Jobs

If you Google "jobs and economic growth" you'll find the latest optimism on the U.S. economy put out by the White House. The first thing that they want everyone to know is how many jobs have been created lately. If you look at other web sites you will find a mix of optimism and pessimism concerning the job market.

Some think the job market looks okay while others don't think it's good at all. So who's right? Do we have a strong job market or not? I guess it depends on who you ask. And I guess it depends on what types of jobs you mean.

Here's a question that is not being addressed when it comes to this issue of jobs. What kind of jobs are these that are being created? Are they jobs that the American Taxpayers are enthused about? Or are these jobs that nobody wants? The concern by our government seems to be quantity, not quality, so they can show us what a good job they're doing. It seems that they want optimistic facts and figures to release to the media. All opinions aside, what do we see in the real world job market, where the American people live?

What I see is people going to college to get a good education and then having trouble finding a decent job in their field of expertise. I see a manufacturing economy that has been in transition to a service economy over the last four decades.

Because of this I see lots of low paying fast food and retail sales jobs. I see companies being forced to send their high paying jobs overseas so they can keep competitive. I see businesses having to streamline so much and be so efficient (because of having to compete on a global scale where others work for one third of American wages) that it has become overwhelming. I see the American Taxpayers losing their pensions and benefits because of the globalism that our leaders have forced on us. I see Americans having to constantly change jobs as the world market shifts.

I see single mothers working two or three jobs so that they can pay their bills. I see businesses sending high technology jobs overseas so that they don't have to pay high wages to Americans. I see Americans being forced by their employers to train low paid foreigners how to replace them. In the real world I see companies paying less health coverage, less benefits and less retirement to their workers. I see highly trained college graduates having to leave America to find a good job. That's what I see in the real world. American Taxpayers being short changed of good jobs that should stay in America. That's what I see.

Let's face it. Because our leaders have forced the American workers into competing on a global level, it is natural for companies to streamline their work force so their profit margin can remain as high as possible. They are forced to be as efficient as possible and do business as smart as possible. It didn't use to be that way. The reason that it is like that now, and will continue to be like that unless there is change, is because of the third world competition that they have to contend with in the global market.

Let's take an example of a real world situation that we all can relate to, and you'll get a better idea of what has happened to the American job market. After reading this example I think that you will see that American businesses are not the enemy of the American worker. They have been forced to do business on a global scale to stay in business. The systematic elimination of American jobs is simply a result of the globalization of the American economy.

Here's the example: It's 1960. The U.S. economy has not yet been globalized to any degree. Bob's company in Chicago makes widgets. Tom's company in Detroit also makes widgets. They both employ Americans. They both buy all of their materials from American supply companies. They both provide their American employees with about the same benefits and retirement. Hourly wages for their American staff are about the same thanks to the competitive nature of capitalism.

In short, all of their costs are about the same. Their profits are about the same. One may work a little smarter but the other might have a little better product. All in all they stay pretty competitive with each other through the years because they are competing on an equal plain - the U.S. market. As long as they are honest, work hard, and produce a product that Americans want they will remain in business.

One day, many years later, Bob in Chicago hears that the U.S. government has decided that he can hire employees in Cheapistan for $2.00 per day and they'll be thrilled to get it. [Cheapistan has a failed culture due to decades of communist rule and the people have now been reduced to nothing. They are demoralized and are without hope. Communism is good for that. They would like something to eat but they have an even greater need for some shoes so that they can run away from the government army tanks that visit from time to time.]

Bob decides to quit paying his American workers the $14.00 per hour that he has been paying them because if he moves his factory to Cheapistan he will get wealthy and be able to send his kids to college and move his beloved mother-in-law into an old folks home (even though it may break his heart to see her go).

At first Bob can't sleep at night because he knows that he will be betraying his American employees who have worked so hard to keep him in business all of these years. But then he remembers his great affection for his mother-in-law, and the starving communists that will be able to buy shoes if he moves his factory to Cheapistan. Bob has decided to hire the communist slaves for the $2.00 per day. After all, it's very important for the capitalist dogs to prop up communist governments so that they can buy newer tanks. The old tanks get worn out from keeping Cheapistanians in line.

What is Tom in Detroit supposed to do now? He tries streamlining his business to stay somewhat competitive with Bob (i.e. firing some lower level management and a couple of guys in shipping and receiving). He tries lowering the benefits that he pays to his all American staff. Meanwhile he notices Bob's new house and that big fancy imported car that he drives. He can't compete with Bob anymore because the market is now unequal. He has three options. 1- Go out of business. 2- Move his factory to Cheapistan so that he can compete with Bob once again. 3- Move in with Bob's mother-in-law at the old folks home and change her diapers a couple of times a day.

After considering his options Tom is forced to hire communist slave children to make his widgets - just like Bob did. This will equalize the playing field just like the good old days. They both live happily ever after. Unfortunately, all of Bob and Tom's American employees have been left out of the equation. You will now find them making $6.00 per hour down at Mal-Wart selling the widgets made in Cheapistan. But Bob and Tom are doing well. They just don't sleep too good at night.

This "Bob and Tom" scenario is the real world and how it has been playing out for the American Taxpayers over the last few decades. American jobs are now in other countries. So what are we going to do about the "outsourcing" of American jobs?

Unfortunately we are so intertwined with all of the Cheapistans of the world that we can't just bring all of the jobs back to the U.S. in one felled swoop. If we did that it would do some major damage to many of the worlds economies. Though none of us would care if Cheapistan's government collapsed, we all know that the ones who would really suffer from a collapsed economy would be the communist slave workers and their children.

The solution to this problem is to use the situation to our advantage. There are in fact a lot of low paying jobs that Americans don't want. I have no problem outsourcing those jobs to Cheapistan and other struggling countries (even though I think we should concentrate on helping our neighbors in this hemisphere who need jobs). It allows the American Taxpayers to purchase many items cheaply. It also keeps Mal-Wart in business. [Rumor has it that the owners of Mal-Wart have so much money now that there are not banks big enough to hold it all. Due to this overwhelming problem, the hope is that they will come to their senses and begin paying their employees a decent wage so that they don't have to work two shifts to pay their mortgage.]

What Americans want are good paying jobs. Therefore we need to bring all good paying jobs back to America. Sounds easy doesn't it? But how will this work in the real world? It can't happen over night, but it can happen. I think that it would be a good idea to discuss this whole issue using the advantages that the "Meet and Vote" program has to offer.

Meeting together, as a nation, on nationally televised open forums would be good for everyone and would allow the truth to rise to the top. Listening to some economic experts may help us understand how we will get back to where we came from. I'm sure that many American Taxpayers would like to vent their frustrations about how this globalism nonsense has been detrimental to our nation's economy. Coming up with some real world solutions and allowing the people to vote on what they want would be the first step to solving this problem.

My personal solution would be to "Americanize" one major industry to begin with. And what globalized American industry offers thousands and thousands of high paying job? Of course, that would be the transportation industry. The very industry that made America rich.

The average American doesn't realize how big the transportation industry is, how many support industries rely on it, and how many good paying jobs it provides the economy. Foolishly, we have allowed many thousands of these jobs to leave the country. I think the first place to start in returning good paying jobs to America is to put the automobile industry on a level playing field so that everyone can compete fairly.

We cannot allow Ford, GM or Chrysler to go out of business. We all know that automobile assembly line jobs pay very well (on average over $1000.00 per week; see www.bls.gov/oco/cg/cgs012.htm# earnings for government statistics). Automobile manufacturing support industries also pay very well. Bringing all of these jobs back to America is simply common sense and ought to be priority #1. It is in the best interest of every American to make sure that these American businesses not only remain in business but thrive for generations to come.

Motor vehicles - passenger cars, sport utility vehicles (SUVs), pickup trucks and vans, heavy-duty trucks, buses, and other special purpose motor vehicles ranging from limousines to garbage trucks - play a central role in our society. The United States is the world's largest market place for motor vehicles because of the size and affluence of its population.

According to the U.S. Department of Transportation, about 230 million motor vehicles (nearly 136 million automobiles, 95 million trucks, and 777,000 buses) are being used by the American public. The number of light trucks, including vans, pickup trucks, and SUVs, has shown especially steady growth since the 1980s. All of this information and more can be found at the web address mentioned in the paragraph above.

The transportation industry is enormous and the associated jobs pay well. Why would we send those jobs overseas? And why would we send those jobs to Mexico and to Canada - where many thousands of them have gone? I have no problem giving some of our lower paying jobs to our neighbors, but not our best jobs. Surely they understand that it would only be common sense on our part to bring those jobs back to the U.S. since Americans should have first pick at the best jobs our economy has to offer.

Therefore I am proposing that all motor vehicles that are used in America be assembled in America. All parts used on the motor vehicles that Americans drive should also be assembled in America. This includes not only automobiles, but trucks and all motorcycles - and all maintenance and repair parts. Every motor vehicle and every part. There can be no exceptions so that all businesses are competing on the same playing field.

As a nation I suppose that we could allow some foreign manufacturers to sell their motor vehicle products in the U.S. (especially those who have proven over time that they produce a superior product that the American people want), but they must be assembled here - providing high paying assembly line jobs for Americans. And all of their replacement parts must be "Made in U.S.A.". Import sales would need to be monitored, however, so that they do not take away such a large portion of the market share that they threaten the existence of established American businesses like Ford and GM.

American businesses must always have the right to stay in business in their own country. The airline transportation industry and the water transportation industry could also be "re-Americanized" if that is what the American Taxpayers want.

I can already hear the pessimists complaining (especially those who have a financial interest in foreign investment). So if all of the replacement parts for all of the vehicles have to be made in the U.S. won't that cause repair bills to sky rocket? No, because we are going to revolutionize and standardize the parts industry. Any parts man who has done it for a while will tell you that the parts industry has gone berserk. All of the different parts have caused the prices to skyrocket.

If we take a lesson from the guys who were designing cars 50 years ago we will find that they kept parts prices down by standardizing the most frequently replaced preventative maintenance parts. You used to be able to ask for an oil filter for a Ford and the parts guy would hand you an FL-1A. Today if you go into your local CarQuest or AutoZone and ask for an oil filter for a Ford he will have to get much more information if he's going to give you the right one. That's because there are so many different oil filters. The same thing happens with any part you ask for. It's just gone crazy.

There is no reason for there to be more than three oil filters to fit all cars (not just Fords, but all cars). There is no reason for there to be more than three air filters or fuel filters for all cars either. Currently there are hundreds of air filters and fuel filters. If you buy one of the more common ones it might cost you $8.00. If you buy one of the oddball filters it might cost you $30.00. This is uncalled for and if we stopped it we could lower the cost of repairs. This would offset the higher cost of (superior) American made parts.

The whole parts industry could be revolutionized by getting the experts in the parts industry together and being smart about this problem. Not only could the filters and other tune up parts be standardized but hundreds of other parts could also be standardized - including engine management system parts, brake parts, and drive train components. Even the lug patterns could be standardized. And, of course, any one in the industry knows that the fluids need to be standardized once again since they too have become too specialized.

Bringing common sense to the parts industry will go a long way towards offsetting the extra cost of (superior) American made replacement parts. It would also allow the automobile manufacturers to build and sell cars cheaper to the public. Most important of all it would provide thousands and thousands of good paying, long term jobs for the American Taxpayers, which is our ultimate goal. "Made in U.S.A." could be seen on every automobile replacement part. It's a matter of playing the global game wisely rather than willy-nilly.

One other important aspect of this "Americanization" of the transportation industry is that those hundreds of machine shops, manufacturing businesses and assembly lines that will be opening back up in the U.S. are very important to the well being of our nation if we are ever drawn into a war. A quick study of World War II will prove to you the importance of having a strong manufacturing base nationally. If we would not have had the manufacturing facilities that were quickly converted to the mass production of military supplies and hardware, we would have lost that war. That is a fact that is not up for debate. It only leads one to conclude that now days it is even more important for us to have this capability should the enemy come calling.

For more on how my administration will be working to supply the American Taxpayers with an abundance of jobs, see Index 1 and click on "The Big Deal". This is a program designed to provide the American Taxpayers thousands of temporary jobs and hundreds of thousands of permanent jobs. This program will also be brought before the American Taxpayers to be voted on before any changes are made to the existing economy.

I almost forgot one other thing for all of you car buffs. If you're a car guy, like me, you have little regard for all of the current crop of look alike automobiles being peddled to the American Taxpayers these days. There are a few that stand out, but even those cannot stand up to the styling of the 1950's and 1960's cars. Because of supply and demand those cars are becoming unaffordable and seeing one on the street is a rare occurrence indeed.

Therefore, as your new president who has the will of the people in mind, I will personally be working with Chrysler, Ford, and GM in an effort to bring back some of their most popular body styles from those times. I don't mean a reasonable facsimile as we are seeing today with the Mustang, the Challenger and the yet to be unveiled Camaro. I'm talking about exact replicas (with upgraded underpinnings, but designed so that they can be worked on - like they used to be). How about brand new 1957 Chevy convertibles? Do you think they might sell a few of those? Or how about a 1965 Mustang fastback (with the hi-performance 289 engine)? Do you think they would be able to make enough of them?

Would you like to see the American streets filled with Barracuda's and '56 Sunliners and '62 Corvettes? How about a few 1940 Fords and a couple of '55 Chevy's here and there? What about real Impalas, '53 Buick Skylark convertibles and 1955 Chrysler New Yorkers? It could become a reality and could be a trend for a good 10 years, bringing great financial stability to the American automobile companies.

There is a deeper meaning to all of this car nostalgia than one might notice at first glance. As our nation starts correcting itself the whole atmosphere will return to what it once was. I'm sure of this. The cynicism and despair will subside as we unburden ourselves from all of the conflicts in the world and bring our military home from around the globe. The suspicion of the government will disappear as the people are allowed to get their way in Washington via the unique "Meet and Vote" process that is being offered by the American Taxpayer party.

The "end of the world" complex that I pick up from so many people now days will eventually become a thing of the past as the American Taxpayers take advantage of the "Meet and Vote" program, reversing many foolish decisions that our leaders have made through the years. Along with this return to normalcy and the revival of hope it would only be right to include the cars that America fell in love with back when things were half way normal. Seeing these cars on the road again will have a bigger affect than what you realize. Trust me. You're looking for real change in 2008? You're going to get it!

INDEX 1 - AGENDA

INDEX 2 - ISSUES