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Wendy’s Story - Cleveland Jobs Challenge
I wrote an article
recently that was critical of Congress’s action to pass a bill
extending unemployment benefits. My primary objection was that our
lawmakers chose to pass yet another deficit spending bill and used the
“emergency” loophole that eliminates the need for Pay Go.
I got lots of feedback from this. Everyone hated my position. Some said
that we needed a $500b deficit package (ala Krugman) and that my
objection to a lousy $34b was misguided. Others said that there should
be no extension of UI at all. A good number suggested that I was a
heartless S.O.B. that had no idea what it was like to be unemployed in
America today. The later group got to me. I have had an exchange of
emails from one person that is facing a wall. She is from Cleveland. Her
name is Wendy. Some comments from her:
I was
wondering.... Have you ever been scared, really scared?
You
speak about H.R. 5618 because it is adding to the debt of the country.
My thought is you are so self absorbed that you would stop reading
this email right now because "unemployed Americans are not worth it"
Have another martini in your condo in Miami and rest easy knowing
you will never be me. Make sure your children and grandchildren know
what you are and what you believe, maybe they already know dad is a
selfish cruel Bastard who believes money is the most important thing.
Thanks to people like you I will continue to go to bed scared of
tomorrow. Sleep wellWendy,Children: Jessy and Parker
I
live in Cleveland, Ohio and am the sole supporter of my children. We
can't pay the mortgage, utilities etc. today. The point for those like
me there is no future- we have to get through today- eat, clothing- I
can't buy detergent today.
I
am a Special education teacher with my Masters degree-- with out a job.
I did what the President said, "go back to school". I took out loans
and studied hard to fulfill the dream of being a Special Education
teacher. I don't want a hand out, just a hand up.
I have to admit that this exchange got to me. There have always been
people like Wendy who fall through the cracks. But we have not been
through times like the ones we are living through for 80 years. I feel
sorry for Wendy, I wish she and all the other Wendy’s did not have to
wake up feeling scared. I would like to help her get a job so she could
get through this period. I know no one in Cleveland and I doubt that the
great state of Ohio is hiring any teachers these days. So she is out of
luck.
Possibly someone can help her. I would like to provide some inducement.
Here is my proposal:
I will put up $6,000 in cash. $3,000 goes to the employer as an
incentive to hire Wendy. No strings attached to that. If a job is
offered and accepted they get the money. They can do with it what they
wish. The other $3,000 goes to Wendy. She gets the money when she takes
the job. This is no freebie.
There is a caveat to this. The job that is offered must provide
compensation to Wendy that is equal to or greater than the unemployment
benefits she is getting. I would like to see that there were health
benefits available at some point. She needs that. The goal here is to
get one person back to work and one less person unemployed. The goal is
to minimize the fear factor. That is no way to live.
So Cleveland, do you have a job for Wendy? If anyone wants to see the
color of my money I would prepay it to one of the Cleveland media to
hold pending a job offer. I have nothing to gain here. Just trying to
help someone out who clearly needs a little help.
I don't know Wendy. My guess, just from reading her words, is that she
would be a good hire for someone. If an employer with a job wants to
take advantage of this offer they should contact Wendy at kindnessmatters2010@gmail.com. Alternatively you could
contact me, BGK.WENDY@gmail.com.
There is a flip side to this proposal. What if no one makes her a job
offer even with a $3,000 incentive to do so? That much money makes her a
free hire for a while. If no jobs are forthcoming it implies that there
is no work for anyone looking. Should that be the case we would have to
conclude that we are in very serious trouble. It would imply that
Wendy, and a few million others, are going fall off a cliff pretty soon.
I’ll let you know the results of this experiment.
»
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Bruce, you are a good, good man. There are so many comments on this thread that makes me wonder about how this rot has set in on the heart and soul of this great land. I wish you health, wealth, and many sons. Live long and prosper.
double post.
This is hilarious! You guys are going to throw money at this unknown person without even doing any due dilligence? Sure glad I'm not in business with you. But hey, I got some good bonds you ought to buy.
I'm assuming Bruce did enough correspondence and checking to his satisfaction...what is wrong with extending yourself for another...it may not be good for Bruce's bottom line, he may even get taken by a con, but since when is it a virtue to be selfish and vice to care?
Why thank you for your personal opinion. As always, it means so much to everyone here. Oh, and you can keep your bonds (I'm sure that they're as empty as your heart).
Bruce, you're going to have to harden your heart. It will only get worse and more heart wrenching.
"The task of weaning various people and groups from the national nipple will not be easy. The sound of whines, bawls, screams and invective will fill the air as the agony of withdrawal pangs finds voice." --Linda Bowles
You must mean the Federal government and those working for the government. Since there will be no tax dollars for them either.
As long as we keep making policy decisions by anecdote, the guilt-tripping will continue unabated. Imagine the folly: the good of the few outweighs the good of the many. This is why the dole goes on, and why our medical system is bankrupt.
I have been unemployed and broke in my life, jointly and separately (the two don't always go together), and I have had to learn to deal with both. Do I wish it on Wendy? Of course not--but it is not society's problem. It is Wendy's problem.
There are so many solutions to this woman's situation, outside of the govt subsidizing her lifestyle, that it is absurd to pretend otherwise.
"Of course not--but it is not society's problem."
Excuse me? When it's society that's essentially dictating a fucked up system, it's NOT society's problem? Sounds like free-market externalizations to me...
Dump the military and then I'd go along with dumping the social programs.
Bottom line: this puppy's going down whether we help the less fortunate or not.
Seer, nice job of selective quotation. Still, I'll help you along (again), with the next line: it's Wendy's problem.
"When it's society that's essentially dictating a fucked up system, it's NOT society's problem?"
No, it isn't. Doesn't matter WHO "fucked it up"...it is WRONG, WRONG, WRONG to force other citizens to pay for it, whether the problem is with "the system" or with Wendy.
And don't go on about how "the banksters" stole money from the people and that somehow this is "just getting back what is ours". They didn't steal wealth, only paper currency units. Quite different. The "wealth" that the American middle classes thought they had does not exist: it was all an ATM, Ponzi investment schemes, "investments" predicated on the returns from other "investments" to begin with...
The "wealth" never existed, so you can't "get it back".
Wendy herself did have a responsibility to make the correct decisions in life: to save while she had a job, to forgo consumption today, to limit expenses, to reduce living standards if necessary, to maintain skills or to move in search of work. Or to find a partner who would help maintain the children, if that be the problem...
Where are people's principles? There WILL be failures, there WILL be suffering....is the future to be decided in this ad hoc way?
fantastic comments madame...
i had been pondering on this same issue of extended unemployment scheme thing. is it right or wrong to curb it now etc etc...just some thoughts to add..
1. yes, for a country and a govt and a liar ass president ( you cant dole out your bankster friends, dole out your vote bank, all because they help YOU AND YOUR PERSONAL CAUSE ONLY....and then turn around and say our deficits are high and we should think of them. and so raise taxes etc...u mister president sound, smell and taste fishy i say...liar scumbag. i hate him more so because i hoped he wouldnt be so! fool that i was!). so if banksters got saved does wendy have a logic( though debatable and maybe warped) in expecting bailouts herself? Yes, she has !
2. dont have kids if you cant plan for their welfare! you go hungry and being an adult work a way around it if need be. but dont; please dont get kids into the world if you cant provide for them. they dont deserve it. you have kids and yet did u ever save for them, thinking who knows what will happen tomorrow! did you ever plan for any troublesome times? or did you max out your card? If the last is what happened, then woman, dont go crying out your tears in front of the world, all the while begging for freebies. an adult makes a right decisions, he/she reaps benefits for it. make the wrong decision and you will and should have to face the consequences. be a Man/Woman enough to face what you brought upon yourself...
3. i personally was unemployed, depressed, almost suicidal ( for various reasons, including financial also which made it worse). having said that, family and friends helped me. now i am employed and am paying them back. it came to a point where i just could not have taken up any more doles without losing my self respect. the flip side was i had to move to a place where i didnt know anyone. I left a comfortable emotional base of human support and love for financial independence as the situation demanded at the moment for which the price i pay today is i am alone and in a new city and environment where work schedule is so hectic that it leaves hardly much time for socialising and making friends. still is it worth it ? yes! because while this is not the best situation, it solves some most immediate and essential requirements to beginw ith. a day may come soon where i find a better lifeline but until then just have to live it...so Wendy stop beggin for freebies and move wherever the fuck you have to and find that job to support your children. if you cant take that step even, i dont think you love your children enough. you love your comfort and past more than them ! Bruce has made an offer which could be a miracle for you..lets hope so! but still get your ass off the bed now and get your act together. if entire one half of america goes broke / unemployed, should the other half have to work their asses double harder so that they can then split thier income with you. doesnt sound right to me, if u ask me!
The "wealth" never existed, so you can't "get it back".
Bingo! What many "planners" don't understand is that the means used determine the end.
If you coerce people do be do the right thing its still fascism.
Why you were junked is a mystery to me, but, here's my two cents worth. Per your mentioning "wealth", that is. There are 3 common forms of wealth: Consumer goods, Producer goods, and money. And by "money" I don't mean fiat currency, per se. Forgotten is the 4th form of wealth: Time. Seem like Wendy is all out of 3 of the 4 components. She should make the best of what she has left, and she will find time to be her best wealth component at present.
I was 'junked' not because they're "all Japanese now"...but because they're all Keynesian socialists now.
Absolutely EVERYBODY wants government money; it always works because there are always more receiving entitlements and 'help' than paying in...
Wait, isn't FEMA suppsed to be setting up "special education" camps for malcontents et al?
What - re-education?
Oh, mea culpa. Never mind.
This STILL doesn't create jobs. Neither supply nor demand.
In times of desperation, principles go out the window. We've seen it time and time again, this cloaked-in-Christian-charity clamouring for other people's money.
The demands for bailouts of the unemployed are no different whatsoever from the demands for bailouts of private companies (AIG, GM), of public entities (Fannie, Freddie), of governments (Greece, soon-to-be Illinois), of overpaid government jobs, of underwater homeowners, of mortgage holders (mortgage interest deductibility)...
Either you, Bruce Krasting, believe in free market solutions or you don't.
Can't have it both ways. Unless you are willing to hold the line on reducing government deficits and call this a PERSONAL ACT OF CHARITY...only.
As an aside, such gestures aren't rewarded by God according to Christianity anyways; a true Christian giver would do a thing like this in secret to build a reward in heaven. Accordingly, Bruce has already recieved his reward in full.
Still a nice gesture.
Bruce,
Kind effort, but I suspect that Wendy faces more troubles than just being unemployed. In which, I hope she and her children find a way out of their current misfortune and I encourage her to seek all available help from the Government and private sector.
Now, if Wendy has no "other" problems in her life and she is in fact smart enough to obtain an MBA then I'm sure she can if fact find a job in Cleveland. I am attaching a link for Wendy to Clevelend.com. Here, she can search through some 13,600 jobs.
http://jobs.cleveland.com/careers/jobsearch/results?city=cleveland;searchType=quick;lastUpdated=-30+days;x=28;y=3;lastUpdated_i18n_date_array%5Bmonth%5D=6;lastUpdated_i18n_date_array%5Bday%5D=11;lastUpdated_i18n_date_array%5Byear%5D=2010;lastUpdated_i18n_date_mysql=2010-06-11;lastUpdated_i18n%5Bdate_array%5D%5Bmonth%5D=6;lastUpdated_i18n%5Bdate_array%5D%5Bday%5D=11;lastUpdated_i18n%5Bdate_array%5D%5Byear%5D=2010;lastUpdated_i18n%5Bdate_mysql%5D=2010-06-11;lastUpdated_i18n%5Butc_beginning_mysql%5D=2010-06-11+04%3A00%3A00;lastUpdated_i18n%5Butc_end_mysql%5D=2010-06-12+03%3A59%3A59;lastUpdated_i18n%5Btimezone_used_for_conversion%5D=EST
Agreed Dallas. Another lesson may be that you cannot safely exist leveraged to the eyeballs. Paycheck to paycheck.
Contraception until you can afford the kids. And prior to, put pencil to paper and calculate the real costs of the child. (Don't forget hyperinflation and fucking iPhones).
There are jobs out there but they may not be good enough for an MBA...
IMHO Bruce, your offer to Wendy is classy.
If you were to do something similar again, would you choose to announce it on the Internet or would you prefer to keep that generosity anonymous?
This is a one off deal. I was impressed with her moxie. We will see if this works out. $6g does not solve this problem. But who knows. I have helped people who were in trouble before. I will do it again.
My most optomistic expectations.
-She gets a job with benefits. The other issues can be dealt with if something is stable.
-Others see it as something to do. By my count there are 5mm Americans (top 2%) who could write this check.
-We realize that the cost of paying benefits is actually much higher than the cost of creating jobs. And we do something about that.
There is nothing in this for me. That said, I think I would be a wealthier person if the unemployment rate was 5% vesus 10%. Unfortunately, that is the least likely outcome.
wonderful of you to have done this. even one person helped is great an effect.
as for the comments, dont bother with the first half which at the very least demeaned your gesture to say the least.
do let us all know how it turned out though! hope for a happy ending, for all!
Wishful thinking, Bruce, that denies the macroeconomic reality. Businesses are dropping healthcare benefits. It has been the plan all along.
Bruce:
Here are three full time special education teacher's jobs with benefits here in Houston.
http://www.tasanet.org/index.php?option=com_careercenter&task=offer_view...
North Texas and Houston has jobs aplenty for this lady. Although I think the $6000 may be needed for her to catch a bus and set up house.
At least you're recognizing what I've said here on ZH. Either employers should put up or shut up, imho.
Second, you're willing to be honest that the wage should be above what she would get in unemployment.
After the collapse of the Soviet Union, there was nostalgia for the old system because the government provided a subsistence existence. The old timers didn't know how to cope or exist on their own. This is what happens when government is substituted for self help, family and community. The transfer costs to fund socialism are worse than personal injury lawyer fees. It's no wonder unions and trial lawyers are such supporters of government. Now I goona get me a government job and stick it to rich people.
And they ended up getting raped by the "free market" vultures. Yeah, much better...
BIG SYSTEMS = FAIL = BAD (include capitalism here)
Pretty soon? It appears to me Wendy along with a few million others fell off the cliff a while back here.
Your gesture of charity may make you feel somewhat better in the event it works, which I think is unlikely. If it did work, one suspects you would be inundated with similar requests pretty rapidly. Obviously at some point you would stop offering sign on bonuses once it really cuts into your personal stash of cash. Effectively here we can surmise that $6K is chump change relative to your personal net worth, so this really is more of an experiment than it is real charity. If nobody offers Wendy a job, your not going to do the hand out? Wendy will REALLY feel great then, won't she?
The real problem here is everyone is caught up in ideological arguments while the monetary system goes into catastropjic failure mode. Forget the stupid ideology, and focus on what is necessary here to maintain some order in our society.
IMHO, we need to decertify the Federal Reserve today, and drop all the bad debt they have put on their books into the hands of the owners of the Fed, namely the Rothschilds, Rockefellers, Kuhns, Warburgs et al. Then we issue all new money, auction off all residential property on Ebay on a 1 per citizen basis and restart the game with a no interest non-profit banking system.
Until we reset the monetary system, more than just Wendy will be falling off the cliff here. Pretty much everyone reading this website will be joining her, regardless of whether you hhave a pile of gold in your basement safe.
"There but for the Grace of God go I". Less and less of that Grace going around here all the time.
RE
"auction off all residential property on Ebay on a 1 per citizen basis"
In other words, turn the entire country into a mix of Detroit, Section 8, and Zimbabwe.
Have you seen the results when thug gov't confiscates everything and hands it out to those who haven't earned it? They promptly destroy it.
As a former property manager I can assure you that is true. We handled Section 8 as part of our portfolio and saw children swapped from apartment to apartment to "verify" the number of inhabitants. And the "daddys" who stopped by monthly, parked their new Caddys in the parking lot, and made the rounds of apartments to get their cut of the monthly checks. Some of the residents could not even bother to take a 20 pace walk to the dumpsters with their trash -- just throw it off the balcony. The lawn keepers (county workers) would clean it up, of course. Let's not even get to how the interiors were cared for. One appreciates what one works for, not what one is given.
One of the more interesting aspects of the current unemployment situation and the current debate about illegal immigration is that in the old days, one of the ways that illegal immigration was justified is that illegal immigrants used to do the work that "Americans did n't want to do".
Well, if I recollect correctly, Northwestern University recently did a study that indicated taht the unemployment rate for people making between $15,000 and $50,000 a year is 50%. So now, you have a real life situation where illegal immigrants are taking potential jobs away from Americans needing to work.
Doesn't Wendy's case and Bruce's offer essentially prove that?
How about quantifying this? If just one "illegal" "took" a job from an "American," then yes, that would qualify. But really, how much of an impact is it really?
People are mixing legal immigrants with illegal immigrants. Keep these straight: if you don't like the legal immigrants then fucking get the Congress to change the quotas!
As for the "illegals," aren't/weren't they mostly invovled in construction and farming? With construction having collapsed, as it should have, I'd hardly think that there's much work for the white folks here. And farming? There's ZERO reason why the whites cannot step into the fields.
There was a NYT article a while back noting that there's a reverse flow of remittance going on with immigrants from Mexico (don't know whether they were referring to "illegals" or not). Instead of sending money back to Mexico, their families back in Mexico were now sending money to them (translation: many were now unemployed).
To answer your question: no, it proves nothing other than we're having a massive disruption in the workforce due to years of capital misappropriation.
Divide and conquer. It's how the rich have always operated.
Seer,
He did qualify with ILLEGALS..............
And yes it matters...............they take ALL kinds of jobs, not just service jobs.
They are THOUSANDS upon THOUSANDS of ILLEGAL Contractors, with employees, more Illegals,( undercutting American companies, because they pay JACK shit in Workmans Comp, or Income taxes.............last year, 20 Billion dollars went BACK to just Mexico from ILLEGALS.
This doesn't even start to count, the costs of free services, hospitals,clinics, free schools, free meals................ad infinitum........
Get your facts straight............
Immigrants w/ cards, and Legal immigrants, are welcome here.........that is AMERICA.
We just NEED these jobs NOW for Natural born Americans(CITIZENS)....not supporting a 3rd world country any more, Americans are going without.
H1-B "guest workers" are illegal immigrants when false statements are made in support of their H1-B applications.
For instance, many computer firms have been claiming a shortage of computer workers in the USA. Since this is not the case, when they make such a claim to the DoL/USCIS on a H1-B application, they are committing immigration fraud, and thus, the guest worker who receives the H1-B visa is unwittingly in the United States illegally.
So, that is the immigrants fault? Why don't you "deport" the employer then. Or at least jail the employer.
Jailing everyone involved would be a darn good idea. Starting with the politicans who foisted this abortion of an economy destroying policy upon us.
Thanks for your comment but I'm not sure I agree with you. Here in New York, there is still plenty of construction and plenty of illegals working the jobs. My recollecting is that when the INS has conducted major illegal sweeps it has targeted meat packing plants where the jobs are not minimum wage jobs or at least would not be for otherwose unemployed Americans.
I apologize that I cannot find the link to the NU study, but it did make the MSM and I will keep looking.
Agriculture has been mechanized, it's the reason why 50% of the population is not employed in agriculture any longer.
While I agree with many of the postings...I'll "ante " up and match $500.00 to the $3000 offer... Strikes me that this kind of charity is the kind that adds value...reminds me of "John Doe" society in Capra's classic.... Good luck Wendy...
I had a guy stop by yesterday and beg me for work. I am already employing someone else who has been laid off. No more room at this feed trough.
This is how I know we are on the verge of a depression. People showing up at my door begging for work. Soon they will be showing up for food.
In the past, your family, neighbors, community and church sustained you through the rough times. Then we socialized this so that the government assumed the responsibility. Why?
I am happy to help out my community. I am not happy to delegate this responsibility to the government. They are only in it for the votes, and I am in it for something else.
There is a deeper issue for Wendy. Why did she put herself in a position where she has become so dependent on the government that she cannot fend for herself? Go wash dishes for a meal. Sweep out a warehouse for a few bucks. Get to work. Two years of unemployment benefits are enough. And I agree - get out of Cleveland. It died decades ago.
Zouk,
"This is how I know we are on the verge of a depression. People showing up at my door begging for work. Soon they will be showing up for food. ( Or kill you for it)
In the past, your family, neighbors, community and church sustained you through the rough times. Then we socialized this so that the government assumed the responsibility. Why?"
Churches still do this, we have an organized FOOD PANTRY in our city, that is stocked,paid for, and run, by volunteers............ALL THRU local churches, not a dime of taxpayers dollars..............
People can come there, and get food, clothes, almost anything, even money...depending on the reason, and it has to PROVE out.For the cash.................
True the Gov't usurped this role, but it wasn't to help people it was to garner VOTERS,and separate GOD from the mix............
We're the Gv't, and WE ARE GOD.
DosZap,
Our church is very similar. We have a benevolence fund that helps stranded travelers, hungry people, or people who simply find themselves in a desperate situation. Typical thing would be family traveling through has car break down, no money, and are stranded. The sad thing is the overwhelming need, and desperation you see, and getting worse every day. We recently saw a single mom able to find a job, but had no means of transportation to get to the job. We were able to buy her a car, and the story ends well. The sad thing is that there are many more people in that situation than we have resources to provide for.
You're doing better than my neighborhood then. Most of the churches near me are busy raising money to stop abortion and prevent gay marriage. Who has time and money to aid the poor after those pressing needs have been seen to?
in the past, the 30s, which was the only economy worse than now, there were hobos and soup lines...and that was when society was much more rural, traditional, religious...still, these institutions did not keep people from homelessness and hunger...not everyone was fed by their family and church...in some churches, everyone was broke.
Zouk,
Agree with you on the community aspect. I am eager to help those in need in the community. I live in a small rural community. Mainly fairly poor blue collar working types here. Recently, a local carpenter was faced with a serious medical condition. The community came together and held a benefit auction for him. People brought cakes and pies, or offered services for auction. Raised over $6,000 in a few hours. One pie sold for $500. This was raised from hard working people who did not have much themselves.
If the government took less from these people, they could do more at a local level to help each other.
Disintermediation, bitches!!!!!!!!!!
Yes, have seen/participated in the same thing in my community. Yes, we could take care of our own much better if I didn't have to send so much money to the fucktards in government, banks, insurance, etc........
As a special ed teacher, her only possible employer would be government and most aren't hiring (my state is laying off).
I don't think your $6,000 inducement would have much effect.