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RE:Deleted post

O

oldtanker

Well-known Member
Please don't get politics in this.

Jobs was the subject and the trouble finding help. People posted that it was the welfare mentality that was hurting employers. With some people that's true. With others it goes back to the school system. I remember in grade school in the 60's the teachers telling us how we didn't want "blue collar" work. You wanted to be a lawyer, not a construction worker. You wanted to be doctor not a mechanic. You wanted to be a politician not a garbage collector. Then they started telling us that we could all be whatever we wanted without regard to a persons ability, both in attitude and intelligence. I know people who just don't have the intelligence to be a doctor or a lawyer but can operate a dozer or turn a wrench just fine. I'm sure most of you do too. So basically they were lying to us.

Now today we have a lot of people who are unemployed, many through no fault of their own initially when their job disappeared. We even had a poster on here, who admitted that he had lost his job because it went off shore and he had been unemployed for 8 years. He was determined that he wasn't going to go back to work for less than what he had been making and only in his career field. There are a lot of folks out there with this attitude. I don't think most of us understand it but it's there. Then there are the people who really believe it's below their level to get their hands dirty. Sure they will take a job but not where they have to break a sweat or get their hands dirty.

Lot of time the type of employment or job requirements makes it hard to find help. Like farm work. I know people who would work for a farmer if it were year round with bennies. But how many farmers are willing to keep someone on in the off season? Trucking companies have a hard time keeping help. Lot of people are willing to be gone a lot till they find a significant other. Then they want to be home every night.

So it's not that most people don't want to work. They just don't want that type of job.

Rick
 
I have always been able to find a job if I wanted
to work. I drove a truck most of my life, and/or
farmed. I have also done factory work, construction
laborer, whatever if I needed money. My exwife's
husband had two vehicles repoed because he wouldn't
take a job paying less than the one he lost.
 
I agree i have been on unemployment differnt times irs
hard to find a job that allows you both to farm and work.its
not that i dont want to work at one time i had 2 part time
jobs and 1 full time plus farmed . the currant job you work
2 weeks then 2 days off 10 hour days 90 degree heat. but i
depend on off farm income now i got hurt at work no
workmans comp because i have a farm did get some
unemployment then the raised the issue of self
employment now i have to use savings that were to go for
crops to pay the electric am not released by doctor so
hopefull find differnt job and work injured .what gets me is
the tell me its not for workers its the factories that decide
who gets it.you work all your life to keep the farm in the
family and can still loose it.insurance on your own called
work and asked if i got injured on the job answer no so no
insurance money there
 
In a free society such as we have a person is free to work or not work in whatever job they choose and the fact is most people that complain they can't get people to work for them wouldn't consider working at the job or for the amount of money they are offering others to work for them.
The flip side is most people especially on the lower end of skills level think they are worth way more to an employer then they actually are worth.Thats just the way it works in a free economy and the way it supposed to work.
 
(quoted from post at 05:28:40 03/09/14) In a free society such as we have a person is free to work or not work in whatever job they choose and the fact is most people that complain they can't get people to work for them wouldn't consider working at the job or for the amount of money they are offering others to work for them.
[b:ed39dbd262]The flip side is most people especially on the lower end of skills level think they are worth way more to an employer then they actually are worth.[/b:ed39dbd262]Thats just the way it works in a free economy and the way it supposed to work.
Click to expand...

Boy, ain't that the truth!
 
I remember the quidance counseler in High school in the mid 80"s telling all the guys not to go into welding beecause it was all going to be done by robots in the near future,Some of my friends have done very well for themselves with a welding career.
 
I am 63 years old and have never taken 1 dime of unemployment-workmans comp or other gov't aid. I have worked since I was 16 years old. I have done farm work of every kind,janitoral work including cleaning toilets,construction work, boiler work, welded, mechanic work, paint and body work,drove a truck, laid masonery block and just about anything you can think of to pay my bills and feed my family. I have never quit a job that I didn't have at least 2 more to go to.It is all about attitude and work ethic and you are correct,teachers live in their own little world inside their classrooms and don't have a clue about life in the real world.
 
fact of the matter remains, when the government subsidizes (pays)
for a type of behavior (unemployment), then you get more of that
type of behavior. Stop the payment, and watch the job situation
improve. Sure there are some sh!tty jobs out there, but hey,
someone has to do 'em, and you gotta start somewhere.
 
I grew up on farms in Northeastern Ohio. In addition to working on the farms (we were tenant farmers, never owned anything), I worked for other folks off the farm beginning when I was about 11 or 12 years old.

I left home at 17 and joined the Navy. I'm now 69 2/3 years old and I've never been unemployed or drawn one nickel's worth of any kind of government assistance in my life.

I've worked out of town and I've moved a few times to insure that I had work, but I've always had work.

I'm nothing special - that's just what people did back then. I guess today's culture is "progress".

Tom in TN
 
I'm retired, never got fired, never got laid off.

I know a good hard working person, who lost job after 28 years, plant closed, moved out of town. Got a new job for 6 years, same thing, plant closed, moved out of town.

Neighbor got a Christmas present, his plant closed.

There has to be a safety net for those people, who lost job and it wasn't their fault.
 
My sister has a business in Indiana. She pays, I think she calls it, SUDA and FUDA on her employees. Their rate is calculated by how many people they fire of layoff. Suda, State Unemployment?? Fuda Federal Unemployment?? The Government had to step in because the funds ran out, too many plant closings.
 
Artical in local paper says LUK was needing to expand and
find more skilled workers,but could not find many that can
pass a drug test !
I have to pass one to make money to pay all these taxes
those getting assistance shoulg have to pass one to get it.
 
A temporary safety net is one thing, and few if any will argue against such.

A lifetime income paid by the work of others is an entirely different matter. Unfortunately, we have reached a point where too few argue against such.

Dean
 
You have earned my respect and admiration, Tom.

Unfortunately, such work ethic is quite uncommon these days.

Dean
 
I can understand both sides of the job situation.

There are companies that have made it their business model to hire all low wage people and ride them hard to make a profit. Many of these type of companies are little better than the plantation owners of the old south. They could care less about the life of their workers. This includes many farm related companies.

Look at how the meat packing industry is all low paying jobs now when they used to be good blue collar jobs. Plus they are hiring a high percentage of illegals too. The profits have not came down or the margin between the farm to the table. LOCK up the board members over the lowly personal guys and that would stop.

I am not for raising the minimum wage but when a entire company is low wage other than the top then there should be something done.

Also there are fewer opportunities on the job market for a good job. Some of this is caused by many companies moving out of the US. It also is because the Sherman anti trust laws have not been enforced in the last 30-40 years. MA bell is the last company that I can remember being broke up.

Walmart is the current one that needs busted up. They control too big of a percentage of the market in many areas. I have heard that they are now selling over 50% of the food in this country. That is not good. I would rather have several smaller companies so there is some competition an then supply and demand works. With super large companies controlling such a large part of a market there is ZERO free market. So supply and demand does not work.

Then on the other side is the fact that when you get away from the rural areas the work ethic is not very good. We have had several generations told they are too good to get their hand dirty. So now we have a whole group of people that think they are God's gift to man kind. When in reality they have few marketable skills or attitudes.

Think of how many where told 20-30 years ago to go into the computer industry. Those degrees are just about worthless now. There are some installers and repair people doing well but most of the computer industry is outside of the US. I personally know people with master degrees in electronics that don't make more than 30-35K each year. Many of them are salaried too. They are making less than $15 an hour for their work.

Class mate of my middle son is expected to work 5 ten hours and half day Saturday. HE makes $32K each year and has 30 employees under him. It is a crap job in the "information/service" world. By the way he has a college degree in computer science and business administration. The fellow he replaced made $100K now he will never break $40K for the same job.

I do not have the answers but I think all the large companies and foreign ownership is the root of much of the poor job market. Then the lack of work ethic is helped by the government hand outs. If you can draw $400 a week for 99 weeks on unemployment why would you work a job that only pays you $300-400??? 40 x 8$ = $360 There are tons of $8-12 jobs around me here and darn few paying much more.

Union is not the answer either. In Dubuque, at JD, the old guys sold out the young guys there about 15 years ago. The old guys make $25-30 per hour with full bennies. The new guys top out at $18 with way fewer bennies. Old guys made too much for what they actually did and the new guys are under paid.

I am just glad I am out of the rat race and should have a fair standard of living until I am gone. My kids and Grand kids are in for a rough ride.
 
Reading these posts got me thinking about my work history. I started working at a company at 15 now at 56 I"ve had eight jobs each time I changed jobs I bettered my self in wages and benefits. I"ve raised four children and have been married to the same wonderful friend for 36 years. Am I rich no but I"ve managed to take care of myself and my loved ones, I always thought I was just doing what a person does.
 
After 1980, everything changed. The feds stopped enforcing the anti trust laws. That's when Wallmart took off. Companies like Sears paid folks well, and they had pensions. After 1980, it became ok to ditch your workers. Working folks have been fighting a losing battle ever since.
 
In 1969 when I was in Hobart welding school,I was told that Mig welding would replace stick in a few years. I still do more stick than mig. By the way there is going to be a huge shortage of qualified welders in the next 5 years due to all the baby boomers retiring.Welding is not dead by any means.
 
Hey guys, I appreciate the intellegent discussion on this subject. Let me throw in something that has been in the news lately. I am not taking sides but it is something to ponder.

I have always been dead set against a “minimum wage” thinking you should get paid what you are worth, and if you are worth more someplace else, then go work there.

But recently a very staunch conservative friend of mine said to me “Oh so you are for subsidies to big corporations?” Me…. “No Way Jose!”

So he explained his view. Most of those minimum wage workers also get some kind of a subsidy from the taxpayers (you and me) , be it food stamps, Medicaid, low wage rent subsidies etc. So their low wages come at a cost to me the tax payer. Therefore, the hiring company gets the low cost benefit, and I (taxpayer) get to pay for it, whether I eat at McDonalds or not.

Wal-mart has 2.2 million employees. McDonalds 500,000, KFC/Taco Bell 500,000.
Wal-Mart and McD are in the Dow 30, America’s most profitable companies. The McDonalds franchise holder is usually the richest guy in town. (comparison At its peak GM had 500,000 employees worldwide).


His point was….”Why not let them run it like a real business, pay the real total price for their labor and then let the market decide if we want to buy their products at its “TRUE” price?

Other side is that without those jobs some of those folks would be 100% on welfare, foodstamps etc ??????

Would Walmart and McD shut down if their cost of labor was $3/hr higher…I don’t know.

Kids under 21 could be exempted.

Anyway….It was a viewpoint I had not heard……..He got me thinking.
 
So where does a "work ethic" come from? Our plant manger stopped by and thanked me for doing a great job and to "keep up the good work". I had 5 days of backlog and got it down to one in two days. I was somewhat confused by his actions, because I thought I should have been able to do more in that same amount of time. On Sat I worked 6 hrs. I did not take credit for all that I did and I still had to trim my labor down to show only 6 hrs. I have been doing this same job for 27 years. I know all the short cuts. I tell people it is all smoke and mirrors.

What I see are people staying busy all day, but they do very little in actual production terms. Then there are people who know that no one is going to get fired so they do what they feel comfortable doing. Some people will stand in the main aisle and talk for 20 minutes in plain sight of everyone.

BUT in the end it is all about ME. I can only change ME. My value is not based on anyone else.

People claim that jobs have gone overseas to take advantage of cheap labor, but, how much profit is lost when the American worker will not work hard enough to keep the company profitable?

We are expecting mandatory overtime this next week. The same people will take 9 hours to do the same 8 hours of work each day. Higher costs.

The shift starts at 6:30. We have people walk in the door and punch in at 6:32. And they are driving out of the park lot when the buzzer goes off at 3 .Do you think they put in a full 8 hours?

But that is them, not ME. I can see how these workers have helped kill companies. And they will complain about mismanagement. And it is true because the supervisors have allowed it.
SDE
 
The Law of Supply and Demand still applies. Workers need to be on time and continue to learn new skills to do their jobs well in order to be desired employees and earn pay raises. Businesses need to pay well enough to make the tough undesireable jobs attractive if they want to attract and retain good employees.
 
I see the problem as ....welfare was to keep a
person from starving....Now it appears it is used
to turn the unemployed into the middle class. Not
much incentive to work for the lazy...
 
Great replies!

To those who posted about their own work history, it's great that you have worked and will do what it takes. That kind of attitude has served yourselves and this country well.

Several people have got it right I think. People don't want to work that "farm job" because of wages, seasonal work and work schedule and pay.

I only know a couple of guys who hire year round. The dairy guy I know has trouble because morning shift starts at 4AM and the evening shift runs till about 8PM. Farmer only has one full timers because he doesn't want to pay bennies. The farmer talked to me a few years ago at a local event and was complaining about it. I told him that I would do his silage and hay feeding and field work, snow removal in the winter (all from a tractor seat) for 10 an hour freeing him up to help with milking. That didn't go over well. He was looking for people to work a split shift, 6 hours a day but short of the hours per week to be full time. He isn't willing to do the work he's trying to hire done. Another guy I know tries to hire HS kids to feed calves and help with morning and evening chores. Pays OK but he demands they earn their pay. No slacking if you work for him. But that's 4 hours a day and maybe some field work in season. One of my nephews works for a large grain beef operation. He's year round full time with housing supplied. Pay isn't anything to brag about but this past Christmas his boss gave him the money to buy a new hunting rifle and scope of his choice. Also paid a Christmas bonus. Plus any time not during haying/harvest spring field work is 5 days a week, 8 hours a day. Boss and his son pick up the slack when he's off.

The ND oil patch is having trouble keeping people in good paying jobs because of working and living conditions. I guess the first time it gets cold in the fall lots of guys throw in the towel. Couple of years ago while moving my TLB from one field to another digging out rocks for a guy I had to travel a short distance on a State Highway. Some manager from one of the companies, here to enjoy some MN fishing followed me into to the next field and offered me work at unbelievable pay running a backhoe.

So some of these jobs are hard to fill. My youngest boy is working a part time job while attending college. They keep offering him full time status because a lot of their long term part time people are just lazy and do just enough to keep their jobs. Then complain because they are not making enough.

Someone else mentioned wages and how poor some are. Unskilled labor has always paid poorly and always will. IMO minimum wage is a joke. If they raise it 40% most workers long term workers making more than that plus the unions will demand the same 40% causing inflation to rise the same 40%. Within 2 years at most then new minimum wage will not buy anymore and most likely less than it did before the raise. The real answer lays in job training. Get a skill (that includes a CDL

:lol: ) and earn more. But even then we still need people to sweep the floors at Wal Mart and flip burgers at McDonalds. There are always going to be the need for low paying jobs unless we, the consumer are willing to pay a lot more for goods and services.

Rick
 
If people refuse to do certain types of jobs or relocate or be gone from home for extended periods it is because they have other options to survive, some have wives with good jobs, some may be financially secure but the majority are playing the system in some manner which means they are stealing from the taxpayers. Cut off extended unemployment, do away with food stamps and welfare and see how many people all of a sudden get a different attitude, I say if a person will not work and provide for themselves and their families, let them starve and freeze to death in the dark.
 
I'm glad to see that even a 'set in his ways' conservative can see it from both sides. Not to make it political, but I think that's the biggest problem with politics in the US. People pick a side, and blindly follow it to the grave. Can't reason with them. I also agree with you on minimum wage. Here minimum wage is $11.00/hour, while a person can live on this, it's quite hard. Why should the owner live in a mansion while the employees go home to the welfare like apartment. I'm all for a free market, and the guy that took the risk making the most, but I see no reason that he needs to make 250,000 on his 4 stores, while his employees are lucky to walk away with 20,000. In the grand scheme of things, raising minimum wage is only going to increase the price of a burger. For the most part, most everyone else is paying well enough above minimum.
 
I too am an employer in Indiana and all employers pay the same rate.
SUTA - 7.62%
FUTA - 2.10%
 
JD -- Your comment about locking up the board Members is dead on, I do not believe that any politician from any party really wants to stop illegals in this country because all they would have to do is make it a federal crime to hire them with say 10 years at hard labor for CEO's and management and it would stop tomorrow.
 
SDE, you and I don't know each other and probably live states away from each other but your company sounds EXACTLY like the one I retired from a year ago. As a group leader, I was hired in to "raise the bar" in my department but everything I tried tried do to that end was sabotaged by my immediate supervisor who is the one who hired in some of "wasted space" that wouldn't shape up. He chose to "baby sit" , I don't baby sit adults. Finally went over his head one day to get rid of the worst "wasted space" but you are right in that if China/Japan etc ever decide to produce the equipment we did,this company is dead. People just don't get it. I feel sorry for no company that can't compete as they were probably run just like our government but can't print their own money.
 
I'll just say that when I was in school we had two different curriculum that we could follow. Academic for those who were headed to college and vocational for those who weren't. That's all gone now.
I heard the CEO of Snap On Tools recently complaining about this very subject. He said they can't find workers who are trained to do the jobs they need done in manufacturing. He said he made a speech to a bunch of parents where he asked what they'd do if their so said he wanted to be an auto mechanic. He said he was met with blank stares and deafening silence.
 
On the news a couple of years ago there was a woman with seven kids and seven men "serviced her and left and she says the government must take care of her kids. I want to barf.
 
When I was in school in the 70's there was a big push towards college prep classes. By the mid 90's most area high schools had abandoned their industrial arts programs.
It's true that there has been a shift towards jobs that require a college education, but in my opinion the educational system has done a disservice to the kids.
Yes, many if not most teachers are in their own little world.

Unemployment compensation didn't used to be a government hand out. It was a short term safety net paid for by employers.
I don't begrudge anyone that loses their job drawing unemployment insurance for a short time while they find other employment, but the system they have in place now is nothing more than politics.

As for Walmart needing to be broken up, and about their wages. There are plenty of reasons to not like Walmart and some of their business practices. I know several people that work at Walmart. It's true that their entry level wages are low, but they are comparable to what other retail companies pay their entry level workers. Judging by the people I know that work or have worked there, Walmart rewards those with a strong work ethic with decent compensation and benefits while those with a poor work ethic are stuck in their entry level position or bounce from one low paying job to the next.
I'm not sure the feds would break up Walmart because of their share of the food market. The margin in retail groceries is razor thin.
There are three Walmarts in this county. Combined I doubt if they have 20% of the market in food. Clothes and household goods sure, but not groceries.

Low wages and subsidies. That's a good point but I don't see raising the minimum wage as a way to reduce subsidies.
There is little or no incentive for those receiving various forms of assistance to improve their situation. Except for those with certain disabilities that need assistance, most of the people getting some form of aid are doing so because they lack the motivation to better their situation.

There was a guy on another forum that lost his high paying factory job. If I remember correctly he was a machinist. His unemployment benefits were $400 a week. He had some job offers in the $15-18 an hour range. He refused to take those jobs because he could draw more on unemployment. There was even some kind of day care allowance for his kids he could have gotten than would have put him slightly over the $20 mark. He finally admitted he didn't take those jobs because they weren't union. The guy refused to take a job where he would have had to commute. He refused to relocate. The guy had all kinds of excuses why he couldn't or wouldn't take jobs that were offered to him. It all went back to the $400 a week he was drawing, plus he was getting other government assistance with food and I think heat. There were jobs, good jobs, but not as good as what he had. Tough. That's sometimes the reality of life. The thing keeping him from taking those jobs was the so called safety net.
 
First off I can get paid $100 for just finding someone that will take a trucking job where you work 9:30 am to 7:00 pm 5 days a week. Off every Saturday and Sunday and pay is over $20 per hour.
So it is not just over the road jobs out there.

I went threw the you need to go to college to get a good job stuff. Just about the time I was in high school the parish started a technical high school. I got lucky to be right in the correct time period because the school only lasted 6 years and they closed it down. To much pressure from parents of my son needs to go to a regular high school so he can go on to college.
 
A few of you are trying to blame teachers for not "showing you the light at the end of the tunnel." Don"t use teachers as a scape goat for your own shortcomings. We have a lot of great teachers in this country who understand what it takes to be successful and most try to lead their students toward a meaningful career.
 
My high school was the top in the area for drafting and metal and wood shop. Then the vo-tech got their toes stepped on and got the board drafting class shut down. We had to mothball a bridgeport, surface grinder, 3 top of the line lathes, 3 welders, torches with 3 work stations, and foundry. I took 2 years of CAD after that, and the younger kids in the CAD classes (they took it in 9th instead of 10th, since the board drafting class was no longer available) and they were at a serious disadvantage not knowing the basics.

It's nearly universal that those who put forth an effort to be good at what they do are the ones who advance. The ones who don't are both the majority of workers today, and the ones who complain when they don't advance.

But there are those who make it look like they are putting forth the effort, and those who are blind to the fact that there's more effort spent on appearances than doing the job.
 
The law of supply and demand applies, if your government is hell bound on constricting you
economy and preventing any new job growth and favors shutting down every business they can and
sending those jobs off to China we'll have a shortage of jobs.

The Law of Supply and Demand applies, the best thing we can do for our underprivileged is to
develop a robust growing economy that keeps unemployment under 5%. This will allow people who
want to work the opportunity to work AND cause the employers to have to compete for labor
meaning even if you're in a menial low paying job they'll need to provide adequate compensation
and benefits or you'll go elsewhere.

Measure and predict our labor force and consider unemployment in how many newcomers we are
allowing into our economy. Or to put it another way if the Feds crash the economy we limit the
amount of new employees in the market until the labor market recovers.
 
My wifes job is property inspection for an ins. company. Often that requires her to inspect rental houses in Kansas City, Mo.

She will not go into certain areas unless I ride "shotgun"

We often spend a whole day driving in the "gheto"

If you spent a day looking at the people in those areas, hearing them talk, and watching their actions, well, they will be permanantly unemployed.

Why. They cant speak english, but some form of "ebonics",
They are covered with tattos, gang signs, and body piercings.
And they have no marketable skills. They can barely communicate, probably read at a second grade level.

Their only chance is a job with the NBA or NFL.

If you offered them a job at $15 or $20 an hour, they couldn't do it. You could stand over them with a club and they couldn't operate machinery, or even do menial labor.

They are are pretty worthless.

Gene
 
A couple of decades ago I had a white collar job working in Chicago's downtown loop. Pretty good job, lot of money, but a lot of headaches. Where I lived at the time was pretty blue collar, which was ok with me. So I had a neighbor, a kid that lived with his wife, their newborn, and her son from a privious marriage. This kid was nice, but most definately would never be confused with being a rocket scientist. He just didn't have or want it. His uncle had some connections with someone that landed him a job with the railrod, Illinois Central. He comes over and tells me, prouder than proud. We have a talk and I explain to him that given his past job history and some trouble that he had landed himself in, "Don't screw this up, you aren't white collar material, you will always work blue collar jobs, and there are not better paying with benefits than the railroad". All of the utilities like Edison, Bell, Northern Illinois Gas, were going through buyouts and mergers, renaming them selves, developing spin off companies, and some down sizing depending upon the divisions. "Don't screw this up, you will never get another chance like this".

First day on the job, he stops over afterwards and shows me from human resources what his retirement would be IF on his first day, was his 20th anniversary, and he was retiring. There were four contributing factors to his retirement: Railroad Pension, Social Security, 401K, and some other pension that I forget the name of...and his monthly gross would have been AT LEAST $4,000. It's been a couple of decades, and it may have been $6,000, but to play it safe, I know that it was AT LEAST $4,000, gross, monthly retirement. That aint bad, even these days, considering that with the economy being what it currently is, many folks are working two and three part time jobs...no pensions or retirement, and still not making what they used to with one good, well paying job, and not $4,000 per month. The kid's uncle really hooked him up.

About a year later, he and his wife were divorced, she had a restraining order against him for smacking her around and the bruises to prove it, he lost his job because he failed drug screening more than once, and had devleoped a pretty expensive cocain habit. He came knocking at my door wanting to borrow some gasoline money to get him over to wherever he was living. He screwed up, and screwed up badly. Where he is today, one can only wonder.

Incidentally, this past Friday the newest jobs and unemployment numbers came out. Unemployment ticked up 1 percent, and they said that 175,000 new jobs were created. OK, that's how the numbers go. Then I listened to a Wall Street Journal breakdown of the jobs numbers. They said, and I quote, "...the overwhelming percentage of the new jobs created were bar (tavern) and food (restaurant) jobs...". So, 175,000 new jobs being touted, and most them them are BELOW minimum wage, because those jobs are NOT required to pay minimum wage because tips are an expected part of the salary, and facted in as part of the salary, and therefore are less than minimum wage because of that. And those folks are going to buy new homes, send their children to college, and... Yes, the new numbers are 175,000 new jobs, no detail about the quality of jobs, but a whole lot of patting themselves on the backs, and posing for selfy photos, and...

Mark
 
I guess I got it wrong. What does SUTA and FUTA stand for? Do your rates change if you lay a lot of people off?

I know my BIL was mad, because they fired a guy. The guy shouldn't have gotten unemployment for what he done. Judge gave it to him anyway. BIL said they pay the minimum and this will raise his rates. 6 months later, the Judge changed his mind after they found the man working for cash and collecting unemployment. The man was in hot water.
George
 
State and federal unemployment. SUTA is usually quite a bit more expensive. Your federal FUTA will be submitted on form 940
 
I agree with some of what you are saying. A life time income for those who are in a wheelchair, someone has to change their diaper, feed them, they need the safety net.

Someone who lost job because factory moved out of town, they need the net for a while.

BTW, unemployment checks are funded by taxing the employer. Except when they extended the unemployment for years and funds dried up.

However, the IRS made changes making it more difficult for people to be sub-contractors and not pay their fair share of all taxes.

IRS shut down a body shop in my town. Body shop claimed the people who worked for him were subs.

IRS, said NO, you owe us all the taxes they failed to pay. OUCH. Put him out of business big time.

A life time income for people claiming to have a bad back when they don't or a medical issue when they don't is totally wrong, but it happens and little is done. Their condition is LAZY. No cure either.
 
That issue was addressed by the WELARE REFORM ACT. Had that remained in place, things would have been better. They would have only gotten 5 years of safety net. I think they would have only gotten paid for 1 or 2 kids, too bad if you had more.
 
Not sure of all this but casino came to town if they helped build there casino and gave them tax credits it would create jobs. There was i think 30 jobs sounds great well but it was 5 full time 25 part time with no benefits as jobs are scarce around here they will have to be on govt support so we pay for the casino and the wages for the workers but they create 30 jobs
 
Snap On would be complaining cause they can't sell their tools. Nobody buys new Snappy stuff, too much cheaper used stuff on C-list and shay.
 
Just a point of order.......I thought that the railroads had their own retirement plan, and the worker was not a part of Social Security. Did not pay in, did not draw during retirement. Anyone know for sure?
 
Well, I might be mistaken about Social Security, but he showed me the folder from human resources, and there were four componants combined that comprised his retirement, and I thought that Social Security was one of them. Might not have been, but there were four...including the railroad pension. In any event, the youngster pulled down the kind of job with the kind of pay, benefits, and retirement that many dream about, especially those today that are jobless and have given up on hope for a job, but aren't counted as unemployed. The kid was given an opportunity that many would give a lot for, and tossed it all into the trash heap. I do distinctly recall reading that there were four parts that built up into one pretty good retirement, and the best part of it, Congress was blocked from getting hold of the main part, the actual railroad pension where they no doubt would dump it into the general fund and blow it elsewhere, leaving just one more pension unfunded. And they try every day to get their fingers on the railroad pension, the last time that I heard of was just about one month ago, and luckily unsuccesssfully thus far.

Mark
 
Just to show how screwed up things have gotten, we
have got people in one of the counties here in
Iowa crying to the state gaming commission to
allow them to have another casino. They say it
will add 325 jobs to the work force!! We have at
least a half dozen already and the only thing the
gaming commission is worried about is it taking
money from another casino!!
I don't reckon any one stopped to think about the
millions of dollars pi$$ed away in a casino that
now does not get spent in the local economy and
the job creation money isn't even close to that.
It goes to the casino owners and the state, who
turns around and supposedly helps different
entities in the state and for gambling addiction.
Bizarre!
The casino folks are not there because they like
you and have your best interest at heart.
 
(quoted from post at 11:36:46 03/09/14) A few of you are trying to blame teachers for not "showing you the light at the end of the tunnel." Don"t use teachers as a scape goat for your own shortcomings. We have a lot of great teachers in this country who understand what it takes to be successful and most try to lead their students toward a meaningful career.
Click to expand...

When a teacher is telling a kid who is going to have trouble getting through trade school that they can be anything they want is setting that kid up for failure if say they decide they want to be a doctor. I've got a niece who is none to bright. She has tried attending junior college twice and has flunked out. She's a good kid and a hard worker but she is all upset and doesn't understand why she can't be a nurse when her teachers told her she could be anything she wanted. Isn't her fault she just doesn't have the brain power to achieve her dream. That you can lay square on her mother. But it is her former teachers fault that they told her she could go to college and be anything she wanted. From grade school in the 60's and high school in the early 70's I can remember only one teacher who pushed trade schools and that was my shop teacher in NJ. Heck in my last two years of HS here in MN I had to take AG. Even the AG teacher was pushing college.

So yea we can pick on the teachers. I know they are being told to sell the college bill of goods to students but they should use a little common sense and know that little Joe Blow just isn't going to be able to get through a college course much less earn a degree. Most of the none to bright ones can at least learn a trade. I always told my kids that they had to go to trade school or college but that they needed a marketable job skill. And all I was, was a soldier. And I knew better than the teachers. That isn't saying much about our teachers. If that offends you then maybe you are a teacher or have a teacher in your family. Ask yourself/them when was the last time they told a class that trade school was an option?

Heck one sons former GF went and got a 4 year abundant arts degree to find out she was worth about 8 bucks an hour starting. All cause mommy told her if she had a degree the sky would be the limit. OH yea, mom's a teacher. Her sister went and land leaned how to make prostatic devices and specializes in devices for kids. Former GF now works as a receptionist for her sister.

Rick
 
(quoted from post at 18:35:34 03/09/14) Well, I might be mistaken about Social Security, but he showed me the folder from human resources, and there were four componants combined that comprised his retirement, and I thought that Social Security was one of them. Might not have been, but there were four...including the railroad pension. In any event, the youngster pulled down the kind of job with the kind of pay, benefits, and retirement that many dream about, especially those today that are jobless and have given up on hope for a job, but aren't counted as unemployed. The kid was given an opportunity that many would give a lot for, and tossed it all into the trash heap. I do distinctly recall reading that there were four parts that built up into one pretty good retirement, and the best part of it, Congress was blocked from getting hold of the main part, the actual railroad pension where they no doubt would dump it into the general fund and blow it elsewhere, leaving just one more pension unfunded. And they try every day to get their fingers on the railroad pension, the last time that I heard of was just about one month ago, and luckily unsuccesssfully thus far.

Mark
Click to expand...

Yea people who have a drug habit generally make their own path to destruction. We had a kid here. When to trade school for residential construction. Was doing good. Union job. Then with winter layoffs started drinking. Beat his wife bad enough to spend some time in jail. He's now sober, working and doing OK. But it took 6 months in jail to get his head on right. Doesn't work for everyone, results may vary.

Some kids will never have a chance because the parents just don't care enough to help em out with home work or even demand that they do it. But on the other hand you sometimes hear about a kid who worked hard and is out of the "home" environment. Look at that idiot foot ball player now charged with murder because he wouldn't cut the ties with his home boys. Little common sense and that young man was set for life. Went from being a hero to a zero quick.

Rick
 
A few observations-

What if "The Gov." broke up Walmart? What would happen? You'd have a major employer firing a heck of a lot of people, a lot of management people let go, people losing their jobs, empty store fronts and it would take a while for another entity to take WM's place. The Walton family wouldn't suffer one bit, but a lot of truck drivers would be looking for work.

The thing on the difference between what a boss/owner makes and what his workers make- yeah, the boss is going to make a lot more than the worker. He's the guy with the fat in the fire. He's the one that took the risk, deals with the realities and stands to lose the most if things go south. A guy gutting chickens in a packing house doesn't have any skin in the game. It's a lousy job and he has nowhere to go but up which is why he makes peanuts. Same for the kids flipping burgers at McD's, he;s probably getting overpaid for what he's actually worth already. You don't have to like the boss or what he makes, but at least understand the differences.

It wasn't very long ago my wife and I had $45.00 a week to buy groceries and diapers on, and some gas money came out of that too. Minimum wage is a starting wage for bottom of the line work. Because we didn't have much money I did lawn and grounds work 5-6 days a week in exchange for rent, tilled gardens, laid carpet, stuffed insulation and had a little part time gun shop to boot. My wife resented the heck out of all the time away I spent, but we got by. No cable TV- we got 2 channels and both were snowy, a very used car, no "night life", no computers, we burned wood for heat, ice cream was a treat. Fast forward to today and people on min wage want laptops, smart phones, 500 channels, healthcare, the best clothes, the house to be at 72F in winter and 65 in summer, a nice car or 2, go to concerts, pot and booze, $60.00 haircuts, $80-150.00 sneakers, etc. And they won't shop at the Save A Lot or the Salvation Army thrift store, no, they shop at the name brand stores. They want to eat out every meal and they don't eat peanut butter and jelly at home either. There's been a lot of road kill eaten at our table, you won't see most min wage kids today that would even think of taking a car struck deer home. THAT is a big part of the problem. Young people on min wage living like they're making $20.00 an hour or more. Oh yeah, and CREDIT CARDS! Almost every young person I know has at least 3 CC, all maxed out with companies trying to collect payments. IMO it's the stupidity of the CC companies for giving an 18 year old a CC with a $6-10K limit, but it's the rest of us that pay.

Just my 2 cents.
 
I don't know, but how many jobs were lost when the monopolies got broken up back in the 30s, 40s, 50s?

Breaking up walmart wouldn't shut down all the stores, warehouses, etc. They'd just be spun off to (or into) some other company.
 
a friend of mine sent me this awhile back, thought i'd post it.
Wal-Mart vs. The Morons

1. Americans spend $36,000,000 at Wal-Mart. Every hour of every day.

2. This works out to $20,928 profit every minute!

3. Wal-Mart will sell more from January 1 to St. Patrick's Day(March 17th)

than Target sells all year.

4. Wal-Mart is bigger than Home Depot + Kroger+ Target +Sears+ Costco +

K-Mart combined.



5. Wal-Mart employs 1.6 million people, is the world's largest private

employer, and most speak English.

6. Wal-Mart is the largest company in the history of the world.

7. Wal-Mart now sells more food than Kroger and Safeway combined, and keep

in mind they did this in only fifteen years.

8. During this same period, 31 big supermarket chains sought bankruptcy..

9. Wal-Mart now sells more food than any other store in the world.

10.Wal-Mart has approx 3,900 stores in the USA of which 1,906 are Super

Centers; this is 1,000 more than it had five years ago.

11.This year 7.2 billion different purchasing experiences will occur at

Wal-Mart stores.(Earth's population is approximately 6.5 Billion.)

12.90% of all Americans live within fifteen miles of a Wal-Mart.

You may think that I am complaining, but I am really laying the ground work for suggesting that MAYBE we should hire the guys whorun Wal-Mart to fix the economy.

This should be read and understood by all Americans nnalert,nnalert, EVERYONE!!

To President external_link and all 535 voting members of the Legislature,
It is now official that the majority of you are corrupt morons:

a.. The U.S. Postal Service was established in 1775. You have had 234 years to get it right and it is broke.

b.. Social Security was established in 1935. You have had 74 years to get it right and it is broke.

c.. Fannie Mae was established in 1938. You have had 71 years to get it right and it is broke.

d.. War on Poverty started in 1964. You have had 45 years toget it right; $1 trillion of our money is confiscated each year and transferred to "the poor" and they only want more.

e.. Medicare and Medicaid were established in 1965. You have had 44 years to get it right and they are broke.

f.. Freddie Mac was established in 1970. You have had 39 years to get it right and it is broke.

g.. The Department of Energy was created in 1977 to lessen our dependence on foreign oil. It has ballooned to 16,000 employees with a budget of $24 billion a year and we import more oil than ever before. You had 32 years to get it right and it is an abysmal failure.

You have FAILED in every "government service" you have shoved down our throats while overspending our tax dollars.

AND YOU WANT AMERICANS TO BELIEVE YOU CAN BE TRUSTED WITH A GOVERNMENT-RUN HEALTH CARE SYSTEM??

Folks, keep this circulating. It is very well stated. Maybe it will end up in the e-mails of some of our "duly elected' (they never read anything) and their staff will clue them in on how Americans feel.

AND

I know what's wrong.. We have lost our minds to "Political Correctness" (We need MORAL correctness and to heck with “POLOTICAL”)

Pass it on
 
(quoted from post at 20:19:31 03/10/14) a friend of mine sent me this awhile back, thought i'd post it.
Wal-Mart vs. The Morons

1. Americans spend $36,000,000 at Wal-Mart. Every hour of every day.

2. This works out to $20,928 profit every minute!

3. Wal-Mart will sell more from January 1 to St. Patrick's Day(March 17th)

than Target sells all year.

4. Wal-Mart is bigger than Home Depot + Kroger+ Target +Sears+ Costco +

K-Mart combined.



5. Wal-Mart employs 1.6 million people, is the world's largest private

employer, and most speak English.

6. Wal-Mart is the largest company in the history of the world.

7. Wal-Mart now sells more food than Kroger and Safeway combined, and keep

in mind they did this in only fifteen years.

8. During this same period, 31 big supermarket chains sought bankruptcy..

9. Wal-Mart now sells more food than any other store in the world.

10.Wal-Mart has approx 3,900 stores in the USA of which 1,906 are Super

Centers; this is 1,000 more than it had five years ago.

11.This year 7.2 billion different purchasing experiences will occur at

Wal-Mart stores.(Earth's population is approximately 6.5 Billion.)

12.90% of all Americans live within fifteen miles of a Wal-Mart.

You may think that I am complaining, but I am really laying the ground work for suggesting that MAYBE we should hire the guys whorun Wal-Mart to fix the economy.

This should be read and understood by all Americans nnalert,nnalert, EVERYONE!!

To President external_link and all 535 voting members of the Legislature,
It is now official that the majority of you are corrupt morons:

a.. The U.S. Postal Service was established in 1775. You have had 234 years to get it right and it is broke.

b.. Social Security was established in 1935. You have had 74 years to get it right and it is broke.

c.. Fannie Mae was established in 1938. You have had 71 years to get it right and it is broke.

d.. War on Poverty started in 1964. You have had 45 years toget it right; $1 trillion of our money is confiscated each year and transferred to "the poor" and they only want more.

e.. Medicare and Medicaid were established in 1965. You have had 44 years to get it right and they are broke.

f.. Freddie Mac was established in 1970. You have had 39 years to get it right and it is broke.

g.. The Department of Energy was created in 1977 to lessen our dependence on foreign oil. It has ballooned to 16,000 employees with a budget of $24 billion a year and we import more oil than ever before. You had 32 years to get it right and it is an abysmal failure.

You have FAILED in every "government service" you have shoved down our throats while overspending our tax dollars.

AND YOU WANT AMERICANS TO BELIEVE YOU CAN BE TRUSTED WITH A GOVERNMENT-RUN HEALTH CARE SYSTEM??

Folks, keep this circulating. It is very well stated. Maybe it will end up in the e-mails of some of our "duly elected' (they never read anything) and their staff will clue them in on how Americans feel.

AND

I know what's wrong.. We have lost our minds to "Political Correctness" (We need MORAL correctness and to heck with “POLOTICAL”)

Pass it on
Click to expand...

I didn't check any facts but as last reported Wal Mart hire 2.2 million. So that's outdated or there are other items that may be incorrect.

It's funny but last year a friend told me that the CEO of Wal Mart should take a pay cut and it should be applied to employee raises. That year he made about 18 million in pay and bonuses. So that pay, equally divided among the employees would amount to less than 9 bucks for the whole year. Less than 1 cent an hour for a full time employee. And that's before taxes.

I know a lot of folks don't like Wal Mart, I don't shop there, but Wal Mart did make a lot of things affordable for low income people.

Rick
 
(quoted from post at 20:19:31 03/10/14) a friend of mine sent me this awhile back, thought i'd post it.
Wal-Mart vs. The Morons

1. Americans spend $36,000,000 at Wal-Mart. Every hour of every day.

2. This works out to $20,928 profit every minute!

3. Wal-Mart will sell more from January 1 to St. Patrick's Day(March 17th)

than Target sells all year.

4. Wal-Mart is bigger than Home Depot + Kroger+ Target +Sears+ Costco +

K-Mart combined.



5. Wal-Mart employs 1.6 million people, is the world's largest private

employer, and most speak English.

6. Wal-Mart is the largest company in the history of the world.

7. Wal-Mart now sells more food than Kroger and Safeway combined, and keep

in mind they did this in only fifteen years.

8. During this same period, 31 big supermarket chains sought bankruptcy..

9. Wal-Mart now sells more food than any other store in the world.

10.Wal-Mart has approx 3,900 stores in the USA of which 1,906 are Super

Centers; this is 1,000 more than it had five years ago.

11.This year 7.2 billion different purchasing experiences will occur at

Wal-Mart stores.(Earth's population is approximately 6.5 Billion.)

12.90% of all Americans live within fifteen miles of a Wal-Mart.

You may think that I am complaining, but I am really laying the ground work for suggesting that MAYBE we should hire the guys whorun Wal-Mart to fix the economy.

This should be read and understood by all Americans nnalert,nnalert, EVERYONE!!

To President external_link and all 535 voting members of the Legislature,
It is now official that the majority of you are corrupt morons:

a.. The U.S. Postal Service was established in 1775. You have had 234 years to get it right and it is broke.

b.. Social Security was established in 1935. You have had 74 years to get it right and it is broke.

c.. Fannie Mae was established in 1938. You have had 71 years to get it right and it is broke.

d.. War on Poverty started in 1964. You have had 45 years toget it right; $1 trillion of our money is confiscated each year and transferred to "the poor" and they only want more.

e.. Medicare and Medicaid were established in 1965. You have had 44 years to get it right and they are broke.

f.. Freddie Mac was established in 1970. You have had 39 years to get it right and it is broke.

g.. The Department of Energy was created in 1977 to lessen our dependence on foreign oil. It has ballooned to 16,000 employees with a budget of $24 billion a year and we import more oil than ever before. You had 32 years to get it right and it is an abysmal failure.

You have FAILED in every "government service" you have shoved down our throats while overspending our tax dollars.

AND YOU WANT AMERICANS TO BELIEVE YOU CAN BE TRUSTED WITH A GOVERNMENT-RUN HEALTH CARE SYSTEM??

Folks, keep this circulating. It is very well stated. Maybe it will end up in the e-mails of some of our "duly elected' (they never read anything) and their staff will clue them in on how Americans feel.

AND

I know what's wrong.. We have lost our minds to "Political Correctness" (We need MORAL correctness and to heck with “POLOTICAL”)

Pass it on
Click to expand...

Just to correct things- Walmart, using your figures, GROSSES about $25K a minute. That is not what they make in PROFIT. From that $25K a minute you have to subtract the cost of the merchandise, wages and other costs related to workers, costs for trucking and shipping, building heat, lights, upkeep, taxes, the taxes Walmart pays, insurance, law suits, advertising, the gazillions a year Walmart loses in theft and fraudulent returns, parking lot upkeep and new construction and probably a lot of other stuff I forget.

There's a big difference between gross and profit.
 
Just to correct things- Walmart, using your figures, GROSSES about $25K a minute. That is not what they make in PROFIT. From that $25K a minute you have to subtract the cost of the merchandise, wages and other costs related to workers, costs for trucking and shipping, building heat, lights, upkeep, taxes, the taxes Walmart pays, insurance, law suits, advertising, the gazillions a year Walmart loses in theft and fraudulent returns, parking lot upkeep and new construction and probably a lot of other stuff I forget.

There's a big difference between gross and profit.[/quote]




and yet, walmart is not going broke, but the folks running our country couldn't find there A$$ if i handed them a stick with a mirror on it. well, i gotta get ready to jump on the tractor and go out and chisel the back 40.
 
(quoted from post at 04:38:44 03/11/14) Just to correct things- Walmart, using your figures, GROSSES about $25K a minute. That is not what they make in PROFIT. From that $25K a minute you have to subtract the cost of the merchandise, wages and other costs related to workers, costs for trucking and shipping, building heat, lights, upkeep, taxes, the taxes Walmart pays, insurance, law suits, advertising, the gazillions a year Walmart loses in theft and fraudulent returns, parking lot upkeep and new construction and probably a lot of other stuff I forget.

There's a big difference between gross and profit.
Click to expand...





and yet, walmart is not going broke, but the folks running our country couldn't find there A$$ if i handed them a stick with a mirror on it. well, i gotta get ready to jump on the tractor and go out and chisel the back 40.[/quote]

Very true. But just because someone can run a company doesn't mean they can run a country. A CEO can say do this and expect it to be done. They can fire a person who fails to do it. They can tell a foreign manufacturer what he's willing to pay for a product. The president can't do those things. He can't order congress or senate to do anything, average person on the street he has no right to issue orders to. He darn sure can't tell Russia "if you don't stop we'll go else where for a crisis" like Wal Mart can for a tee shirt. So I wonder how a guy in absolute control of something would do as the president when almost anyone can tell him to go pound sand.

Rick
 
(quoted from post at 04:38:44 03/11/14) Just to correct things- Walmart, using your figures, GROSSES about $25K a minute. That is not what they make in PROFIT. From that $25K a minute you have to subtract the cost of the merchandise, wages and other costs related to workers, costs for trucking and shipping, building heat, lights, upkeep, taxes, the taxes Walmart pays, insurance, law suits, advertising, the gazillions a year Walmart loses in theft and fraudulent returns, parking lot upkeep and new construction and probably a lot of other stuff I forget.

There's a big difference between gross and profit.
Click to expand...




and yet, walmart is not going broke, but the folks running our country couldn't find there A$$ if i handed them a stick with a mirror on it. well, i gotta get ready to jump on the tractor and go out and chisel the back 40.[/quote]


No disagreement, just wanted to make the difference between gross and net clear. Gross does not equal profit.
 
What I want to know is how people are managing to draw unemployment INDEFINITELY.

I've been downsized twice, and had no choice but to go on unemployment for several weeks while looking for another job.

First thing they made me do after applying, was attend a class where a DRILL SARGENT stood up in front and wagged his finger in our faces while lecturing to us that we had 26 weeks, no ifs ands or buts. To keep receiving benefits, you would have to show proof of an active job search, at least one interview a week, or you were SOL.

And, they CHECKED. They followed up with me every couple of weeks to make sure I wasn't just sitting on my a$$ drawing unemployment checks.

They're doing the same thing to my sister right now, so I know things haven't changed in the last 10 years.

Why aren't these harda$$es cracking down on the chronic abusers? Why do they harass the people who WANT to work, who are LOOKING for work, but are down on their luck?
 
Real question is how has walmart benefited the nation or the society? What do we have because of walmart, that we would not have had anyway?

It is not like they invented the home computer, HD TV, Home Air conditioning, Heat pumps, Heart by-pass surgery, Knee replacement, doubled vehicle gas mileage,installed cable tv or dish networks. Invented the cell phone, put up telecommunications satellites, doubled crop yields, invented the I-phone.


We would have had all the things that make life better without Walmart. maybe except, fat ladies in too-tight tee shirts with crude sayings.

Walmart just made it easier to buy some things. Nice, but Sears Roebuck did the same thing 100 years ago...it was called catalogs. And in 1950 it was called Department stores.

Did you starve before Walmart sold groceries?
If they stopped selling groceries tomorrow would you starve?

Walmart has changed many things in America but I dare say we would have had most of those things anyway, just through a different purchasing channel.

I, as one taxpayer, am a bit tired of subsidizing their workers wages, healthcare and retirement plans.
 
(quoted from post at 20:06:59 03/11/14) Real question is how has walmart benefited the nation or the society? What do we have because of walmart, that we would not have had anyway?

It is not like they invented the home computer, HD TV, Home Air conditioning, Heat pumps, Heart by-pass surgery, Knee replacement, doubled vehicle gas mileage,installed cable tv or dish networks. Invented the cell phone, put up telecommunications satellites, doubled crop yields, invented the I-phone.


We would have had all the things that make life better without Walmart. maybe except, fat ladies in too-tight tee shirts with crude sayings.

Walmart just made it easier to buy some things. Nice, but Sears Roebuck did the same thing 100 years ago...it was called catalogs. And in 1950 it was called Department stores.

Did you starve before Walmart sold groceries?
If they stopped selling groceries tomorrow would you starve?

Walmart has changed many things in America but I dare say we would have had most of those things anyway, just through a different purchasing channel.

I, as one taxpayer, am a bit tired of subsidizing their workers wages, healthcare and retirement plans.
Click to expand...

Edd, Wal Mart because of their buying tactics made those things affordable to more people. That is their claim to fame. Sure sears made it easy, but Wal Mart made it affordable for low income people. I don't like Wal Mart and don't shop Wal Mart, but they did make things affordable to people who couldn't afford them in the long distance past. Because of their pricing they have forced other retailers to reduce prices too. There was a time in the past when I did shop there out of necessity. So that's first hand knowledge. Now that I can afford to shop elsewhere I avoid them. We have 3 smaller towns, 7K to about 14K populating with "super centers". I've yet to see mom and pop stores closing. In fact one town admits that Wall Mart draws in more people and the average business has a larger customer base because of it. I also have two super underachiever nephews who work at one of those stores. I don't care if they only make 8 something an hour. It's more than I would pay em. Workers like that are one of the reasons I avoid Wal Mart. When I need assistance I want someone who knows what they are selling. I was in Wal Mart a few years ago. A guy was trying to buy a computer for his kids. The manager of the electronics department had no idea about computers or anything else I think. I, as a customer helped this guy out. That was my last straw with Wal Mart.

Rick
 
(quoted from post at 07:46:46 03/11/14) What I want to know is how people are managing to draw unemployment INDEFINITELY.

I've been downsized twice, and had no choice but to go on unemployment for several weeks while looking for another job.

First thing they made me do after applying, was attend a class where a DRILL SARGENT stood up in front and wagged his finger in our faces while lecturing to us that we had 26 weeks, no ifs ands or buts. To keep receiving benefits, you would have to show proof of an active job search, at least one interview a week, or you were SOL.

And, they CHECKED. They followed up with me every couple of weeks to make sure I wasn't just sitting on my a$$ drawing unemployment checks.

They're doing the same thing to my sister right now, so I know things haven't changed in the last 10 years.

Why aren't these harda$$es cracking down on the chronic abusers? Why do they harass the people who WANT to work, who are LOOKING for work, but are down on their luck?
Click to expand...


because they don't want you to work. They want you dependent on them. Then they can do whatever they want cause you will not contest it for fear of losing that check.

Rick
 
(quoted from post at 20:06:59 03/11/14) Real question is how has walmart benefited the nation or the society? What do we have because of walmart, that we would not have had anyway?

It is not like they invented the home computer, HD TV, Home Air conditioning, Heat pumps, Heart by-pass surgery, Knee replacement, doubled vehicle gas mileage,installed cable tv or dish networks. Invented the cell phone, put up telecommunications satellites, doubled crop yields, invented the I-phone.


We would have had all the things that make life better without Walmart. maybe except, fat ladies in too-tight tee shirts with crude sayings.

Walmart just made it easier to buy some things. Nice, but Sears Roebuck did the same thing 100 years ago...it was called catalogs. And in 1950 it was called Department stores.

Did you starve before Walmart sold groceries?
If they stopped selling groceries tomorrow would you starve?

Walmart has changed many things in America but I dare say we would have had most of those things anyway, just through a different purchasing channel.

I, as one taxpayer, am a bit tired of subsidizing their workers wages, healthcare and retirement plans.
Click to expand...


Edd, you can say the same thing about Lowes and HD, Target, Kmart, etc. Before Walmart we had Ames, Jamesway, Sears, Monkey Wards, Grants, etc. What's the difference? I remember when we got a MW catalog store in town. Half the people were over joyed and half said it would shut down the dry goods, the tailors, the hardware, the 2 or 3 small engine places, hurt the local garages, etc., etc. etc. What happened? Same thing that happened when Walmart or Lowes came to town- the mom and pops that had been having their own way for 40 years had to compete.

We just had a regional hardware store close in Ogdensburg NY. Background is that a couple built a Sears store, the strip mall type that has some appliances, some L+G stuff, some tools. They did this in a town with a Walmart and couldn't compete. Meanwhile a local, very well run and long time hardware starts getting more into high end sports wear than hardware. They try to branch out when some new hands get control and through no ones fault but their own they crash and burn. A couple guys from that place decide to get the old Sears and try the regional hardware- in dire3ct competition with Lowes and Walmart, a local long established lumberyard and several other Ace/Trustworthy type places within a few miles. They lasted about 3 years. Is that Walmart or Lowes fault? Or is that the fault, all these people, of trying to go head to head in a saturated market? Are we going to try and quantify "fair" and say it's unfair of Walmart or Lowes to run their business model, but "fair" for that hardware that tried going big time and crashed to rape the locals when they had no competition? The guys that owned that place didn't give a hoot about the little teeny, but extremely high service hardware 5 miles down the road that they shut down, and they shouldn't have.

It's called the free market. The alternative gets you external_linkcare for tools, clothing, groceries, cars, tires, etc.
 
retired blue collar here
(and yes, like other posters, I had to put up with endless nagging in school to go white collar. School was easy, good marks, college offers......was not interested in sitting behind a desk at any wage. And I found it VERY insulting when they would harp that I shouldn't want to be a useless worker drone....um, like my parents ya mean? meetings would get interesting then :D )

Another part of the job problem is companies are more worried about having a 'correct' workforce rather than a good one.
'job training' 'team concept' testing for everything...
bah, show me the work, leave me alone, and don't talk to me.
Some of the best, hardest working crews I've been on, never talked while they were working, bosses kept their distance, and they spent every lunchtime at the nearest ginmill.
Nobody, anywhere, could outwork them.
And new guys didn't worry about the boss...ya better be able to keep up with your co-workers......
Would-Could they get hired today...by any company....not a chance
 
Just this morning heard part of an interview with a guy who wrote a book (or just an article, not sure which) on choosing the right college. He started off the interview saying that college isn't right for everyone and kids should look at jobs/trades that involve doing physical things to things that people need repaired or worked on. He said his own son was an electrician who was making more money than he was with his PhD and all. Went on to say should start the college search at the nearby state school that teaches your choice of study field and you can save half and more over a private school.

Seems like good advice.
 
Want to know why "they" don't crack down on the abusers?
BECAUSE IT IS NOT POLITICALLY CORRECT!!!!!

That is why!!!

The abusers tend to be the ones that come from generations of abusers that came before them. And weeding them out might appear to be discriminatory.

For more examples, look at what happened to the idea of drug testing welfare recipients. They fought it tooth and nail. Now who would object to drug testing except a drug USER? How about the whole voter ID discussion going on now. Who would object except he/she who has something to HIDE?
 
(quoted from post at 14:59:04 03/09/14) I can understand both sides of the job situation.

Walmart is the current one that needs busted up. They control too big of a percentage of the market in many areas. I have heard that they are now selling over 50% of the food in this country. That is not good. I would rather have several smaller companies so there is some competition an then supply and demand works. With super large companies controlling such a large part of a market there is ZERO free market. So supply and demand does not work.

Think of how many where told 20-30 years ago to go into the computer industry.

Union is not the answer either. In Dubuque, at JD, the old guys sold out the young guys there about 15 years ago. .
Click to expand...

Wow, JD. I usually respect your insight but I think you are off the mark. I'm no fan of Wally World either, but you don't bust up large companies until they are anti competitive and control most of the market and charge above market prices. I can say in our area that is not the case with WalMart, there is robust competition with Kroger, Giant Eagle, Mejier, Aldi and some 2-3 store locals competing for the food dollar. If anything WalMart is a force to keep prices LOWER... ever see a market where Kroger is the really dominate market? Higher grocery prices is the result. A regional chain, Big Bear went bust and left Kroger as the king of the hill. That's why the others moved in, saw a chance to take market share from Kroger, and it worked to the consumer's benefit.

There is still work in the computer world. My company has a rather large IT shop. Other companies in our industry do too. We do employ some foreign workers but that's because they know the computer language on our old mainframes that is NOT being taught to young folks today. So it's a problem of education, not willingness to hire locals. There are also big problems with off shoring your IT work, the cost of data transmission back and forth was a killer for us (hundreds of thousands of lines of code), also time zone differences and just plain quality of the work. Even with them here the workers take off for a month to go back home to visit family. On tight project timelines you can't have your programmers taking a month off the project. One gal I know went home to Malasia and got stuck there for several weeks, she worked remotely on our hours, which was through the night there. She joined our weekly meeting at 3:30 a.m. her time.

I agree however with the union thing, look how the UAW sold out the new hires in the auto industry, just to keep their too high wages and benefits for a few more years.

No answers here but it's a new and different world. The worker who adapts will do OK, those that don't will be begging the govt. for a constant hand out.
 
On another note about Wal Mart. Here, a lot of mom and pop stores reduced their prices because of Wal Mart. These store owners are still running their stores, still living in nice houses, still driving nice cars AFTER reducing prices by as much as 40%. So that means before Wal Mart came to town they were gouging their friends and neighbors. No other word for it. Heck, in Fergus Falls MN the mall was dying because they were charging too much for leases. Before Wal Mart showed up over half the mall was empty. Main Street was doing good and still is. One grocery store claimed that if Wal Mart expanded to a Super Center that they would be forced to close. That was 5 or 6 years ago. I can still shop in that threatened store. Guess they are just taking their time to close???



Rick
 
Guys, I have been on both sides of this argument. As a former National retailer (not in competition with walmart) we tracked them carefully to hitchhike on the traffic they
generated. But we also paid good wages and did not whine about it.

However, as a citizen and as a consumer, some things have really made my life better,
cell phone, computer/internet, Satellite communications, better vehicles, better healthcare and miracle drugs, better home insulation and heating systems, city water, Air conditioning, netflix on line, cable TV.

They did not come from Walmart, or Lowes, Or Staples. Cheaper socks, cheaper TV's, Bigger selection..yes.

I heard a politician brag about starting Staples and i chuckled. I am sure it was a major undertaking and they have been pretty successful, but i was able to buy paper and pens and paper clips...even staples...before they "revolutionized" office supplies retailing.

It is all about perspective. I have too much stuff already. Need to be cleaning out and tossing, instead of buying more. Wife says i should be doing that instead of posting on YTmag.
 
(quoted from post at 10:21:01 03/12/14) Wife says i should be doing that instead of posting on YTmag.
Click to expand...

Yours too? :lol:

Edd yea they had a lot of stuff available but a lot of folks couldn't afford it. That is what Wal Mart has done. It's made things cheap enough that low income people can afford to buy them. Remember when computers were 2K plus? Now even a poorer family can buy one for under 400 bucks.

Rick
 
How does Walmart's entry level wages compare to those at Lowes, Home Depot, Kmart, Kohls, Penney's, Sears, etc?

If we're subsidizing Walmart workers I suspect we're subsidizing those that work for many other retailers.

I agree that Walmart hasn't changed what we can get, but it sure has impacted what things cost. The down side is is the drive for lower prices has sent much of our manufacturing overseas.
 
Yes Walmart has made "stuff" in abundance, available to everyone. I had a fellow living on the farm, in housing that I provided. No savings "$0", no insurance, no home equity, no nothin! He was 50 years old. On Friday night, if he had $10 left, after paying the utilities and groceries...wifey went to Walmart and got rid of the $10 on something.

Sad to see but was probably the same when she went to the local general store( or company store) and exhausted the paycheck.

Still, I hate to see the young couples coming out of Walmart on Friday night, with 2 carts loaded to the top. Many, not all, but many, have no savings, or insurance, or equity, but lots of stuff.

But that is the free enterprise system I believe in.
 
Yes, it's a whole lot easier to spend money than it is to earn and save it.
What you describe is truly sad, but the blame doesn't fall on Walmart or other retailers. And in some ways it doesn't even have anything to do with how much a person earns (or how much government assistance they draw). It has to do with the instant gratification mindset. The depression era kids learned to get by with very little. They sure didn't waste money. Even later when they were raising their own families they were very frugal. Their kids (my generation) had it much easier but they tried to instill in us to spend responsibly and to save, save ,save for that inevitable rainy day. The idea that the government should handle the rainy day problems instilled in people instead of people being personally responsible for their financial situations, at the same time parents decided it was a good idea to give their kids everything they wanted. So today's youngsters have generally grown up getting what they want, when they want it, and haven't really learned how to live within their means. Some will blame the schools and there may be some truth in that, but I put the blame on the parents.
 
(quoted from post at 07:55:50 03/13/14) Yes Walmart has made "stuff" in abundance, available to everyone. I had a fellow living on the farm, in housing that I provided. No savings "$0", no insurance, no home equity, no nothin! He was 50 years old. On Friday night, if he had $10 left, after paying the utilities and groceries...wifey went to Walmart and got rid of the $10 on something.

Sad to see but was probably the same when she went to the local general store( or company store) and exhausted the paycheck.

Still, I hate to see the young couples coming out of Walmart on Friday night, with 2 carts loaded to the top. Many, not all, but many, have no savings, or insurance, or equity, but lots of stuff.

But that is the free enterprise system I believe in.
Click to expand...

That's got nothing to do with Walmart. It was the same before Walmart and it will be the same if Walmart dies. At least those people got something for their money. It irks me more to see people buying Lotto tickets, beer or smokes. Talk about stupidity, but it's their choice.

The rest of it is society/culture.Try talking a kid under 35 or so into putting just 20 bucks a week into a savings account. It's a completely foreign idea. Why do that? A credit card is easier.......
 
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