America Needs Skilled Workers, Not Women's Studies Degrees

It is time for the State Department, this administration, and all those occupy folks to start listening to America's favorite mailman when it comes to jobs.

I have known about John Ratzenberger's campaign to bring back blue collar jobs in this country for awhile, but I was always stymied by how it was that America was ever going to get back it's production base. I don't expect it to ever be what it was post World War II but we do need some sort of manufacturing base in this country. One free of union influence and corruption I might add.



I came across this article today so I immediately thought of Mr. Ratzenberger. I agree with his sentiment that often times a college education is way over rated and it definitely isn't for everyone and should not the yardstick by which we measure our fellow citizens.

Martin Daum, the head of Daimler Trucks North America, told the gathering that he felt he had better skilled workers at his plants in Mexico than in the United States, where some workers have to be taught proper math and writing skills.

He said that America produces highly educated professionals, but knowledge can be lacking when it comes to hiring for vocational jobs. According to Daum, the better skill sets of Mexican workers makes it easier to ramp up production at his company’s factories in Mexico than those in the United States.

“We have to bring in educators,” he said.

Anybody who occasions a visit to Instapundit (and who doesn't?) knows that for quite awhile he has been harping on an education bubble. That bubble exists only in the world of academia, not in the world for those who desire to use their hands for a living.

9 Out of 10 Reports Agree, We're Screwed

Wow, ABC must stand for the All Barack Channel for the amount of spin they put on this story about our worsening economy and jobs picture. It seems to them all of the news is good while everybody else is reporting how this bodes ill for America.

California is well represented on our list of the areas with the most layoffs as four other cities made the list including: San Francisco (No. 4), Riverside (No. 5), San Diego (No. 6) and Sacramento (No. 9). California leads the way among the 50 states with 390 layoffs statewide which affected 48,497 employees. That is three times more than any other state.

But ABC seems to be arguing with itself over just what the jobs numbers mean.

"We do not see a double-dip recession or hyper-inflation in the future, but we do think U.S. economic growth prospects are pretty weak," he said.

From CNBC:

“Let’s face it — no matter how you cut this data, it’s lousy,” Mesirow Financial Economist Diane Swonk told CNBC Friday.

From the White House mouthpiece, and head of Obama's economic counsel, Austan Goolsby we get this little pearl:

"There are always bumps on the road to recovery, but the overall trajectory of the economy has improved dramatically over the past two years," he said in a statement. "This report is a reminder of the challenges that remain."

While I can agree the the overall trajectory of the economy has moved dramatically, improved is not the word I would use. More like stagnant at best.

Even the BBC, which tries to take a more balanced approach to the news finds little good news, and the person they defer to for analysis brings up the specter of yet another bailout.

And that prospect will fuel speculation that the US Federal Reserve may embark on a third round of "quantitative easing" - purchasing government bonds to pump more cash into the financial system - later this year.

"Arguing about the merits of whether QE3 would be a good idea, is irresponsible right now," said Tod Schoenberger, managing director at Landcolt Trading in Delaware.

"It would be proactive for the [Federal Reserve's monetary policy committee] to discuss and develop a strategy for implementing QE3, because it's painfully clear the United States is headed for a very messy second half of 2011."

Just imagine how much more "Change" Barry O can accomplish in his remaining two years.

500 Jobs and No Stimulus Funds Used

While Obama administration officials struggle with coming up for a number to define how many jobs their full government employment act has created or saved, the Department of the Navy has actually done just that, without any of the phony baloney stimulus money. I am sure Obama lackey's will try to take credit for these jobs using some sort of Orwellian logic, the truth is no stimulus funds were used.

The shipyard plans to add about 500 workers before the end of the summer, Rella said. The first of the 103-meter vessels is taking shape in Austal's new, assembly-line style Module Manufacturing Facility that was unveiled in the fall.

In so doing these new employees will become part of the tax base helping the Mobile, AL area not only by their consumer spending but by once again paying taxes.

You see, what liberals fail to grasp, is to get your economy going you need to have workers that produce a product. A product that can then be sold. Teachers, for all of their hard work in indoctrinating the youth of this country do not return such an investment. Government agencies hiring more people to screw up the already bloated bureaucracy does not add to the economic recovery. Those are the type of jobs that the stimulus money has mainly gone to.

My message to Washington is quite simple. Stop trying to help. You are just getting in the way and delaying our recovery. Their approach is like throwing a rope to a man sinking in quicksand without attaching it to anything and walking away. It only allows the victim to drown in the muck while holding onto a rope.

Sure people will rail that this is just another example of the military industrial complex and thus the bane of society, but I would point those progressive whiners to their favorite hero FDR, who finally enabled this country to pull out of the depression after being forced to ramp up just such a thing in response to WWII. It may sound cynical and callous, but without WWII, this country may not have recovered economically for another decade because of the policies of FDR.

If the government is going to spend my tax dollars, I am glad to see it going to the one thing that our government is specifically tasked with providing, and that is our national security.

Besides, that is one bad ass boat.

Job Growth Slows

The U.S. growth of jobs has slowed more than had been expected.

U.S. payrolls contract by 17,000 in January

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- U.S. employers cut back their hiring in January for the first time in more than four years, government data released on Friday showed, perhaps providing the smoking gun showing that the economy has entered a recession.

Nonfarm payrolls fell by an estimated 17,000 in January, the Labor Department said. This is the first decline since August 2003.

The nation's unemployment rate fell to 4.9% from 5%.

The decline in payrolls was much weaker than the 85,000 increase that had been expected by Wall Street economists surveyed by MarketWatch.

This is a solid indicator that the economy is entering into a recessionary period. But before we start looking for bread lines, remember that even a 4.9% unemployment rate is significantly less than most of Europe right now. Here is some detail on employment by sector:

Manufacturing jobs declined by 28,000, the biggest drop since August. Factory jobs have fallen for 19 straight months. Over the past year, manufacturing has lost 269,000 jobs.

Construction jobs fell by 27,000 for the seventh straight monthly decline. Construction has lost 284,000 jobs since its peak in September 2006.

Financial sector employment fell by 2,000 in January, with declines in many sectors. Real estate shed 5,000 jobs. The mortgage sector has lost 111,000 jobs since October 2006.

Jobs in services increased 34,000, as retail jobs rose 11,000. Health care had a large increase of 27,000 jobs. Over the past year, the health sector has added 367,000 jobs, accounting for more than one-third of the growth in payroll employment.

Government lost 18,000 jobs in January. This means that the private sector eked out a slim gain of 1,000 jobs in the month.

Bottom line is that service jobs and the health sector grew, everything else contracted. I expect the Democrats to start talking about the "worst economy in 50 years" any minute now.