Voice Your Opinion
If you wish you can leave comments to various posts in different locations throughout this blog.
Particpate in the Debate
As it turns out the greater number of comments have been posted on our contact page.
Formerly I simply had a link to our email listed on our contact page and I subsequently decided to place a proper “contact form” there instead. This removed the comment functionality from the contact page and all the aforementioned comments disappeared along with it.
So here’s what I did:
I retrieved those comments and put them here on this page and hope that going forward folks will continue to use this page as the primary outlet to voice opinion using the blog style comments function that is available here.
[Note:For your information, I've turned comments off on some pages that are placed on the blog that primarily meet more or less generic objectives (ex., Privacy Page).]
Keep in mind that because I have bots and other concerns trying to post for less than genuine reasons all posts are automatically sent to a pending area for approval. I intend to publish all “real” comments unless they are to far flung in the realm of bad taste i.e., especially foul language, racism, etc.
So have at it. Be nice.
Sandy,
Perhaps it is my fault that we got off to a bad start, I just assumed that everyone else reads all of the posts before posting, like I do. If you had read my posts you would know that I have been unemployed since 1977. Being ‘unemployed’ did not mean that I did not work, it meant that I did not work for employers.
Had you read my posts you would know that I have offered a hundred of you folks jobs, with no takers. If you had read my posts you would know how to make your own jobs, again there were no takers. What I do is not rocket science, I could not tolerate the pay cut.
I have listed some of my jobs that pay very well and a million jobs in flood cleanup that are headed to the upper midwest like a freight train, not one of you responded. Sure these jobs are dirty and hard work but they pay extremely well.
I am about to retire and you are welcome to my job, if you can do it. The tools are extra, you can have them for 90 1 oz. gold Krugerands.
As to being the weak link I guess that my 12 years in the Navy (1965-1977) and my 8 years as a volunteer fireman/farm medic (1990-1998) does not count for anything. Over the years I have taken a dozen homeless people off the streets by giving them jobs and showing them how to do my job. If all Americans were like me we would be in real trouble.
Jerry.
Long-term Unemployed Getting Shut Out by Screeners
From:
cynthia scholar
View Contact
To: info@eeoc.gov; info@eeoc.gov
Dear Sir or Madame,
Please pass this on to an investigator. I can’t prove anything, but I am certain that I am a good employee and would have a job by now if it weren’t for companies like EmployeeScreenIQ. I am a 53-year-old displaced worker from a company closure in 2008 and have applied for work ever since. I have sometimes spent two hours or more on a job application/resume/ and cover letter, only to get an instant e-mail message that says the company has decided to consider other candidates. I frequently see an application question asking if I am under forty. I know then, I am wasting my time.
Human beings should not be subjected to standardized computer job application screening that leaves us defenseless. EmployeeScreenIQ is sharing information via its computer system which interfaces with human resource departments all over the US and abroad! Although these companies began worming their way into the hiring process a decade ago, they have suddenly played a major role in discrimination in the wake of the recession, which threw people out of work for an unusually protracted period. Credit checks should not be part of the hiring process. My credit was fine when I lost my job, but I had contracts for services that I couldn’t keep up that went into collection recently. I am doing a research report on EmployeeScreenIQ for a local magazine and contacted the CEO with 25 questions. The EEOC needs to ask these same questions of these employee screener companies. Please help because we are all getting desperate and hopeless. Please shut down on-line hiring and put these decisions back into the hands of people.
EmployeeScreenIQ
PO Box 22627
Cleveland, OH 44122 Phone: (216) 514-2800
Toll-free: (800) 235-3954
Fax: (216) 514-8222
info@employeescreen.com
1.Why do employers prefer employees under forty? Is it because of a. lower health insurance costs? b. better appearance and image compliance? c. lower rate of pay? d. more mobile and flexible? e. education more current? f. more closely represent popular culture? (true or false after each)
2 Can employers see credit reports, although credit reports contain protected information such as age, medical care providers, and disputes?
3. If a credit rating is low, does a candidate have an opportunity to explain? (Medical/Layoff/et c)
4 Do employer’s view a discrepancy on education level as dishonesty, or merely a candidate’s attempt to tailor each resume to the requirements of a job, which sometimes necessitates “dumbing down?”
5. Are the screens ever deceptive? For instance is a candidate sometimes given a test but not informed that it is being timed?
6. Does the screening recognize the legal statute of limitations? How far back are you asking for information?
7. Does the company recognize the broad social implications from barring somewhat compromised applicants from employment opportunities?
8. If a candidate refuses to submit to credit or background screening, is their application filtered out.
9. Do repeated credit checks from potential employers have a detrimental effect on a job candidates credit rating?
10. Does lack of credit contribute to a lower score?
11. Are any applications rejected electronically, or is each one evaluated directly by an employer?
12.. Who develops a desirable candidate profile – individual employers, or the screening company?
13. What factors eliminate an applicant?
14. Is the candidate given a “score”?
15. What goes into the score?
16. Will your screener process ever be applied to current owners, managers and employees, and cause terminations for employees with arrests, medical issues or bad credit or falsifications on their applications or resumes? Why not?
17. Has everyone at Employee Screen IQ undergone candidate evaluations, background and credit checks?
18. Does your employment scoring system sometimes bar qualified candidates for employment.
19. Should a human being be subjected to computer standardized hiring criteria?
20. Would the hiring process be better served using company management?
21. Does current unemployment status adversely affect a candidate’s score even though the country is experiencing the worst recession in eight decades.
22. If a job candidate losses his or her home due to foreclosure, or their automobile to repossession, as a consequence of long-term unemployment, will that impact their ability to be hired?
23. Does your screening process favor economically supported young people over poor minority applicants?
24. Does an employer prefer an older worker with more experience, or a younger worker with less experience?
25. If an older applicant estimates employment and educational dates because they are sometimes decades old, will this affect their ability to be hired?
THANK YOU!
Cynthia
Hi everyone,
Please see the http://www.99ers.net/chicago page for the Chicagoland/Midwest National March for Jobs info on 4-2-11.
Yeah, we are serious. Never organized a rally before but there’s a first for everything!
Let me know if you plan to attend!
Thanks,
Brenda
Dear Cynthia,
I just started filling out a app for my spouse in reference to an interview coming up. We knew we faced some questions that we did not want to answer.
For we feel like everyone else that it is no one’s business. But, what do you put down for history when one company failed their employees and put off their vendors also? How do you get an interviewer to comprehend that you want them to have no contact with a company that cheated you? Then, again with a second company, as the owner just pulled up stakes in the middle of a job and left the state.
How will that interview proceed, when the job history shows that the employer had the problems? Companies for the most part are not holding on to good credit, either. When, a company dismisses and employee, it is most difficult to get them to take the blame for your losing your position.
Living on-the-streets for some folks is most difficult to comprehend. If, small companies don’t come back into the mix of hiring workers, corporations will just throw the apps out the door, when they feel like it. With the difficulty of finding a job, the second part of that hardship is offering past history of where one was….till now.
Hello Everyone please see:
http://dawu.forumotion.com/
Displaced American Workers United – The web’s most active unemployment forum.
A place for the unemployed and underemployed of America to hang out, share stories, share ideas, and advocate for job creation and aid from Washington.
I went to http://www.usajobs.opm.gov/ as i do numerous times a week where i have applied for at least 50 openings and have been turned down each time for various reasons mainly others were more qualified.
Today i added up the total openings for all there federal jobs all of their civil service openings
23127 jobs total you can look any day and find just about the same amount. now if they were to ease the qualification restrictions or make them training positions alot more people would be at work>
I am a 60 year old single woman laid off in 2009 from a company for whom I worked over 32 years. I have been ignored and rejected in my search for work since. I am a 99′er like you and cannot believe after a lifetime of hard hard work, I am now living in this hand to mouth way, worried constantly, unable to afford the simplest pleasures my still employed friends think nothing of, wondering how long I can go on like this, where will I live, etc. Where are our representatives that we pay to help us!?…we pay for their salaries, their health insurance, their paid vacation time…they live so well and so high and mighty….how do we let them get away with throwing us to the curb as they have??…I read where President Obama extended unemployment for 13 months thru 2012 and that is very good. But once again we were not even considered in the realm of those to help??…I don’t understand. I don’t blame Obama…I blame the mindset of those in Washington who have so much control of our lives at our expense and have not one iota of care about us unless it is for our votes…I do not think “they” are all this way, but those now running the House most definitely do not have any understanding or compassion for those of us who are suffering through no fault of our own and after lifetimes of being good, tax-paying, hard-working Americans….my heart aches.
I’m the employed wife of a 99er. My husband has been out of work since June 2008 and our family of 3 (just-turned 10 year old son) have been living in Orange County, California, on my $20/hr for longer than I could have dreamed. It’s so difficult. Not only are we struggling (after rent, 2 small credit card payments, and paying ALL the utilities on our rental we’re left with less that $400 a month) – the stress it has placed on our marriage and family is tangible. Unlike some of the pictures the media may paint of Orange County, we haven’t lived above our means. We used up our savings (originally for purchasing a home) to keep out of bankruptcy, have two cars but each are over 10 years old (have to keep the 2nd as it is a truck and can haul work equipment for my husband; gas is too expensive for me to use it daily), and have NO cell phones, television or cable – which many think of as a necessity.
No one will hire someone completely over-qualified; they either simply don’t replay at all or respond with something to the effect of, “We know you’ll quit once something better comes along.” And the longer he is unemployed the more damaged his resume looks. That’s what we’re experiencing. I thank God we still have my job to keep us out out of our car. Family won’t help – they don’t want to “enable” my husband! I am just praying for my husband’s sanity. Hard times and no hope on the horizon. But I definitely don’t need Washington “creating” jobs for us. Talk about the blind leading the blind… Let’s get tax breaks and stimulus money into the hands of Americans who need honest working Americans to work with them, not self-defeating payoffs for political favors. A win-win!
Stretched thin,
You are right that government should not be creating jobs, we should be creating jobs. There is opportunity out there, you just have to find it and create a job from it. Since you are employed and have $400 extra (more than you need for bare necessities) every month your husband can use that money to join the underground economy. I have posted dozens of jobs throughout this list that he can do. In the underground economy there are no layoffs, no outsourcing and no one can fire you. In the underground economy you are paid what you are worth.
Jerry I am sure there are hundreds of us that would jump on your offer…..who has $5000.00? We moved to the country, very secluded, grow are own veggies, and barter out our services with friends. Our country is unraveling before our eyes.
Right now I am building utility trailers, tow bars, compressors, snowplows et cetera that I sell on Craigslist. If you have a secluded area in the country then you have an ideal place to do the same. Most of the stuff that I build can be made with hand tools. Here are a few websites that make high profit stuff and they are open source, you do not have to pay royalties.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/multimachine/
http://opensourceecology.org/index.php
I am thinking about starting up a free website to show how to build the things that I build. It will have open source plans and there will be no charge to use them. Some of us do not feel the depression and we are just trying to help out the folks that do.
9/9/11 civil disobedience
9/9/2011 is coming. How about a day of civil disobedience by 99′er’s. We’ll get fed and housed a day or 2.
How about all the companies whose entire workforce get 1099′s (everyone’s a subcontractor)?
How about if the Justice department actually utilized the I-9 form all employees have had to fill out for at least the last 20 years? If they actually verified the information, we wouldn’t have anywhere near the illegal immigrant problem we have. Therefore wages wouldn’t be artificially DEFLATED.
I don’t know much about how to get something like this started, but if each of you sent it to 9 friends it could take off. Maybe someone might pay attention to us.
Thanks,
vincesalv@yahoo.com
I have been unemployed since March 1, 1999. I have an undergraduate degree and an MBA with 10+ years of good work experience and made over $150K prior to corporate resturcture. But rather that discuss my story, we must realize that our current predicament is merely the symptom of much larger issues.
First, the human population has grown to ridiculous proportions. World population is currently approaching 7 billion and projected to keep rising through 2050. We are temporarily the masters of the planet and therefore no filters exist to limit our population. Nature has filters, we don’t. In fact, we value human life to such a degree that we use enormous resources to prevent any natural filters from controlling our rapid expansion.
The most troubling aspect of our immense population is that we can’t devote enough resources to prevent poverty and ignorance. Huge portions of our human population are poor and uneducated. Generation after generation the problem gets worse, not better.
Now, enter the concept of money. A free flowing piece of paper or coin not really tied to true value created or traded. Trade and barter once made sense…give me your banana for my orange and we are good. But now, we have such complex transactions and projections on what will create value that money flows fluidly through stock exchanges, investment banks, corporations, government, that no one really understands what the heck is going on. Add that brilliant invention of a loan and the complexity and risk expands exponentially.
The crux of the problem is that an enourmous population where huge portions don’t have a level playing field from the get go combined with the complexity and fluidity of money creates a perfect target for a small group of smart and shrewd people to make a bundle of money. In short, most people are pigeons and there are just a few hawks. The hawks try to keep to keep the pigeons fed, alive, and domesticated, which makes feeding time easy pickings.
If we reduce the above argument to just the United States, it is easier to understand. The gaps between rich and poor is immense…the rich and super rich control all…the investment banks, Wall Street, Corporations, the Government, and the Media. They went too far during this recent binge and have been exposed…but most of us are powerless to do anything about it. Sure, we can try to get part-time jobs or something that pays half of what we earned before, but we have lost the battle. Most of us will now have less…but the hawks are doing just fine and will continue to expand their nest egg.
My apologies…I have been unemployed since March 1, 2009…not 1999:)
Now that I provided my big picture theory on why many of us 99ers find ourselves in this foreign position, I wanted to comment on some of the posts.
Those that want to march and protest are dillusional. As I said, the Hawks own the Government. Maybe a large protest and march will get you some kibble and bits, but you will never win the war. We are merely pigeons. Some of us are larger more well fed pigeons, and some smaller pigeons. But there really isn’t much difference. The Hawks have plenty to eat.
Those that advocate self-reliance, the underground economy, and isolation from the society at large, are admirable but merely symptoms of a culture in decline. The great cultures in history did not force people into the shadows. Greece, Rome, Italy (Renaissance), and the younger United States, was a thriving culture and each had something to contribute to the greater whole. Didn’t matter if you were a warrior, an artist, a blacksmith, a politician, each had their role and the culture thrived because it had a vision.
The United States vision, or the American Dream, has been polluted. The vision used to be freedom to pursue your dreams. Over-time it became a vision to own a car, a house, a picket fence, and a big screen TV.
The human being has so much potential. We are the masters of this small planet floating in a huge chaotic universe, yet we are forced to focus our energy on keeping people employed so they can buy a house, a car, and wide screen TV.
The Hawks have power when our vision is purely economic. Economics, money, things, this is all our own creation. In reality we don’t need it. Our greatest asset is our large brain and opposable thumb and the fact we walk upright. Our currency is our energy and spirit and what we decide to do with that energy and spirit.
Imagine if we started all over. Wipe the earth clean of ourselves and then supply a man and a woman. I don’t care what color and language they speak, just give me a man and woman. Given all that we know from history, science, art, math, religion (of which there are many), and realizing our place in this infinite universe, what course would they set for their children and the children and generation that follow? Would it be the polluted American Dream or something more ambitious? Would they need paper money or will they realize all they need is motivation and a vision.
Enough said. Back to reality.
I don’t know who these folks are, but I found their opinions after my above rants:) This will be my last post unless someone wants to discuss the ideas. But you did ask “what is on my mind”.
In his essay “The American Dream”, which was published back in the October 1973 issue of The Freeman, John E. Nestler reflects:
“Whereas the American Dream was once equated with certain principles of freedom, it is now equated with things. The American Dream has undergone a metamorphosis from principles to materialism. … When people are concerned more with the attainment of things than with the maintenance of principles, it is a sign of moral decay. And it is through such decay that loss of freedom occurs.”
Thirty years later, in the June 2003 issue of The Freeman, Lawrence W. Reed published an excellent and timely article entitled “The True Meaning of Patriotism”. In it Reed writes:
“I subscribe to a patriotism rooted in ideas that in turn gave birth to a country, but it’s the ideas that I think of when I’m feeling patriotic. I’m a patriotic American because I revere the ideas that motivated the Founders and compelled them, in many instances, to put their lives, fortunes and sacred honor on the line.”
Chuck Baldwin emphatically stated in his article Can You Imagine This Country?, that material gain is not the American Dream. Baldwin writes:
“We hear much today about the American dream. By “the American dream,” most people mean buying a big house, driving an expensive automobile, and making a lot of money. However, this was not the dream envisioned by the Founding Fathers. Remember that, for the most part, America’s founders gave up their material wealth and substance for something they considered of far greater worth. Unfortunately, this hedonistic generation knows little of the kind of sacrificial spirit personified in the lives of America’s patriarchs.
In the minds of the founders, liberty–with all of its intrinsic risks–was more desirable than material prosperity, if that prosperity was accompanied with despotism or collectivism. So strong was their desire that they were willing to give up the latter in order to procure the former for themselves and their posterity.
How dare Americans today refer to material gain as “the American dream.” It is not! It is the freedom to honestly pursue one’s goals that should be celebrated. Material gain is only a fruit of freedom, not its root.”
Pabst Blue Ribbon,
I have been unemployed since 1977, it is no big deal. The world population will not exceed 9 billion, as you say, nature will remove those that cannot adapt. We are approaching the Malthusian limits even now, man has little say in the result. What little we can do is to try to create a society on the ocean that can allow some people to survive and pass on what wisdom there is. We can do nothing for the great majority, rich and poor, that fail to adapt.
The fiat money is just what you say it is but it has little bearing on who will survive and who will not. Nature cares zero for money but puts great stock in adaptability. We are agreed that the government will not help the 99ers and they have proven that they will not even help themselves. Clearly they will be among the first ‘victims’ of the Malthusian population adjustment.
Far from being a ‘symptom’ of a culture in decline, self sufficiency is the cure for a culture in decline. I have not bought in to the American dream and you have made more money in one year than I have made in my life. That being said, I am wealthier than you will ever be. I have skills, tools, knowledge and everything that I need to survive the Malthusian population adjustment. I have the motivation and the vision to realize that if no one brings the wisdom into the future we will make exactly the same mistakes in the future.
The only thing that matters in life is to pass on viable genetic material, if you fail, your line goes extinct. If you are successful then your genes will be a big part of the gene pool in the future.
Jerry.
stcfarms@geneseo.net
Jerry,
Great post and I have enjoyed your previous posts as well. I do admire you and other people that have hard skills. Since I walk long distances now given I don’t have a car, I frequently pass by construction sites and watch the men working and think to myself I would gladly trade in my degrees and ten plus years of working with spreadsheets for the knowledge to know how to operate a bull-dozer.
I also enjoyed your comments about your ability and knowledge to survive completely on your own if needed. Unfortunately, I couldn’t last more than a week on my own and that is assuming I had a weeks worth supply of water? I am far from a handy man and neither was my father. He was an ex-marine turned CEO and his boys didn’t grow up with tools. We grew up playing football in the front yard and doing basic household chores like cleaning the house, sweeping leaves, pulling weeds, clipping hedges, and mowing the lawn. My dad went from dock manager to head of a major Fortune 500 company. He loved his job, loved the employees, and loved the company. He showed me hard work in a corporation can pay off. But that was before the age of blatant greed.
My grandfather, who was like a second father to me, was a science teacher and football coach. It was he who taught me to be humble and look at the stars to gain perspective. He told me he decided to be a teacher because he could positively impact other people’s lives. He was never rich but he was a good man. He also found teaching to be a secure profession. He experienced firsthand the Great Depression and steered away from a business career.
Everything has pretty much gone my way with the exception of the last two years. I have grown up soft but I am not giving up. It is a foreign situation for me and adapting has not been easy but it has been enlightening. I will survive and will have valuable experiences and knowledge to pass on to my 8 year old son. My advice to him is to develop hard skills that will always be in demand and focus on a specific profession like a business owner, a vet, a dentist, a pharmacist…something in your control that always has demand.
I must say that my gut tells me that we haven’t seen the worst in terms of our current economic woes. The 99ers will find many more friends that share the same grief. In fact, I expect the American economy to collapse in the near future either on its own or triggered by the current European community problems. In fact, due to the fluidity of money the global economy will come to its knees if the US/Euro economy collapses as I expect. Since our most recent “recession”, what has really changed? Has the US suddenly stopped greed and corruption and spearheaded manufacturing? Has the US suddenly re-educated our large base of under-educated population or equipped them with new cutting edge skills? Have we figured out how to close up the yawning crevice between rich and poor and restore a healthy middle class? Fifty percent of the wealth in this country resides with one-percent of our population? How can we change this without giving government handouts? I think the whole financial system including the global system is merely a house of cards. But the sad part is the hawks will know when the sh_t will hit the fan and will secure their assets and jump ship.
Here are few clear examples of what is wrong with our current “system” and the way money flows above and beyond true value created. How can a pop-star singer, a rookie quarter back straight out of college, a reality show star, a CEO of corporation, an investment “bankster”, be worth multi-million dollars a year? Is a single human being really worth what the amount of money they earn says they are worth? The only reason they accumulate such vast amounts of money is that the millions or billions of pigeons tune into to watch or buy their products. If you can capture the attention of the massive group of pigeons via media, and they give you a piece of their worm, you have millions and billions of worms to eat. But after the pigeons give up a piece of their worm to consume what this hawk(s) is/are selling, the pigeons net worth goes down a flows to these few hawks who in turn play the financial casino and increase their worth even more. Wealth perpetuates wealth. The pigeons throw in what little worms they have left into the casino in the form of a 401K or other means and those hawks that understand the markets play with their money merely as an initial antis. Never again will I put a dime in the stock market or any type of investment.
I really don’t know how to fix the problem. I believe the human being and human spirit can achieve great things. One can find ample examples from history and in the here and now. One of my relatively current favorites is the Hubble Space Telescope and the Space Shuttle. I believe human beings working together can do more and achieve more as opposed to working as pure individuals concerned merely with themselves and ensuring they pass on their own genes. I don’t believe in the socialist or communist route and Utopias are hard to swallow. Capitalism has major problems and it has reared its ugly head. The goal to maximize profits and stock price leads to where we are today. There is a formula and a vision out there which might work, but it requires sacrifice and discipline. I have some ideas but I don’t think this is the forum to discuss. But I will offer these hints:
1. In the animal kingdom, at least with the higher orders like Orcas, Dolphins, Gorillas, there is a competition for mating rights. No such competition exists in the human world.
2. Off-spring should be given enormous attention and resources to equip them to strengthen the generation. They shouldn’t be put in schools that act more like day care centers so both parents can work and make lots of money.
3. Watch a little league baseball game. These kids play for free and they work together for a common a goal and they have lots of fun in the process. Life is a little league baseball game, but the idea sets an example that could be built upon.
This is naïve I know. I like your thoughts about the survivors living out on an island in the middle of ocean equipped with the knowledge of all that is and starting a fresh should there be a world-wide collapse? Much better than the sinister Moon Raker concept?
Some of those ? marks were supposed to be smiley faces. And second to last sentence should have said “Life is not a little league game”.
One other comment…it is the Hawks that will perpetuate our genes if things collapse…imagine that gene pool!
Pabst Blue Ribbon,
When I met my girlfriend she had just graduated from Purdue and had no manual labor skills. She can now drive an 18 wheeler, a snowplow and a backhoe. She has rebuilt a 40 horse VW engine and scores of other things that she once assured me that she could not do. Skills are learned, rare indeed is the person that is born skilled. Wealth is created by the application of labor to resources, money only creates problems. The sun still shines, the rain still falls and crops still grow, the ‘depression’ is a man made disaster that was invented to concentrate the money in the hands of the idle rich. You can learn these skills, your posts show that you have the intellect and the desire, now all you need is the gonads. Contact me offlist if you wish to discuss this further stcfarms@geneseo.net
Jerry.
99ers,
Please realize not all rich and super rich people are evil and the same applies to folks in Government, Wallstreet…etc…the status quo. But, unfortunately, I think a group mentality forms that gains momentum like a hurricane and everyone gets caught up in power and force of the storm.
Important documenatries/movies to watch…Enron…”The Smartest Men in Room”, and movie on recent economic meltdown…”Too Big to Fail”. I am afraid these two movies are just a tip of the iceberg.
An important point to I want to emphasize. The “Hawks” have many forms. They can come from the far right, the far left, and in between. It is the far left that wanted to ensure everyone in America can have a house…thus Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac…and it is the far right that deregulated business to enable free market reign…what they both have in common is that both the far left and the far right leaders in government and business are very very rich.
Those on the far left that appear to be the peoples friends, that talk about the poor and poverty and helping them rise into the middle class, are themselves merely securing their fortunes. They are merely domesticating the pigeons with bread crumbs while they enjoy their high-end life style. Democrats and republicans have the same agenda as WallStreet and big corporations…keep the masses fed, domesticated, entertained, and slowly but carefully absorb what little they have.
Jerry…I will shoot you an e-mail but I am not moving my son and I to plow snow:)
There are millions of possible jobs, plowing snow is just one of them. I do whatever comes up, plumbing, electrical work, fixing cars, roofing et cetera. When I do not have other work I build utility trailers and other saleable items. Wherever I go I look for wild flowers that have gone to seed, the seeds sell for $2 a gram. I do not know where you live but I am willing to bet that there are ways to make a decent living without a job there. Keep your eyes open, see what people need and find a way to supply what they need. The underground economy is nationwide, no need to move.
Jerry,
My current underground employment is working with young kids teaching them how to play baseball. I played in college and enjoy working with these little men. It isn’t enough to live on but it is a start.
Picking up cans pays about $30 a day and there is no time clock. You can do it before and after your teaching job. While you are out picking up cans keep an eye out for wild flowers that have gone to seed, these sell for about $2 a gram. There are also many edible plants growing along road sides that can lower your costs for food.
B. Franklin said: If you pour all of your money into your head, you will make millions” I was on the verge of being the next 99er. I have been hired by a company that is looking to hire. This is a gift that I owe to my fellow unemployed partners. Please contact me by leaving your e-mail address and I will contact you. if you live in the tri-state area. I am in NYC. Ida
Editors note: Ida’s email is idabsmartz@gmail.com
ALL THESE “RANTS” WILL GO UP IN THE SKY! WANT CHANGE? THEN JOIN THE 99ers PROTEST & SIT IN A LEGAL & CALM PROTEST AND THE WORLD WILL NOTICE THE UNEMPLOYED EVEN IF IT TAKES WEEKS OR MONTHS! BUT YOU MUST TRUST THESE WORDS! BEFORE YOU JOIN A “SIT IN” GO TO “YOUTUBE” AND TYPE IN “ARE THE GOOD TIMES REALLY OVER FOR GOOD?” THIS WILL TAKE ONLY 2 MINUTES TO DO! SELECT “MERLE HAGGARD.” THEN LISTEN TO THE WORDS THAT WERE WRITTEN 31 YEARS AGO! YOU WILL BE AMAZED! THIS IS NOT A JOKE! THIS IS THE ANSWER! 2 MINUTES OF YOUR TIME TO LISTEN TO WORDS THAT WILL STUN YOU! AFTER HEARING THESE WORDS, JOIN THE 99ers SIT IN @ THE CLOSEST CITY TO YOU! THIS IS THE ONLY WAY
GO TO YOUTUBE.COM TYPE IN THE BOX @ THE TOP, “ARE THE GOOD TIMES REALLY OVER FOR GOOD.” SELECT MERLE HAGGARD. LISTEN TO THE WORDS CAREFULLY! TAKES 2 MINUTES OF YOUR TIME! THIS WILL CONVINCE YOU TO JOIN THE 99ers ASAP! THIS IS A “MUST!” YOU ARE “NOT” DESPARATE FOR A JOB IF YOU DON’T DO THE ABOVE! ‘YA GOTTA TRUST ME! I HAVE BEEN OUT OF A JOB FOR 45 MONTHS AND AM TOLD BEING OVER 40, I AM “TOO OLD!” WHOEVER YOU ARE, THE 99ers “NEED YOU” NOW TO SIT IN AND PEACEFULLY PROTEST SO WE FINALLY GET NOTICED! THIS IS THE ONLY WAY TO GET RID OF GOVERNMENT CONTROL!
99% ers
Legalize reality
Life, liberty…in the pursuit of happiness.
Prelude
This is what it’s about, and the story goes on.
Back in the day’ of the founding fathers of this country.
Brilliant minds gathered and formed a concept and guidelines to follow so we could achieve Life, liberty…in the pursuit of happiness.
Well, we have blown that right out of the water.
• Life is your health.
• Liberty, you’ll know that if you’re educated.
• Pursuit of happiness.
Starting our first in reverse order.
The pursuit of happiness’ is the life you live. How much happiness you experience will depend on your education which gives you liberty.
Throw it all out if you’re not healthy.
So working this out into our reality-we need to be healthy, money should not be a problem.
Nowadays lots of talk about health care…coverage…who is and who is not.
I’m looking at big picture. We need to have everyone covered period.
But wait…think…. We pay all this money for premiums for everyone and then wait for people to get sick…to justify the money we already have spent. This is too expensive it would cost too much.
So instead of paying premiums. We pay for services when needed.
Healthcare costs are going up and to cover everyone will break all of our backs, so to speak.
We eliminate healthcare insurance. No Medicare or medical.
No more plans period.
This is how it will work.
A person has to go to the doctor and goes, the doctor bills the fed.
End of story.
Some areas the emergency bills are so outrageous. This could have been avoided if people had seen a doctor sooner.
We have created extra costs into our system of healthcare. That needs to change. I don’t want the government to control healthcare; I just want them to pay for it.
I get to get specifics later. I will speak about the liberties, which are achieved through education.
Education should be free period. Which would mean that you would not have to fill out a lot of financial paperwork.
All the people, whose job is to give out grant money, they will need to find new jobs and so on. The whole business of education funding will be eliminated. The attendants pay nothing…the schools bill the FED. Just like the doctors and hospitals.
Everyone goes to school if they want to. Our people will become more healthy, more productive and smarter. We will become much stronger, in so many ways.
Now hold on…. This sounds like some kind of socialism. Whatever.
We need to talk.
We have seen what happens economically to our beautiful country, when the wrong principles are guiding us.
We do not have to reinvent the wheel, it’s not broken. It’s just gone.
We need to build another ‘so to speak.
INTRODUCTION
• Going to get more specific in the following areas; Life and your health, Liberty, and the Pursuit of happiness.
Health
SO MANY TOPICS AND ISSUES HERE, I’LL POINT OUT FIRST WE ARE SPENDING A FORTUNE TALKING ABOUT HEALTHCARE ISSUES…SUP W/THAT. I SHOULD WRITE A BOOK ON THAT AND MAKE A LOT OF MONEY.
My first reaction is that, hang on here, I’m already covered…and this sounds like I’ll going to pay more money for something I already have just so people who don’t have anything have something. I don’t want to change its going to cost me.
Starting with our health, we get sick, go to the doctor; we do the paperwork with the insurance company and so on.
Some people have no insurance, they get sick…. They lose work…sometimes their job. They fall behind financially at a time when they need money…not a good story. Eventually they get so sick that they end in an emergency room.
And the taxpayer end up having to pay…these costs are figured into the hospital, doctor services. We all have to pay…currently has it is.
-My idea is that when you feel bad you go to the doctor. The doctor bills the fed, period.
Fewer people will end up in the emergency room.
More people will show up at work healthy.
To make that happen, well change is going come.
A lot of people will lose their jobs. Simply by eliminating health insurance…a whole industry of jobs will disappear. Currently many states currently have training programs that are already paid for. For people who become unemployed, who get pay while they get trained/going to school etc. So there is an answer to that issue.
The complete business of health insurance involves many aspects. First making profit. Which is done by limiting paying for services. If not they would be out of business.
It involves a process of billing, with patient and doctors etc. This process costs doctors, who hire staff who handle and process the insurance claims. This raises the total cost of all services delivered factored in as the cost of doing business.
Now in my life every time I speak with a person of importance and I speak them saying ‘we should get rid off the health insurance companies’….
They will jump in and say ’Well …they are too big…you’ll never get rid of them. They are powerful and have lots of money etc.”
Well I beg to differ.
I have contacted a big insurance carrier…spoke with people who were in management. It kinda went like this…I knew that to be in insurance of their type etc….there is a pool of money that is untouchable so to speak. Premiums going into this fund. And from this fund, money is distributed to the doctors’ etc. The fund is kinda like a bond to do business. Well if all the companies could take that fund and walk away…they would make a fortune. I mentioned ‘hey if you guys could walk with all the money would you?’ They basically said …we would run!
Eliminating health insurance…. So there is an answer to that issue.
Currently I’m covered by health insurance, and it does not cover cost of healing me. I pay in each month and I have to pay more…’co-payments’. I have been paying in my own life and when I need it the most….it does not pay.
So I ask myself…why? I’m I wasting my money each month. I should have opened up my own bank account just for medical help and put in monthly deposits. Had I done that, well I would have easily paid for my healthcare, because I would have had the money. I would be healthy and would be out spending money on things I want and need. Having fun working.
I have noticed the advances of medicine. It’s almost miraculous…new science and machines. We are advancing in research finding causes, discovering solutions to help conditions etc. this cost huge amounts of capital. We all have to pay.
I be thinkin again…all the fancy new machines designed to find out how to save the worst case scenarios…the money spent here is huge. We all are paying, in the cost of services…factored in. I have experience these machines…tested in many. I have cancer.
After they finished all the tests. It boiled down to…sorry good luck. Wish we could have seen you when it was first diagnosed.
My first thought…well why was I not seen earlier? They would have stopped the cancer. I would not have got into those fancy machines…that tell me exactly how I’m going to die.
It is this equipment that has cost us, sure it is good to some degree. A lot cheaper to prevent.
The total unnecessary costs associated with health care…take up most of the money. Healthcare prices are going up….everything else is not keeping pace. This is hurting us.
I was not seen earlier…because of the referral system relating to services that are rendered by insurance companies.
The process takes time, as you go from to doctor to doctor – at this point, it is not a matter of whets wrong, or figuring how are we going to fix it. They know exactly what to do. It is a problem…finding the proper wording to put on the insurance forms so they can get paid. Lots of things are not covered. For example I had surgery, insurance does not paid for pain relief during the surgery. I had to pay that. They could have at least given me a bone to chew.
Points to make here.
• If you’re covered-you’re really not covered. You’ll pay also.
• You’re not covered but you will get emergency help. So we all pay for this one, which is the biggest expense.
• Emergency visits-could be avoided.
• The government’s only involvement is to pay the bills.
• Healthcare insurance gone.
• Medicare gone.
In conclusion we need to really change the system.
Before we go there…. I look at the ideal big picture. _Anyone can, at any time can go to see a doctor, there is no insurance, and government foots the bill_
Now if we find out that by helping everyone we are going broke. We need to rethink life, as we know it. It will work this way, doctors bill the fed. The fed deducts from our paychecks. (Currently they deduct for Medicare and so on). Keep this in mind.
Could it boil down to we are really on our own. So I say let’s go for it.
Liberty
A beautiful word.
I feel liberty comes through education. If you were not educated, you would not know what the word means. I think and believe the founding fathers were trying to guarantee our health and provide for our education. So we could live our lives. Too many people walking around unhealthy, others need education. This is a huge $ burden in the big picture that is factored in.
Simple solution – for the liberty issue. Free education period, for anyone.
Now, if that was the case (the what if’s are popping into my head like popcorn going off). Most of the kids all start to go to school (this will cause a teacher shortage) and since anyone now can go, many regular citizens start going also. A side effect of this will be in the market place. Now employers are finding it harder to find workers, they will have to raise wages to attract potential employees. Very good things! Supply and demand. Lets us use the principles of human nature, and the effects such as supply and demand.
In conclusion we need to change…..our collective activities….are bring us all down….as you can see. For example our economic condition.
46 million no coverage.
75% of healthcare cost- are people with chronic conditions.
Define the agenda & commonalities in both “OCCUPY WALL ST.” & “THE99ers” Join forces of the two groups & hope &pray that the time has arrived to abolish the Federal Government,and through thoughtful,common sense exchange of ideas,to institute a NEW GOVERNMENT BY,FOR, & OF the people.The “FOUNDING FATHERS” had great foresight—-read the second paragraph of “THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE.” I vow to go to whatever lengths it takes, to take BACK THIS COUNTRY, and to return Government TO THE PEOPLE, a place which no longer exists!!Read paragraph two (2) of T.D.O.I. Will be back in the a.m. “GOD BLESS AMERICA”
I’m a great grandma – I was very young when WWII started, but I remember many things from it. I retired in 1998 when things were good, so my 401K was in good shape, I received a pension from my employer and I retired on my own social security earnings. Now I worry about my kids and grandkids, what kind of world will they live in. The American Dream for all is in jeopardy by assaults from the right! As a former Republican I helped to get Reagan elected during his second try . . . something I now tell my kids was a big mistake. Previously Reagan was a Democrat, working after the great depression for the people. Then he married Nancy, whose rich father convinced him that Supply Side Economics was a good thing, it wasn’t, it laid the ground work for the mess we have today. I am fortunate that I worked at a time that Corporations “valued” their employees . . . now they only value their bottom line and their CEO’s whose salaries have risen over 240% since 1979. Since Reagan instigated Supply Side Economics and began the big tax cuts for the rich, our deficit began to grow – he doubled it. Each Republican President after him did the same thing, cut taxes, didn’t cut spending and kept the deficit climbing. Clinton broke this chain, but Bush brought it back on steroids. There wasn’t anything Bush wanted that the Republicans didn’t back, all the while not reducing spending, in fact increasing it on two wars and Medicare PartD written by the Pharmaceutical Industry which was designed to drain down the Medicare Fund . . . because if you will look at history and stated facts, the Republicans DON’T like any kind of social program – EVERYTHING should be provided by private companies where a profit can be obtained from the people. They say they want to save Social Security and Medicare, when what they want to do is “privatize” it for their Corporate friends. Wall Street can’t wait for you to have to invest your retirement funds through them! They are licking their chops. The Great Depression proved one thing, that we are in this together. Prior to the Great Depression we were primarily an agricultural nation, as people moved into more urban areas, they lost their ability to “grow their own food, etc”. So when the Great Depression hit, those in the cities were left with no kind of “safety net” .. . they were destitute, eating out of garbage cans from Restuarants who catered to the rich, eating dog food and starving. We can never let that happen again. We need to fight to keep our existing safty nets and strengthen them. Obama did not create this mess, it has been happening over a 30 year period . . . in fact if you would repeal the Reagan tax cuts for the rich, we would prosper again. Democrats believe that all should have equal opportunity, but that is impossible now since during the Bush years, Corporations were given tax incentives to move their jobs off shore and the Republicans continue to protect that tax break. Unions were the backbone of our country that created living wages for all people, if you were not a union member, non-union companies still had to compete with union wages for their employes, so people had resources to raise their standard of living and create the middle class. That also began to unravel with Reagan, when he fired air traffic controlers, the right demonized unions and put in laws that made it difficult and nearly impossible to unionize. That’s why you have few private companies unionized. Today they are protecting the Corporations and their bottom line, they no longer have to share their bounty with those who work hard to create it for them. How do we counteract this – we need to get the money out of our elections, all of them – they are paid and controlled by Corporations and our Supreme Court has now assured that this will grow even worse – but we can still vote against that money at election time . . . just don’t vote for anyone who is supported by anonymous money. The Koch Brothers are already admitting that they will provide $200,000 Million dollars to “conservative groups” at election time and Karl Rove already has another $250,000 million (92% provided by 3 donors) so that’s already almost a half a billion dollars for the right to spend against Obama and Democrats. They have systematically spent the last two years going after Democrat voters as exhibited by the assault on union workers . . our teachers, our policemen, firefighters and nurses. They have facticously cried voter fraud as an excuse to put in stringent rules that will prevent students, seniors and minority voters from voting . . . WE MUST ASK THAT THE JUSTICE DEPARTMENT TO BLOCK THESE RULES. Obama did not create this mess, but he has been hamstrung by the Republicans with record filibusters and stonewalling to prevent him from turning the economy around – because they know if they can keep it bad, they will get back in power! We can’t let that happen. We must fight, we must make sure our right to vote is valid in our registered areas and then we MUST vote against the money! Give Obama a filibuster proof Congress and then things will begin to change. Buy ONLY AMERICAN!
Fight for the JOBS Bill, it will get things going, while these are “temporary jobs”, infra structure improvements provide wealth, any job now will put money into your pockets, tax revenue will increase and stop the increase in the deficit. PUT PRESSURE ON THE RIGHT TO PASS THIS BILL . . . it worked for FDR but he faced the same problem, congress was hesitant to go into debt to create jobs, but when WWII came, they HAD to and full employment ensued. So what if they had “borrowed” the money and put more people to work – that money in those workers created MORE demand which created MORE jobs! We can do it again. God Bless all of you who are standing up for all of us.
Every repressive government has ALWAYS been backed by religion . . . think about it . . . all of the wedge issues being used to justify the right! In the first Century when Jesus walked on earth, his life was influenced by the repression of the Roman empire and the hiearchy of the High Priest and Scribes of the Jewish religion who answered to Caesar!
What kind of domination systems do WE live under now? As in that first century, the elite rich created NO wealth, they lived off of what they took from those in the fields who had nothing!
Get a copy of “Jesus” by Marcus Borg – read the first part of the Epilogue in the back of the book, it tells you all you need to know about what has shaped the American that we now live in. Pretty Scary!
I love all of you for marching, but to accomplish anything, it is imperative that you come up with a list of changes that you want to see accomplished.
1st. on the list is Return the Glass-Steagall Act that was put into place after the Great Depression. The repeal of this bill, while done under the Clinton administration, was pushed by Phil Graham and the right. It is stronger than the Dodds bill and will prevent another collaspe like we saw in 2007. When the first part of it was repealed by Bush I, we had the big Savings and Loan Scandal and you saw the results of the rest of it being repealed . . . it allowed the banks and financial institutions to do whatever they wanted with YOUR money!
2nd. It is imperative to lobby for reform to counter-act the Supreme Court ruling that recognizes Corporations as people . . . thus giving them unlimited power in our elections. We must have FULL disclosure of donors behind the political ads that are coming from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and Super packs from both parties. I believe the 501 (c) are the ones that allow them to spend anonymously as long as they don’t verbally go against a candidate, but they can spew mis-information on that candidate and sway a lot of voters who don’t really keep up with things.
3rd. The tax code MUST be revised, mortgage deductions should be limited to $500,000 and on one house only . . . the rich can have 5 mansions and deduct the interest on all 5. The rich should pay a higher percentage of income over a certain level to keep out tax code progressive. Those who use our infrastructure, etc. who profit greatly from things provided by the commons should be a higher income tax rate.
Good luck as you move forward.
Well, well, Mr. Cantor has moved from calling you a Mob, to his giving a speech on income disparity the end of this week. This should be interesting . . . but beware . . . he is responsible for much of the stonewalling that has been going on this year against Obama and the debt ceiling. The House will not even let the Obama bill come up for a vote even though it has been deemed by the CBO to immediately create 1.5 million jobs and getting a lot of infra structure across our nation repaired and replaced. Those jobs will bring in new tax revenue, and people will have money to spend which will create more demand and jobs. The bill is not perfect, but it’s 99% better than anything coming out of the right. PASS THE OBAMA BILL.
Yesterday, once again, Republicans filibustered a portion of Obama’s jobs bill. This portion allowed money for keeping teachers, police, firefighters and nurses on the job. It also allowed .5% tax increase on incomes over 1 million dollars, hardly a drop in the bucket considering the disparity of incomes in this country, which is at a dangerous position and allows the rich to control our lives. Republicans also know that ANY jobs saved and created will put money into the economy and create demand, which will create jobs, but their quest to make Obama a one term President and regain power, is greater than their need to do what is right for all Americans. Obama has done a lot of great things in spite of record numbers of filibusters by the right to protect those in the top 1%. His saving of the American car industry has just resulted in an agreement with the UAW and GM and Chrysler to bring thousands of manufacturing jobs back to the United States. His foreign policy to attack specific terrorists, build coalitions like the one in Libya that just killed Kadaffy, instead of attacking and occupying countries is bearing fruit. As a senior citizen, I cannot no longer support ANY Republican because of what they are doing to our country. Here in Colorado, we have lived with the TABOR act that has demolished support for our State colleges, necessitating exhorbitant increases in tuitions until our middle class can no longer afford to send their kids to college. This goes back to the plan by ALEC to move to privatize ALL learning institutions which will again increase the cost of education. I, as one person, can no longer support ANY Republican running for ANY office . . . my battle cry now will be VOTE ALL REPUBLICANS OUT IN 2012! SAVE THE AMERICAN DREAM FOR ALL PEOPLE AND NOT FOR JUST THE FEW!
As exhibited by the vote on collecting a .5% surcharge on incomes over $1 million dollars and supplying funds to states to keep teachers, on the job, the Republicans want to keep as much pain in the economy to try to accomplish their goal of making Obama a one term president. NO OTHER PRESIDENT IN OUR HISTORY HAS HAD THIS MANY FILIBUSTERS, and stonewalling used against him. Republicans know that ANY jobs kept in the economy circulates money through the economy and creates demand which creates more jobs. But their lust for power takes precedence over the needs of the people!
The 99 ers are just a bunch of poor people who belive that rich people are the problem for our problems in america, the problem is the govern trying to make housing for these poor people with money we don’t have, the poor people’s stupid ass unions wanting to work for 50 dollors an hour forcing the corperations ship there companys over seas… If you think pooping in a place where dogs aerent aloud to poop is going to solve you not working harder, get a life or better yet a job….
Every body needs to look at and post opensecrets.org,
and K street.
Unfortunately, Open Secrets will not be able to tell us how much money is being contributed to Karl Rove and U.S. Chamber of Commerce to use against Democrats!
Why can’t the $13 billion that the big banks and wall street firms made from the bailouts be taxed at 100% and put into a fund to rescue those who are under water because of the misdeeds of these big corporations? They should NOT be allowed to keep this money! See the November 29th story from Bloomberg on not only TARP money but HUGE loans from the Federal Reserve to save their butts – at taxpayer expense!
Get puppetmaster, Grover Norquist, out of our government by voting out his puppet Republicans in 2012!
I think It is time to picket Fox Cable. They distort yhe truth and try to gererate hate. We need to start tying up the lines of those Conservative radio broadcasters who lie and try to create hate. It’s time to attack the Murdoch machine. LET’S LET FACKX NEWS HERE US.
“WHO DO YOU PEOPLE THINK YOUR FOOLING”?
In the article, “Can Mike End Your Financial Woes For Good”?
You the 99′ers and the, “OCCUPY WALL STREET PROTESTERS”, are given a career opportunity to hold you over, or change your life, and not one of you responded.
It is based on beating the Banks and Brokerage Houses at their own game, which should be a natural for any of the protesters to rally around, but did you? NO!
So in the future, instead of referring to yourselves as the 99′ers, just call yourselves the, “$3.00 Bills”, because that’s how, “PHONY ALL OF YOU ARE”!
MIKE
It seems to me that the 99%ers could really change things if they managed to outlaw corporate funding for political campaigns.
We are going to re-activate this blog site. There are many, many more of us now. We need to join together. Many of us are educated and are over 40. We NEED to Do something NOW!