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Graphic credit: CNN PoliticalTicker

Labor Day Cartoon - 'Ism' and some Stats about Labor

In honor of Labor Day - it is freedom that made America free - and allowed the workforce to work because they wanted to - not because they were told to, and to work for whom they wanted to work, if they could get hired. The Ism cartoon video below is essential for all of your Leftists relatives and friends, and for children - especially the children of the Left. It's a great way to teach children about the 'isms' they will face, and the 'isms' they will fight against the remainder of their lives.

Ism

From Valerie Strauss at the Washington Post:

Who Are We Celebrating?
154.4 million
Number of people 16 and older in the nation’s labor force in May 2010.

Employee Benefits
83%
Percentage of full-time workers 18 to 64 covered by health insurance during all or part of 2008.

78%
Percentage of workers in private industry who receive a paid vacation as one of their employment benefits.

The Commute to Work
17.7 million
Number of commuters who leave for work between midnight and 5:59 a.m. They represent 13 percent of all commuters.

76%
Percentage of workers who drive alone to work. Another 11 percent carpool and 5 percent take public transportation (excluding taxicabs).

25.5 minutes
The average time it takes people in the nation to commute to work. New York and Maryland had the most time-consuming commutes, averaging 31.6 and 31.5 minutes. (They are not significantly different from one another.)

3.5 million
Number of workers who face extreme commutes to work of 90 or more minutes each day.

Our Jobs
Americans work in a variety of occupations. Here is a sampling:

Teachers 7.2 million
Chief executives 1.7 million
Janitors and building cleaners 2.1 million
Computer software engineers 1.0 million
Aerospace engineers 137,000
Electricians 874,000
Registered nurses 2.8 million
Social workers 729,000
Clergy 441,000
Hairdressers, hairstylists and cosmetologists 773,000
Chefs and head cooks 351,000
Customer service representatives 1.9 million
Taxi drivers and chauffeurs 373,000
Firefighters 293,000
Roofers 234,000
Pharmacists 243,000
Machinists 409,000
Musicians, singers and related workers 186,000
Artists and related workers 213,000
Gaming services workers (gambling) 111,000
Tax preparers 105,000
Service station attendants 87,000
Inspectors, testers, sorters, samplers and weighers 751,000
Farmers and ranchers 751,000

7.6 million
Number of workers who hold down more than one job. So-called moonlighters comprise 5 percent of the working population. Of these, 4 million work full time at their primary job and part time at their other job.

284,000
Number of moonlighters who work full time at two jobs.

10.1 million
Number of self-employed workers.

26.4 million
Number of female workers 16 and older in management, professional and related occupations. Among male workers 6 and older, 24.7 millionwere employed in management, professional and related occupations.

27%
Percentage of workers 16 and older who work more than 40 hours a week. About 7 percent work 60 or more hours a week.

4.1
Median number of years workers have been with their current employer. About 10 percent of those employed have been with their current employer for 20 or more years.

10.3 million
Number of independent contractors.

16.1 million
Number of labor union members nationwide. About 12 percent of wage and salary workers belong to unions, with Alaska, Hawaii and New York having among the highest rates of any state. North Carolina has one of the lowest rates, 3 percent.

-5.3%
Percentage decline in employment in the United States, between September 2008 and September 2009. Employment declined in 329 of the 334 largest counties (large counties are defined as having employment levels of 75,000 or more).

-14.5%
Percentage decline in Elkhart County, Ind., between September 2008 and September 2009, the largest decline in employment among the 334 largest counties. Los Angles County saw the largest numerical loss over the period: 278,000.

1.7%
Percentage increase in employment in Yakima County, Wash., between September 2008 and September 2009, the largest percentage increase among the nation’s 334 largest counties.

5.9 million
The number of people who work at home.

$46,367 and $35,745
The 2008 real median earnings for male and female full-time, year-round workers, respectively.

Hot Jobs
53%
Projected percentage growth from 2006 to 2016 in the number of network systems and data communication analysts. Forecasters expect this occupation to grow at a faster rate than any other. Meanwhile, the occupation expected to add more positions over this period than any other is registered nurses (587,000).

Make Mine Freedom - Labor Day
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All the News We Need to Know to Remember November

The following Drudge headlines are all the news we need to know to Remember November.

Remember November

Drudge Report

UNEMPLOYMENT JUMPS TO 9.6%...

Economy LOST 283,000 jobs during 'Recovery Summer' months...

NPR: 'Recovery Summer' Ends With Economic Pothole...

Labor Sec. Declares: 'There are jobs out there'...

TREASURY HEAD RUSHES BACK FROM VACATION; AIDES SEARCH FOR OTHER JOBS PACKAGE...

120 Days to Go Until Largest Tax Hikes in History...

President Claims Job Creation; Doesn't Mention Net Job Loss of 54K...

HE NEEDS A VACATION: OBAMA TO CAMP DAVID...

Taxpayers to face initial loss on GM IPO; Treasury to sell first shares below break-even...


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Dems Refuse Unemployment Benefits from Obama's Stash: Checks are Job Creators

Republicans refused to add $33 billion+ to the Nation's soaring deficit for extended unemployment benefits, and want them paid for by Obama's economic recovery stash. Dems say the stash is for jobs. Nancy Pelosi said unemployment checks "creates jobs faster than almost any other initiative you can name." So what is the problem? Obama's economic recovery stash is for jobs, the checks create jobs, so use the stash! See the video below.

Spending Obama's Stash

Graphic courtesy of Sam Finley for Congress (R) - Texas 12th District

Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and all Republicans except RINOS Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) and Susan Collins (R-Maine), proposed actually paying for the extension with stimulus funds - otherwise known as Obama's stash. Unable to get a bill  passed, the Senate left for the holiday weekend early.

In spite of the Democrats own Pay-Go rules, indicating the American public might hope spending is paid before being spent, Senator Richard Durbin (D-IL) said unemployment benefits are "emergency spending," and not bound by Pay-Go.

At some point, after months of benefit extensions, we have to ask when an extension has become a part of the Democrat agenda. The administration's policies have the private sector awaiting their tax bomb, their healthcare bomb, the regulations bomb, and the continuing demise of their investments - and business owners are not hiring. It is not a surprise, it's a conclusion - a result of bad policy that seems to have no end.

Democrat Senator Ben Nelson (NE) voted with Republicans, shunning the Liberal mindset voiced by Senator Richard Durbin (D-IL) in an interview with the Washington Examiner:

We've never done it, Durbin said. And it is counterintuitive that to stop a recession we have to take spending away from one area and put it into another. We need to put money into the economy.

Senator Saxby Chambliss' (R-GA) mid-June comment about benefit extensions was used in part by the Georgia Democrat Party, quoting only half of it, and then tried to make a point that Chambliss supported benefit extensions but had voted against them "multiple times." The Georgia Dems quoted this:

During a time of economic hardship, I don't believe we should allow provisions such as the extension of emergency unemployment benefits to expire.

What they omitted is this:

But I do believe that when we extend these programs, we should do so in a responsible fashion. Congresss should find a way to pay for those extensions.

The Tulsa World (h/t to hubby)

The bill would extend unemployment payments for up to a total of 99 weeks...through the end of November, at a cost of $33.9 billion. The money would have been borrowed from, adding to the budget deficit....They [Republicans] proposed using unspent money from President Barack Obama's massive 2009 economic recovery package.

Democrats rejected the offer, saying the money was needed for jobs programs. Republicans said the stimulus package included plenty of lawmakers' pet projects that could be cut to cover the unemployment benefits. 

Here we are back at Nancy Pelosi's claim that unemployment checks are a big job creator. If Democrats actually believe her, and stand behind her ridiculous comment, then use the job recovery stash for extended benefits.





Nancy Pelosi on Extended Unemployment Checks (video)

Less Depressing Financial News: Jobs Losses Rise: Home Mortgages Default

Never have Americans been so completely clueless about our country's financial health and our job-creation ability.  God help us. We believe in this country, but everyday it becomes clear that we have been lied to, and are being lied to, with a great deal of enthusiasm.

Home Mortgage Defaults

Fortune Magazine tells us the "long-awaited recovery is now underway." It's a slow, painful slog that has shifted from "dreadful to less depressing." Unemployment stands at least, at 9.7%. Home prices are in the toilet, but...corporate profits are up. Our job-makers have realized they can do more with less...and boost profits by being leaner. Earnings were up among the Fortune 500 by an astounding 335%, but sales are sluggish. "The largest part of the gain came from lower payrolls...and explains the "explosion" in Fortune 500 profits.

George Soros, the mover and shaker behind Barack Obama is warning of another market crash, but if we get lucky we have 8 years before the bottom falls out. Keep in mind that George Soros is as anti-America as one can be.

Jobless claims rose...again...it wasn't expected. Reports out yesterday said new requests for jobless benefits rose by 24,000 last week to a seasonally adjusted 484,000. The second week in a row for increased claims. Economists predicted claims would fall.

As the Wall Street Journal said, if that were possible Russia, Cuba and North Korea would be economic powerhouses:

Currently, the mean government salary is fully twice the mean private-sector salary. That means every government job destroys or displaces two private-sector jobs. 

Home mortgage defaults rise among those who took advantage of Obama's wildly criticized "loan modification" program. Many have defaulted even after the government modified their payment amount. A NYT writer says if the trend continues the Obama plan may collapse on itself. The Treasury Department can't explain what is happening - other than the common sense that the people still can't afford their mortgages, and I'll point out that probably many have lost jobs since "modifying" their loans. Seven million households are behind on mortgage payments.

A senior policy counsel for the Center for Responsible Lending said she expects the post-modification defaults to continue to rise. "The current model for modifications doesn't necessarily produce sustainable results."

Readers, can you name one program this administration has launched that provides sustainable results? I didn't think so. Looking forward to "less depressing news" is not the American way. Let's get these job-killers out of Washington, D.C.

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John Cornyn Health Care: Cornyn No Conviction for Constitution: Sallie Mae: Health Care Lays Off 2500

Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) has signaled that he does not have the conviction to believe the new health care law is unconstitutional. He is leaning more and more to reworking health care, and focusing on jobs. What is it that our legislators do understand about "unconstitutional," thus "illegal?" He is buying the Democrat load of poo, and while the government adds to its payroll, the private sector will struggle to stay alive - everything will come at the behest of the government. To make the point right of the gate: Sallie Mae has announced the government takeover of student loans is forcing them to layoff  2,500. Friends, the government creates absolutely no wealth. What happens to a government with no wealth producers? Take a look at 90% of the world's countries living with no private sector wealth. This is unthinkable for America, yet with this president, it is a possibility.

John Cornyn

Democrats are doing what they do best. Selling. Cornyn is buying. Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ) publicly said that the issue of "repeal" is a sticky one for Republicans, because it is telling people something will be taken away from them. Menendez is not talking about the money out of our pockets, the loss of privacy between us and our doctors, the loss of control of our medical records, the loss of quality health care, the loss of employment as physicians retire and go elsewhere, and the loss of the relevance of the Constitution.

Cornyn has clearly relegated the U.S. Constitution to his "I'll get to it later" pile, or worse, to the trash heap of inconvenient rules and regs. 

Cornyn wants to focus on the "misplaced priorities of the administration." He wants to focus on jobs.

Can't we focus on more than one attack on our citizens at a time? Pound them on both, and "up" the talk on immigration, please. The Democrats do it. We can too. Repeal the bill, and then put the portions you want to keep back into the new legislation. The American people trust nothing in this bill. Start over and get some conviction! If you don't believe the legislation is unconstitutional, we do. What if we are right?

Think about it, Cornyn. ObamaKare is a job killer AND it is unconstitutional. Sallie Mae is sounding a warning bell. Come out and tell the American people minorities will be the beneficiary of our tax money by funding government loans, minorities schools will be the beneficiary of our tax money, and once graduated, all loans will be forgiven if you go to work for the government for a certain period of time. Read about the government education bloat in the health care bill here.

Here is a frightening thought: Cornyn is the head of the committee that choses which Republican candidates to support with GOP monies, and which will be not be supported. We need to watch this man like a hawk. He supported Charlie Crist and DeDe Scozzafava.

Obama Jobs Not Most Important Domestic Priority Video

In the video below, Obama is speaking to an Indonesian TV reporter. This will not be news to you: Jobs are not his priority. Thanks to BigGovernment.

Barack Obama: Health Care is the Most Important Domestic Priority (video)
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John Boehner Hell No Speech Health Care Debate

If you missed Boehner's excellent speech tonight before the health care vote, here it is. It is worth a watch.



Related and Background Posts:
Why the Senate Bill Funds Abortions

Health Care: Stopping at the Constitution - Not the White House - Not Congress

John Boehner - Have you read the bill? Hell No you Haven't? (video)

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Health Care Bill Will Lose 700,000 Jobs - and not just in Health Care Industry

Do you work in health care, or a related industry? Are you impressed with the 400,000 jobs Nancy Pelosi says will be created with ObamaKare? If your answer is yes, think again.

Americans for Tax Reform and Beacon Hill Institute debunk the 400,000 estimate by the Center for American Progress (CAP), saying that CAP's claim is "unsupportable," and using CAP's own methodology, the bill will destroy 120,000 to 700,000 jobs by 2019.

 Read the details at Hot Air which points out that, without ObamaKare, the Bureau of Labor Statistics already predicts growth in the health care industry of 3.2 million jobs.

Job losses are not just expected in direct-health-care employment. Take a look at this from Americans for Tax Reform - is your industry here?

The result is a loss of between 119,000 and 698,000 jobs between enactment of the bill this year and 2019. A breakdown is below: 


The high and low estimates of job losses for each sector below were not displaying well here, so please click the link above to view them.  

Agriculture, mining and construction
Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting
Mining
Construction
Manufacturing
Trade
Wholesale trade
Retail trade
Transportation and communication
Transportation and warehousing
Utilities
Services
Information
Financial Activities
Professional and business services
Educational services
Leisure and hospitality
Other services
Totals:  Low estimate -119,194 jobs lost High estimate -698,098 jobs lost

California's Grapes of Wrath: Oklahoma's Growth, Beautiful Homes, Rolling Hills

A March 11th report says California's jobless rate was 12.5% in January. In 8 of the state's counties the rate is 20%. Michael Roston at True/Slant points out it's Grapes of Wrath in reverse. The State of Oklahoma with beautiful homes and verdant rolling hills is growing and the people were smart enough to give President Obama his biggest rejection in the 2008 elections - even with a Democrat Governor.

Grapes of Wrath

From the L.A. Times:

New county-by-county figures released by the state wednesday show that in eight counties, more than 1 in 5 people were out of work. Moreover, revised numbers for last year show that fewer people were employed than was previously believed.

Jobless rate by counties:
Los Angeles 12.3% (January)
Orange 10.1% (February)
Inland Empire 14.1 (January)
Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario - 15% (January)
Merced - 21.7%
Imperial - 27.3%

By contrast, jobless rates in Oklahoma's two largest cities:
Tulsa Metro: 6.8%
Oklahoma City Metro: 6.4%

Stephen Levy, the director of the Center for Continuing Study of the California Economy is perplexed and mystified California is not seeing job growth. Maybe this is a clue:

February 19, 2009: The budget deal the Legislature reached today will keep California's top personal income tax rate and sales tax rate the highest in the Union.

The agreement will raise personal income tax rates by 0.25 of a percentage point across the board, beginning with the current tax year. The highest rate, on taxable income of more than $1 million, will rise to 10.55% from 10.3%

The next-highest tax rate, on taxable income of more than $94,110 for a married couple filing jointly, will rise to 9/55% from 9.3%. For singles, the threshold for the 9.55% tax rate is $47,055.

As for sales taxes, the budget deal will push California's base rate to 8.25% from the current 7.25%. Those rates don't include taxes added by individual cities and counties.

Here is a snippet from an interesting comment on the LATimes article:

I was flabbergasted by your folly to al but idle the Central Valley last summer over some small fish [Delta Smelt]. By now you should be canning what you gathered in, selling what you produced worldwide, filling granaries worldwide (again) with your bounty, getting the lands ready for another bumper yield, refurbishing your water supplies, gathering in the winter wheat, and refertilizing the fields for another simply glorious harvest which the almighty has enabled you to do better than almost any other areas anywhere.

When you live in Oklahoma, and consider the state home, no matter your roots, you take a lot of teasing but it's not difficult to square-your-shoulders and put on your "what-you-don't-know is pitiful" face. We don't have oceans and our mountains are smaller, but not small. Of 4 primary mountain ranges, two are considered "major" mountainous regions falling between the Rockies and the Applachians [the Ozarks and the Quachitas]. We have, however, very tall "hills."

We are among the most geographically diverse states with are one of four home to more than 10 distince ecological regions within our borders - more per square mile than in any other state - 8 of these regions in the eastern portion of the state.

We have gorgeous lakes and 55,646 miles of shoreline.  The Eastern portion of the state, where Tulsa is located, 90 miles northeast of Oklahoma City, is green and lush with rolling hills...no dry, dusty or red soil in the Tulsa area. Tulsa has some of the most beautiful homes to be found in any land-locked state, and the prices per-square footage are amazingly low, in exceptional neighborhoods.

Both Tulsa and Oklahoma City were ranked in the Top Ten Best Places to Live 2009. We have tornadoes but we do not have earthquakes. We have beautiful sunsets, hot summers but not nearly as hot as many places, and in general our winters have a couple of harsh cold snaps with ice and snow, and it's over. Golf courses are busy all winter in many places in Oklahoma.

We have one of the fastest growing economies in the nation, and we rank among the top states in per capital income growth. We are 2nd-largest producer of natural gas, the 5th-largest producer of crude oil and we are proud to be home the 2nd-largest number of active drilling rigs. Without oil production, and where would this country be? Our energy costs are the 10th-lowest in the nation. Those employed in the oil-gas sector, average an income of twice the state's typical annual income. Oklahoma City is home to the 4 largest private-oil-related companies in the nation. All of the state's Fortune 500 companies are energy related.

We do not have the worst schools in the nation, as some might think, and any discerning parent can get their child into a good performing school. Contrary to popular belief, we are NOT the most obese state in the union, and our children's "fattness" falls 33rd among all states. Oklahoma University and Tulsa University rank among the nation's best for academic ratings. Six of our state universities were among Princeton Review's list of 122 regional colleges in 2007. Oklahoma is proud of some of the finest athletes and athletic programs in the country.

We cannot buy wine or beer in grocery stores in Oklahoma. It's an embarrassing flaw that voters can't seem to fix. We have to endure it, but...we have Quik Trips...the best convenience stores to be found anywhere on earth. Southern Living magazine likes Oklahoma homes.

Related: The Lonely Conservative asks Where's the Shovel Ready Jobs?

Space Shuttle Retires: 23000 Join Unemployment Lines

No hope but lots of change coming to the area around The Kennedy Space Center:

VIERA — The local economic forecast tied to President Barack Obama's NASA budget keeps growing bleaker.

Revised projections now show that about 23,000 workers at and around Kennedy Space Center will lose their jobs because of the shuttles' retirement and the new proposal to cancel the development of new rockets and spacecraft.

That sum includes 9,000 "direct" space jobs and -- conservatively speaking -- 14,000 "indirect" jobs at hotels, restaurants, retail stores and others that depend on activity at the space center, said Lisa Rice, Brevard Workforce president.

The organization's earlier estimate of 7,000 direct jobs reflected just the retirement of the shuttle program. The updated numbers also include the cancellation of Project Constellation and other initiatives as outlined in the president's 2011 budget, Rice said.

Source

The Decline: The Geography of a Recession 2007-2009 Video

The following video shows how and when unemployment began it's rise across America. Watch as the "purple stain" spreads. Latoya Egwuekwe is the creator of The Decline: The Geography of a Recession.

Visit her website here. She has an interview up with CNN and is introduced as a writer for the Machinist's Union.

This from her website:

LaToya Egwuekwe is a journalist with several years experience as a political reporter, television anchor and producer in Cleveland, Ohio, and Tallahassee, Fla. She currently works as a labor writer in Washington, D.C., where she is able to cover her two favorite topics: the economy and politics.

The Decline: The Geography of a Recession (video)

Mort Zuckerman Obama Deflation: NY Daily News Owner Slams Obama

Mort Zuckerman, the owner and publisher of New York Daily News says the "incredible deflation of Barack Obama" is underway. Zuckerman endorsed Obama for president, and lost, allegedly, some $40 million to Bernie Madoff and his Ponzi Scheme. He is not happy with his president.

There is some very cheeky analysis in his article in U.S. News and World Report, which he also heads. He referred to Obama's excess appearances on television as "promiscuity," and follows that up with "Now he faces the iron law of diminishing novelty."

Perhaps the inevitable outcome was disappointment—and on this Obama has not disappointed. Alas, he has accelerated the deflation of hope with his extraordinary volume of public appearances.

In his first six months, he gave three times as many interviews as George W. Bush, four times as many prime-time news conferences as Bill Clinton, and more interviews than both combined: 93 for Obama and 61 for his two immediate predecessors. He appeared on five Sunday talk shows on the same morning, followed the next day by David Letterman, the first-ever presidential appearance on a nighttime comedy show. In another week, he squeezed in addresses to the U.S. Climate Change Summit, the U.N. General Assembly, the U.N. Security Council, and a variety of press conferences.

Zuckerman moves from personality to substance:

Poor results. But Obama's problems are more than a question of style. There is doubt aroused on substance. He sets deadlines and then lets too many pass. He announces a strategic review of Afghanistan, describing it as "a war of necessity," only to become less sure to the point that he didn't even seem committed to the policy that he finally announced.

As for changing politics in Washington, he assigned the drafting of central legislative programs not to cabinet departments or White House staff but to the Democratic congressional leadership of Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid the very people so mistrusted by the public. Who could be surprised that the critical bills—the stimulus program and healthcare—degenerated under a welter of pork and earmarks that had so outraged the American public in the past?

Zuckerman hits Obama on legislation that had no time to be read by lawmakers (stimulus plan and health care). He hit him on the economy and Obama's ambivalence to the real creation of "jobs, jobs, jobs." He hit him for not recognizing the people's "distaste" for "big government, big spending and big deficits."

Instead of concentrating on jobs, jobs, jobs, he made the decision to "boil the ocean" and go for everything, from comprehensive health reform to global warming to a world without nuclear weapons ... and the beat goes on....

This was more than the Congress could absorb and more than the country could understand....

The result is a widespread concern that progressive taxation to pay for the "nanny state" will snuff out future opportunities that Americans believe they deserve for themselves and their children....

The consequence is that there isn't a single critical problem on which the president has a positive public rating.

Only a minority of Americans now believe the president will make the right decisions for the country.

Click the link above to read the entire article.

Bloomberg Investors: Obama Anti-Business

A quarterly poll of Bloomberg investors finds that 77 percent believe Barack Obama is anti-business, and they question, one year out, his ability to handle the financial crisis. The poll also shows that his favorability among the same investors has dropped from 32 percent to 27 percent.

We've watched the Dow plunge the past couple of days. No surprise. What is a surprise, is that very smart people like Bloomberg investors, ever had confidence in this president.

Investors no longer feel they can trust their instincts to take risks,” said poll respondent David Young, a managing director for a broker dealer in New York. Young cited Obama’s efforts to trim bonuses and earnings, make health care his top priority over jobs and plans to tax “the rich or advantaged.

The poll also stated their concern that Obama has not appointed "a leading business executive for his cabinet or a top advisory role. In other words, Obama is not vested in private business. He WANTS YOU on his government payroll.

Christina Romer Stimulus Performance Stunning: Retail Sales Break all-time Record Drop

An unexpected drop in retail sales in December 2009 breaks the all-time biggest yearly drop - EVAH! Don't miss that. Never before have retail sales plummeted to the depths of that of 2009.  In the meantime, Christina Romer points out that the economy, according to this administration's fuzzy math and gestimates, is better off than it would have been without the stimulus, with 1.5 million to 2 million fewer jobs, and Romer believes that is a stunning result:

That's truly a stunning and important effect", Christina Romer, the council's chairwoman, said in a conference call with reporters. "It has done exactly what we have anticipated it would do."

What happened to all that stash Obama was putting into our paychecks to filter back into the economy? Remember when he said this:

By April 1, a typical family will begin taking home at least $65 more every month," the President said in his weekly radio and Web address. "Never before in our history has a tax cut taken effect faster or gone to so many hardworking Americans."

Some 95% of working families will see a tax cut, he said.

Obviously, that stash did not make it into the economy, or maybe it was just too piddling to make a difference.

Ace looks the gestimates, sans-facts, and "saving" jobs as opposed to "creating," jobs and "partly funding" jobs - all so stunning in so many ways.

Valerie Jarrett Community Jobs Forum: Obama and Jarrett Call for Community Organizing

Last week, President Barack Obama held a jobs forum. Liberals endorsing Obama's expansion of government were invited to solve the jobs problem in the U.S. Harry Alford, the President of the Black Chamber of Commerce was not invited. The National Chamber of Commerce was not invited. Valerie Jarrett, the other side of Barack Obama's brain, wants to know what you think about jobs. See a video below.

Barack Obama and Valerie Jarrett

The White House is asking communities like yours to chime in, and hold "jobs forums" locally - some community organizing coming your way. The administration really wants your ideas:

Hearing from working Americans and communities across the country means understanding what’s really happening on the ground, what’s working, and what’s not.

 Yeah...I don't think the President is too interested in what is happening on the ground. In Union shops and in faculty dining rooms, yes...at your small business...huh uh.

Big Obama donors, union executives and a bevy of the 'learned' were hosted on behalf of you and me, and we both know that none of these people care about either of us.

The National Chamber of Commerce, the Black Chamber of Commerce and the National Federation of Independent Business were not invited. The SEIU (Service Employees International Union) was there. The AAFL-CIO and the American Federation of Teachers was there.

Google CEO, Eric Schmidt - big Obama supporter and contributor - giving $4,000 personally and Google employees shelling out over $800,000, attended. Just to keep things clean, McCain donor, Frederick Smith of Federal Express was invited.

The Bureau of Labor says unemployment "edged down to 10.0 percent" in November 2009, but we had several days over Thanksgiving with unemployment offices closed for the holiday.

From the Washington Times' Critics not invited to White House 'jobs summit:'

"The panel does not include free-market voices who will contend the administration is spending too much or interfering too much in the economy, or that it is hurting job creation by increasing the burden of taxes and government debt," said Josh Barro, a senior fellow on fiscal policy at the conservative-leaning Manhattan Institute. "I expect these economists will generally call for more Keynesian stimulus - more deficit spending and more aid to state governments." 

I saw a comment on a forum board that put it all in perspective:

"Why invite them when you'd rather nationalize them?"

You can sign-up to host or help organize a forum in your local area on the WhiteHouse.gov website.  If you are a community organizer and get involved in this effort, come back and let us know your ideas for job creation. In the meantime, if you need some ideas to kick-start your creative thinking, begin here and be sure to pass it on to Valerie Jarrett.



Harry Alford, Black Chamber of Commerce and Glenn Beck (video)

Construction Jobs Stimulated or Not? How Many Obama Stimulus Construction Jobs Created?

Everyday we hear the Obama administration talk about the jobs the Stimulus spending has created or saved.  The construction industry has particularly been in the spotlight, because...afterall, shovel-ready-projects were awaiting stimulation. So how many Obama construction jobs have been "created?"

Construction Jobs Stimulated or Not?

Chris Thorman at Construction Software Advice gathered and analyzed the data recently released from Recovery.gov., state-by-state. Chris and his team have determined that the President is not even close to his goal. Even worse is Thorman's finding that each job that has been created or "saved" has cost the taxpayer an average of $222,107.00 per job. As this administration is prone to do, a program was launched without the expertise needed to carry it through.

For one thing, many of these "shovel-ready-projects" weren't so shovel-ready, and monies set aside were for projects that were ready to go within 90 days. Popular Mechanics has an opinion about what kind of project might meet that qualification:

The programs that would meet the bill’s 90-day restriction are, for the most part, an unappealing mix of projects that were either shelved after being fully designed and engineered, and have since become outmoded or irrelevant, or projects with limited scope and ambition. No one’s building a smart electric grid or revamping a water system on 90 days notice.

That was largely unskilled labor. Today, it’s blue collar, but it’s not unskilled,” Levinson says. “The guy brushing the asphalt back and forth is unskilled, but the guy operating the steamroller isn’t. And there’s an assumption out there that construction workers are interchangeable between residential and highway projects. But a carpenter isn’t a whole lot of help in building a road.” 

According to Thorman, only one-third of the monies designated to construction has been disbursed. Do we assume that is because there were few jobs that could meet the guidelines of the 90-day window?

In March, President Obama said that 150,000 jobs would be created or saved by the end of 2009 with "road-building provisions" of the stimulus.

The number of jobs that will be created or saved by the highway construction program will exceed the number of jobs lost during the past three years by the Big-Three automakers, Ford, Chrysler and General Motors, combined, Obama said....

Transportation projects that were once on hold are now starting up again as part of the largest new investment in America's infrastructure since President Eisenhower built the interstate highway system," the president said today at the DOT, appearing alongside Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood.

It is also worth noting that jobs in highway construction tend to pay better than average,'' the White House said in a written statement. (Thorman proved this)

"The typical, or median hourly wage for all jobs in the economy was $15.10 in 2007,'' the White House said, citing Bureau of Labor statistics. "But for workers in the highway industry, the typical hourly wage was $18.31, a premium of over $3 per hour over the economy-wide median wage. ''

I believe in the same speech to the Department of Transportation, he said "we are seeing shovels hit the ground." The original allotment for construction jobs was $131 billion. You will be shocked to learn how much has actually been disbursed.

Visit Construction Software Advice and see exactly how many jobs have been created or "saved" with stimulus funds, and much of the "government" money has been spent. You can check out your own state, see the dollars awarded, the dollars actually received, the jobs created (which includes "saved"), and the cost per job in your state.

My state of Oklahoma, for instance, is awarded $707million, we have received $191million, we created 1,390 jobs with that money (and I'm dubious - we have a Democrat governor), and each job has cost taxpayers approximately $137231. Louisiana, however, has an average job cost (that's each job) of $397,895 - creating just 1056 jobs! Who knew construction paid so well in Louisiana, or maybe administrative fees added to the huge per job cost? Alabama, another state with extensive damage from Hurricane Katrina, has an average job cost of $369,982 and has created 1,190 jobs. The lowest per job cost is Michigan, at an average of $47,536. Go take a look at this very interesting report.