I am losing my job in Oregon and yes, I am bitter and going to donate to Obama

[ericgtr]

Because I completely relate with what he's talking about. We have real issues in this country with housing and the economy, in case anyone pays attention to anything other than smear campaigns. People are losing their jobs and their homes and I wouldn't exactly calling them "sweet" on the idea. My contract expires within one month and I have zero prospects because everything is drying up.

I would like to see real change, I don't expect it overnight but I do expect someone capable of making the right decisions, someone who will not just pander to a specific state or area giving them false hopes. Someone who will do the right thing. Today, I am making another donation to Obama.

[DemReadingDU]

1. I'm with you

All the bitter people, donate a small amount to Obama. He speaks the truth.

Edit: I'm really sorry about your job. I've lost mine too, I know what you are going thru. Hope things get better for you soon.

[MethuenProgressive]

2. Your bitterness makes anti-immigrant?

That's what BO says.

[brentspeak]

3. But is he on the same side as you in regard to "anti-trade sentiment"?

After his SF comments, I no longer have any clue where Obama stands on the issue: does he support the average working person (i.e., pursuing fair trade policies), or does he support the average well-off neo-liberal (i.e., the pro-free trade people he was pandering to in SF)?

We already know that Hillary is pro-outsourcing, so there's no confusion there.

[ericgtr]

4. Lesser of two evils?

I have had to train my outsourced replacement in the past in order to get my compensation package and it sucked. I don't know what roll either candidate will play in all of that but I don't find Hillary believable in the least, she's shown that she will say or do anything to get a vote. I will take integrity over lies any day.

[Eurobabe]

5. Oh sorry to hear ericgtr

Hope something comes your way real soon. :hi:

[ericgtr]

6. Thanks, I am working on it

but times are tough right now. I have some savings that I may need to eat into but it should cover us for a little while. If I do end up sitting around I might do some writing, an area I would love to pursue.

[Fredda Weinberg]

7. In the late 80's we experienced similiar economic disruptions

Globalization is a force Barry can't control, so there's nothing in his message that offers hope. The Clintons have always supported retraining and targeted investments in growth industries - the kind the world will need if they're to approach our standard of living.

Bitterness will only lead to a repeat of the great depression, when America's reaction added to her suffering.

I took personal inventory back then and, at some personal sacrifice, retrained. Information systems didn't exist as a discipline - soon I may be teaching.

I wish you well ... there are opportunities and humans are adaptable. If we can help, please let us know.

[izquierdista]

8. Retraining is a myth

Just another way to lay the responsibility for the negative consequences on the victims of free trade. No matter how much "retraining" American workers get, there will always be Indians, Chinese, Filipinos, etc., who have learned the same subject matter and will gladly work for lower wages.

The real solution is to clip the wings of capital which likes to flit hither and yon, over the globe, looking for the worker who is educated but desperate.

[Fredda Weinberg]

9. A myth? It's the modern world you're dismissing.

You don't have a solution to the wings of capital ... people are doing what they want with their own money.

You sound like an anarchist from the last century. You have no alternative to the modern economy and can only raise resentment.

The real world offers opportunities and hope. You don't need religion or politics to see that ... just take the blinders of ideology off and see the future. It'll hit you if you don't.

[izquierdista]

11. I have a solution

A solution that worked for 2 centuries and was responsible for the growth of America -- tariffs. What the free-trade Republicans have been advocating, and dupes like Bill and Hillary have been swallowing, is that letting low-priced foreign labor undercut the country is actually good for you.

Take a trip down the floor tile aisle at Home Depot to understand what I mean. It is a social and an environmental crime to make floor tile in China with laborers making a dollar a day, and then load it on a ship and send it thousands of miles to the United States. A tariff of $1/pound on imported floor tile would make it cost prohibitive, support American floor tile manufacturers (if there are any left), and save enormous amounts of carbon emissions. Plus, even the Chinese would be better off, not exporting their labor, but taking it back to tile the bare concrete floors in their houses.

Free market capitalists scream and moan at any restriction on their capital, but with those restrictions in place for 2 centuries, the USA did pretty well for itself. Now that they are gone, the road ahead is all downhill.

[Fredda Weinberg]

12. Heard it before ... got us into the Great Depression n/t

[izquierdista]

13. Oh really?

:wtf: :wtf: :wtf: :wtf: :wtf: :wtf: :wtf:

Couldn't have been capitalist boom and bust cycles with no regulation of markets? No, that's too obvious, has to be something else. Glad you pulled that out of the Big Book of Republican Talking Points.

[Fredda Weinberg]

15. I got my degree in economics @ Brooklyn College, not the University

of Chicago. Regulation, FYI, arose out of the catastrophe - and if more people atudied history, they'd appreciate what we can do w/o imposing draconian measures or denying the rest of the world a better standard of living.

[izquierdista]

16. Degree in economics

That explains it. An scatterbrained bunch of faux scientists, every one of them. As capable of comprehending the modern world as the Cargo Cults of the south Pacific.

[Fredda Weinberg]

17. Faux science? I'm a computer engineer and know my equations

My studies two decades ago got me into this field ... I'd say I learned my lessons well.

History is clear in this regard: the erections of trade barriers didn't work for the mercantilists either, who wanted to hoard natural resources. Adam Smith, the real one, was correct in the The Wealth of Nations, we can all benefit when we exchange freely.

As for this nation's economic history, I'd have hoped we'd have all learned from Smoot and Hawley, who meant well but were a disaster for generations.

[Morereason]

22. I took economics in college too, sorry, our current ec thought is a farce

economics is still in the "flat world" stage. There is little thought given to the incredible impact of depletable natural resources and current theory treats people the same as machines. It is immoral.

We will eventually grow in our understanding of sustainable economic theory, but for the time being most prominent economists are flat earth.

[Fredda Weinberg]

24. How far did you take it? Econometrics is linear algebra, which is

valid for its domain.

What you're describing is political philosophy, which is DU's domain. I'm not a professional economist, although I was tempted once by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, because the output is determined by the funding source. So we are agreed on the danger of universities like Chicago's that indoctrinate, but I will continue to argue that history provides valuable lessons.

[Hippo_Tron]

14. I agree, but retraining is not enough, America is simply not prepared for the new economy

Humans are adaptable when they are educated and trained to be adaptable. The old economy was designed to not require people to be adaptable. You could work in the same industry from the end of high school until retirement. Now we're asking people in their 50's to transfer into an economy where you have to constantly be changing jobs and industries and they simply aren't prepared to do that.

I fully recognize the benefits of globalization. But there are a lot of people who are getting the shaft because we simply aren't ready for it. Retraining helps, but it's just not enough in a lot of cases.

[Fredda Weinberg]

18. It has to be accompanied by generous welfare benefits designed to

encourage mobility of geography and flexibility in career options. We agree - and HRC's proposals, past and present, always reflected that philosophy.

If we need to re-negotiate the social contract, let's have that honest dialog. But we must begin w/optimism and mutual respect, else we fall into old constituencies vying for shares of limited resources.

[quakerboy]

20. Weather is a force we cannot control

Globalization in its current form is a force that Corporatocrats will not control. Big difference.

[Scurrilous]

10. K & R

:thumbsup:

[SunsetDreams]

19. Good luck in finding a new job eric

are you able to look in the meantime?

I know it's getting tough out there, something has to change soon.

I'm sorry to hear you are losing your job.

[ericgtr]

26. Thanks I am staying on it but available jobs have dropped immensely

Just 6 months ago the job boards were much more plentiful, they've easily dropped by 2/3 at this point for IT/Tech related jobs at least.

[Cha]

21. It took a while for the bushite policies

to kick in but they knew nothing about how to run a country when all they want is to feed the military machine and rape the treasury with nothing done for our infrastructure.

Sorry,you're losing your job eric and hope something comes your way that's even better.

[Imagevision]

23. 6-7 months ago India reported it's middle class had grown 78%- retrain in

the US, for what? Chrysler a month announced they were closing 1/3 of their dealerships! Bush will be causing much more damage before he leaves DC.

[rox63]

25. Good luck finding a new job

Personally, I've had it. So at age 45, I'm going back to school to get into an entirely different field. Health care is one of the few fields that is expected to grow in this country over the next few years. I start my program to become a Respiratory Therapist in September. I've spent the last 20 years in IT, specifically in Tech Support. But so many of those jobs are going overseas, and I'm now in a position where changing jobs within my current profession would mean taking a significant pay cut. Yeah, I'll also take a cut starting out in a new field. But it's pretty difficult to outsource direct patient care.