Deans Job program

[DKSuddeth]

I don't agree with most of this 'plan' but it does have at least one good part to it. So far I don't see ANY candidate, or Bush, coming up with a decent plan to counteract the china trade deficit and thats what needs to be done.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tm...703&e=5&u=/ap/20031229/ap_on_el_pr/dean_urban

LANSING, Mich. - Democratic presidential candidate Howard Dean wants to improve the nation's cities by putting $100 billion toward creating a million jobs, increasing the federal minimum wage to $7 an hour, and providing credit for urban businesses.


The former Vermont governor planned to unveil his Initiative to Strengthen the Nation's Cities during a Monday afternoon campaign stop in downtown Detroit. In an advance copy of the plan obtained by The Associated Press, Dean said he would help put people back to work by creating a $100 billion Fund to Restore America aimed at adding at least a million jobs in the first two years it's in place.


Cities and regions would use these funds to create jobs in education, health care, homeland security and other critical areas. The fund also would support local programs that help create, promote and retain good jobs and train workers in disadvantaged communities.


Dean said he also wants to protect worker overtime pay and create a Small Business Capital Corporation to invest $1 billion in new loans aimed at creating 100,000 new small-business jobs in the first three years.


His plan would set up a national fund to provide a permanent source of funding to build, rehabilitate and preserve affordable housing for low- and moderate-income families, and double the amount for the Community Development Block Grant program to $10 billion.


Dean said his plan is needed because President Bush's policies have weakened American cities.


"Families in America's metro areas face a high cost of living," Dean says in a news release. "If they're working hard and playing by the rules, they shouldn't have to struggle so hard to make ends meet. That's why my initiative is aimed at creating jobs, promoting investment in small business, boosting wages and helping families afford housing.


"We cannot afford to waste four more years under an administration that ignores the potential as well as the problems of our cities," he said.


Other Democratic presidential candidates have promoted policies for strengthening cities and regaining lost jobs.


Rep. Dick Gephardt of Missouri has presented a plan for revitalizing jobs, especially those in urban areas. It would double the percentage of government contracts aimed at small, disadvantaged businesses. Gephardt also has outlined initiatives that would attract private capital to low-income areas and increase federal small-business loans for start up companies by $1 billion.


Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts has pledged to regain 3 million manufacturing jobs lost under Bush and to give industry a boost through tax breaks and tougher trade policies.

 

[eric]

DK, I agree something needs to be done, a plan needs to be created, I just do not think this is it. This looks more like a low-income handout than a real plan for the working taxpaying middle class.

 

[DKSuddeth]

I like the small business loans idea but I don't see it being handled well under a dean administration.

 

[5stringJeff]

Originally posted by DKSuddeth
Democratic presidential candidate Howard Dean wants to improve the nation's cities by putting $100 billion toward creating a million jobs, increasing the federal minimum wage to $7 an hour, and providing credit for urban businesses.

Increasing the minimum wage is going to eliminate jobs. When will the Left learn this??
Washington state has one of the highest (if not the highest) minimum wage in the nation. We have been hemmoraging jobs for years. Businesses, especially smaller ones, cannot afford to pay these wages to all their workers and still ahve money left for incentive raises, promotions, expansions (i.e. creating jobs), etc. I sat down with a representative from the Washington Restraunt Association a couple of weeks ago. He told me that most companies refuse to even look at Washington state when they expand becasue the business climate is so bad - and the minimum wage is the main culprit.
The bottom line is that minimum wage increases will necessarily decrease the number of jobs at minimum wage.

In an advance copy of the plan obtained by The Associated Press, Dean said he would help put people back to work by creating a $100 billion Fund to Restore America aimed at adding at least a million jobs in the first two years it's in place.

So he's going to spend an average of $100,000 per job that he creates, which will more than likely be minimum wage jobs? Even at his $7/hr wage, that's $14,000 a year. So we are losing a net of $86,000 per job on Dean's program.

"Families in America's metro areas face a high cost of living," Dean says in a news release. "If they're working hard and playing by the rules, they shouldn't have to struggle so hard to make ends meet. That's why my initiative is aimed at creating jobs, promoting investment in small business, boosting wages and helping families afford housing.

If you want to create jobs, give incentives to the people who create the jobs - business owners. If you want to promote small businesses, stop taxing them so heavily. If you want to boost wages, don't tax the business owners so much, so they can increase their profits and pay their employees more.

 

[jon_forward]

very well said....what office are you running for???

 

[5stringJeff]

Precinct Commitee Officer! Gotta start somewhere, and I'm only 27, so there's plenty of time! But I'm managing a state House campaign this cycle as well.

 

[jon_forward]

good luck!!! and stick to your guns, you would get the nod if I were there

 

[eric]

If you want to create jobs, give incentives to the people who create the jobs - business owners. If you want to promote small businesses, stop taxing them so heavily. If you want to boost wages, don't tax the business owners so much, so they can increase their profits and pay their employees more.

Finally someone who understands !!!!!!

Well said Jeff, well said........

Now of course our left leaning friends will say that by doing this, we will just enrich the cauffers of the corporte monster. This is nothing more than nonsense spoken be people with absoultely no experience in running a corp. I am not going to say that this will never happen, but it is certainly not the norm. It does not even make good business sense if you think it through.

 

[5stringJeff]

Eric, I absolutely agree. Labor, from a purely business standpoint, is a commodity, just like office supplies, gasoline, etc. (But please, don't anyone think I'm trying to take the human perspective out of labor!) So businesses want to get their labor at the cheapest price (wages) possible. Meanwhile, the labor pool (workers) want to get the highest wages possible. So they have to meet somewhere in the middle. When the profits increase, especially across an industry, the workers will certainly know that there is more money available for wages. So they then have an expectation to either receive a raise at their present job, or to look elsewhere for a job that would pay better. Owners are then forced to pay better wages or risk losing their labor pool. So the market, in an expanding economy, really does help to increase wages.

 

[MtnBiker]

I mostly agree Jeff, and I'm sure you know the value of human labor. But I don't agree that labor in all sectors is a commodity. Most companies spend alot of time and money training employees, so they have an investment with labor. People cannot be replaced as easy as a box of paper.

 

[eric]

Total agreement Jeff !!!

You know greed does go both ways, many workers want more money for doing less work. Pride in ones job seems to also have fallen by the wayside. I have worked in the IT business for many years and was most certainly underpaid, yet I gave it my all everyday, and had pride in my work. At least for me, this payed huge dividends by landing me the position I currently hold. I happen to pay my employees very well and I have no problems with raises and incentives but I do demand effort. Employment is a two way street. I run my company like a team, the better the team does, the more each member profits, very simple formula, and so far I most say has served us well.

Talk about milking the system, take my brother in law for example. He makes $48.00 an hour installing fire sprinklers in commercial buildings. This guy get an additional $200 a week bonus for showing up, not what kind of crap is that, union that is what it is. He gets paid for a complete day even if he finishes in 2 hours. Now tell me in good faith that this is right ?

 

[MtnBiker]

Originally posted by eric
I run my company like a team, the better the team does, the more each member profits, very simple formula, and so far I most say has served us well.

He gets paid for a complete day even if he finishes in 2 hours.

That is awsome Eric, one of my previous employers had a profit incentive bonus for me. I reviewed the P&L everyweek, it really gives an employee a since of ownership with that system. And I made sure I was running things a profitable as possible.

Does it take into account the qaulity of the job performed? If a job is to take all day and he is done in 2 hours I would suspect some imcompleted tasked. Seems his incentive is to rush through the job.

 

[r3volut!on]

i think it's necessary to mention that many of the companies who do pay minimum wage are extremely large, extremely profitable corporations who could easily afford to pay a higher wage or offer more substantial benefits packages to their employees.

 

[5stringJeff]

Originally posted by r3volut!on
i think it's necessary to mention that many of the companies who do pay minimum wage are extremely large, extremely profitable corporations who could easily afford to pay a higher wage or offer more substantial benefits packages to their employees.

Which companies, exactly, would you be speaking of? Many large companies, like McDonalds, has been losing money for a while. Others believe that there are other ways to invest their earnings to increase their profit margin, like advertising, expansion, store remodeling, etc. While you may be right in saying that they could pay their employees more, it could very well be that they believe their money will be better invested elsewhere.

That said, I think Eric's post is very indictative (sp?) of a well-run company. People being offered raises/incentives for superior performance will encourage them to work harder.

 

[r3volut!on]

how about Wal-Mart? That's a vastly profitable company, and the majority of their employees are paid very little more than the minimum wage. Home Depot is another example.

 

[Annie]

Jeff, what city? I'd love to move there and vote for you for precinct member.

 

[MtnBiker]

Originally posted by r3volut!on
how about Wal-Mart? That's a vastly profitable company, and the majority of their employees are paid very little more than the minimum wage. Home Depot is another example.

Hmmm, how do you know this? Are there numbers(perferrably itemized) showing employee salaries for these companies?

 

[DKSuddeth]

my mother has worked at walmart for over 5 years now. She now runs the meat department for her store and makes $9 an hour.

 

[MtnBiker]

9 dollars an hour is not a huge wage but I wouldn't call that very little more than minimum. I'm curious DK, do you know if the meat department cuts its own meat or if it comes to them already cut and packaged?

 

[r3volut!on]

I will admit to my lack of numbers to back my claims, but one thing that wasn't mentioned above is the wage at which DK's mother started. For someone who has been with a company for 5 years and heads a department that no doubt brings in a large share of profits for the company, $9 isn't a very high wage.

Furthermore, it's important to note that, while $9 is certainly above minimum wage, the vast majority of Wal-Mart's employees are not heads of the departments in which they work. If someone who heads an entire department makes $9, what does that tell you about the employees who are not department heads?