Obama's jobs promise faces major challenges

The truth is that the cars that are being built here or sold here with the big three's names on them may not be built here or have only American parts in them. Since we now live in a very industrialized world and depend on the world economy for a large part of our goods and services. America needs to become more competative and it's people better educated or we will have a hard time coming out of our present economic crisis. Americans need to realize that those jobs we are losing are not coming back. That we need to come up with newer and better things that the world needs and wants. New technologies, inventions and ways of doings things, that we can market to the world. We taught the world how to progress and even helped them along. They are now competing with and passing us by as they become more industrialized and competative with their products through out the world.

puck2u;   Doesn't anyone understand by hiring all the immigrants legal or illegal that you are infact out soursing the labor here in america

Uh Juan and scaper...Doesn't anyone understand how our economy works and country stays powerful? It DOES NOT matter where "our" companies products are made really. What is important is that they make a sale and a profit. That in turn helps our country. While it is true we need jobs here. The fact that we all want to make $50/hour makes it difficult to compete against countries with much cheaper labor costs. So that being said, let them manufacturer, and we will manage. Now lets get out there and buy products from American owned companies. Or, continue down the foolish path of buying foreign and sending all our money overseas. There are no other options. Buy it, or lose. End of story.

 Uh!   puck2u; you made absolutely no sense in your statement. Doesn't matter where there made but buy american (contradictory statement) so a truck assembled in mexico is an american made product ? I don't think so sorry but you made a pretty foolish argument end of story

and while were at it's landscaper to you

You shut down Wal-Mart and you will put thousands of people out of work, truck drivers, ship yard workers, plus those who work at the individual stores. How and with what will you replace all those jobs. Plus Wal-Mart pays a lot in taxes and donates quite a bit of money to charities, so before you talk about closing Wal-Mart think about the damage that would do to an already hurting economy?

Juan, what you are saying is just the same old nonsense sprouted by folks who want things to stay as it is, where the rich pay less taxes than the middle class.

The Democrats did not kill the economy, the Republicans did that all by themselves when the rich got the tax cuts under the old trickle down economics spiel.  Clinton left office leaving a surplus and now we have a hugh deficit  getting larger by the minute helping the rich.  Aren't the CEOs etc getting bonuses which will be comming from the bailout money just given to them?

Perhaps you are one of those who will be getting a bonus while other people will be getting pink slips and see forclosure and food stamps in their future. Well, lucky you.

Several years back in the early 2000s  corporations were outsourcing jobs overseas, while telling the American working public that  these were jobs that Americans did not want to do and also that more service and white collar jobs would be created.  This was just another way to move the manufacturing jobs overseas to tap into cheap/slave/sweat shop labour.  White collar jobs were also outsourced as well as for example call centers were moved to various countries abroad.

 When products are not made in America then what are American supposed to buy if not the shoddy cheap products that are made overseas.  There was a time when it was the rage to buy products made in the USA because these products were well made and lasted a long time. Now you buy a poduct which breaks down within the first few months of ownership and you don't even know where it was made anymore.  Corporations were just looking out for their profit margins and their bonuses not for the rank and file employees who were expected to work longer hours for less money. 

Remember the 80s and early 90s when the term "latch key kids" was coined because children were coming home and had to let themselves in as there were no parent there to meet and be with them, and the phrase "spending quality time" was the buzz words  as both parents now had to work and work longer hours to earn enough money to support their family thus not having much time for their children? Weren't those the newly minted phrases back then which continues even these days? Wasn't there a down turn in the economy back then resulting in many people losing their employment or unable to find employment even if you were a professional person?

By the by don't bother to bring up the illegal aliens situation.  Don't bother to spew forth the old ''Americans don't want to to work regular jobs or perform the jobs the illegal aliens have been doing for years" nonsense.  If you go that route then one will have to discuss the real cost to the tax payers that the illegal aliens incur.  One may have to point out that the tax payers have been subsidizing the costs that the companies etc  who employ these folks don't cover, when they pay these folks less than a living wage or cover them with health insurance etc resulting in their healthcare cost etc being covered through Medicaid etc paid for by tax payers.

Labour cost in the USA is not higher than any other first world country.  As has been noted recently the pay checks of the average middleclass worker has fallen.  The only people who have gotten richer are the rich. 

What is the govt there for if not to solve problems.  They are being paid well to do so although from what you are saying the govt is there to serve the corporations and the wealthy while the rest of the populace can go live in a card board box because they are just lazy, don't want to work, want to get hand outs, use the system, while buying cheaply made  stuff  they can't afford anyway. Your spiel is not new, it is spewed forth to muddy the water so that the public don't realize how they are being used on one hand and ignored on the other while the rich get richer and the breaks.

Why should the big 3 get help if as you say "the American don't want to work and have turned into a bunch of give Me's".  Wouldn't the bailout of the big 3 therefore  be helping other countries where they have moved many of their manufacturing plants instead of the workers in the USA?

The USA is probably the only first world country that does not have any social underpinnings like the rest of the first world countries.  These countries also protect their own markets while supporting their own people.  Nothing wrong with that.  Charity begins at home after all doesn't it?  In other words one has to help ones self first before one can help anyone else.

By the way why don't you urge the present President and Congress to help the big 3. Obama hasn't taken the office as yet so anything that needs to be done immediately need to be carried out by the sitting President.

Bze1,

I am afraid I have to disagree with your point regarding the cost of labor. The unions in this country have caused the real cost (pay & benefits) of manufacturing wages to go up so high that our products too expensive to compete globally. For example, I work for a manufacture and the benefit burden rate for an hourly worker is 1.65. That means we have to pay an extra $1.65 in benefits for each $1.00 of wages. So, someone hired at $11 per hour is paided $29.65 in total compensation. Our lowest skilled workers make close to $100k just to stand by a machine and watch it run. The wages in turn go into the cost of the product - conversion costs - and jack the price up.  That is why the cost of labour is too high in this country and the automobile manufacturers have to pay even higher wages.

Fred,  a large chunk of the $1.65 goes for health insurance. Other first world countries provide basic health care coverage to its citizens that everyone contributes to no matter which part of the pay structure you belong to. 

It has been shown recently that the 70 dollars per hour that everyone has been talking about that line employees at the big 3 were supposed to earn is not true. These workers make about 28 dollars per hour in actuality and which is similar to other car manufacturers in the USA.

Perhaps you want the people, who give their youth to a company doing physical labour,  to produce products that they as employees cannot afford to purchase or for them not to have any worthwhile standard of living or send their children to college because they do not deserve anything more than minimum wage because what they do is not considered technical enough or need a degree to do.

You can calculate the hourly wage which ever way you want it to skew the findings against these hourly wage employees, which I doubt is as high as you try to make it out.  On average the additional benefits cost usually include money value of vacation time, sick leave time, public holidays, subsedized health care cost, 401k matching that everyone gets where ever they work for the most part.   All these costs are put together to come up with a benefits package and a total benefits cost.  

Using your numbers these employees are not earning $100k per year, rather about $60,632.00 per year.  ( 11x 1.65=18.15+ 11= 29.15 x 40h/wk = 1166 x 52 wks/yr= 60,632)

I wonder what the mark up is for the white collar workers and the upper echelons of the companies if the line employes are being paid 1.65 per hour more above the 1 dollar per hour of wages.  Have you thought of giving yours back to lower the cost of the products produced?  I would hazard to say that most folks would perfer to earn less if they didn't have to factor in health care cost.

You also have to remember that the cost of living in these other countries are lower than in the USA. Companies moved manufacturing plants abroad to countries where they could pay from 50c to $2/hr per hour or so and no benefits and even use children to do these dangerous jobs.   It it any wonder the folks from these countries find ways of getting into the USA where they feel they have a better chance of making even USA minimum wage? 

By the way no doubt your add on cost is more than those of the line worker as it appears that you are a white collar worker where you are not at risk of injury from working with these machines.  You no doubt are not on your feet all day and can well afford to send your children to college based on your salary.

The other thing is why are other foreign companies buying factories and making their products in the USA where they can and do find skilled workers - who were laid off from American companies who were only looking for a massive profit margin even at the cost of the employees and their country thus moving their factories to places like Mexico and China for the cheap labour.  ( Recently, before the financial market implosion, workers in China were demanding higher wages from the companies they worked for. It would appear they too wanted a better standard of living so the cost of goods were going up.)  These foreign companies with factories in the USA don't seem to be having the problems that their American counterparts are having.  Could it be that the management of these companies treat their employees as human being and valued members of the company and no doubt do not make the millions in salary and bonuses that the American companies management seem to command.  

In the past companies have shed their middle and some upper management positions as a way to decrease employee cost.  From observation the folks that do the least work for the most pay and bigger benefits are usually those who are in management. If you are in management be afraid, be very afraid.  A company can function with less managers, but not without the line workers.   After all these line workers are the ones that actually produce anything, you know make the products while they STAND on their feet for 40 hours per week making sure these multimillion dollar machines run and make the products properly.    Nothing like one of these machines have a part fall off or drop what ever it is fabricating/making or it should stop working thus holding up the line.  Nothing like working in noise, moving parts etc or perhaps having one of these machines drop its load on a person resulting in some serious injury. Just goes to show you don't appear to have a clue what these workers do. Perhaps before folks are employed in the managerial position they should work on the floor with the machines like the lowest skilled workers to understand what they do.  Perhaps then you will appreciate the importance of what they do and their importance to the company.  

Forgot to mention that in many states the base rate is not minimum wage, rather they pay what is called a living wage which is over 10 dollars per hour.  On average the benefits package for most employes amount to about 10 thousand dollars or so  per year.

Even the lowest skilled workers need a decent standard of living just like folks like you.

Juan;   those jobs you say americans won't do, well they used to be done by americans until the politicians turned a blind eye, the employer got cheap labor, and the american people accept all this thinking they are getting a better value Well it's not true and a large section of our economy has been ruined. The american people have no respect for the construction trades people angry amrican against immigration illegal or legal

Bze1; I'll agree with you on every thing except the political point It's both parties that are benifitting through all this the libs are as complisit as the concervs all in all I'd say nice post

Juan, oil producers in the USA are selling their oil abroad, so producing more oil in the USA would not help the country.  How come the price for oil has fallen by about 60% so far. Why did it go to $145 per barrel this summer yet it is now down to just over 50 dollars per barrel.  

It is said that Americans are driving less on one hand while on the other hand there are talking heads who keep saying Americans want big gas guzzlers and itch to drive more.  Lol.      Also there are those who keep saying that Americans wont change their driving habits even although they see less cars on the roads even as gas prices fall. 

The airlines raised prices and fees to their own detriment.  More folks are staying home or taking public mass transportation like the bus or trains even over the holidays.   It seems that with less passengers the airlines are finally leaving and arriving on time.LOl

Why do the talking heads  keep saying that Americans are carrying more debt than any other country when it appears that that is not true. In other countries their population are carrying more debt than Americans. 

Isn't it strange that when oil prices suddenly skyrocketed and the the push to have drilling in many protected areas and on the coasts was oked that the price of oil went down?

 Why do you think that the use of other greener fuels are not encouraged?  A home owner putting solar panels on his/her house is not putting money into the electricity providers pockets,  thus the homeowners installation of solar panels on their homes are not encouraged by keeping the cost prohibitive.  The only folks who are subsedized when they install solar panels on their buildings, are businesses.

Of course power companies will put solar panels on your house at no upfront cost to the homeowner, but you will have to pay for the electricity generated at the cost that they set even although they are using the roof of your house. 

 Will not be long before you are paying for the air you breathe if one is not doing that already.  Aren't they charging more for cars etc that produce less pollution or are energy efficient?  

Ah capitalism. Lol

I thought that Obama had promised 5 million jobs. I read that number on his campaign website! Now it's save or create 2.5 million! what a liar this Obama dude is! He fooled all of you koolaid drinkers, and all that he had to do was read a speech written by Axelrod! What sheep you all are! ha ha ha ha

Jim, the problem is that companies have lobbied these rules into impotence. Plus it is easier to blame the masses  than the bosses.

If ignoring these rules were not benefical to some folks or some countries other than the USA it would not be ignored.   No wonder there are those who want smaller govt. This way there will be no one watching what they do that is harming the country, while they line their pockets at the masses expense.  Financial implosion, big 3 implosion and the dominoes continue falling, while they spend enormous amounts of money to lobby Congress for their own selfish agenda.

It is said "the meek/poor will inherit the earth"   and those that say "after the strong/rich is finished with it".   Well they are finished with it and the meek and poor are now paying through the teeth for the previlage of inheriting nothing. Lol

The leaders of this country need to start protecting its own as other countries are doing.  There are those talking heads who say that American style capitalism is finished.  The leaders of the USA had better take note, as it is fast becoming each country for itself, unless they want to lead a fourth world country that America is fast becomming.

America is probably the only country in the world where some people believe helping the masses is looked upon as socialism and should not be done.  Universal healthcare is needed, but of course may never happen because the insurance companies would not be able to make money out of that. 

Well, the illegal immigrant problem is only going to get worse with Obama and the democrat congress! They want to turn them into legal citizens so they will all vote democrat! What we are looking at folks is a one-party system. With the democrats in perpetual power! Look at Mexico-The PRI party was in control for over 56 years! Mexico is in a mess because of it! I mean the Republicans are toast here, so Obama and the democrats are going to rule forever, and the us will look alot like Mexico!

Foreclosures are from the most part those who should not have a house to begin with and you want me to pay for that too.

While I agree with most of your post, the foreclosure numbers simply do not add up to have created the downward economic trend we are currently experiencing. There is a lot more at play here, we (Americans) are not getting the full story here and I suspect we never will. This is far too big to blame on sub prime and plasma TVs.

I would also add that you may want to check the job loss numbers in 2008 alone. Those numbers will rise more in 2009. We can't continue to put blame in the hands of overpurchasing homes. A $90,000.00 home is not that much, but when a person does not have a JOB or the same job when the home is purchased, well, that house payment becomes impossible.

It's not just overlooked, it's not in the news, when I write my congress & senate their response state that "they are so woven into the fabric of our country that it would tear us apart" if this is not apart of our politicians & financial groups to waste the middle class of america i don't know what is.

 Pissed off american against immigration