Sunday, February 21, 2016

Of $15 per hour McDonald's jobs... and a broken society.

"Back in the day," my ex-wife worked as a part-time appraiser for the mortgage company that employed me.
Because of the nature of our business, she often had to go into parts of town that were "not the best;" so she was in one of these sections of town, and had to go down a certain street, where she was greeted with a good deal of hostility by folks in that neighborhood, since she was taking pictures. So she said, "I just got this job (it was new to her) appraising houses, and I have to take pictures."
Then the most saddening, pathetic thing happened (I think partly because she is a woman)--several of the women who were acting in a (sort of) threatening way got really interested, and they said, "Can you tell us where we can get a job?"
Whenever you get into an argument about welfare (I still don't like it much), or people who are the "have nots," remember this.
Even people who live in tough areas want good jobs. They want a way to get out of the hole they're in. They want a way out of the gangs for their children. They want to own their car, their home, their life.
The gateway to all of that is a truly good job.
Now fast forward a few years. Here we have similar people, people who "have it tough" wanting to get some job, any job, and they want it to pay what they perceive to be a living wage.  It is, if two people in the family work.
If you have ever been poor, you know what effort it takes to lift yourself up out of the hole you're born in.
What we don't need is to see the jobs that would go to people who are here go to imported people. We don't need to export more jobs. We need to bring them home.
The reason Wall Street fights this is twofold:
Stock price / earnings per share/ taxes paid
and
executive compensation.
Companies are all run in the US as if they are not citizens of the country, and as if they owe nothing back to the general economy. Some do choose to be good citizens, but for the most part these are privately held.
Many companies shield both their executive compensation and corporate profits from taxes, but that is not really the problem. The problem is that these same companies both export jobs to foreign lands because labor is cheaper there, and import people on H-1B visas because they are cheaper to hire, and because they are not "on the hook" for the same kinds of things as if they employ a US citizen. Neither of these practices is entirely the company's fault. They are to blame, because what they do is so destructive to people in our country, but the real fault lies elsewhere.
It's the fault of Congress and the President, who can change these laws with the stroke of a pen. Congress could, in any one year, change government policies to so dramatically favor companies who hire workers here, and who refuse to participate in the H-1B visa program, that nobody would do it.
So why don't they?
Bribes. Pure and simple. Bribes.  Say it with me. Bribes.  Bribes under the guise of campaign contributions, or in the case of some politicians, funding a foundation.
Make no mistake. If you're poor, the government is NOT on your side. The Democrats say they are, and they fund lots of "programs" for poor people, but where are the good jobs? In China. How did they get there? They were voted there by people YOU elected. 
The Republicans? Same thing.  This is why (or the secret reason why) there is so much support for $15 an hour jobs at McDonalds among certain politicians.  It's the old method of deflection. "Vote for me, I'll support more welfare;" "vote for me, I support free enterprise;" this is all code for,
"NO good jobs." I'll export these so you NEED welfare. Or, "I'll fight increases in the minimum wage for you poor small businessmen who can't afford to pay that won't have to."
All the while, these same people are all but worshipping the tycoons of Wall Street, the wealthy businesses that export YOUR job to China, and import people who will take your job away from you.
Please don't believe the lying fiction that "I can't get good employees:" THAT is code for, "I have to pay US citizens too much." If these same people want to do so, they can employ US citizens.
These economic crimes have nothing to do with political party.  Both parties are completely, absolutely guilty. What we need in our legislatures, and in our businesses, is people who consider their responsibilities as citizens of the US, and mandate and provide business that's centered here in the US.  If you think Democrats are better, think of the acronym NAFTA,or TPP.  Both eviscerate US business, if it's mid-size or small.
If you think Republicans are better, think to yourself, "Who was in office when Sam Walton died?" When Mr. Walton was alive, just about everything that could be made here was made here. Within a year of his death, everything was "made in China." The family had prepared for his death during the first Bush presidency, and was ready to send YOUR jobs to China. 
Mr. Bush was a Republican. Please don't think these legislators have your interests at heart. They do not.  They want to be re-elected. That's all, and they will accept bribes from anyone on earth if it will help them do that.
YOU can stop this, whoever you are, by demanding that your representatives represent YOU. YOU, not the people who send your jobs overseas, and import workers to take YOUR JOB.
End of rant. More coming soon.

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