Obama blames the rise of the machines for high unemployment.

[Soggy in NOLA]

Actually, what this thread proves is that the left is mired in the past and doesn't have a clue about the dynamics of labor markets, innovation and technology. Labor needs change rapidly in today's world, fueled by the acceleration of technology advances.

Hell, in my field, which for the last decade or so has been almost exclusively devoted to accounting software and such, is now rapidly changing to total ERP solutions, etc. You adapt. I spend significantly more time these days learning new technology.. it's just the way it is.

 

[Cuyo]

The President is not wrong. In just two years I've seen automation reduce the personnel size in my office by 30%.

So?
In order to not become one the replaced, you improve your value to the company by increasing your skill set.

Yes, but mathematically not everyone can be chosen. Not that difficult to grasp.

 

[Cuyo]

We Americans have been well trained to be satisfied with less service.

Yes, People choose price over service. It is hard to believe the "Full Service Gas Station Attendant" was one of the first customer service jobs I saw go away. I say bring them back.

Ever been to Jersey?

But the windshield treatments remain few and far between.

 

[Remodeling Maidiac]

All this subject proves is that the Republicans wouldn't have any better luck creating jobs even if you put them back in power.

There's not a single aspect of the GOP economic agenda that is going to overcome this reality of the shrinking pool of labor intensive businesses in the US.

Yea because as we all know if we lowered our corporate tax rate to compete with the rest of the world or removed some of the anti business regulations or make our nation a right to work nation that none of our jobs might come back. Hell even the burdens that unions put on our companies if relaxed could increase employment for everyone instead of just a select few.

I own a small remodeling business and when I've worked on large commercial jobs I've been picketed. Like someone else deserves the job more than me.

 

[Cuyo]

All this subject proves is that the Republicans wouldn't have any better luck creating jobs even if you put them back in power.

There's not a single aspect of the GOP economic agenda that is going to overcome this reality of the shrinking pool of labor intensive businesses in the US.

Yea because as we all know if we lowered our corporate tax rate to compete with the rest of the world or removed some of the anti business regulations or make our nation a right to work nation that none of our jobs might come back. Hell even the burdens that unions put on our companies if relaxed could increase employment for everyone instead of just a select few.

I own a small remodeling business and when I've worked on large commercial jobs I've been picketed. Like someone else deserves the job more than me.

And you think lower corporate taxes and eliminating 'Anti-business regulation' would alleviate this because... Why?

The truth is that with zero tax and laissez faire regulation, companies are still going to go where the labor's cheap. The only thing that will bring that sort of job back is to make it less profitable to outsource labor; Tariffs or direct regulation, and unfortunately there is no political will to do either.

 

[FuelRod]

Yes because these companies don't employ anyone:


HEWLETT PACKARD CO

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORP (IBM)

DELL, INC.

MICROSOFT CORP

INTEL CORPORATION

MOTOROLA INC

INGRAM MICRO INC.

CISCO SYSTEMS INC

APPLE INC

ELECTRONIC DATA SYSTEMS CORPORATION

ORACLE CORP

GOOGLE INC

COMPUTER SCIENCES CORPORATION

SUN MICROSYSTEMS INC

TEXAS INSTRUMENTS INC

EMC CORP

SEAGATE TECHNOLOGY

EASTMAN KODAK CO

APPLIED MATERIALS, INC.

SAIC, INC.

SONIC AUTOMOTIVE, INC.

VIRGIN MEDIA INC.

KEYCORP

AUTOMATIC DATA PROCESSING, INC.

SYNNEX CORPORATION

YAHOO! INC

ADVANCED MICRO DEVICES, INC.

SYMANTEC CORP

AFFILIATED COMPUTER SERVICES, INC.

UNISYS CORP

MICRON TECHNOLOGY INC

WESTERN DIGITAL CORPORATION

AGILENT TECHNOLOGIES, INC.

AVAYA INC.

DISCOVER FINANCIAL SERVICES

ROCKWELL AUTOMATION, INC.

LEXMARK INTERNATIONAL, INC.

NCR CORP

INSIGHT ENTERPRISES, INC.

LEVEL 3 COMMUNICATIONS, INC.

IKON OFFICE SOLUTIONS, INC.

NVIDIA CORPORATION

CA, INC.

FISERV, INC.

SANDISK CORPORATION

BROADCOM CORPORATION

KINGSTON TECHNOLOGY COMPANY, INC.

ZIONS BANCORPORATION

ADOBE SYSTEMS INC

ELECTRONIC ARTS INC.

DIEBOLD, INC.

NETWORK APPLIANCE, INC.

CONVERGYS CORPORATION

JUNIPER NETWORKS, INC.

VISHAY INTERTECHNOLOGY, INC.

AMKOR TECHNOLOGY, INC.

IRON MOUNTAIN INCORPORATED

INTUIT INC.

PEROT SYSTEMS CORPORATION

LSI CORPORATION

LAM RESEARCH CORPORATION

ANALOG DEVICES, INC.

INTERNATIONAL GAME TECHNOLOGY

SPANSION INC.

VOLT INFORMATION SCIENCES, INC.

MOODY’S CORPORATION

IMS HEALTH INC

COGNIZANT TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS CORPORATION

IMATION CORP.

IDT CORPORATION

CACI INTERNATIONAL INC.

NATIONAL SEMICONDUCTOR CORPORATION

XILINX, INC.

AUTODESK, INC.

TOTAL SYSTEM SERVICES, INC.

BMC SOFTWARE, INC.

TERADATA CORPORATION

DST SYSTEMS, INC.

FAIRCHILD SEMICONDUCTOR INTERNATIONAL, INC.

ATMEL CORPORATION

CADENCE DESIGN SYSTEMS, INC.

CYPRESS SEMICONDUCTOR CORPORATION

VIEWSONIC CORPORATION

NOVELLUS SYSTEMS, INC.

ON SEMICONDUCTOR CORPORATION

PALM, INC.

CERNER CORPORATION

ACTIVISION, INC.

VERISIGN, INC.

ITRON INC.

MANTECH INTERNATIONAL CORPORATION

BEA SYSTEMS, INC.

JDS UNIPHASE CORPORATION

ACXIOM CORP

CITRIX SYSTEMS, INC.

HEARTLAND PAYMENT SYSTEMS, INC.

MCAFEE INC

SRA INTERNATIONAL INC.

3COM CORPORATION

ALTERA CORPORATION

BROCADE COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEMS, INC.

TRIMBLE NAVIGATION LIMITED

EARTHLINK, INC.

COMPUWARE CORP

SYNOPSYS, INC.

TELETECH HOLDINGS, INC.

INTERNATIONAL RECTIFIER CORPORATION

CMGI, INC.
LINEAR TECHNOLOGY CORP.
VARIAN SEMICONDUCTOR EQUIPMENT ASSOCIATES, INC.
SCIENTIFIC GAMES CORPORAION
MICROCHIP TECHNOLOGY, INC
THQ INC.
TECHNITROL, INC.
SYBASE, INC.
RF MICRO DEVICES, INC.
BLACK BOX CORPORATION
QUANTUM CORPORATION
TAKE-TWO INTERACTIVE SOFTWARE, INC.
IBASIS INC
NOVELL, INC.
AVID TECHNOLOGY, INC.
MENTOR GRAPHICS CORPORATION
FAIR ISAAC CORPORATION
CONEXANT SYSTEMS, INC.
MICROS SYSTEMS, INC.
LAWSON SOFTWARE, INC.
SALESFORCE COM INC
COMSYS IT PARTNERS, INC.
SKYWORKS SOLUTIONS, INC.
NATIONAL INSTRUMENTS CORPORATION
MAXIMUS, INC.
NETGEAR, INC.
SYKES ENTERPRISES, INCORPORATED
SYNTAX-BRILLIAN CORPORATION
BROOKS AUTOMATION, INC.
JACK HENRY & ASSOCIATES, INC.
AKAMAI TECHNOLOGIES, INC.
QUEST SOFTWARE, INC.
ELECTRONICS FOR IMAGING, INC.
AVOCENT CORPORATION
FEI COMPANY
QLOGIC CORP.
VERIFONE HOLDINGS, INC.
TIBCO SOFTWARE INC.
OSI SYSTEMS, INC.
F5 NETWORKS, INC.
RED HAT, INC.
CYMER, INC.
UNITED ONLINE, INC.
SI INTERNATIONAL, INC.
ZORAN CORPORATION
FIRST SOLAR, INC.
PROGRESS SOFTWARE CORPORATION
AMERICA SERVICE GROUP, INC.
FACTSET RESEARCH SYSTEMS, INC.
INTERDIGITAL COMMUNICATIONS CORPORATION
ECLIPSYS CORPORATION
TRIQUINT SEMICONDUCTOR, INC.
EMULEX CORPORATION
FORMFACTOR, INC.
METHODE ELECTRONICS, INC.
MICROSEMI CORPORATION
EPICOR SOFTWARE CORPORATION
FINISAR CORPORATION
ATHEROS COMMUNICATIONS, INC.
AXCELIS TECHNOLOGIES, INC.
VEECO INSTRUMENTS, INC.
DIODES INCORPORATED
INFORMATICA CORPORATION
L-1 IDENTITY SOLUTIONS, INC.
NUANCE COMMUNICATIONS, INC.
STANDARD MICROSYSTEMS CORPORATION
JDA SOFTWARE GROUP INC
RACKABLE SYSTEMS, INC.
TRANSACTION SYSTEMS ARCHITECTS, INC.
ASPEN TECHNOLOGY, INC.
ARBITRON INC.
CABOT MICROELECTRONICS CORPORATION
SYNTEL, INC.
SILICON LABORATORIES, INC.
MANHATTAN ASSOCIATES, INC.
IOMEGA CORPORATION
TNS, INC.
COMPUTER TASK GROUP, INC.
RADISYS CORPORATION
SONUS NETWORKS INC.
INFOCUS CORPORATION
HYPERCOM CORP
APPLIED MICRO CIRCUITS CORPORATION
SPSS INC.
OPENWAVE SYSTEMS INC.
EMS TECHNOLOGIES, INC.
IXYS CORPORATION
ARGON ST, INC.
ALLSCRIPTS HEALTHCARE SOLUTIONS, INC.
PLANAR SYSTEMS, INC.
INTERSECTIONS INC.
TRIDENT MICROSYSTEMS, INC.
BORLAND SOFTWARE CORPORATION

 

[kwc57]

Are you kidding? Look at all the jobs the machines create: invent, production, program with updates, maintain, market & sell, fill. Look at the money in production time they save us. All versus the 1 teller they "may" replace.
It's just sad that our president is so eager to excuse away his own inept policies that his excuse is just as pathetic as the results of his policies.

Look, I'm no fan of Obama, but technology and automation can and does reduce jobs. Of course, it has also opened up other industries and jobs too. A for instance comes from a show I saw last night on the History Channel called 101 Gadgets that Changed the World. One of the items was the sewing machine. Before the invention of the sewing machine, it took 14 hours for a tailor to sew a shirt. With the sewing machine, it took 1 hour. A tailor could produce 14 shirts in the time it used to take him to make 1. That sounds great because the tailor can now produce 14 times as much as he could before in the same amount of time.......but all tailors producing 14 times as much as they used to creates a surplus shirts and drives the price down so far they can't make a living. Many tailors went in search of other jobs as they could no longer make enough money being a tailor.

I've worked in the banking industry for over 30 years. I was around when ATM's were first on the scene and actually dealt with them early in my career. The ATM did in fact reduce the number of tellers a bank needed. You have machine that works 24/7, doesn't eat, sleep, get sich or require a benefits package. An ATM was cheaper in the long run than a human employee and didn't make mistakes.

 

[Remodeling Maidiac]

Come to think of it I remember the bank tellers that were replaced by atms at:

Strip bars
Airports
Grocery stores
Malls
Random street corners
Casinos
Convience stores
Drug store
Places of employment
Places of education
Amusement parks
Train stations
Cafeterias
24 hour banks lol

You get my point. Far more jobs have been created by all these machines than the ones lost period.
Stop being ideologues and face the facts.

 

[FuelRod]

The Cotton Gin put 3.1 million out of work.

 

[CrusaderFrank]

They're destroying the US economy!!

 

[Remodeling Maidiac]

Not to forget all the money that is spent after banking hours because of atms. And the jobs and revenue thereby created that could have been lost.

 

[Jarhead]

There is validity to this.

Research departments of dozens are replaced with one person who knows how to perform boolean searches on the internet.

A team of switchboard operators are replaced by voice mail and only one receptionist for overflow

One secretary per executive is replaced by one secretary per 3 or 4 executives with advanced WP and graphics programs

A mailroom of multiple clerks is replaced by one or two mailroom people with the increase use of e-mail

Now...they may not sound like a lot of people...but when you spread it over tens of thousands of companies...it adds up.

With concern of head count...cost of insuring headcount......increase in employment regulations.....companies have been spending more money on new technology to accomodate growth as opposed to increasing the payroll

 

[Remodeling Maidiac]

There is validity to this.

Research departments of dozens are replaced with one person who knows how to perform boolean searches on the internet.

A team of switchboard operators are replaced by voice mail and only one receptionist for overflow

One secretary per executive is replaced by one secretary per 3 or 4 executives with advanced WP and graphics programs

A mailroom of multiple clerks is replaced by one or two mailroom people with the increase use of e-mail

Now...they may not sound like a lot of people...but when you spread it over tens of thousands of companies...it adds up.

With concern of head count...cost of insuring headcount......increase in employment regulations.....companies have been spending more money on new technology to accomodate growth as opposed to increasing the payroll

All of that has NOTHING to do with the recent spike in unemployment. All the semantic arguments in the world don't change anything. What Obama doesn't understand is that booksmarts =/= common sense, and sometimes that's all you need.

 

[Jarhead]

There is validity to this.

Research departments of dozens are replaced with one person who knows how to perform boolean searches on the internet.

A team of switchboard operators are replaced by voice mail and only one receptionist for overflow

One secretary per executive is replaced by one secretary per 3 or 4 executives with advanced WP and graphics programs

A mailroom of multiple clerks is replaced by one or two mailroom people with the increase use of e-mail

Now...they may not sound like a lot of people...but when you spread it over tens of thousands of companies...it adds up.

With concern of head count...cost of insuring headcount......increase in employment regulations.....companies have been spending more money on new technology to accomodate growth as opposed to increasing the payroll

All of that has NOTHING to do with the recent spike in unemployment. All the semantic arguments in the world don't change anything. What Obama doesn't understand is that booksmarts =/= common sense, and sometimes that's all you need.

The recent spike?
No...that is a result of fear tactics used during the 2008 campaign and the subsequent villifying by the new administration of the job creators....coupled with the threat of cap and trade, an increase in healthcare costs to the employer, and threat of more regulations.

The recession was just a recession.....unemployment would have levelled out at around 7 or 8 percent...we would have had no growth for a year to a year and a half...and we would have recovered.....sort of like we always do.

Sadly...one of the candidates looked to capitalize on the recession.....scare the shit out of everyone...and then tell them "vote for me and I will send a check to 95% of you at a time when the economy will be in a near depression." (PARAPHRASED FOR AFFECT)

And it worked...he made the economy worse..and he won the election.

Thus why I see him as an asshole.

 

[Remodeling Maidiac]

There is validity to this.

Research departments of dozens are replaced with one person who knows how to perform boolean searches on the internet.

A team of switchboard operators are replaced by voice mail and only one receptionist for overflow

One secretary per executive is replaced by one secretary per 3 or 4 executives with advanced WP and graphics programs

A mailroom of multiple clerks is replaced by one or two mailroom people with the increase use of e-mail

Now...they may not sound like a lot of people...but when you spread it over tens of thousands of companies...it adds up.

With concern of head count...cost of insuring headcount......increase in employment regulations.....companies have been spending more money on new technology to accomodate growth as opposed to increasing the payroll

All of that has NOTHING to do with the recent spike in unemployment. All the semantic arguments in the world don't change anything. What Obama doesn't understand is that booksmarts =/= common sense, and sometimes that's all you need.

The recent spike?
No...that is a result of fear tactics used during the 2008 campaign and the subsequent villifying by the new administration of the job creators....coupled with the threat of cap and trade, an increase in healthcare costs to the employer, and threat of more regulations.

The recession was just a recession.....unemployment would have levelled out at around 7 or 8 percent...we would have had no growth for a year to a year and a half...and we would have recovered.....sort of like we always do.

Sadly...one of the candidates looked to capitalize on the recession.....scare the shit out of everyone...and then tell them "vote for me and I will send a check to 95% of you at a time when the economy will be in a near depression." (PARAPHRASED FOR AFFECT)

And it worked...he made the economy worse..and he won the election.

Thus why I see him as an asshole.

Agreed

 

[Avatar4321]

Clearly, Only the Governator can solve this problem. He'll be back.

 

[Jarhead]

All of that has NOTHING to do with the recent spike in unemployment. All the semantic arguments in the world don't change anything. What Obama doesn't understand is that booksmarts =/= common sense, and sometimes that's all you need.

The recent spike?
No...that is a result of fear tactics used during the 2008 campaign and the subsequent villifying by the new administration of the job creators....coupled with the threat of cap and trade, an increase in healthcare costs to the employer, and threat of more regulations.

The recession was just a recession.....unemployment would have levelled out at around 7 or 8 percent...we would have had no growth for a year to a year and a half...and we would have recovered.....sort of like we always do.

Sadly...one of the candidates looked to capitalize on the recession.....scare the shit out of everyone...and then tell them "vote for me and I will send a check to 95% of you at a time when the economy will be in a near depression." (PARAPHRASED FOR AFFECT)

And it worked...he made the economy worse..and he won the election.

Thus why I see him as an asshole.

Agreed

What I laid out earlier was why we have had prosperous times without a dramatic increase in employment percentage

Interestingly, as I see it (I am a business planner and human resource solutions consultant in NYC).....

in the last decade (2000-2007)....despite an increase in population, an increase in the retirement age, and an increase in major technoology (as I laid out earlier)....there was NOT an increase in unemployment except during times of recession (market saturation caused as is usually the norm)..

So when the pundits talk about how few jobs were created during the Bush years...they are either niave or disingenuous....

Truth is....people did quite well during those years...and unemployment was quite stable....and all of the negative ingredients were there for increased unemployment...

and by the way....recall Obamas one liner...

"are you better now than youy were 8 years ago".....he had the gall to ask that during a recession...if he had asked that question a year earlier...most would have said "hell yeah, Im a lot better off"

But he asked it during a recession when people are ALWAYS concerned....

He fooled the masses....and he still fools many of them.

The man is an asshole.

Enough said.

 

[Remodeling Maidiac]

The recent spike?
No...that is a result of fear tactics used during the 2008 campaign and the subsequent villifying by the new administration of the job creators....coupled with the threat of cap and trade, an increase in healthcare costs to the employer, and threat of more regulations.

The recession was just a recession.....unemployment would have levelled out at around 7 or 8 percent...we would have had no growth for a year to a year and a half...and we would have recovered.....sort of like we always do.

Sadly...one of the candidates looked to capitalize on the recession.....scare the shit out of everyone...and then tell them "vote for me and I will send a check to 95% of you at a time when the economy will be in a near depression." (PARAPHRASED FOR AFFECT)

And it worked...he made the economy worse..and he won the election.

Thus why I see him as an asshole.

Agreed

What I laid out earlier was why we have had prosperous times without a dramatic increase in employment percentage

Interestingly, as I see it (I am a business planner and human resource solutions consultant in NYC).....

in the last decade (2000-2007)....despite an increase in population, an increase in the retirement age, and an increase in major technoology (as I laid out earlier)....there was NOT an increase in unemployment except during times of recession (market saturation caused as is usually the norm)..

So when the pundits talk about how few jobs were created during the Bush years...they are either niave or disingenuous....

Truth is....people did quite well during those years...and unemployment was quite stable....and all of the negative ingredients were there for increased unemployment...

and by the way....recall Obamas one liner...

"are you better now than youy were 8 years ago".....he had the gall to ask that during a recession...if he had asked that question a year earlier...most would have said "hell yeah, Im a lot better off"

But he asked it during a recession when people are ALWAYS concerned....

He fooled the masses....and he still fools many of them.

The man is an asshole.

Enough said.

I also run a small business. Have for over 20 years. The downturn started affecting me at the end of June and it hasn't picked back up yet. Oddly enough I timed my losses to about the same time Obama became the nominee. Makes me think that along with all the other issues the prospect of him as president caused even more fear.

 

[keee keee]

Blaming Bush no longer working now he's blaming machinery for all his mistakes and failures!!!! This presidency is the worst in the history of America!!!!

 

[Jarhead]

Agreed

What I laid out earlier was why we have had prosperous times without a dramatic increase in employment percentage

Interestingly, as I see it (I am a business planner and human resource solutions consultant in NYC).....

in the last decade (2000-2007)....despite an increase in population, an increase in the retirement age, and an increase in major technoology (as I laid out earlier)....there was NOT an increase in unemployment except during times of recession (market saturation caused as is usually the norm)..

So when the pundits talk about how few jobs were created during the Bush years...they are either niave or disingenuous....

Truth is....people did quite well during those years...and unemployment was quite stable....and all of the negative ingredients were there for increased unemployment...

and by the way....recall Obamas one liner...

"are you better now than youy were 8 years ago".....he had the gall to ask that during a recession...if he had asked that question a year earlier...most would have said "hell yeah, Im a lot better off"

But he asked it during a recession when people are ALWAYS concerned....

He fooled the masses....and he still fools many of them.

The man is an asshole.

Enough said.

I also run a small business. Have for over 20 years. The downturn started affecting me at the end of June and it hasn't picked back up yet. Oddly enough I timed my losses to about the same time Obama became the nominee. Makes me think that along with all the other issues the prospect of him as president caused even more fear.

Many of us saw right through him. We saw that he had the charisma and speech writers...but nothing behind him in terms of experience and substance....and yes...ut scared us as we knew he would "try things" at the cost of capitalsim.

And then the "police acted stupidly" thing
and the "pediatricians take out tonsils for profit" thing

And we realized we had a real amateur in a very high position....

Scared me enough to back down and wait a few years before I did ANYTHING major with my estate and my business.