Gov. Scott Walker gave his “State of the State” speech in front of a full crowd in the state Assembly chambers last Wednesday. But Walker's speech was so disconnected from reality that he could have been phoning it in from Mars. Just days after a million signatures were filed with the hopes of ousting him from office, Walker asserted that the state was headed in the right direction with thousands of new jobs, a fully funded public education system and absolutely no political division. That doesn't seem to mesh with what's actually happening in the state. Here are some of Walker's biggest whoppers:
Walker: “During the past year, we added thousands of new jobs.”
Reality: Wisconsin added jobs in the first half of 2011. Then, when Walker's budget went into effect on July 1, 2011, we lost 35,600 jobs over the next six months. Jobs have been lost in each month since Walker's budget has been in effect. Essentially, the job gains in the first half of 2011 have been wiped out by the loss of jobs during the time of Walker's budget.
Even worse, Walker's Wisconsin is moving in the opposite direction as the rest of the country. While the United States as a whole has been adding jobs for 22 months as part of the broader national recovery, Wisconsin is the only state to have shed jobs in each of the past six months.
If Walker's Wisconsin had kept pace with the rest of the nation, we'd have added an additional 53,700 jobs by the end of 2011, according to an analysis by the Institute for Wisconsin's Future.
Walker: “Our unemployment rate is not only lower than the national average, but much better than our neighbors to the south in Illinois.”
Reality: Wisconsin's unemployment rate was consistently lower than the national average—and Illinois' unemployment rate—throughout the entire recent recession. Walker is trying to take credit for Wisconsin's comparatively lower unemployment rate during the Doyle administration.
Walker: “We balanced the state budget.”
Reality: First of all, the state constitution requires a balanced budget, so every governor's budget in Wisconsin has been balanced. As always, however, the devil is in the details. Walker's “balanced” budget depends on which accounting process is used. When cash accounting is used, the state's budget is balanced. But when Generally Accepted Accounting Principles' (GAAP) accrual accounting is used (as it is for publicly traded and privately held companies), Walker's 2011-2013 budget ends with a $3 billion deficit (worse than Doyle's last budget deficit, by the way).
Walker likes to highlight his so-called balanced budget when pitching his skills to the media and the deep-pocketed donors who are underwriting his recall defense, yet at other times he claims the opposite. In a letter to the federal government, the Walker administration claimed that the state would have a budget deficit through 2013, the end of his current biennial budget. If the Obama administration buys Walker's claim, Walker could then kick tens of thousands of people off of BadgerCare.
Walker is trying to have it both ways to suit his political needs: bragging about balancing the budget to appear fiscally responsible, but saying the budget is not balanced so that he can destroy Wisconsin's safety net.
Walker: “We balanced [the budget] without raising taxes, without massive layoffs, and without budget tricks, all of which allowed us to put more than $1.2 billion of new state money into Medicaid programs like BadgerCare and Family Care.”
Reality: In reality, at the same time Walker has cut $140 million in taxes for corporations, he has raised taxes on low-income families who use the Earned Income Tax Credit ($28 million per year) and the Homestead Tax Credit ($7 million annually). In addition, Walker has cut public employees' pay by an average of $3,000 annually, and will make newly jobless people wait an extra week before receiving unemployment benefits to save an additional $48 million.
And that $1.2 billion of additional Medicaid money? The reality is that the state's Medicaid programs needed an additional $1.8 billion at the time to be fully funded. But Walker and Republican legislators deliberately underfunded the program so that they could ask the federal government for permission to kick people off of BadgerCare.
Walker's support for Family Care is paper-thin. He capped the program's enrollment, did an about-face and lifted the cap, and then took credit for lifting the cap. What the governor didn't tell the public is that the federal government ordered him to lift the cap so that disabled Wisconsinites wouldn't be shut out of this essential program.
Walker: “Today, 94% of our job creators believe Wisconsin is headed in the right direction.”
Reality: Walker is citing a recent survey conducted by the conservative Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce (WMC), the anti-government, big-business lobby that consistently props up Republican politicians—not exactly an objective measure. There are many small-business owners who disagree.
Walker: “We heard many business owners say that they have jobs but that they cannot find enough skilled workers to fill them. This is a problem that must be solved.”
Reality: Virtually everyone agrees that it must be solved, but Walker's budget went in the opposite direction. Walker cut funding for the Wisconsin Technical College System (WCTS) by $72 million over the next two years.
Walker: “Employers also told us that they need a 21st-century infrastructure system to drive economic development … We know that a strong transportation system helps manufacturers and farmers get product to and from market and it keeps good people on the job building that infrastructure.”
Reality: Walker might say he cares about a modern transportation system for moving products, but he certainly doesn't care about getting people from Point A to Point B. He rejected $810 million in federal funds for high-speed rail, which would have connected Wisconsin with the rest of the Midwest—and created jobs. Now officials are considering having the high-speed rail go through Iowa to Minneapolis, rather than through Wisconsin. The rejection of funds also jeopardized federal money for upgrading the Amtrak line between Milwaukee and Chicago, so now Wisconsinites will have to foot that bill. Walker and his Republican allies killed off the Kenosha-Racine-Milwaukee (KRM) commuter rail line and regional transit authorities (RTAs) throughout the state. His budget also slashed public transit by 10%, and he has done nothing to help local bus systems create dedicated funding sources.
Walker: “Many of us believe that the $3 billion tax increase imposed a few years ago actually led to the massive job losses through 2010.”
Reality: Walker can believe whatever he wants, but virtually all unbiased economists believe the fact is that Wisconsin lost jobs as part of a global economic downturn created by irresponsible Wall Street firms. Taxes were not the issue.
Walker: “Last year, I appointed the bipartisan Commission on Waste, Fraud and Abuse. The members turned in their final report earlier this month. In it, they identified over $400 million in savings for the taxpayers.”
Reality: The report was never voted on by the members of the committee and can't be taken seriously. According to the Democratic committee members—state Sen. Chris Larson (D-Milwaukee) and state Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Madison)—the report includes savings found in federal programs rather than state programs. They also said the commission recommended that the state Department of Revenue go after tax cheats, but Walker cut $2 million from the state's tax collection efforts.
Walker: “I want to improve our schools and ensure that every kid—no matter what ZIP code they live in—has access to a great education.”
Reality: Walker has cut an unprecedented $800 million from K-12 education while limiting the amount of levy a school district can raise. Taken together, that's a $1.7 billion hit over the next two years.
As a result of public schools' tight budgets, an estimated 3,400 educators—about half of them teachers—lost their jobs across the state. Class sizes are increasing and specialty courses—especially classes that teach technical skills—are being dropped.
The cuts will get worse in the coming years, since school districts have used one-time federal stimulus funds to patch holes in their budgets.
And despite Walker's feel-good rhetoric, his cuts have hit the poorest kids the hardest.
“Districts with more than 60% of students eligible for free or reduced lunch had their general aid from the state reduced by $558 per student, while those with the most well-off families had state aid cut by only $294 per student,” concluded the Wisconsin Council on Children and Families' Wisconsin Budget Project.
Walker: “During the past year, we added thousands of new jobs.”
Reality: Wisconsin added jobs in the first half of 2011. Then, when Walker's budget went into effect on July 1, 2011, we lost 35,600 jobs over the next six months. Jobs have been lost in each month since Walker's budget has been in effect. Essentially, the job gains in the first half of 2011 have been wiped out by the loss of jobs during the time of Walker's budget.
Even worse, Walker's Wisconsin is moving in the opposite direction as the rest of the country. While the United States as a whole has been adding jobs for 22 months as part of the broader national recovery, Wisconsin is the only state to have shed jobs in each of the past six months.
If Walker's Wisconsin had kept pace with the rest of the nation, we'd have added an additional 53,700 jobs by the end of 2011, according to an analysis by the Institute for Wisconsin's Future.
Walker: “Our unemployment rate is not only lower than the national average, but much better than our neighbors to the south in Illinois.”
Reality: Wisconsin's unemployment rate was consistently lower than the national average—and Illinois' unemployment rate—throughout the entire recent recession. Walker is trying to take credit for Wisconsin's comparatively lower unemployment rate during the Doyle administration.
Walker: “We balanced the state budget.”
Reality: First of all, the state constitution requires a balanced budget, so every governor's budget in Wisconsin has been balanced. As always, however, the devil is in the details. Walker's “balanced” budget depends on which accounting process is used. When cash accounting is used, the state's budget is balanced. But when Generally Accepted Accounting Principles' (GAAP) accrual accounting is used (as it is for publicly traded and privately held companies), Walker's 2011-2013 budget ends with a $3 billion deficit (worse than Doyle's last budget deficit, by the way).
Walker likes to highlight his so-called balanced budget when pitching his skills to the media and the deep-pocketed donors who are underwriting his recall defense, yet at other times he claims the opposite. In a letter to the federal government, the Walker administration claimed that the state would have a budget deficit through 2013, the end of his current biennial budget. If the Obama administration buys Walker's claim, Walker could then kick tens of thousands of people off of BadgerCare.
Walker is trying to have it both ways to suit his political needs: bragging about balancing the budget to appear fiscally responsible, but saying the budget is not balanced so that he can destroy Wisconsin's safety net.
Walker: “We balanced [the budget] without raising taxes, without massive layoffs, and without budget tricks, all of which allowed us to put more than $1.2 billion of new state money into Medicaid programs like BadgerCare and Family Care.”
Reality: In reality, at the same time Walker has cut $140 million in taxes for corporations, he has raised taxes on low-income families who use the Earned Income Tax Credit ($28 million per year) and the Homestead Tax Credit ($7 million annually). In addition, Walker has cut public employees' pay by an average of $3,000 annually, and will make newly jobless people wait an extra week before receiving unemployment benefits to save an additional $48 million.
And that $1.2 billion of additional Medicaid money? The reality is that the state's Medicaid programs needed an additional $1.8 billion at the time to be fully funded. But Walker and Republican legislators deliberately underfunded the program so that they could ask the federal government for permission to kick people off of BadgerCare.
Walker's support for Family Care is paper-thin. He capped the program's enrollment, did an about-face and lifted the cap, and then took credit for lifting the cap. What the governor didn't tell the public is that the federal government ordered him to lift the cap so that disabled Wisconsinites wouldn't be shut out of this essential program.
Walker: “Today, 94% of our job creators believe Wisconsin is headed in the right direction.”
Reality: Walker is citing a recent survey conducted by the conservative Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce (WMC), the anti-government, big-business lobby that consistently props up Republican politicians—not exactly an objective measure. There are many small-business owners who disagree.
Walker: “We heard many business owners say that they have jobs but that they cannot find enough skilled workers to fill them. This is a problem that must be solved.”
Reality: Virtually everyone agrees that it must be solved, but Walker's budget went in the opposite direction. Walker cut funding for the Wisconsin Technical College System (WCTS) by $72 million over the next two years.
Walker: “Employers also told us that they need a 21st-century infrastructure system to drive economic development … We know that a strong transportation system helps manufacturers and farmers get product to and from market and it keeps good people on the job building that infrastructure.”
Reality: Walker might say he cares about a modern transportation system for moving products, but he certainly doesn't care about getting people from Point A to Point B. He rejected $810 million in federal funds for high-speed rail, which would have connected Wisconsin with the rest of the Midwest—and created jobs. Now officials are considering having the high-speed rail go through Iowa to Minneapolis, rather than through Wisconsin. The rejection of funds also jeopardized federal money for upgrading the Amtrak line between Milwaukee and Chicago, so now Wisconsinites will have to foot that bill. Walker and his Republican allies killed off the Kenosha-Racine-Milwaukee (KRM) commuter rail line and regional transit authorities (RTAs) throughout the state. His budget also slashed public transit by 10%, and he has done nothing to help local bus systems create dedicated funding sources.
Walker: “Many of us believe that the $3 billion tax increase imposed a few years ago actually led to the massive job losses through 2010.”
Reality: Walker can believe whatever he wants, but virtually all unbiased economists believe the fact is that Wisconsin lost jobs as part of a global economic downturn created by irresponsible Wall Street firms. Taxes were not the issue.
Walker: “Last year, I appointed the bipartisan Commission on Waste, Fraud and Abuse. The members turned in their final report earlier this month. In it, they identified over $400 million in savings for the taxpayers.”
Reality: The report was never voted on by the members of the committee and can't be taken seriously. According to the Democratic committee members—state Sen. Chris Larson (D-Milwaukee) and state Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Madison)—the report includes savings found in federal programs rather than state programs. They also said the commission recommended that the state Department of Revenue go after tax cheats, but Walker cut $2 million from the state's tax collection efforts.
Walker: “I want to improve our schools and ensure that every kid—no matter what ZIP code they live in—has access to a great education.”
Reality: Walker has cut an unprecedented $800 million from K-12 education while limiting the amount of levy a school district can raise. Taken together, that's a $1.7 billion hit over the next two years.
As a result of public schools' tight budgets, an estimated 3,400 educators—about half of them teachers—lost their jobs across the state. Class sizes are increasing and specialty courses—especially classes that teach technical skills—are being dropped.
The cuts will get worse in the coming years, since school districts have used one-time federal stimulus funds to patch holes in their budgets.
And despite Walker's feel-good rhetoric, his cuts have hit the poorest kids the hardest.
“Districts with more than 60% of students eligible for free or reduced lunch had their general aid from the state reduced by $558 per student, while those with the most well-off families had state aid cut by only $294 per student,” concluded the Wisconsin Council on Children and Families' Wisconsin Budget Project.
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A job loss is a job loss no matter how it happens. The govener promised more jobs and has not kept his part of the bargan so far. Most jobs he has created are short term jobs that in 5 years will not be here.
Who's fault is it that wisconsin lost jobs?
Yours
and mine
Welcome to democracy buddy, its a tough one but we ALL have to take credit for this..thatys the magic of a free voting system! But dont worry...when the wall st cronies and their lobbyists finish dismantling our democratic system, you can live in your dirt hut worry free!
anonymous your an idiot! Don't call me buddy because I'm not. How did Democracy do this? Should we go Communism, dictatorship? I'm sure your next comment will be "thats what Walker is".
Your as bad as the person who wrote this article. 1st you say that what democracy is and it's yours and my fault. Then you say it's wall street cronies and lobbyists. Which is it moron?
The parts you are talking about are actually from 2 different time periods. The job losses right away are referring to walkers budget and beyond. The job losses much later in the article are referring to ones that happened in 2007-8 when the economy was crashing. That is why taxes were not the issue. Also, as the article points out, Walker's budget creates a larger deficit then Doyle's did. You seem very angry, but I hope you look at the information in front of you and change your mind.
SE You said... "The job losses much later in the article are referring to ones that happened in 2007-8 when the economy was crashing." and "That is why taxes were not the issue."
While Scott Walker was talking about 2010 job losses not 07-08' like you misspoke of. Walker qoute “Many of us believe that the $3 billion tax increase imposed a few years ago actually led to the massive job losses through 2010.”
SE you said... " The job losses right away are referring to walkers budget and beyond." You can believe what you want but if you think because a bill ruled effective in June of 2011( 7 months ago) is the reason for job losses IN THE PRIVATE SECTOR you have alot to learn.
SE you said... " I hope you look at the information in front of you and change your mind." Hope you do the same.
You sound young with alot to learn SE, good luck in life.
@anonoymous
How do you make a dirt hut? I mean, I've heard of mud huts and the use of adobe bricks but dirt without a binding agent, well, is just dirt. They have them in Minecraft but that's a video game. So by proxy, will I be living in a video game after the lobbyists are done?
What more should anyone expect, without a teleprompter Walker has no idea what to say, Scott is incapable of making any smart or rational statements without first contacting his billion Yamaka wearing friends the KOCH BROTHERS!
Anonymous you are most definitely brainwashed by that moron Scott's idiotic lies and schemes, why don't you get in that box car and take Scott with you! Republicans are brainless, guess it says something about UUUUUUU!
Nice responses, Koch brothers and Republican idiots. Do you guys have anything constructive to say or do you just foam at the mouth?
This article is hardly news worhty. Is this what they teach in Journalism these days, cut and paste tidbits and call it news? Try not to be so bias next time and maybe find out why Walker made the cuts you speak of. Without an answer from the "otherside" is hardly objective.
Lisa, what would you expect Milwaukee Express to do to your salary and benefits if they were in the red like Wisconsin?
"I have no clue where the Shepherd comes up with all the negative stuff."
The same place they found all the dumb pictures of Walker with his mouth open probably.
Hey buddy, post your name and address!!!
So....people choose to be poor??Really Where's your reality....
"people choose to be poor"
"Hand-outs to losers"
Holy. Shit. Do you even pay attention to the things you say?
"round up flunkies and boxcar them somewhere else" OK Hitler.
Just for one moment, try to take your mind back to younger days, when you werent so bitter, prejudiced, morally bankrupt. When your mind was more open to people's freedoms and wellbeing. I know this may be tough for you since, in order to justify your hostile and jaded attitude towards your brother Man, you MUST believe the things Walker and his puppet masters tell you out the sides of their mouths, but really, there are many many facets to these problems, and sticking to one sides rhetoric isnt going to help you any more. How long has it been since you really LEARNED anything?
I think it's important for you to realize that life doesn't take place in a vacuum, there are many other factors as to why people are poor. Many people work very hard, and with multiple jobs, just to make ends meet, and are still considered poor. Next, the US government was going to fund that Amtrak line as part of the high speed rail plan, but walker denied the funds. So you have no one to blame but walker for that one. To your next point, education is something that needs funding, and people who need help paying for education tend to just get loans or small grants that aren't paying the whole bill. I'm still paying my student loans, and I grew up in a poor family. Of course without this help, I might have had to stay poor, but with it I am able to move up and make more money, that is the point of education. It's an investment in our future, and one that usually has a good payout, I now pay higher taxes and make more money. But i find it important to point out, that without these safety nets that you claim are only for losers, i would have never been able to move on in my life and move up in society. These safety nets are there for a reason, to be able to get out of bad situations that arise
How is anything in education a waste? Sorry, ma'am or sir, but not everyone had enough money to go to a private school where there were many opportunities to experience the arts, sport teams, and other after school activities. Some of us didn't have parents who could pay massive amounts of money for such luxuries such as safe places for their children to go.
I would rather have smaller class sizes as well as a wider view for children to experience. I would rather have enough teachers for chldren so the children don't get 'lost' in the class. If someone does not have an adequate educational start in life, then the rest of their life will be a harder hill to walk up.
Poverty isn't a choice. Poverty is the result of the classist system, the corporate system, that we all support and live through. It is not a choice to stay in poverty when you don't have that education to climb your way out.
Don't speak of something that you know nothing of, ma'am or sir.
And a very special thanks to Mr. Walker, who supports the money but not the people.
People choose to be poor when they walk around with their pants down to the knees have have their teeth capped Jack-O-Lanturn style. Whe kids skip school to smoke drugs, they are choosing to be poor. The US government blackmailed Walker saying if he didn't build a boogdoggle to Madison they would not fund the popular Chicago-Milwaukee line
Many dollars in education is a waste. Schools could be run as a for profit business. When I was in Texas our school has oil wells on the property and we made money. I was in another country and local schools ran their own lottery. Another school had their cafeteria do catering. Schools need to think of ways to make money not spend money.
And look where that got them. What is the rank of texas in education? 49th? There may be reasons for that, like not being able to focus on education. Like i said, its an investment, so you dont directly profit, but you will profit in the future.
Sorry SE going to have to disagree a bit here... though I don't quite like the concept of oil rigs in a school. Texas is a vast state with many different school systems. When I moved from there to Wisconsin's suposedly superiour school system. I ended up being greatly dissapointed in how backwards it was. Some of the schools down in Texas are great.... others, unfortunately the majority, not so much.
To the "person" who obviously trolls and spews nothing but prejudicial FAUX NEWS rhetoric, I defy you to go over each and every case of people on assistance and tell me they ALL wear their pants below their rear ends and cap their teeth. These statement show that you do NO independent thinking, but just swallow the gross generalizations that people in power want you to swallow. You are no sheep because they have eyes that see in front of them. You, sir or madam, are a blind, deaf and dumb person.
"Hay one thinking Wisconsin is moving forward is in fairy tail land."
AMEN!!!!!!!!!
Wait, what???????????????
Good for choy Chad.
You people must be living in a dream world, how long has it been since you have been actively looking for a job/career in this state?? Your comments remind me of a better time when i lived in this state under different gubernatorial "rule". There are jobs, and you can cite one random company with 100 openings in an extremely specialized job type, and even THEN i can guarentee that a thousand people applied to that same job because there are so few opportunities in this state. And if you think businesses will move here to create new jobs, or create more opportunities in this extremely shakey fiscal climate, Think Again. Bad haircuts? bowling jackets? what the hell year are you living in..1955?
I am educated and highly skilled at my trade, and let me tell you There Are No Jobs Here (and fyi my tattoes are not visible under my clothing, i have no piercings, and a number of hairdresser friends who give me great haircuts). So why dont you take your wacky conservative attitude and evolve it about 60 years forward, and realized that even if you hate me, and people of the younger generation like me, WE are not the ones bending you over..money grubbing puppets like Walker are. But dont worry, despite the fact that you will blindly continue to follow the "conservative" path, youre eyes will finally be open after your family and way of life is reduced to serfdom in the coming years if big business and lobbyist continue to get their way on capital hill.
That was a pretty lame and inadequate comparison. Wal-mart jobs do not pay $85k per year. The whole "not finding jobs" complains are typically in reference to those with degrees. Sure a company or two have opened up but the influx of jobs being created are not enough to stymie the loss of jobs. This also does not take into consideration the need to relocate. When it comes down to it, what is considered the middle class, is now decreasing in comparison to previous decades. Just look up tax returns and statistics. You will find all the proof you need.
What Max says is true. I work at a mill and bust my butt every day. Anonymous, you need to get in reality land. I think you make to much and should take a pay cut so you make about 20k a year. Because you and Walker think people can afford an appartment, buy food, buy a car, pay for power and heat on that wage. Good luck buddy!
One thing that I love is how quickly people are willing to label someone as liberal without truly understanding what it means. While I will avoid that particular topic, I will mention that what most Republicans, major corporation leaders and those who refer themselves as conservatives, such as the original poster. Echo the words of Herbert Spencer, a well know liberalist who is the source of many of our nations policies.
You think of $85k a year as " Its probably more than combined unemployment and welfare"..... How out of touch are you with this country? The average income is $26k a year, even less for minorities and women. What do you say to the kid that grew up in inner city Milwaukee with a single parent that was never given a chance to succeed in school and never had the chance to earn a degree in software engineering? Is he/she a "hideous specimen"? And when you say the economy is booming it's all because of Scott Walker's doing in the state, but on the national level it can't have anything whatsoever to do with Obama, right?
Max says "I am educated and highly skilled at my trade, and let me tell you There Are No Jobs Here". You might be educated and highly skilled but for some reason no one will hire you. You have personal problems that need resolved. Second if a person is a rainmaker and so skilled they make huge profits for a company, they will get hired. If you come to me and show me you can make me more money than someone who is working for me now, I will hire you and fire someone. People make themselves unemployable. She show up to interviews texting on their phones. They pull up in rattletrap cars with car seats in the back. I always send someone out to inspect their car. If we baby toys and cigarettes in their car -- we trash their application. I could go on all day on how people sabbotage their job prospects. I pointed out to one young lady that I did not hire her because her drunk bikini pics on Facebook. Did you see the headline today? Stock market up on jobs reports. There are jobs. I am not giving credit to Obama and not giving credit to Walker. Government cannot create real jobs. Oh sure, Obama and Walker talk a good talk but that is just to try to get votes. People in the know realize its just buzz work talk and has no substance. Don't take our political leaders so seriously. Its like when a sports team says they will win and they don't. We get over it. There's no 250,000 new flunkie family paying jobs. Get over it.
To anonymous..."They pull up in rattletrap cars with car seats in the back. I always send someone out to inspect their car. If we baby toys and cigarettes in their car -- we trash their application." THAT IS DESCRIMINATION!! I am a good hard worker and I drove rattletrap cars when my children were small because that is all I could afford raising 2 children on my own!! Even if you do get a higher education right now the simple fact is that the jobs just are not there in Wisconsin. Go to ANY employment section of ANY newspaper, ANY web site for jobs, there are very few to be had at this time in this state and most of them posted are low level jobs that pay less than $9 an hour unless you have a degree. Tell me how a single mother/father can raise a child on $8 an hour?? I bet your one of those people that never had to work a service job, you obviously have never been through tough times when you didn't know where the next meal for your children would come from because you just gave every cent you had to pay for rent or electicity or heat. I tell you what though, because my daughter went through those tough times growing up she now pays it forward. She has worked her way up to a management position in a good company that cares about their employees, not just how much money they make for the company. The company she works for has a food drive every year to donate to the local food pantry, the first year they just filled one barel, so the second year she made it a competition between the departments, they recently raised over 1600# of food, they participate in canstruction in which all the food is donated to a pantry. So before you trash that next application maybe you should actually interview the person and check their references and just maybe that person will be the hardest working most loyal employee you have, because they appreciate the opportunity for the chance to give thier children a better future. On the other hand never mind, you don't sound like someone that cares about people, you only care about image and money and they likely are better off not working under you. One day Karma will return to sender!! May the blessings be!! ~T~
I worked service jobs all in high school until college graduations, about 8 years worth. There are plenty of well paying jobs. Just not here. Relocate. I did it many times. Look at cities like Dallas and Houston and how much they have grown over the past 30 years. People relocated there because of the job. You man-up and move. Don't wait for Obama to give you a nice rubber room make-work job.
Yes we discrimante. We can't hire moms with young kids because they take too much time off. They get annoying phone calls about how to make macaroni and cheese or just to say they are home from school. We don't hire old people, smokers, people with poor credit or anyone with too many CCAP entries.
You know ever since Facebook came out, unemployment has been going up. Everyone looks like a dumbass on Facebook. I'm guessing millions of people have sabbotaged their career by just being on Facebook.
Also with court records being totally public - if you have had too many parking tickets, then you have CCAP entries.
"Anonymous" (because you are in fear of revealing yourself???), you speak like someone who worked in "the service industry" (while in college yet!) back in the Clinton years when the economy was strong! In my own state of Ohio, a "rust belt" state, we have had a depressed economy long before the International economic crisis hit. I worked for over 30 years in a "good" job (legal secretary for large corporate law firms) and made a good salary. However, when the economy tanked, there were tremendous lay-offs in all sectors (public and private) and, since I am 50 I couldn't really compete with the younger people who were willing to be paid 1/2 of what was my salary by that point. I don't know about Wisconsin, but here in Ohio, we have hundreds, if not thousands, who apply for each and every job opening that isn't part-time or minimum wage. Even THOSE jobs get a heck of a lot of applicants. Yes, decades ago, it was much easier to get a job, hold a job, etc. But then, back then, we didn't have SPIES that checked out our cars, our homes, our financial records, our blood, and every other "test" imaginable.
I just met with the CEO of a big not so well known company. His problem is he can't find workers. No decent shows up. All the good people have jobs. He can't advertise or he is subjected to discrimination laws and then gets a 1000 people to apply. They don't have the resources to interview 1000 people. They would just like to pick through about 7 good people. If he advertises he gets hundreds of people showing up in hoodies and rattletrap cars. And he loves women in their 50s. They can't get pregnant and they are on their husband's health insurance. I'd think a good looking woman who is 50 and good at her job would have no problem at all finding work. The economy is always good for good people. Choose to be a good person. If you have shortcomings, fix them. Drop the weight, fix the hair, straighten and whiten the teeth. Borrow a friends newer car for the interview. Put the wonder bra on, turn on the charm. You will get the job.
Anaonymous, now I am convinced that you are living in the 1950s. He "loves" women may age because they can't get pregnant! They are on their husband's insurance? All this tells me is that your "friend" is someone who wants to get the absolute MOST out of his human "resources" with little to no investment made INTO that "resource. I will agree with the OLD standard that "the clothes make the person" to some extent, but honestly, if that is all your "friend" sees - the outer shell - I can flip some real estate to you that looks fine on the outside after cosmetic repairs, but will fall apart on you within a year. Superficial criteria, in my opinion.
Yes me and my friends live in the 50s. We choose to. We have jobs available and are not going to hand them out to people who will cost of money. We give jobs to people who make us money. The whole point is to make money, not be a social welfare agency. We have learned that giving jobs to women who can get pregnant, costs us money. Giving jobs to people with tats and their pants down to their knees, generally are not going to be employees we profit from. Giving jobs to single moms with kids -- not a good idea. People who don't take care of their car probably don't take care of themselves too well. Criminal records or has a habit of just being in court a lot for any reason --- usually don't make good employees. Pretty girls, even stupid ones, get customers in the door. Gets clients to visit more. We are the boss, we make the rules. Our way or the hiway. A lot of getting hired just comes down to prettying up a bit, cleaning up. Don't show up for an interview with red Bozo hair and a hippie dress, Chinese tattoos, and a zit dot on your nose. If you are not phyically appealing to the boss - don't count on getting hired. Thats the way it is - 1950 all day long.
Anonymous, I am not going to argue with the Ghost of Christmas Past. You and your 1950s friends are in your own little utopian world. Ozzie and Harriet are dead and buried and Ralph and Alice are gone as well. Going quickly, too, is the shallow idea that it's all about profit, all about money. People are very quickly waking up to the fact that money isn't the only means of exchange in the world. And do you know why that is? It is because you and your 1950s friends have hoarded it all. So, the rest of us, those who have other values besides the allmighty dollar, have had to find other ways, and other ideals. I suppose in a way we should all be grateful to you and your type - those who hoard and use and manipulate everyone around them. It is because of people like you that the rest of us have learned to value things beyond money and greed. And we, my friend, have the numbers. You may have the money, but so did the elite of old. You may look down upon us "peasants", but ultimately, you and yours will end up much like the Tsars, the French kings, and others who would care nothing about using, manipulating and discarding those "beneath your station." Enjoy what you have while you can; because through your actions, you have no doubt burned the bridges to those who might be able to save your sorry behinds someday. I bid you good night.
Seriously, if you can't make money in this country you are doing something wrong. You have to try not to make money. I hate it went people come begging for handouts. Funny they always have a bigger house, drive a bigger car than me, yet they need money to make their mortgage and car payment. Gee, many try living in a $150k home and drive a Honda. But no, poor people got to have that $300k home, which is underwater, and drive SUVs. Oh, uncle Annonymous, please loan us money for payments. I tell them to get the hell out and learn to get by on what they have. I hate it when cowards who chose not to work as hard as me bitch to me about me hoarding my money.
Anon - believe it or not you got me BACK here to rebutt. Listen to yourself! Sir, are you calling ME a coward by any chance? Because if you are, you'd best be able to back that up! Oh yeah, right, you're ANONYMOUS - lol And you call ME a coward?? Wow. Listen, you can generalize all you want to, and obviously you are well prepared to do so. I am living on unemployment compensation at the moment, trying to get my own non-profit business off the ground so that I do not need to collect unemployment compensation for much longer. I am at said non-profit EVERY DAY, 6 to 7 hours per day, working very hard to try to get it to the point where I can pay myself a small salary. I don't need much. I don't drive (by choice - I live in a city where I can walk most places or use public transportation) so I don't have the expense of a car. I do not watch much television, so I don't need that big fancy flat screen that I bet YOU have in your home! I am not a "clothes horse" or a "shoe fanatic" because I don't care to dress up for the likes of YOU. I live very simply, thank you very much. So, before you generalize that everyone somehow is how you describe (well, everyone but your 50's cronies anyway), perhaps you should stop and think about how you are presenting YOURSELF. Because trust me on this, you are showing exactly how ignorant you really are with your words. So, NOW I will retire, as I have to get up early to go "volunteer" my services at least one more day....
Grow up. Just realize men are success objects and women are sex objects. If you think otherwise you live in a dream world. Most successful women, financially, have a nice set of bolt ons, in good physical shape, and understand how the world works.
Why not turn your non profit into PROFIT? If you live simply then you should be rich with all the money you are saving. If not, what happened to it?
Mr. Anonymous, you are truly an interesting piece of work, I'll give you that! " Just realize men are success objects and women are sex objects." This is really how you see the world? I've been married for 33 years to a man who is not a "success object", but a person - a well rounded mentally and emotionally person with a Master's Degree. He's in sales now, as his degree is not one of the ones that is "in demand" at the moment, but I can tell you, part of being successful in the sales field is listening to customers, finding out what they want, and then finding the best way to fulfill that want. I wonder if you are a married person. If you are, is she a "Stepford Wife?" What happens if her breasts start to sag, or she gets a wrinkle? Is she then no longer "of use" to you? I can't imagine you have children, but perhaps you do. If so, are they commodities to be "used" as well? The more we converse, the more I see you as a dressed-up "cave man", only capable of basic lusts and gratifications. And I feel sorry for you - you who seem to be stuck in this mindset of role playing of being "the boss" (my way or the highway) and everyone else is a chess piece -- no wait, that would be too intellectual and deep - more like a piece on a checkerboard to be "jumped" until you get to be Kinged. Sad.
Well no wonder you sound angry. You are married to a guy with a masters degree but he doesn't make lots of money. Like they say in Texas, all hat and not cattle. A real man makes lots of money all the time. No,I'm not married. I hire immagrant housekeepers as concubines and companions. Woman want a man who will protect and provide for them, not mooch off of them and make them have to get a job.
You should change your screen name to "Feudal Lord", it would fit you so much better! I'm not angry, actually. Kind of amazed, in fact. And if I NEEDED to get a job because I was not being "supported", I would. But I don't believe in being a subserviant "supported" [i.e. "kept"] woman. I am intelligent and motivated - just not motivated by the same things you are. Amassing more and more money is not my goal. Being able to pay my bills, live comfortably, be able to travel, etc. is perfect for me. I don't WANT to sit at home doing my nails - I want to contribute something, and use my gifts, talents and intellect by doing something positive for myself and my community. It's called "Paying it Forward" as someone way way above in this thread mentioned. It's called "giving back." I know that is a completely foreign concept to someone whose goals are to take rather than give. Fortunately, there are many more givers than takers in this world. It's been an interesting conversation, but since we seem to only be going over the same ground at this point, I will say good luck to you in "the game." Just don't be surprised if, in the end, you find that by winning your way, you have lost more than you might have expected.