The Working Class under Obama: Screwed, as always

This comes via InstaPundit, who snarks:

HOW’S THAT HOPEY-CHANGEY STUFF WORKIN’ OUT FOR YA?

Gallows humor, I like it. Hee hee

Reason Magazine reports the following:

If the labor participation rate had remained where it was in 2008, points out Investors Business Daily, unemployment would have recently risen to 11.1 percent.

By the way, I am one of those people, who basically left the job market, because there simply are not any jobs around here.

Some more lovely news, via Investors Business Daily:

Small businesses, who employ the bulk of American workers, don’t plan to hire additional staff, in another sign the job market is deteriorating again.

The National Federation of Independent Business said Tuesday that confidence among small firms dropped, with its index dipping to 89.5 in March from 90.8 in February.

The share of firms planning to grow employment minus the share planning to shrink it fell to a net 0%, the lowest in a year, from 4% in the prior month.

The survey also found business owners were no more pessimistic on the economy, but the balance of sales expectations swung to -4% from 1%. Small firms also were more inclined to shrink inventories and less inclined to think now is a good time to expand.

The NFIB index comes days after the Labor Department said nonfarm payrolls grew by just 88,000 in March, after averaging gains of more than 200,000 in the earlier five months.

The latest jobs report seems to indicate a pattern of strong winter hiring followed by a spring or summer slump will be repeated this year.

“After another false start, small-business confidence has sputtered and stalled again,” said Bill Dunkelberg, NFIB’s chief economist, in a statement Tuesday. “For the sector that produces half the private GDP and employs half the private sector workforce — the fact that they are not growing, not hiring, not borrowing and not expanding like they should be, is evidence enough that uncertainty is slowing the economy.”

You have to understand, this is what Barack Obama and the Democrats want. They want people like me, the working class; to depend on Government. They do not want people like me working. They would rather I depend on Government and get some sort of Government assistance. Remember, Obama said, “I am interested in those high tech jobs” during the last President debate. The truth is, President Obama does not give two rips about the general labor types or the unskilled workers. The only people that the Democrats care about is:

Union Workers – Actually, he really does not care about them either. He just is obligated to them, because of the legacy of the labor movement of the past. Also too, because there are still some high rolling donors among the labor movement still to this day. So, the Democrats do still have to pay their respects; all the while selling their jobs overseas.
High Tech Jobs – This is because 90% of the tech job workers are immigrants and they. of course, are going to support a President, who gives them what they really want; which is amnesty. The other 10% of them are upper income liberals, who live in cities, like Ann Arbor, Michigan; fresh out of college and filled to the brim with liberal, socialist indoctrination.

This right here, is why I cannot find at least a local dirt hauling job around here. One, because the house construction business around here is basically bust, since the crash of 2008 — Which was caused by the stupidity of the Bill Clinton and the Democrats in the 1990’s. Two, because of what I have pointed out above. You have to have a reason for hauling that dirt around and if the economy is in the condition it is in, no one is going to want to have a house built or anything else for that matter; and companies who provide this service are not going to hire anyone extra, due to the fact that it might cost them in taxes.

This above, is why it looks like I am simply going to have to suck it up, pack up my bags, tell my parents goodbye; and get in a truck for a big company and basically be a slave for 2 years, working for crap wages. Once I get through the refresher, and running with a trainer, I should start making a decent wage; that is, if I actually get the miles. I would love to own my own truck and trailer; and pull loads off of a load board. However, that requires a good deal of capital, or in layman’s terms; a whole shitload of money, which I simply do not have. Oh, and another thing too; I am simply not interested in going into a ton and mean A TON of debt to start a trucking company. Since deregulation, the trucking industry is so stacked against a small time operator, that it simply is not worth the hassle anymore.

In short: I would be better off working for a big company. It is the way it is anymore, here in good ‘ol ‘merica. Sad Rolling Eyes Loser Doh

I know the feeling….

This basically what happened with me. I just gave up on looking, after I saw that I was not going to get hired around here. Same goes for the trucking work. It’s a long story, and not a pretty one.

Video:

The Story:

WASHINGTON – After a full year of fruitless job hunting, Natasha Baebler just gave up. She’d already abandoned hope of getting work in her field, working with the disabled. But she couldn’t land anything else, either — not even a job interview at a telephone call center. Until she feels confident enough to send out resumes again, she’ll get by on food stamps and disability checks from Social Security and live with her parents in St. Louis. “I’m not proud of it,” says Baebler, who is in her mid-30s and is blind. “The only way I’m able to sustain any semblance of self-preservation is to rely on government programs that I have no desire to be on.” Baebler’s frustrating experience has become all too common nearly four years after the Great Recession ended: Many Americans are still so discouraged that they’ve given up on the job market. — Americans discouraged by economic recovery leave labor force | Fox News

It sucks, but it’s my life. Only way that I am going to be able to get a driving job now, as in a class A truck; is go to a big company, take a refresher course and drive with a trainer for a few weeks and then drive for two to five years over the road. I am not looking forward to it. But, if I want my career back, I have to do it. There are other issues however: My parents ages for one, I am an only child and I am all they have. That one weighs on me heavy. Because I would hate to be out across the Country and have one of them have a problem.

This is the stuff that I am wrestling with. Do I or don’t I?

Remembering Cesar Chavez

Cesar Chavez with Walter Reuther, back when The UAW, AFL-CIO, and UFW, each respectfully were actually worth a damn.

Honestly, I really do not know what this here is all about. However, I will say this, most Neoconservatives hate unions, which is why Google is getting poo-poo’ed by the so-called right. On the other hand, Pat Buchanan has always written pieces that defended the American and Detroit auto workers; and yes, Unions. The UFW is not what it once was; that is because the left shifted from being a protectionist sort, when it came to the borders of this Country, to an open borders sort of political entity. As with the UAW, it’s strength has been sapped by globalists, who would sell America’s soul for the making of a quick dollar.

Both of these fine men have left us; what they have left, sometimes greatly disappoints me. Some of it, was their own doing. Some of it, was simply a changing of the times, and was due to the advance of globalism. Either way, it is sad to see three once powerful organizations, which were created simply for the preservation of the dignity of the middle class in this Country; now turned into a shadow of their former selves, by people who put evil agendas ahead of the American people. Those people exist on BOTH SIDES of the political aisle and they exist in the very organizations themselves.

Walter Reuther’s and Cesar Chavez’s America has long past us by; it has been replaced with a new, more frightful America. One where fascism and oppression of Religion and Freedom of Speech are the norm; in the so-called “land of the free and home of the brave.” It is has been replaced by an America, where unneeded and unwanted War is now called “Necessary Military Action.” A Nation that was once the envy of the World, for its prosperity and wealth; has now been replaced by a Nation that is 16 trillion dollars in debt and whom its industrial base has been shipped overseas.

America is a much darker and sinister place, than it was in the days of Walter Reuther and Cesar Chavez; and the only persons that are to blame for it; is our owned damned selves.

May Walter Reuther and Cesar Chavez both rest in peace; and may the memory of what they both stood for, in their day, never been forgotten.

(Image via the Walter Reuther Library Collection)

apologies for silence

I just really have not been feeling the need to write anything as of late. My mind has been occupied with other things here as of late. Namely trying to get back into the truck driving business. I applied for a major company and am waiting to hear back. I will be applying for another here tomorrow.

What this means is that I will be most likely on the road for 30 days on end, and home for a few days and then off again. A refresher course will be needed, it is mainly for the insurance companies; which I happen to think that reform is highly overdue, especially with the trucking industry, it should fall under labor department rules and regulations. Trucking is exempt from those rules and regulations; for better….or worse. 🙁

What this also means that my internet access and my ability to write will be limited, while I am refreshing myself to the art of driving a semi-truck and until I am able to afford a smart phone. I am hoping against hope, that my truck will have some sort of internet with the Qualcomm system in it. But, I will not hold my breath.

It just really pisses me the hell off that I have been out of truck for 10 years now. In 2003, I went to school to get my CDL-A and instead of being smart and getting with a good company and going over the road for two good years and actually learning to drive a fucking truck; like you are supposed to — stupid me, goes out and gets with some small time operator, because I want to stay near home. Anyhow, I ended up with a person who was a bigger idiot than me; and I promptly get into a fucking accident with my truck. Luckily, no one died and I really did not damage anything, except for an errant light pole that happened to be in my way.

The good thing, the idiot truck owner; who was really a moron, lost his authority to pull loads and is no longer in business. The bad part is this; All of this happened back in 2003-2004. I have not drove a truck since then. To any and all trucking companies, I am basically considered a high risk and would not be hired. Insurance companies would not insure me at all. So this means, I have to go with a company, like Swift Transport, or one that has a trucking school to go to a class to teach me something that I already know how to do —- drive a truck. 🙄

After this, then I have to ride with someone, who is considered a trainer, for as long as the company thinks that I need to do it; all the while paying me chicken feed, while the trucking company keeps the profit. It is called legalized slave labor and it does piss me off a great deal. 😡 Not to mention that fact, that I might end up with some AIDS infested faggot or some cowboy, who thinks going down mountains at 90 MPH is a cool thing to do. Now as for the faggot comment. A bit of person revelation here: When I was 9-year-old, someone tried to molest me; basically a kid in Jr. High, caught me in the bathroom at school and wanted me to give him a BJ. I reported it, and he was expelled. Ever since then, I have been leery about being around men in close quarters, like sleeping.

Either way, it is the route that I have to go; because I really, outside of a miracle, do not have any other choice at this point. That is if I even can get hired by a company at all.

So, as you can see, my mind is in other places at the moment. I will try to keep everyone informed about what is going on. This writing is not paying anything anymore; and I have to get out from under my parents. Living here is not easy anymore. I’ll just put it like that.

Pray for me — much, please.

Update: I almost forgot to add this following: Add to all this above, that I have two 60-something year old parents. 68 and 65 and I am an only child. I am all they have. When something bad goes down. I am the only thing they have to be there for them. 🙁

Video: Why I am not a big fan of Sean Hannity or Eric Bolling

Because of crap like this here: (H/T MMFA)

I mean, it is one thing to report the news and say that job numbers are horrible. Great, fine, they are; I agree with it. But to sit and actually accuse the President of the United States of “cooking the books” on the job numbers is just asinine. Also, let me also say this; if Obama is doing it, then George W. Bush did it too.

The truth is, the Government can never really know actually how many people are out of work. The only way that the United States Government could really know how many people are really out of work, would be to do some sort special survey to every citizen. This would cause every Constitutionalist Republican, Conservative and civil libertarian to lose their minds and holler, “Invasion of Privacy!” So, no, that will never happen.

Again, this is why I avoid partisan shows like Hannity on Fox and anything over on MSNBC. They are just too damned partisan for my liking. I do, however, like to watch Bill O’Reilly. You would never hear that sort of tripe come out of O’Reilly’s mouth, ever. He just would not say that sort of thing.

Again, I am not saying that the entire Fox News channel network is partisan; there are some who are not, but the ones who do choose to engage in that sort of partisanship do bring a bad reputation to the network itself. Rupert should put a stop to it. But, he won’t because Roger Ailes loves that sort of a thing and believes it brings them ratings.

What is killing the unions?

There is a good reason for this, it is economic related, but there is another problem as well.

But first, the story:

WASHINGTON (AP) — Union membership plummeted last year to the lowest level since the 1930s as cash-strapped state and local governments shed workers and unions had difficulty organizing new members in the private sector despite signs of an improving economy.

Government figures released Wednesday showed union membership declined from 11.8 percent to 11.3 percent of the workforce, another blow to a labor movement already stretched thin by battles in Wisconsin, Indiana, Michigan and other states to curb bargaining rights and weaken union clout.

Overall membership fell by about 400,000 workers to 14.4 million, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. More than half the loss, about 234,000, came from government workers, including teachers, firefighters and public administrators.

via News from The Associated Press.

The fatal flaw of the protectionist racket is this right here. When you close the shop to outsiders and do not allow employers to hire new people; such is the case with the big three — eventually, your membership roll begin to decline as your members begin to die off. Right now in the agreement which the UAW has with the big three in their contracts and that is that they cannot hire anyone from outside any of GM’s plants, unless they bring back someone who is laid off first. This stems the tide of new employees, and thus decreases membership rolls.

On the other hand, another thing that is happening too, is that the big three, when someone retires from one of the plants; does not hire anyone to replace that person. They simply pull someone from another plant or someone else from within that plant to fill that job. This too, causes membership rolls to dwindle. The reason the auto companies do this, is because they do not want to have to contend with the Unions about who they can or cannot hire and so forth. Not only that, if they do actually hire someone in, they want to hire that person in for half the wages that the other union folk are actually making. This, in this writers opinion, is totally unfair. If you are going to hire someone in, hire them in accordance the contract agreed to by the union membership.

Another thing that is killing the union is these so-called “free trade” agreements. Which were passed by globalist Republicans and Democrats and signed by an internationalist Democratic Party President, Bill Clinton. These agreements are starving the American worker out of a job. Furthermore, the unions suffer as well. Patrick Buchanan, who is about the only Conservative writer, that I happen to think is worth two cents anymore; has been writing the same thing for years and he is right about it too.

America’s soul is being robbed, by the ones who claim to represent the people that make up it’s very soul — and it is not Republicans either. Until the Democrat Party becomes a pro-America party again and not this internationalist mess that it has become now. America’s standing in the World will be what it is now — minimal.

Answering Digby

Just thought I’d answer a progressive blogger.

Digby who runs Hullabaloo, which is a left-wing blogger, reacting to this story here, asks the following:

I have to say that while Scott Walker is clearly the meanest of all the GOP wingut Governors (and Jan Brewer is clearly the dumbest) Rick Scott has got to be the weirdest. And that is saying something.

Florida, what were you thinking?

via Hullabaloo.

The same darned thing that you progressives and the rest of the rube idiots were thinking, when you elected and reelected that flipping dishonest, wall street brought and paid for, Marxist asshole in the White House — that’s what! The man campaigned on hope and change and what’d we get? More of the same. More of the same polices of George W. Bush. More drone strikes of American Citizens, More of “F*** the big three!” More of this President being interested in so-called “High tech jobs” and not low tech, general labor jobs.

So, the next time you want to lash out at the right there Digby. Remember, try looking in your own backyard for a change. (Hope Change?) Because your man is not really much of a prize either. In case you have not figured it out; I was not, am not, and never will be a fan of this President. Not because of his skin color; but because of what he is. Malcolm X summed him up very nicely — there are two kinds of blacks — Field and House; and Obama is a House. I have friends who are Field, and they are the best people ever. Most of the House kind are on Fox News and now are in the White House.

Now only this; and this comes from a personal standpoint; namely mine. He promised these jobs would come springing out of the woodwork. Just where the hell are all of these jobs at? I am unemployed, have been since 2005. Well, except for blogging, which really does not count as a job; because for one, I love doing it and for two, it really does not pay that great. But, where are these “Shovel-Ready” projects that this idiot actually had the stones to say would come popping out of woodwork? Now, you cannot blame the Republicans! You all had a majority in the Congress and the House for the first two years. Not to mention now, you basically have a majority in both houses, with a bunch of candy ass Republicans in both houses. So, where are the jobs at, that your “Hope and Change” savior promised?

The truth is, he could not create jobs! You knew it, Obama knew it; and the Democratic Party knew it! But, they instead chose to LIE to the uneducated idiot voters and they bought that damned lie and proceeded to elected and reelected the man. I knew what Obama was about, long ago. Which is why I broke away from that Party! Yeah, the Republicans are for the rich people. I get that; but at least they do not blow smoke up people’s butts and promise them stuff that they cannot deliver on. I give them that credit. Which is a heck of a bunch more than I can say about Obama and the Democrats now.

My detractors always tell me, “get a job!” My response is, “find me one, and I will!”

Of course, when you are a housewife out in Santa Monica and not actually in the real world, trying to find a job; one can only expect so much. I am just saying.

Interesting note about Jack Lew

Honestly, what does Barack Obama have against the working class in this Country? Quite a bit, it seems:

With President Obama poised to tap current chief of staff Jack Lew as his next treasury secretary, Republicans are already attacking Lew for supposed slights during budget talks. Some progressives may bring renewed scrutiny to his time at CitiGroup. But if history is any guide, there will be little talk about another line on Lew’s résumé: The key role he played in New York University’s campaign to rid itself of a graduate student workers’ union.

Lew, the former director of the Office of Management and Budget under President Clinton, joined NYU as chief operating officer and executive vice president in 2004. At the time, NYU was the only private university in the United States whose graduate students had a union contract. By the time Lew left two years later, NYU graduate students had lost their collective bargaining rights. In between, picketers hoisted “Wanted” posters with his face on them.

Reached over email, Andrew Ross, NYU professor of social and cultural analysis, charged that “the administration followed every page of the union-busting playbook, as instructed by the anti-union lawyers retained for that purpose.” Ross, a co-editor of the anthology “The University Against Itself: The NYU Strike and the Future of the Academic Workplace,” wrote that despite broad faculty and community support for the union, “students on the picket line were threatened with expulsion. There was no indication that Lew, as a senior member of the team who executed this policy, disagreed with any of these practices. To all appearances, he was a willing, and loyal, executor of decisions that trampled all over the students’ democratic right to organize.”

When contacted for a response, White House spokesperson Eric Schultz emailed: “Jack Lew has been a strong supporter of the right of workers to organize – as has the President. And that support will not change in his new role as Treasury Secretary.” – via Jack Lew’s union-busting past – Salon.com.

I always said, since day one of the first election cycle of Barack Obama; that he was nothing more than a two-bit phony. I believe that in his second term, we are going to find out just how big of a two-bit phony that he can really be towards the unions and the working class. Would Hillary have been any better? I really do not know. But, when I hear a Democrat basically say, “I care about the high-tech jobs.” and not say anything about the unskilled laborers, like myself. I have to really wonder, just what kind of person is he really? We are about to find out, I think and I believe it is not going to be good for the unions and the working class in general —- not to mention most gun owners.

Update on hot dog stand owner

Needless to say, I feel like a chump. I trusted that those that I linked to, might be have actually telling the truth about this incident. Well, it turns out, they, of course, were lying about that as well. Go figure. Rolling Eyes

Anyhow, Chris Savage, much to his credit flushes out the spin and hype about this little lie told by the corporatist right. I hope like heck he does not mind me quoting him a bit, but here goes:

The right wingnut blogosphere is apoplectic that Lansing, Michigan’s iconic “Hot Dog Guy”, Clinton Tarver, was a victim of union thug violence at yesterday’s anti-Right to Work for Less rally. The reality is that Tarver is simply a victim of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. He also happens to be married to the Michigan Republican Party’s Ethnic Caucus Vice-Chair — perhaps one of the loneliest leadership positions in the entire state.

[…]

This is a far cry from the all-caps-can-you-believe-what-these-union-thugs-did freak out by conservatives who would have you believe that Tarver lost his entire livelihood at the hands of union goons. Tarver was set up on some tables under the tent and did not even have his cart. He must have had a very slow day. Anyone who was at the rally and wandered by the two giant AFP tents will tell you that they were essentially empty all day. There were a few AFP folks standing out front, taunting union members and provoking confrontations, but there was not a lot of activity inside the tent where Tarver was.

[…]

….According the article, they have raised over $10,000 for him (UPDATE: MIRS News reports that it’s now over $16,000.) The total value of what he lost in the scuffle?

$500.

I wonder what they’ll do with the thousands of extra dollars not needed to buy more buns, hot dogs, ketchup, mustard and a couple of folding tables and coolers?

Certainly Clint Tarver didn’t deserve to be treated as shabbily as he was by the union folks there. His wife claims he was called a “nigger” and jeered for working for the enemy. If true, that’s reprehensible and inexcusable. But the off-the-charts poutrage from the right on this is an absolute joke. Some of the same people decrying the verbal taunts that Tarver experiencde are here on this very website calling union members all sorts of hideous names. So let’s keep it real, shall we?

One more thing: if you’d like to meet Clint Tarver in person, I’m hearing that he’ll be selling hot dogs outside Senate Majority Leader Randy Richardville’s office tomorrow, capitalizing on his newfound political fame with Republicans. Stop by and buy a dog.

Adding… Let’s not kid ourselves about what “Tentgate” and “Hot Doggate” are all about:distracting the country from noticing that corporatist ideologues have turned the birthplace of American organized labor into a Right to Work for Less state.It’s a smokescreen, chaff to make sure the conversation is not about screwing union members and is, instead, about the AFP losing a couple of tents.

I can understand the spin, it is what happens in politics; but I will never understand the lying about what happens. Do these people even have any sort of conscience at all?!?! The real cute part is this; this Steven Crowder guy, claims to be a Christian — to the point of writing about how stinking Christian he was to not get his noodle wet until he was married. But yet, he lies like this? My question is this: which God and Jesus does he serve? Does this man know not what the Bible says about lying and liars in the Old and New Testaments? Hypnotized I really hated to bring religion into it, but good grief these people give good and honest Christians a horribly bad name. Not talking

Now before anyone points it out; Yes, I have commented on the fact that I thought his stuff was funny. Yes, I did and I still think he is funny, as an comedian and an actor. However, when he started acting as shill for the corporatist right, and came out in support of this union busting crap by Governor Snyder; he lost me. When he was making his video himself, without people like AFP backing him up. I respected him. I no longer do as such. Because he is a corporate shill. Which is a far cry from the small business owners that I happen to respect and want to be myself.

UPDATED Heartbreaking: Black hot dog vendor caught in middle of union protest

This one breaks my heart. It appears that someone was caught in the middle of the protest in Lansing.

The Photo:

Clint Tarver, known as “The Hot Dog Guy” here in Lansing.

Here is the part that breaks my heart, it comes Ironic Surrealism:

The woman (Lorilea Susanne) who set up the fundraising page for Clint has spoken to his wife. Apparently Clint was hired to provide catering for the Americans For Prosperity tent which was also destroyed by union thugs.

*UPDATE* 11:40am – I have spoken with Linda Lee, Clint’s wife. She says he is absolutely overwhelmed with our support, even more so than by the events of yesterday. I would like to clarify the events, however. Clint hired as a caterer for the AFP tent which was torn down. He was much more concerned about the others, and particularly helped to get the women out of the tent. It was when he returned to gather his equipment that the taunts and racial slurs began. He says the working people did not respect the working man. He was not there to be political; he was just there to serve. This is the Clint we know and love. Please, let’s respect him and leave our political opinions out of this. This is about our support for Clint.

You know, I am just going to say this; and believe me when I tell you, I am quite serious about this one: I support the Unions and their right to protest that Governor Rick Snyder lied about not going after the labor movement and I do not much mind people like Steven Crowder getting their jaws jacked for being idiotic tools.

However, I do not support a black man being beaten up and being called an “uncle tom” or even worse the “N-Word,” especially seeing when the man was simply there to serve others and not really even involved with the protest at all. I believe that this one is just a bit too much and goes over the line in a big way.

Of course, the right is going to blame the unions, and this is quite short-sighted in my opinion. The person that should be blamed here is Governor Rick Snyder for picking a fight with the labor movement — and over what? Because the labor movement tried and ultimately failed to get collective bargaining written into the Michigan State Constitution?

I think what needs to happen right now is this: Everyone that reads this blog posting, needs to head to this fundraising page here (LINKED REMOVED GO READ THIS UPDATE!) and give as much as you can afford; and be sure you leave your name and maybe a message to the fact that you are a Union member or supporter; and that you do not support this sort of violence and racism toward a black man. It is immoral and it never should have ever happened in the name of the labor movement at all, ever.

I might support the labor movement in a big way and the love affair between me and the Republicans might be over. However, I did not leave my moral compass at the divorce court — so to speak. This little incident was wrong and we, as supporters of and/or members of the labor movement can make it right.

Others, who are helping, like we should be: Michelle Malkin, Weasel Zippers and The Daily Caller

BIG UPDATE TO THIS STORY: Please, click here to go read the update to this story. Needless to day, I feel like a freakin’ chump. 🙁 Never again will I ever blindly trust anything by the right blogosphere again, ever. Because they just lie way too much. 😡