This page has been archived and commenting is disabled.
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.
»
- advertisements -
You are soooooooo stooooopid! NO, according to YOUR definition, I am a Native! Simple minds like yours cannot fathom allegory. Especially if it's not white and Native. Fuck you. How many jobs have YOU created? Suisse, lol, so you adopt a white extranational identity and criticize me for doing the same with a not white or christian one? What a moron. What grand contribution have YOU made to this country?
My contribution will be taking my wealth and leaving you and the rest of the idiots to live in a dangerous and ungovernable disaster area. When this place finally implodes I hope you see the error in your thinking. Where do you get the idea that I am christian? I could apply for citizenship in Israel although I espouse atheism. Just for the record, a significant number of Indians can be described as "caucasoid".
Ah, so now the truth comes out. Go take your millions you earned here and go to Israel now, a welfare state to the max. Ha! Suisse! Ha! Descendent of Swiss bankers? Oh, you stupid stupid racist. Caucasoid? You, are the Mongoloid, in the medical sense of the term. Learn English you fool. Important they be "caucasoid"? Ha! Sexist too! What man do you know takes on a female icon? I am sure all your friends are manly men. Fool. Just because you are wealthy, in the monetary sense, does not make you smart. Mike Tyson is rich and he ain't so smart. Ha! Hoooooo,hooooo, ha. Drunken me, my drunk spouse and friends are cracking up so hard at you stupid egotistical FOOL. Cheers! The only way I can stomach assholes like you. You have become the major joke of our celebratory fiesta.
I used my wealth to invest in my country by creating a company and hiring competent, intelligent, creative, hard working people at good wages in a needed niche.
Ha, ha, and good luck when WWIII breaks out. Will wear shades when the ME lights up. Selfish, bigoted moron.
It all depends on the viewpoint. How many years have to pass so that territory becomes yours? Is 40 years enough? 100? 20? If 40 is enough, then TX where I live is largely Mexican. And, by the way, it is doing economically much better than most of US. Also, it is OUR government which enacted laws that allowed such immigration into US. At least at H-1 level it is all legal. So, we can blame our government/people who voted for them.
I think the difference is that most countries are not immigrant countries but US is. So, German is ethnicity + citizenship. And you CAN move to China and get Chineze chitizenship (but likely you do not want, at least now.
Also, I am not for unrestricted immigration. Immigration should be beneficial for the country. And if a company can hire an industrious Vietnamese instead of a lazy American I am all for it because it will benefit company and also US (taxes). Work should not be exercise in hiring an American, or minority, or woman, or anyone else. It should be for hiring the best person for a job.
My family most certainly were not immigrants. Normally I would be in IT, as a top graduate of a top ranked school, but because H1-B's have driven the wages down severely, I simply could not survive on those salaries.
Douche.
Right back at ya :P
So, with all the advantages you have had, you can't figure out anything? You are a dope.
Which Native American tribe you are a member of?
lol, been there, seen that (same careers too). However, I think they work harder and get the job done or else they get deported with no job. Apparently, is not too hard to outperform their American counterparts. But I agree with the "entitled" Americans comment too.
That is undoubtedly part of reason why they work harder..another one is probably statistical - you can get more hard-working people from 6 bn of the rest of world as opposed to 300M Americans. Also, second or third generation already feel entitled - so in a sense these immigrants are not unlike the earlier ones who worked hard to get what they have.
Agreed.
Hey Seer
Try making a product and NOT having the U.S. market to sell it to. Oh, so you can't push on that string either.
Without Americans working, this whole dump products, services, and immigrants onto the U.S. will end badly. Another string that's a little hard to push on.
Good luck with your string theory.
Older, less slim, translucent guy who does not need someone to serve him or cut his grass. So stop bragging about the color of your skin.
Japan has no problem whatsoever getting food, most physical labor is automated anyways. Where you idiots get the idea of an ever increasing population, especially since you mention energy is beyond me.
BS. They import a lot of food, devastate the fishing stocks of the world with their "factory ships" and have to import almost all of their energy needs. Like Hawaii, they are an island nation whose population would be impossible to support without "modern conveniences". PS- I personally like the Japanese, at least the ones I know.
If Japan had open borders as we do allowing anyone to enter you'd see a mirror image of the U.S.
I do not have a Phd. in Economics, but will it not reduce demand further and cause further unemployment?
Not at all. The H1-B's don't invest in America, and they just ship all their excess dollars overseas.
The simplicity and elegance of this solution to our economic condition is simply mind boggling! You must surely be a Mensa mind!
Exactly. The spouses and kids of these H1-B also take jobs from the locals. You can't find a pharmacist or phlebotemist that isn't Indian. Deport the green cards too and stop using tax payer money to educate foriegners. Then, arrest all the bankers, seize their assets and we'll be back in business.
Well some of the Indian kids have been doing very well for themselves. Check results for recent spelling, geography bees and Math Olympiads. Meanwhile, migration has existed since the beginning of time. Will a GOM resident not migrate up North to make a living even if he or she has to compromise on one standards and work on living standards to make a life ?
Lets start with fixing our flawed policies starting with 1982 when the 401k programs were started giving a lot of middle class Americans a FLAWED sense of their net worth by mindlessly investing in equity bubbles..and psst many still do !!
1. H-1 visa holder dependents have H-4 visas and they are not allowed to work. 2. About Indian pharmacists - may be Americans have to try to work harder instead of whining and sitting on Facebook all day. One student of mine got hired into Big Oil as H-1.Americans working there complained that he is working too hard and makes them look bad... Fire people like him and this oil company will move research out of US completely.
They probably just forgot what hard work is. What, we aren't entitled to a fat paycheck? weird....
While deporting immigrants is an easy solution, they are not the real problem. Americans are lazy, unmotivated and have forgotten that it takes for hard work to pay off. Our economy is in terrible shape and our government is the only thing keeping it from tanking right now. I am so tired of people complaining about the "big government" (which is true) but then turning around when things go poorly for them and ask why the government isn't there to help them? Seriously, what the fuck.
- results are in, your fired, get the fuck out of here...and take your stinking oil company with you, we'll get our own.
Here's your hat.
What knee-jerk morons!
My wife will be a US green card holder. Are you willing to deport her?
Here's a clue to all those BIG BRUSH people- quit thinking with small minds!
You see, you're gobbling her up into your wide (most likely bigoted) net. She will be a resident of the US but WON'T be working in the US; she WILL be paying US taxes!
The future of this country with nothing but a bunch of old, fat, physically challenged white people. Yeah, that's looking good!
"She will be a resident of the US but WON'T be working in the US; she WILL be paying US taxes!"
1) She will be a resident of the US
2) but WON'T be working in the US
3) she WILL be paying US taxes!
- Air America eh??
We can deport you too when this place finally goes up in smoke.
Yup. This is the most simple solution, yet the most simple solutions usually escape the minds of paid off politicians.
Somebody, please flush this fucking shitfest before it wrecks the carpeting.
Thank you!
I'd say drop the restriction on the number of H-1-B visas out there. In fact, let anyone who can find a job come and work here. Just make sure they sign up to pay the same taxes as the rest of us. Where's the problem here? Jealous people? Those 'jobs' that immigrants are taking, especially legal, documented, visa'd immigrants are open for anyone. I don't see why the fact that a foreigner is getting it has anything to do with someone who is unemployed. Shoulda Coulda Woulda. Seriously, be realistic. Why do greencards come with such a huge premium? It's such a silly thing. If you can hold down a job, good. There isn't this limited lump of labor and once we hit the quota we're done. One problem is that people are not willing to do something they don't like or feel is beneath them in the interim between when they lose a job and find another one. I wouldn't hire someone because I thought they needed a job. In fact, I would only hire someone who would do some work that I need to have done, at a price I'm willing to part with. If they don't like my terms, they can keep walking and complaining. The government need not even have any part in it other than to collect the appropriate share of taxes.
Amen. Why should the government tell people where they can work and where they can't? If you're not a criminal you should be able to work in any country you choose. If the US relaxed it's borders it would be a tremendous stimulous to the economy. All the empty/foreclosed houses would find buyers. The demographic problem facing Social Security and Medicare would be solved as the immigrants would tend to be younger. The unemployment problem would be solved too as the economic growth created jobs. The more people retrench into protectionist policy, the worse the US will become.
+100, a fantastic and well reasoned response!
H1B's are taxed the same as American citizens, and most are educated professionals who pay their taxes (unlike the US citizen banksters). You'll be surprised to know that they even pay Social Security, even though they will never see a single dime of it (unless they become citizens).
The main point is that ID theft users may miss out on collecting, as well as short termers. But H1Bs and others don't have to become citizens to collect, just work 40 quarters. My experience is the H1Bs that aren't working in sweat shops move on to get their Green Card.
+100 GG.
Personally have witnessed immigrants sweating their taxes come tax day and they weren't even working yet. Both were students and they looked frantic to make sure they did the right thing. My advice to them was you have no money to worry about yet - when they get real jobs that is the time to worry about the tax man because you will have something to worry about.
All the anchor babies will require deportation as well.