Stimulus Funds At Work In Philly

SUMG · June 8, 2009

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/local/20...advantaged.html

SUMG · June 8, 2009

My favorite part of the story:

Weir said the 60 participants in the program, 52 of whom have dropped out of school, were simply not "work ready."

Many of them don't know, for example, that when they're sick and can't go to work, they need to notify a supervisor, Weir said. They don't know how to dress for work, or that they shouldn't have an iPod in their ears when answering phones.

keith · June 8, 2009

Oh my....Interesting set of qualifications.

In order to be eligible, each participant must be considered economically disadvantaged based on federal guidelines.

In addition to being out of school, they can meet one of several factors to qualify, including teen parenting or pregnancy, a disability that would hinder them from finding work elsewhere, a skill set below the eighth-grade level, or any record with the law.

Keith

SUMG · June 8, 2009

Oh wait....I'm equally impressed with this:

In order to be eligible, each participant must be considered economically disadvantaged based on federal guidelines.

In addition to being out of school, they can meet one of several factors to qualify, including teen parenting or pregnancy, a disability that would hinder them from finding work elsewhere, a skill set below the eighth-grade level, or any record with the law.

How many good hard working young folks (of that age) WILL NOT be able to find work this summer....but our government doles out $7.25 an hour to la crap de la crap.

I'll guarantee most of these people won't be "work ready" at the end of their employment (unless they're graded on some government curve for the severely economically disadvantaged.

KRAM1 · June 8, 2009

Some Philly politician has his/her hand in the middle of this one...I would bet. This stuff just drives me crazy. These hand-out programs go on all the time and for the life of me, I cannot see much "value" returned for the money spent. Are there not better places to spend these funds than to simply hand them out to folks for little if any real benefit? Oh, well, we seem to be in for many more years of this with the current administration...and, seems that prior administrations were not so very "innocent" of wasting dollars on such "nothing programs" either. Just seem so much greater a disaster with this current administration.

DeepGreen · June 8, 2009

Some Philly politician has his/her hand in the middle of this one...I would bet. This stuff just drives me crazy. These hand-out programs go on all the time and for the life of me, I cannot see much "value" returned for the money spent. Are there not better places to spend these funds than to simply hand them out to folks for little if any real benefit? Oh, well, we seem to be in for many more years of this with the current administration...and, seems that prior administrations were not so very "innocent" of wasting dollars on such "nothing programs" either. Just seem so much greater a disaster with this current administration.

Can you say ACORN?

FirefightnRick · June 9, 2009

AP: Obama repackages stimulus plans with old promises.

Mon Jun 8, 5:54 pm ET
WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama assured the nation his recovery plan was on track Monday....
...He also repeated an earlier promise to create or save 600,000 jobs by the end of the summer.

.

Neither the acceleration nor the jobs goal are new. Both represent a White House repackaging of promises and projects to blunt criticism that the effects haven't been worth the historic price tag. And the job estimate is so murky, it can never be verified.

The economy has shed 1.6 million jobs since the stimulus measure was signed in February, far overshadowing White House announcements estimating the effort has saved 150,000 jobs. Public opinion of Obama's handling of the economy has declined along with the jobs data.

.

By now, according to earlier White House economic models, the nation's unemployment rate should be on the decline. The forecasts used to drum up support for the plan projected today's unemployment would be about 8 percent. Instead, it sits at 9.4 percent, the highest in more than 25 years.

Rick

Edited June 9, 2009 by FirefightnRick

keith · June 9, 2009

Mon Jun 8, 5:54 pm ET
WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama assured the nation his recovery plan was on track Monday....
...He also repeated an earlier promise to create or save 600,000 jobs by the end of the summer.
Rick

Anyone recall where "saved jobs" are reported in any labor statistics? Hmmm...maybe Obama needs to create a Saved Jobs Counter Czar so we can all be comfortable about the numbers our president is throwing around. Just a thought.

Keith

yyz28 · June 9, 2009

Anyone recall where "saved jobs" are reported in any labor statistics? Hmmm...maybe Obama needs to create a Saved Jobs Counter Czar so we can all be comfortable about the numbers our president is throwing around. Just a thought.
Keith

It is actually quite brilliant. See if new jobs are added, say 100,000, he can claim credit for 1.1 Million jobs by stating 100K were added and 1Million were saved and nobody in the media will challenge him on it. Should the economy lose another 500K jobs, he can still take credit for 500,000 saved jobs and the media will react with a predictable "thank goodness he's President, or we would have lost twice as many jobs!"

It's a neat trick. ...and in no way transparent. :rolleyes:

UNTflyer · June 9, 2009

It is actually quite brilliant. See if new jobs are added, say 100,000, he can claim credit for 1.1 Million jobs by stating 100K were added and 1Million were saved and nobody in the media will challenge him on it. Should the economy lose another 500K jobs, he can still take credit for 500,000 saved jobs and the media will react with a predictable "thank goodness he's President, or we would have lost twice as many jobs!"
It's a neat trick. ...and in no way transparent.

He cannot deny the facts as noted in my signature.

keith · June 9, 2009

Well, it's a good thing we got that stimulus package through when we did. As Pelosi said, if we had not acted right then and there that 500,000,000 Americans were going to lose their jobs - really, 500,000,000 that's what she said! I mean, she's the Speaker of the House, third in line for succession. She wouldn't lie or exaggerate. I shudder to think of what would have happened if our leadership had failed to act when they did.

Keith

Censored by Laurie · June 9, 2009

He cannot deny the facts as noted in my signature.

F-ing Reagan

KingDL1 · June 9, 2009

Well, it's a good thing we got that stimulus package through when we did. As Pelosi said, if we had not acted right then and there that 500,000,000 Americans were going to lose their jobs - really, 500,000,000 that's what she said! I mean, she's the Speaker of the House, third in line for succession. She wouldn't lie or exaggerate. I shudder to think of what would have happened if our leadership had failed to act when they did.
Keith

Are there even 500,000,000 jobs in the USA?