your world is not mine - if you cannot get jobs or they are being lost,

• I see the Witches of Leftwick are out in force today....sm - ms
  • are you really that afraid of open debates you need to - MTpockets
    • Rich slithering around the country.... - sm
    • Blacks in Alaska....... - sm
      • your world is not mine - if you cannot get jobs or they are being lost, - MTPockets
        • You see crime being a result of economy, but I see - economy as a result of crime. nm
        • I've had jobs since the day I was old enough to - work. Never used a "social" program..sm
        • How do you know what my world is..... - because I don't sound entitled? sm
          • Excellent post!! - hear, hear! nm
          • why are you mentioning Obama - why do you hate him so much... - MTPocket
            • You think expecting someone to be held - accountable and responsible for themselves is..sm
    • Actually, your post here is very thoughtful...sm - ms
      • actually your thought is very thoughtful... - sooner than later
    • That is exactly it in a nutshell. I believe that most...sm - oldtimer
      • Nail-on-the-head, dead-on CORRECT. - s/m
      • That is unfair. You have no idea what people do... - sam
        • Most true Christians perform their works and - fund charities in private, not for show. sm
        • My mother, a life-long republican, used to be...sm - Christian democrat
          • I was not talking about tithes...I am taking about faith-based... - sam
          • You bring up such a good point... - MTPockets
            • Again, awful generalization. Your animosity toward anyone - making more money than you..sm
              • yes, Angelina Jolie - Sunday
  • she's here 18 hours a day - twaddle
    • You must be doing the same in order to - know that.........nm

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Trying to figure out exactly what a community organizer does (besides having dinner with terrorists, listening to - but never actually hearing - hate speech in church, rallying fraudulent votes, etc.). 

Perhaps you could enighten me, o wise one?

Unemployment rate soars to 8.1 percent
Employers resort to even bigger layoffs as they scramble to survive
BREAKING NEWS
The Associated Press
updated 8:02 a.m. CT, Fri., March. 6, 2009

WASHINGTON - The nation's unemployment rate bolted to 8.1 percent in February, the highest since late 1983, as cost-cutting employers slashed 651,000 jobs.

Both figures were worse than analysts expected and the Labor Department's report shows America's workers being clobbered by a relentless wave of layoffs.

The net loss of jobs in February came after even deeper payroll reductions in the prior two months, according to revised figures. The economy lost 681,000 jobs in December and another 655,000 in January.

Since the recession began in December 2007, the economy has lost 4.4 million jobs, more than half of which occurred in the past four months.

Employers are shrinking their work forces at alarming clip and are turning to other ways to slash costs — including trimming workers' hours, freezing wages or cutting pay — because the recession has eaten into their sales and profits. Customers at home and abroad are cutting back as other countries cope with their own economic problems.

With employers showing no appetite to hire, the unemployment jumped to 8.1 percent from 7.6 percent in January. That was the highest since December 1983, when the jobless rate was 8.3 percent.

All told, the number of unemployed people climbed to 12.5 million. In addition, the number of people forced to work part time for "economic reasons" rose by a sharp 787,000 to 8.6 million. That's people who would like to work full time but whose hours were cut back or were unable to find full-time work.

Meanwhile, the average work week in February stayed at 33.3 hours, matching the record low set in December.

Job losses were widespread in February.

Construction companies eliminated 104,000 jobs. Factories axed 168,000. Retailers cut nearly 40,000. Professional and business services got rid of 180,000, with 78,000 jobs lost at temporary-help agencies. Financial companies reduced payrolls by 44,000. Leisure and hospitality firms chopped 33,000 positions.

The few areas spared: education and health services, as well as government, which boosted employment last month.

A new wave of layoffs hit this week.

General Dynamics Corp. said Thursday it will lay off 1,200 workers due partly to plummeting sales of business and personal jets that forced it to cut production. Defense contractor Northrop Grumman Corp., and Tyco Electronics Ltd., which makes electronic components, undersea telecommunications systems and wireless equipment, also are trimming payrolls.

"This is basically cleaning house for a lot of firms," said John Silvia, chief economist at Wachovia. "They are using the first quarter to cut back employment and figure out what they want."

Disappearing jobs and evaporating wealth from tanking home values, 401(k)s and other investments have forced consumers to retrench, driving companies to lay off workers. It's a vicious cycle in which all the economy's negative problems feed on each other, worsening the downward spiral.

"The economy is in a tailspin. Businesses are jettisoning jobs at an unprecedented pace," said Richard Yamarone, economist at Argus Research.

The country is getting bloodied by fallout from the housing, credit and financial crises_ the worst since the 1930s. And there's no easy fix for a quick turnaround, economists said.

President Barack Obama is counting on a multipronged assault to lift the country out of recession: a $787 billion stimulus package of increased federal spending and tax cuts; a revamped, multibillion-dollar bailout program for the nation's troubled banks; and a $75 billion effort to stem home foreclosures.

Even in the best-case scenario that the relief efforts work and the recession ends later in 2009, the unemployment rate is expected to keep climbing, hitting 9 percent or higher this year. In fact, the Federal Reserve thinks the unemployment rate will stay elevated into 2011. Economists say the job market may not get back to normal — meaning a 5 percent unemployment rate — until 2013.

Businesses won't be inclined to ramp up hiring until they are sure any economic recovery has staying power.

The economy contracted at a staggering 6.2 percent in the final three months of 2008, the worst showing in a quarter-century, and it will probably continue to shrink during the first six months of this year.

Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke told Congress earlier this week that recent economic barometers "show little sign of improvement" and suggest that "labor market conditions may have worsened further in recent weeks."

Consumers’ growing frugality has hammered automakers, among other industries. General Motors Corp.'s auditors on Thursday raised "substantial doubt" about the auto giant’s ability to continue operations, and the company said it might have to seek bankruptcy protection, sending its shares below $2.

Bill Hampel, chief economist for the Credit Union National Association, said his group’s members are reporting record increases in deposits. Government figures show the savings rate jumped to 5 percent in January from zero last spring. That’s the highest rate since 1995 and a much faster shift than he had expected, Hampel said.

Consumer spending makes up about 70 percent of the economy. It topped out at 71 percent in 2005, Hampel said, but will likely drop by 2 to 3 percentage points over the next few years.

Increased savings can actually lower economic growth. Economists call it the “paradox of thrift”: What’s good for each of us individually — being thrifty, limiting our spending — can worsen a recession when everyone does it all at once.

Hoffman said about half the 6.2 percent drop in economic output last quarter was attributable to lower consumer spending.

so, I called his financial advisor yesterday and told him to put hubby in a "safe" plan. It's now in a money market fund that is part of his IRA.

I have no choice. I have to stay where I am. I have no "safe" available. Neither of us will be able to retire on what is now in our 401Ks and you're not the only one. We couldn't buy a car with Both our 401Ks, let alone live on it.

We are late starters for retirement  not until our late 40s funds (most of our employers did not offer pensions). We are now of the first retirement tier and although we own our home outright, if we live until we are 90, there is no way we can live off retirement 401Ks or SS.

My husband's father told him back in the 50s that we would experience something like what is happening today and stated it would be worse than the ཙ crash. It is sure starting to look that way, but we will survive some way, I hope.

We need to pray for the people on SS now that cannot survive. I, for one, would love to help them, but can't help ourselves at this moment.

Keep on ranting about the stupid b/c like as if you are smarter than Hillary and McCain.  If there'd been even a SNIFF of wrongdoing in the b/c, they would have drug it out and already drug it through the mud.  Personally I don't think a lot of the nut jobs who hang out here are even MTs.  I think they are professional political pot stirers!!!

being created. Guess what DH reminded me of? There are millions more unemployed than the 3M (he said 10M, but I'm not sure on that), plus most of these jobs will not happen until 2011. How's that going to help?

I'm serious. That will leave 7M still on the unemployment rolls. We are really in for a long haul here. Thank heavens I don't live in a city. At least we can grow our own food.

why aren't we drilling for oil?  Why aren't we getting wind farms going?  If our government would take more money to look into alternative fuels, not only would that stop our dependency on foreign oil but we will need workers to maintain those things, etc.  Those will be jobs that will last.  It won't be like construction work like Obama wants.  Once the roads are repaired and bridges fixed, etc....then what?  I just think we are going in the wrong direction and I just don't understand why.  We need to tap our resources with offshore drilling.  We need to drill Alaska.  While we are doing that, we need to look for alternatives to oil.  The sooner they do that, the sooner car companies can make environmentally safer cars and vehicles.  I mean....come on.

created would only be temporary. Don't forget, road and bridge construction only lasts in the summer in the northern states, and when those road and bridge jobs are done, what's next?

The money being doled out for infrastructure is definitely not enough. There are many, many roads and bridges that have to be built/rebuilt in the country and any one of them would cost $1 million and up.  PA is getting $2.7M for roads. Is that going to take care of the roads? Doubt it. Headlines recenty in our paper stated PA was going to get $6B. I checked the charts and don't see where he gets that figure.

they have people out there like Lamepuke and Billo the Clown pandering to these crazy loons.  Some people would sell out their own mother for ratings and to put more millions of dollars into their own pockets.  It's pretty pathetic that these two despicable TV/radio man sluts have to resort to attracting the lunatics of the world to boost their ratings.

So if something is amiss in the word you don't try to fix it at all you just hope that it goes away?

Would you rather deal with Iran, Syria, Hezbollah, Hamas before they get nukes or after?  Should we have let Saddam get nukes too?

This whole *Bush was too preoccupied with Iraq to deal with this situation* the Dems are crying is bull. Just like everything else they say in fact.  This situation has been ongoing for years.  The cease fires so touted by Madeline Albright and Clinton have never been true cease fires.  This is a conflict that has been going on ever since there were Jews and Arabs.  This is one situation you cannot historically place the blame on Bush.  Doesn't hold water.  So, if you are so concerned about our President supposedly not knowing history or geographics then I suggest you do some studying of your own, because your history and your perception of it is a little skewed itself.

the recipient didn't get it . . . .

Sam, you give closed-minded people way too much of your time!  Oh well.  It's your call.

available information .... don't just pull them out of my bellybutton.

few nieces who are biracial and they are absolutely beautiful kids.  I think some of the cutest kids are "oreos."

"If there is an open door in 2012 or four years later, and if it is something that is going to be good for my family, for my state, for my nation, an opportunity for me, then I'll plough through that door," Mrs Palin said.

All indictations, from what I see, are that Palin is going to run for Prez in 2012.  I would guess that this means the pubs are going even farther to the right.