Can't Someone in the Governor's Office Read a Graph

The local paper ran a graph on job growth over the past 2 years.  Of course our Governor touted the increase and there is one, but the Governor went on to say that it shows that we are on the right track.  I looked at the graph and came away with a totally different assessment.  First the graph finishes with a decline.  This decline is part of the normal cycle, except that it appears to be steeper that the past declines shown.  Second we divert from the national line for the first time in the 2 year time period shown.  The national job growth of the Obama economy is outstripping Scott Walker's open for business economy.  Conservatives love to point out how Obama tanked the economy.  I want to know what they are saying about the Wisconsin economy under the Republicans?

The other thing that is not discussed is just how much are these new jobs paying?  I don't see many high paying jobs being advertised.  Mississippi and Alabama here we come.  Our politicians already have co-opted their laws we might as well have their economy.

Better Paying Jobs

Mitt Romney has been running around the country saying that the solution to the food stamp nation is better paying jobs.  I couldn't agree more.  The problem that Mitt Romney has in making such statements is that he is on record as being opposed to the minimum wage and being for wage and benefit cuts as part of corporate restructuring.  Not to mention the heading of companies that collapsed and had their jobs either eliminated or sent overseas.  I think that the middle class finally is getting that we pay all of the bills and then lose wages and benefits in the interest of corporate profits.  I think before Mitt starts promising higher paying jobs he needs to talk to his buddies in corporate America about giving existing employees a raise and to stop being on record as opposed to the minimum wage.  I also think that they should drop the opposition to Obamacare as more and more companies are dropping healthcare plans because they are too expensive.  Proving once again that the power of the market cannot control the costs of health insurance.  I hope that he is right that he will (not that government creates jobs) create 12 million new high paying jobs which is about half of the 23 million jobs that he says the country need.  The skeptic in me says that we are likely to see less than 12 million minimum wage jobs.

Working Hard

A recent survey came out that said among self described conservatives 77% agreed with the following:  "the hardest working people should be paid the most".  Among liberals that statement was only rated true by 49%.  The predictable reaction was see it's the 47% freeloaders who want everything handed to them, who want to be paid more for doing less.  Oh the horror!  I would contend that the liberals got it right.  The people who work the hardest (physical effort and time) are some of the lowest paid people in America.  They are the people who work in the fields, build the buildings, build the roads, stock the shelves, work a couple of jobs, cook in the restaurants,...  Whereas, the high priced workers sit in the office and stare at computer screens for a lot of hours.  You can argue that they work a lot of hours, that they pass on vacations, have to make hard decisions, but you would be hard pressed to say that they are working hard.  There is simply no comparison especially when you look at people who were paid to make the hard decisions and then when things didn't go as planned they end up getting bailed out or making money on the deal while the hard working workers are out jobs.  You have to look no further than Mitt Romney to see that this is true.  As CEO of many companies that went under he seems to have done well for himself while the workers suffered.

Eliminate EPA

The EPA has become the favorite target of Republicans with Mitt Romney saying that he would abolish the agency on day one.  There is this mantra about how the EPA has job killing regulation.  While not nonsense the real job killers are OSHA.  Look at what they make employers do.  They make construction workers put up fall protection and in some cases where a harness.  This adds to cost and the workers don't want to do it anyway.  OSHA wants you to monitor your employees exposure to solvents.  These are airborne contaminates that might cause illness (like how global climate change might be caused by people) and you can't see them anyway.  There are just way too many rules governing worker safety.  If a company starts killing its workers don't you think that the remaining ones would seek out new employment?  Let the market work.  For those maimed or left with chronic illness, well I feel bad for them but in this era of austerity I don't see how the US taxpayers can be expected to foot the bill.  It's not like these workers won't go down as heros for they are contributing to the greater good by creating wealth for the 1% and products for the rest of them.  Some day post OSHA there will a great monument built in the memory of these individuals who paid the ultimate sacrifice so that a corporation could have greater profit.

The Shrinking Job Market

The Wisconsin State Journal today ran an editorial cartoon of Uncle Sam holding up a way too small t-shirt (US workforce) that just came out of the Obamanomics drier with the caption I don't understand why it keeps shrinking.  This is supposed to be Obama's fault when the US workforce of jobs that pay a living wage has been in decline for more than 30 years.  The President is actually trying to put policies in place that would possibly encourage companies to quit creating jobs overseas but has been stifled by a do nothing congress.  Now along comes the job creator Mitt Romney.  This is a man who made a career out of buying companies, running them into the ground, filing for chapter 11, and then shipping the jobs to lower wage countries as part of restructuring.  I would think that a Mitt Romney Presidentcy will make that t-shirt a lot smaller. 

The only thing that will bring jobs back to this country is if we make it too expensive to manufacture products out of this country.  That would mean renegotiating trade treaties that have helped to destroy the economy.  That would mean raising taxes on products produced abroad.  That would mean ending tax breaks for companies that ship jobs out.  Most corporations would say that if they had to manufacture here the products would cost too much.  This is a red herring.  A lot of products already cost too much.  All one has to do is look at the record profits and the salaries of the top executives to know that there is enough money available.  For example Apple has said to manufacture the i-phone in the US would add $30-60 dollars to the cost of each phone which they would have to pass on to the consumer.  Keep in mind that this is a company that had $100 billion dollars in cash on hand.  They could keep the price the same but then they would have a lower profit.  This is the side of the equation that no one wants to talk about.  How much profit should a company make, how much should the executives (who have been lowering wages and benefits of workers) make?  No the workforce and their buying power are shrinking but it is not entirely Obama's fault, it is the fault of policies enacted over the last 30 years and decisions made by corporations.  I'm afraid that if we keep going in this direction we (the workers) will not be able to purchase the products that are for sale, then the boards of directors and politicians might notice. 

Mining

Today while discussing the mine we came up with a great idea. We'll build the mine to the specs of the compromise bill, promise to buy equipment manufactured in WI, and only hire WI workers. Of course, we don't have any money or knowledge of mining so we would need some state help. The Republicans should help us because we will create jobs we just need a little help to get going.

Where is Governor Walker?

There was an incident in Alabama last week which was a perfect opening for a job creating governor. An executive for Mercedes was arrested (Mercedes has an assembly plant there) on suspicion of being an illegal alien. The executive was in the wrong because he did not have his passport with him but arresting him should not have been the response. Gov. Walker should have offered Mercedes the former GM assembly plant since we are a state of many German immigrants in fact our English dialect has a German/ Norwegian accent. Oh, but that's right we like the Alabama law and intend on passing a similar measure, I guess it is another missed jobs opportunity.

Republican Endgame

You have to wonder what the Republican endgame is. We are in the middle of special jobs sessions at both the State and Federal level and as far as I can tel they have done nothing to create jobs but they have done much to increase unemployment and further a social agenda. In Wisconsin there is a proposal that would criminalize stem cell research, there goes hundreds of jobs at UW Madison alone. In Wisconsin they passed a bill that would allow students test performance to be used to determine whether public school teachers are fired. This after much research indicates that many times it is not the teacher but the child. Private school teachers are exempt, although in the areas of the state with private school choice they are receiving taxpayer money. In Wisconsin the number one job creator is the UW system. What has the legislature done for them. They increased the budget cuts to $310 million dollars with another possible $50 million if we don't create more jobs, ironic. Instead of trying to help the UW help the state we had a hearing on what criteria is used to admit students. We should have had a hearing on what we can do to help students stay in school. At the federal level they decided to break-up the President's job package, so last night they voted on spending $45 million dollars to help states meet salary obligations for teachers, police, and firefighters. Every Republican voted no. I suppose that the argument is that they should take less money. The reality is that they have taken less and there have been layoffs. Is the goal to take the country back to the late 18th century when you contracted with a private company for fire protection? Remember the Chicago fire, that was the end of that practice. And what about police? I can agree that less police is a good thing but when there is real crime you want some police. Are we going to try a 18th century solution and privatize the force. Pay them like security guards and hope that with enough open and concealed weapons around you don't have to worry about crime. I really don't see how any of this is going to advance the needs of the nation not to mention promoting the general welfare.

Goverment Can Stimulate the Economy

I heard once again that government doesn't create any jobs. This is absolutely false. When the government has a road built the company that they contract with creates jobs. People who work directly for the government spend their money in stores and restaurants. Those businesses then hire people to meet demand. If the roads were private there is a good chance that those jobs will still be there. If we get rid of public employees there is a good chance that the ancillary jobs would go away. So, government spending does create both direct and indirect jobs.

Wall Street Gotta Have a Deal

Wall Street was active in the debt deal discussions saying that we had to have a deal. The problem was they never said what that deal should look like. The Republicans assumed that they wanted less taxes, less regulation, and less spending and they delivered. The problem is that the market continued its decline and Wall Street's economists have finally started to say what the problem is and how they recommend solving it. They are saying the problem is that consumers are not spending, companies with cash are not spending, and companies are not hiring. They are now recommending spending on stimulus. This is the position that Robert Reich had stated as long as a year ago. The problem that we have now is that this is the exact opposite of the deal just passed. To quote an old saying they are "a day late and a dollar short".

Where are the Jobs?

It has been 10 years of the so called Bush tax cuts that were supposed to be an incentive for the "job creators" to create jobs. Where are they? The latest data indicates that the wealthy have gotten richer during the recovery whereas the job seekers are still seeking. We are now being told that if just cut taxes for the wealthy more and provide more tax breaks for business while cutting Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, and education programs for the working masses. Does anyone really believe that this plan is going to work? First off as the masses have lost jobs, salary, and benefits their buying power has declined. The reality is that without customers the job creators are not going to hire. What they are doing is cutting operating costs in the United States by off shoring jobs to places like China. US companies are also selling more products in China because there are millions of Chinese customers that now have some money. A better choice than cutting taxes for the wealthy would be to give the job creators the gift that they have dreamed of, the elimination of the minimum wage. That way those low wage jobs could be created here instead of overseas. This won't save the economy unless we have an appropriate reduction in prices, but that hasn't stopped the Republicans from enacting policies that got us to where we are today.

Walkerville

The letter writer said that the walkerville residents should change the name to Obamaville, or Unionville because it is their policies that have allowed them to be unemployed and have time to protest. Really! What misguided nonsense. Who drove the economy into the ditch. George Bush and a Republican Congress. They pursued a policy of tax cuts and deregulation of business and what did we get out of the deal. The top 2% got all of the money and left a banking, housing, and manufacturing sector in shambles. The answer from Scott Walker and the Republicans nationwide is that we need to do more of the same. We just didn't deregulate enough or cut taxes enough. I think that with the 10 years of tax cuts we should be in the biggest boom economy ever, but we are not. Why is that? It is really pretty simple, we could make the taxes on everyone zero and it wouldn't help the economy out at all because there is simply no demand. Revenues to Governments are down because we have cut taxes and the economy has not recovered. So, here Scott Walker is right we must cut back on expenses. But his cuts are to education, health care, taxes, and the environment in exchange for the exact kind of jobs that he and other Republicans have criticized the President for creating or funding as being unsustainable. Unfortunately we live in an economy that is predicated on spending money and right now only 2% of the population has the kind of money available to spend and they can't possibly spend enough to support the other 98% nor do they need to. This leaves the spender of last resort the US Government. The plan to fund infrastructure will create jobs and those people will spend money. The plan to build a 21st century transportation system will create jobs and allow for a more mobile workforce in the future. Right now we are funding these kinds of projects in Iraq and Afghanistan which doesn't create jobs here. In fact I just saw that Iraq is building renewable energy systems. We can't fund that here, instead we give tax breaks to companies who are making billions of dollars if they will drill holes in the ground. If we are going to change the name of Walkerville it should be to Republicanville.

I Had an Interesting Conversation

I had an interesting conversation about jobs, salaries, and health insurance.  The contention is that people choose those jobs with the lower salaries and no benefits.  I was reminded of the scene in the movie Caddyshack where the one caddy is trying to get a scholarship from the judge and he says well the world needs ditch diggers.  I guess that I question how many people self selected these jobs and what happens if no one self selects one of these jobs?  We would have no people serving us will that be ok? 

Wisconsin Senate Race

Try as he might Ron Johnson cannot escape being a businessman in America Today. It all flows from his implication that he went into business with his brother in law with nothing and through hard work and sacrifice built it into this large package manufacturing corporation. Well, it turns out that he had a little more help than most business owners along the way. First the start-up money came from his father in law (who is very wealthy), not going to begrudge a gift but I wouldn't be talking up my early struggle. Then is turns out he received some government assistance (which he abhors) through government backed loans. Now he says it was a loan and was paid back. He also says that no tax payer money was on the line. So no it is not like GM, AIG, the banks. Really, so Ron you're telling me that some bank gave a small business a low interest loan because they believed in what you were doing and knew that your company would help the economy. If I had only known sooner, I could be my own boss now. No, Ron the way this works is some government entity tells the bank that we will guarantee any losses that you may incur making this loan. In this case it was both State and Local money. It is great that he paid it back, but to quote one of the Tea Party faithful where is my share? The reality is that all of us paid to get his business going, he fails to recognize this fact. He also fails to talk about what exactly his business does. They manufacture packaging for the medical field. Isn't it interesting that someone who makes a living off of high tech medicine got into the Senate race against Russ Feingold because he opposes Obama care? If I were in his shoes I would be ecstatic about health care reform because there is not any form of cost containment so he is free to keep increasing prices.

Wolf appliance

Wolf Appliance asked its Madison employees for a 20% pay cut toady. The employees said no. I thought WOW in this economy any job is better than no job. One employee who voted no explained it like this, "either way I'm doomed, the pay cut puts me on the street and losing my job puts me on the street". My question to Wolf (makers of very expensive stoves) is would the prices also decline by 20%? My guess is no. For some reason business hasn't figured out that if we continue to depress wages and benefits they lose. At some point (I think that we are there) we won't have enough people to buy things to keep the economy going.

We also have Harley Davidson doing the same thing. They can't compete because people don't have $17,000 to spend on a motorcycle that won't be driven all year and gets bad gas mileage. When they leave prices won't go down.

Henry Ford believed that his workers should be able to buy the cheapest car made and paid accordingly. Today's executives could learn something from him.