[KSig RC]

Originally Posted by PeppyGPhiB

I remember coming home one night after spending some time at the "work source" office and turning on the State of the Union address to hear George Bush tell America that people like me needed to go to community college to learn the skills necessary for today's jobs.

The thing is, neither guy (but especially not McCain) are talking to "people like (you)" on this topic, as much as your situation sucked.

The majority of the unemployed still have less than a college degree, and skills programs are dedicated toward these individuals. The whole point is that manufacturing jobs are falling at the highest and most consistent rate, and that these jobs will likely never come back (because of the reality of global business, American demand for low costs and the existence of cheaper labor alternatives). This isn't a "let's make the art students go to a paralegal class"-type thing, at least in conception.

Originally Posted by PeppyGPhiB

If George Bush and John McCain would go into unemployment offices around the country, they would learn a lot. I have to think that they haven't done this, because if they had, they would know that unemployment offices today are filled with many white collar, educated professionals in addition to the factory workers that I think they're thinking of. In 2002, when I was called in randomly to sit through a "training" at the unemployment office, the office was filled with professionals with bachelor's degrees, MBAs and, yes, PhDs! The instructors were ashamed to be "instructing" people who just days or weeks before had been at the top of their ladders to look into community college classes. They knew that their offices had nothing to support us.

But what can the government actually do to support educated, white-collar professionals? Doesn't this seem like a private-sector issue (likely related to the middle-management bloat of the '80s and '90s)?

I guess I'm trying to say that it has to be bottom-up change - it's similar to supply-side versus demand-side economic stimulus, in that the pool of white-collar professionals will benefit from a more capable pool of lower-educated workers with job skills moving beyond loading a machine with materials and wearing eye protection. After all, if there's no one to manage, who needs a manager?

Originally Posted by PeppyGPhiB

So I would like to ask John McCain, What are these jobs that haven't and won't disappear? Manufactering is already gone, and without major tax penalties to corporations they won't be coming back. And now science and technology jobs are either being offshored or taken by foreign contractors here on visas. We graduate people with tech and engineering degrees, but then don't offer them the jobs...because we can bring in people from India or Russia that will work for less. Even software engineering is being done in India now.

Would you rather we didn't participate in the global economy? Do you think the most important reason to be in business is to make a profit?

The confluence of these things is that there has to be a benefit to the business - and that comes not from tax subsidies, unenforceable regulation or red tape, or other such regressive taxes. Instead, we have to offer businesses a benefit from another angle - and a workforce that has a better, unique skill set would be one such way.

However, I do completely agree with your conclusion, but just view it in a different way - the key is to attack the problem from a variety of more creative angles than "tax breaks!!!" in a hit-and-run fashion. However, I don't think either McCain or Obama have really given me any indication they can do this - in fact, both side's plans seem regressive to me, and seem to pile the burden back onto the consumer in the end.

Originally Posted by PeppyGPhiB

What kind of a job is a community college supposed to secure us in the future economy? Because right now the only thing I see our economy supporting is the service sector. Some business services, such as my field of marketing, and lawyers, will stay here, but even my company just recently sent our accounting/billing overseas. Are we supposed to be a country of bartenders, waiters/waitresses, hotel clerks, medical assistants and massage therapists?

This is kind of a drastic departure/aside, and I mean this less as "against your ideas" than "topic for discussion" - with that said . . .

America is in the middle of a drastic change, from a manufacturing-based economy to a nebulous one, and through the Bush era we haven't done a good job at all of giving ourselves direction (whether that's Bush's fault is up for discussion, but I'll just use "we" to represent the nation as a whole). You speak of service jobs with disdain, which I think most people agree with, and that's likely a relic of an impression of the old, booming American economy. However, it may very well be that we start viewing a massage therapist as a "white-color" semi-skilled profession, on par with a payroll clerk with an AA in business math/accounting.

The manufacturing jobs are NOT coming back - never. Just like we put up with factory farms because most of us don't want to pay $12/lb for pork, we're going to have to adapt to outsourcing. Right now, it's a house of cards - but development has to start somewhere, and starting with the middle class is a recipe for disaster, because you're just bloating the middle of the house. Eventually, you have to strengthen the base.