Out of touch... yes I'm talking about most of the GOP hopefulls.

[Prometheus]

Mitt Romney trying to relate about his daddy talking about being elected to office was hilarious...

One thing I thought was bizzare was newt's talk about people on unemployment needing to go thru "training".

Newt got some great one liners for the average brain dead voter last night such as "that's an AA".

The truth of the matter is far from it once you look closer.

Lets talk about one statement "if you are on unemployment you need to be trained to get a job".

Really? As it stands you have to be employed for at least 4 (some states 6) months prior to being eligible. Where can you work, without training, for just about any job that pays over minimum wage? Bizarre in and of itself.

Today more people making over 50k a year are on unemployment than ever before...

What sort of "training" is newt talking about? What sort of "training" will help someone who was making over 50k a year, let alone the hundreds of thousands making 75k or over on unemployment?

There are other requirements, it would seem every state is different, but under current laws, you aren't allowed to go to school while on unemployment. You are supposed to be looking for a job.

So in addition to newt being completely out of touch, he is advocating people get paid to get free training for lower paying jobs.

What sort of idiot is he? What sort of idiots are the people who clapped for him?

 

[rambone]

If Newt becomes president, his solution to unemployment will be to use the Federal Government to set up some kind of socialized workers/training program. This will all fit with the legacy of FDR whom he says was the best president in the 20th century, possibly the entire history of the U.S. It will all sound very conservative when it comes out his mouth...

 

[sepe]

Mitt Romney trying to relate about his daddy talking about being elected to office was hilarious...

One thing I thought was bizzare was newt's talk about people on unemployment needing to go thru "training".

Newt got some great one liners for the average brain dead voter last night such as "that's an AA".

The truth of the matter is far from it once you look closer.

Lets talk about one statement "if you are on unemployment you need to be trained to get a job".

Really? As it stands you have to be employed for at least 4 (some states 6) months prior to being eligible. Where can you work, without training, for just about any job that pays over minimum wage? Bizarre in and of itself.

Today more people making over 50k a year are on unemployment than ever before...

What sort of "training" is newt talking about? What sort of "training" will help someone who was making over 50k a year, let alone the hundreds of thousands making 75k or over on unemployment?

There are other requirements, it would seem every state is different, but under current laws, you aren't allowed to go to school while on unemployment. You are supposed to be looking for a job.

So in addition to newt being completely out of touch, he is advocating people get paid to get free training for lower paying jobs.

What sort of idiot is he? What sort of idiots are the people who clapped for him?

One thing I read said he was talking about 99 weeks being an Associate Degree. If he can find people jobs with an Associate Degree, maybe he is the right person for the job. I happen to remember last semester when we had a guest speaker in one of my business classes that was talking about how they just started a small restaurant...because their company closed and there is so much competition in the labor market that their M.B.A. wasn't doing much to help (said he delivered pizza for a few months and that was one of the few places that gave him an interview).

 

[Prometheus]

I happen to remember last semester when we had a guest speaker in one of my business classes that was talking about how they just started a small restaurant...because their company closed and there is so much competition in the labor market that their M.B.A. wasn't doing much to help (said he delivered pizza for a few months and that was one of the few places that gave him an interview).

I have a buddy who was unemployed for about 6 months. He had 10 years experience and impeccable references... several problems aside from waiting until the new year to hire... He was running up against guys with not just masters but with doctorate degrees applying for the same positions.

If you aren't out there competing for the 75k-150k jobs, you have no idea how insane the job market is right is.

FYI if you were making 75k or even 150k and lost your job and you max out your dependents you get a maximum of $530 a week in benefits.

Yeah, a guy who was making $100,000 a year is now on unemployment making $27,560 a year and some how Newt seems to think that not only does that guy not want to get back to work but he is also sitting around "getting rich".

Oh yeah, he also wants him to get some training, lol!

Completely out of touch!

 

[bingley]

I wouldn't assume that Gingrich, or for that matter any politician, is sincere. He could be fully aware of the situation on the ground, but he is just cynically manipulating the ignorance and the prejudices of the base he wants to fire up. Reason never gets any mob as enthusiastic as indignant rage.

 

[dross]

It's a little more complicated and even more cynical than you guys think.

Obama is using unemployment extensions as a goodie. And BTW, it's not as federal as you might think - the states have to pay it back. Go ask your employer what they're having to pay right now for unemployment insurance to pay for the check the federal government cashed on the state's dime. It rolls down hill, so the states are coming right back to the employers. Go ask yours about it.

Since the extensions are political goodies, and by percentage people who collect unemployment are more likely to vote Democrat, the Republicans want to end the extensions. It's not their voters getting the money, in general.

Now, to end it they have to have a reason. The Dems will talk about how it's needed, how it's mean spirited to end it and all kinds of other emotional reasons. There are very good logical reasons to end it, but logic only plays to a very small part of the voting public. So the Republicans must find a way to sell it through emotion. So Gingrich comes up with the job training thing. It sounds good to people whose main issue is that they think people are milking unemployment, and btw, many do, even those who were making a lot of money.

For instance, I'm in the category where I'll get max unemployment and so is my wife. Unemployment payments would only be a small percentage of what I could make working. But on the other hand, my contract is coming up for extension or renewal in a couple of months. I can afford to take a couple of months off before I take on another contract and five hundred a week would offset a little vacation nicely. I'm quite sure I'm not the only person who has figured that out.

Try to remember that if logic and hard truth and personal responsibility appeal to you, and emotional arguments turn you off, well then you are in a small percentage and no politician ever got elected playing to the small percentages.

If you watch football, I'll tell you the quickest way to tell if it's a pass or a run. Hit pause the instant the ball is snapped. I can tell you to a dead certainty almost all the time whether it will be a pass play or a run as soon as the ball is snapped. Some of you who know football will say the way to tell is if the offensive linemen are firing out or backing up. But they design stuff to fool you, so you can't always tell. The way to tell is to look at the inside linebackers. They know whether it's a pass or a run the instant the ball is snapped, if not before. They'll get it right most of the time even if the play is designed to fool them.

Politicians are like linebackers. Want to know what people are really thinking and how they really vote? Watch a politican and listen to what he says. It's almost impossible to fool them about what their constituents want.

As I've said many times, politicians aren't incompetent, in fact they are highly competent at what they do. What they do is get elected. If you want to know what appeals to most people, look at what a politician is trying to do. That will tell you what your fellow citizens want. Thinking they want what you want is a fallacy, especially if you're into logic and truth and facts. 'Cause caring about that stuff makes you a freak of nature.

It's hard to get elected. Find a guy whose been elected a lot and you can be absolutely certain he's an expert at what he does.