Need A Job?

Graphic credit: CNN PoliticalTicker

Cuba Cutting Government Jobs, Hiring Private Sector: Obama Growing Government Jobs, Quashing Private Sector

Raul Castro announced he is cutting thousands of government jobs and is looking to "private enterprise to fill the huge gap."  Meanwhile, POTUS is creating more and more government jobs at higher and higher salaries and destroying the private sector. Did you think you would ever see the day the U.S. lagged behind the Cuban curve?

Raul and Fidel Castro

Not only is Raul cutting the government jobs which employs 95 percent of all Cuban workers, he is cutting multiple THOUSANDS of government jobs. At the same time, Cuba is reducing restrictions on the private sector, while Obama, et al winds up on the mound of the oval office, to throw private enterprise a curve ball, and hopes we can't hit it out of the ballpark.

Cuba's official work force is 5.1 million - meaning nearly 10 percent of all employees could soon be out of a government job. 

The layoffs will start immediately and continue through April 2011, according to a statement from the nearly 3 million-strong Cuban Workers Confederation, which is affiliated with the Communist Party and the only labor union allowed by the government. Eventually the state will only employ people in "indispensable" areas such as farming, construction, industry, law enforcement and education. 

The new face of Cuba understands that he MUST do something for the many unemployed. He has promised to allow "more Cubans to be self-employed." The benevolent Castro brothers believe the people are demanding too much of their government:

Castro has long complained that Cubans expect too much from the government, which pays average monthly salaries of just $20 but also provides free education and health care and heavily subsidizes housing, transportation and basic food. 

Because unemployment is anathema in a communist society, state businesses have been forced to carry many people who do almost nothing. 

Monday's announcement also said Cuba will overhaul its labor structure and salary systems to emphasize productivity so that workers are "paid according to results." 

Brings to mind Jeffrey Goldberg's article in The Atlantic. Goldberg had lunch with Fidel Castro along with a Spanish speaker. Goldberg asked Fidel if he thought the Cuban-model of government was ripe for exporting. According to Goldberg and his translator, Fidel said "the Cuban-model isn't even working for Cuba." Immediately, the AFP said Castro was "joking," and a few days later Fidel said Goldberg was a great journalist, but misunderstood his words - yet Fidel admitted the quote was correct.

Posted by Maggie @ Maggie's Notebook

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
Linked by The Lonely Conservative - Thanks Karen!

Chris Christie Privatizes New Jersey

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie is proposing a massive privatization program for the state. A 57-page report gives the steps necessary to save $210 million a year by putting many services in the hands of private enterprise. Finally we have an outspoken public champion of the private sector.

Governor Chris Christie

Two thousand state employees may lose their jobs.

From North Jersey.com [my formatting]:

(1) State parks, psychiatric hospitals and even turnpike toll booths could also be run by private operators, 


(2) Preschool classrooms would no longer be built at public expense,

(3) state employees would pay for parking

(4) private vendors would dish out food, deliver health care and run education programs behind prison walls.

The most controversial loss to privatization is the state withdrawing entirely from the state vehicle inspections:

New Jersey would close its centralized car inspection lanes and motorists would pay for their own emissions tests....

But the car inspection proposal is sure to stir up controversy in a state with a tortured history of privatizing emissions testing.

Currently, New Jersey pays for the complete inspection process.

Workers No Longer Seeking Jobs at 625,000

Going into the Independence Day holiday, it is apparent we desperately need independence form Democrats, Liberals and Progressives.

Barack Obama

On June 29th Obama said "the economy is strengthening" and "we are into recovery...." Neither is true. "We worked exceptionally hard to restore growth..." which brought about no growth. Today we read that the jobless rate fell to 9.5% but it didn't really. In addition to the 125,00 jobs lost in June, 625,000 gave up and are no longer seeking work. Census workers completed their "assignments" to document every illegal they could find, and 225,000 census takers, that cost the US taxpayer a tidy sum, are now unemployed.

Here's a stat that will astound you. The Flint Journal reports that in one Michigan country, those not returning their census forms cost country tax forms "about $2.4 million" for census workers to track you down - or $57 per person in the county.


Even though the loss of census jobs were expected, new jobs in private sector were lower than expected.

In fact, the percentage of overall working-age population that is in the labor force fell last month to 64.7% --near a 25-year-low

At the Toronto G-20, Obama said we have pulled back from the brink, stood his ground and called for more spending around the world. Country after country gave him the bird - said been there, done that with you, and we're over it.

To drawout Obama's own version of a pleasant pipedream, he says the economy is "strengthening" despite the weak data.  " The weak data showed a 2.7% growth, less than expected growth for the first quarter.

From Forbes on Obama's speech today from Andrews AFB:

Obama: We are headed in the right direction

To that end, Obama announced the latest burst of taxpayer-financed stimulus spending, a nationwide project to expand broadband access in places with little or no reliable internet service. 

Before Obama spoke today, the market was up slightly. The minute he stopped talking, it lost its gains, as it does every time this man speaks. At this time, the DOW is still down.

Today the Wall Street Journal announced Consumer bankruptcy filings are at the highest level since 2005.