take the lead. That can be accomplished through lobbyists in the capitol or sponsoring training programs. The question is will private industry take the lead when labor costs are so much lower in other nations?

Sources for this article is news.thomasnet.com/IMT/2013/12/10, The New York Times,OECD

Rising riches: 1 in 5 in US reaches affluence

Despite all the tears shed over the income gap in the United States this article is a reason for hope. Maybe you won’t become part of the 20% earning $250,000 or more but you just might find a path to recovery.

By HOPE YEN
From Associated Press
December 09, 2013 5:47 PM EST

WASHINGTON (AP) — Fully 20 percent of U.S. adults become rich for parts of their lives, wielding extensive influence over America’s economy and politics, according to new survey data.

These “new rich,” made up largely of older professionals, working married couples and more educated singles, are becoming politically influential, and economists say their capacity to spend is key to the U.S. economic recovery. But their rise is also a sign of the nation’s continuing economic polarization.

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