Ok my fellow DUer's from the south can any of you help me debunk this Reagan lie that

[mrcheerful]

presists in the north? Construction jobs, Working oil feilds and off shore oil wells are paying $300 a day to workers in the south. I keep hearing how great the work is down south but haven't been able to find anything that backs up that claim. In 1979 and 1980 I was one of the suckers who believed the Reagan lie about moving to Texas where a job boom was going on. Instead of work I discovered jobs were hard to find or keep and by the time I left I started seeing signs on businesses such as "yankee's go home", "yankees need not apply" or my favorite, "I'd hire a wet back before I'd hire a yankee". To me its the grass is greener over someone elses septic tank syndrome. Don't get me wrong, I remember in the 70's northrens were saying the same type of things when people of the south headed north for factory jobs, I'm just tired of hearing how great life is somewhere else and all the poor need to do is pack up and move.

[pitohui]

1. reagan killed the oil boom in the south, but it certainly existed in 79-81

there was a terrific oil boom in the late 70s/very early 80s in the new orleans area, it utterly collapsed thanks to the terrible economy brought to us by herr reagan, and we have never recovered, there are a fraction of the oil and gas industry workers here that we had in the late 1970s

oil and gas collapsed from the number one industry in new orleans and tourism -- much lower paid -- became the number one industry

any time he saw a good job for a worker reagan killed it

no myth there, he hated the worker and did all he could to steal from the worker to enrich the few

housing prices in new orleans never recovered from the collapse of the oil industry until almost up to the time of katrina, as far as i'm aware, housing prices never fully recovered in houston -- we never benefited from all the crap about home equity and rising home prices -- a person who bought a house in california in 1979 and just lived there and did nothing out can cash out hundreds of thousands of dollars today, fat chance that happening here, you can cash out tens of thousands of dollars (in other words you're behind on your house after inflation and maintenance, a more expensive house may have property tax too esp. in texas)

also in new orleans at least we had a second bush induced housing crash in the early 90s which again kept the price of homes low, at one point there were 50,000 homes in the area in foreclosure, a great many of them boarded up -- many of those neighborhoods even in surburbia went to drug gangs and never recovered


also keep in mind when these young men were earning these high wages on the oil rigs, they would be 10 days on/10 days off, so they needed the high pay to make up for all the off days -- it was good pay but it was NOT unfair or exorbitant pay

construction jobs were VERY well paid in the days after katrina, however, the free flow of illegal immigrants promoted by the GOP again has ensured that the workers in this area are only earning about $15 an hour now, where at first they had a chance to earn a lot more and rebuild their lives, now this work is being done by gangs of illegals willing to live in tents/trailers and deflate the market so that the original workers living here can't afford to pay inflated rents (caused by lack of housing) AND hold a job -- a person w. a family can't live in a damn trailer with 6 other young men who want to party all night after working all day


headline of the sunday newspaper here yesterday was "ain't it awful" that restaurant workers are now earning $10 to $12 an hour, christ, these people are shameless, that's the very least you need to be able to pay rent and you'd still have to have another adult earning in the house to pay the rest of the bills!

any so-called high paid is in the minds of hateful GOPers who want to pay illegals nothing and who would be happy to see the rest of us in prison or mowed down by the SS, they just think it isn't polite to say so, but that's what they really think -- they want slaves working for nothing with no hope ever -- sorry if i sound angry but i am angry -- any little chance of getting ahead these type of people say it's "too much money" for the working man, why should a person who WORKS ever have anything is their attitude

[Clark2008]

2. There probably are more jobs down here becaue our

low tax rates (and massive give-aways to large corporations to get them to locate here) bring 'em in.

HOWEVER, the pay rate in the South SUCKS. We have too few unions to speak of (we've been brainwashed to think they're somehow "bad" for us) and we don't spend as much on education to teach folks otherwise.

Granted, our taxes aren't as high and the cost of living isn't as bad, but we still don't get paid as much, percentage-wise, as our brethern in the North.

Oh - and as far as the "Yankee Go Home" signs: that probably was more as a result (and I've seen it often when I was reporting and covering city/county councils) of folks from up North coming down and trying to overturn apple carts that didn't need overturning. People in the South are a bit set in their ways, so when someone comes in from out of town and tries to change everything, it makes people upset, particularly when said person hasn't lived in that city or town very long. It really has very little to do with the fact that someone is simply from "up North."

Just clearing that up. :)

[mrcheerful]

5. I knew that, I just found it amusing how some yankees went to work for a business then tried to

change the owners way of doing business. Also you have to admit that in some small towns of the south if an out sider comes in and starts a new business, its hard to earn the peoples trust and get business, fact is, its the same up here. I was just trying to debunk this myth that the answer to the norths poor is to transplant them south. Btw, I had a friend in Texas and his dad wouldn't let me come into his house because then he would have to burn his carpets because a yankee stepped on them. lol. But I found that if you were decent and friendly to the people they responded the same way, unlike here in the north, some places you act friendly and decent they think your going to rob them ,lol.

[Clark2008]

8. My hubby's from up North.

My parents tease him about it, but they don't mean anything by it. They certainly wouldn't burn their carpets. LOL!

But, yes, I'm sure small towns EVERYWHERE are a little leary of outsiders, no matter where they're from and a little bit of honey goes a lot further than vinegar in gaining someone's trust.

[Uben]

3. Oils well that ends well!

The oilfield is going again in my neck of the woods.....North Texas. There are jobs to be had, but not many. There do seem to be a lot of jobs in the classifieds, but most are not of a type you could actually earn a living on. The economy here is holding it's own....that from an apartment complex owner's aspect. Our occupancy is steady, but we are turning over three or four units a month oout of 160.

I wouldn't rush down here expecting a boon in any field, and certainly not for anyone who doesn't have a trade or career field.
Oilfield workers are still getting paid $12-$18/hr here, depending on experience, so no, they're not pulling down $300/day unless they put in some long assed days!

You'd probably have a better chance buying a lottery ticket!

[Lasher]

4. During Saint Ronnie's reign they told us we were one of the few remaining pockets of unemployment

Word back then was we should move north to get trickled on by Saint Ronnie of Reagan's economic scam. There's McJobs to be had these days but it's really difficult to get one of the few high paying construction jobs that are left. If you don't mind the risk, coal miners still make decent money but there's not very many of those jobs either due to mechanization.

http://ibew.org/legislative/Rev042304-JustFacts.pdf

[mrcheerful]

7. The same people were also talking about coal mines being another job boom area. I pointed out that

the money wasn't that great for the risk one took to life and health. I had a great uncle that died from black lung. These same know it alls then said that with the new safety masks black lung was a thing of the past. I'm sure the wife of a water well drilling outfit is an expert on mining, lol. But then she claims shes also a self made woman, she married a guy with a business. Funny how gold diggers think that having a business husband somehow means they are a success in life.

[porphyrian]

6. Florida managed to keep offshore drilling away until that piece of shit JEB! sold us out.

So I don't think there were any oil drilling jobs here during the dead piece of shit's regretful reign.

[seabeyond]

9. my brother is getting 800 a day, but he has certs that take him beyond the

normal job. but maybe they are getting 300 day if he is getting that much. a year ago it was 700, but this job is taking him out of country. he had certs for underwater welding a decade ago and was making significant money too.

i know that there seems to be a big demand the last year or two for him. company out of texas. but he was working in louisanna.

texas is a right to work state which about totaly guarentees the lowest pay possible though.