Jobs. It's the word on the tip of the tongue of every politician, pundit, blogger and Beltway insider. But talk is cheap. With unemployment at 9.1 percent and both parties seemingly more focused on an election 14 months away, the most powerful man in the world is appearing this week at town halls in Silicon Valley with hip and innovative companies like LinkedIn -- ostensibly to demonstrate his fresh thinking on this critical subject. But in reality, he's going old school and drawing on the playbook of long-forgotten predecessor, President William Henry Harrison.
Harrison inspired the public with a whopping two-hour speech in the cold rain at his inauguration -- and then died a month later without accomplishing one thing. President Obama's linguistic "style over substance" approach has been honed for the 21st century, but he has a strikingly similar 19th century approach to leadership.
Just like his $787 billion stimulus, Obama's jobs plan was supposed to be a game changer but is landing with a thud. Extending jobless benefits, increasing job retraining and payroll tax cuts are not only old ideas, but proven failures. Solutions require more than just shifting money around. Solutions require adapting to a changing environment and a vision for the future. Solutions require new leadership.
And that's why it's particularly ironic that Obama is trying to sell Silicon Valley on an uninspired jobs plan that completely ignores the obvious opportunity in the tech talent shortage. Computer science majors get very impressive salaries, bonuses and perks right out of school but the talent pool is thin and employers are forced to look abroad. Geeks like Steve Jobs, Mark Cuban and George Lucas rule the nation's music, sports, movies and cultural worlds but can't find Americans willing to follow their lead.
Another talent shortage -- in nursing -- borders on crisis. There are hundreds of thousands of nursing jobs currently unfilled and it's only getting worse, possibly reaching as many as 500,000 by 2025 in spite of Obama's much-touted success in the health care system overhaul.
One in 11 Americans are unemployed and there are hundreds of thousands of solid unfilled jobs, so why is Washington doing nothing? Maybe it's the union leaders whispering in his ear, or a general distrust of corporations, but the President seems fearful and unable to connect with the private sector in creating -- not just talking about -- solutions. He chooses to address the symptoms (underskilled workers) rather than the cause (an inadequate education system) -- condemning the United States' workforce to perpetual mediocrity.
A centerpiece of the jobs plan -- freeing up money to hire more teachers -- is a weak attempt to appease liberal education advocates who railed against the No Child Left Behind program. No one wants to say it, but our educational system is broken. It's time to stop throwing good money after bad. Private solutions must lead the way.
The President should create a coalition of for-profit educational, technical and healthcare institutions to rapidly create a pipeline for feeding web and social media companies with fresh blood and hospitals with qualified nurses. The for-profit educational world has great growth potential and will give the U.S. a great advantage in competing with China and India. Instead of regulating them out of existence, the President should be trying to work with them. The Education Department's new regulations on the industry were delayed by a year because of 90,000 comments to a draft proposal -- a clear sign that people want action, not reaction.
The Obama Administration should also increase the H1B cap for foreign worker visas, but create a sunset date for the cap. In May, Microsoft executives testified at a Senate hearing that they have nearly 5,000 unfilled positions. These are just a few of the many jobs that need to be filled but can't be by Americans now. Letting this shortage continue only hurts America's long-term growth prospects and pushes jobs overseas -- permanently. By raising the cap now for a five-year window, we can ease the shortage and give time for the American talent pool to develop.
It's naïve to think that addressing these shortages alone would make all the difference in the jobs crisis currently gripping America, but the time to let America's innovators play a bigger role in fixing the nation's problems is long overdue.
For the sake of the millions of unemployed Americans -- and his own re-election prospects -- it's time the President realizes the private sector is not just a piggy bank. The White House press office doesn't hide the fact that the visit to Silicon Valley is in part to fundraise for the President's flagging re-election campaign, but it's clear to the innovators that it's more a "masquerade ball" than "town hall."
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Perhaps you aren't familiar with the rampant fraud occurring in this program - or that the top sponsors are also Indian offshoring firms. The H-1b is a terrible idea in more than one way.
First, it harms American workers - many of which who have been forced to train their H-1b replacement who assists in offshoring and second, corporate sponsorship is very similar to indentured servitude. Workers who must be sponsored by a corporation have limited rights of mobility in the labor force. As such, they are prone to exploitation. That exploitation harms them directly and American workers indirectly.
The entire program is anti-immigrant and anti-labor.
You could buy an American made Mr. Coffee that would last years, but that was outsourced and now you are lucky if it last 6 months. An iron and toaster were made by GE in Illinois and the quality would make it last years.
If the companies who took jobs from America had their imports taxed at such a high rate it would hurt their American domestic business they would seriously consider returning to domestic manufacturing. When the trade policies, tariff, and import balance is returned so will the jobs return. Coupled with tax incentives for the creation of American jobs corporations will be forced to manufacture in the USA or lose a considerable amount of profit.
America has more oil than any country in the World. If we drill some of that oil, refine that oil, we lower the cost of gasoline. If we tax the profit of the oil companies harvesting oil, and invest a percentage of that in clean energy research, we can employee millions, lower the price of gas, break the hold the middle east holds on us, and move our country forward in clean energy technology and manufacturing.
Maybe it's because legislation and money comes from the legislature, and the Republican's have openly stated their commitment to have President Obama lose in the next election and have consistently voted against every program he has proposed. While the lame stream media always talks about needed 60 votes to pass something in the senate, it is not 60 votes. They are not smart enough to report that it is a simple majority, but you need 60 votes to get past a Republican filibuster that prevents pieces of legislature from being put up for a vote.
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1- Facts and economic data do not support that "claim". Looking at something unrelated in the century overlooks numerous facts: such as the monthly job losses (700K/month when Obama became POTUS).
Moreover:
2 - Did the Stimulus Create Jobs?
Yes, the stimulus legislation increased employment, despite false Republican claims to the contrary.
http://www.factcheck.org/2010/09/did-the-stimulus-create-jobs/
3 - CHART OF THE DAY: It's Official: Obama Is Creaming Bush When It Comes To Jobs
Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/chart-of-the-day-jobs-lost-in-the-bush-and-obama-administration-2010-2#ixzz1YigTL6nE
If you look at the real numbers from the BLS Bush left office with over 4 million more American civilians working than when he stated.
Obama has over 2.5 million less Americans working now than when he took office.
California is pushing 12% unemployment, Illinois 9.9%/Connecticut 9.1%/Michigan 11.2%/New Jersey 9.5%/Rhode Island 10.8% /South Carolina 11.1%/North Carolina 10.4% as a socialist, these number mean nothing to him, to the economy, they mean people that are NOT buying new cars and new houses. If we are lucky, it will mean a large block smart enough to vote for someone other than Obama....
Now he is totally focused on his re-election campaign and selling his soul to any and ever bidder for campaign money.
1. Obama is very far from socialist. Educate yourself, it's all on Google. No need to demostrate your ignorance.
2. Socialism, when understood right is not there to screw everybody. Unrestricted capitalism is -not because of inherent greed, but because of profits being the bottom line.
Thanks for the post, it makes even a very ordinary man like me look so intelligent in comparison!
READ the POLICIES in these programs. They do not promote any initiative to work. YOU cannot make the $60,000/yr worth of benefits that these programs give a family. MEDICAID WAIVER PROGRAMS are not providing what was the intention instead they are wasting potential, give NONDISABLED FAMILY members free maids and nannies (YES that is correct, OIG does NOT investigate FRAUD even if it is handed to the with a videotape from a detective) Contracted agencies get more money the more funds they dole out. STATE agencies want to keep their budget so they promote WASTE and make policies so they can rubber stamp benefits.
READ POLICIES in these programs. GET EDUCATED. These programs are hurting the very nature our our country values.
They are NOT doing what they were intended to do "HELP THE TRULY NEEDY"
If there really was a labor shortage then wages would be rising! But they are not rising. Microsoft has had stagnant wages for years. Same goes across the industry.
The solution to a labor shortage is markets. Let wages rise. That will attract talent.
Instead, executives want federal interference to drive down wages by commanding the labor supply.
Most of all they do not want employees who can unionize
I love it!!! More jobs than people to fill them..... hmm. Smells like a recovery on the horizon!!!
There is no way for jobs to get filled as soon as they come open. Not a logical assumption. The only thing left...wages go up and tech recruiters begin to get busy. It takes about six/ eight months to get things going. We are on target for August 2012 full recovery.
best,
JJ
Considering how many businesses go bankrupt each year, and how many corporations have crashed and burned in this country because of the imcompetence or outright dishonesty of their "executives"--remember Enron?--I find this pitch highly ironic.
The goal of a business is profit. The goal of government is serving the needs of the citizens. Different goals. Different skills required. I wish more Americans would realize that.
It would take courage and strength and resolve to pull us out of the mess we have and as long as money can buy Congress and the WH the American people will be collateral damage to political aspirations of power.