Obamanomics

Paul Ryan's budget proposal is geared at debt reduction.

 Obama's plan (and that's a big if) essentially revolves around repeal of tax cuts and some debt reduction and a lot of fear mongering about the evil Repubocrats...

So lets go with the numbers from Obama- tax the crap out of those evil rich MFers, and solve our problems. OOPS, doing that only raised 700 billion in 10 years...(for you math geniuses, avg 70 billion a year). Our debt is going up between 1.6 and 2 point TRILLION something a year, and is projected to do that in the (God forbid) second Obama term all the way out to 2019... So if 1.6 trillion is the gap (1600 billion per year) when will the 70 billion a year pay it off. (That's not including the 46 trillion shortfall estimated for programs like Medicare, Social Security, etc. These will begin snowballing into bigger an bigger debts starting in 2017)

Never. That's when, never.

That's why Standard and Poor is suggesting the US credit worthiness is shaky. That's why Moody's is likely to do the same.

If you are using 90% of your income to pay the bills, you don't have much for a rainy day. The USA government CBO estimates that based on policies enacted in 2010, the US economy will decline by average of 1.3 percentage points per year... and a a slower economy means all our financial problems get worse.

I don't know that the Ryan plan or any plan can stop our slide into fiscal insolvency, but I have a good idea that Obamanomic is worse...

Meanwhile, let me tell you about the return of $4.21 a gallon regular...gee, get a pitiful pay raise and spend all of it on gas...

Election 2012 starts...

Well, the White House resident has announced he is seeking re-election...gee, there's a no brainer, and i refer to not only the fact that he announced it...

So in contrast, we have Romney saying he launches his exploratory committee...while trying to sound Reagan like, I am not sure enough people would vote for him because of his Massachusetts Health-care plan, his mormonism, or whatever...you all know I think BO gives pinheads a bad name. So as the election nears, look for my postings to get more and more POLITICAL...

 

What, me lie?

Cognitive dissonance is that uncomfortable feeling caused by holding conflicting ideas simultaneously. I wonder if the White House resident, or any of the loopy people in congress, understand you cannot on the one hand double the national debt in 2 years, and propose another doubling in the next 2 years and at the same time sincerely state you propose to cut the very deficit you are ramping up.

From the Washington Post "Americans may ask which is the real Obama, the politician who embraced the biggest stimulus package in the nation’s history, a bailout of the banks and a takeover of the automobile industry, or the one who on Friday hailed the new budget deal as including “the largest annual spending cut in our history.”

Burnt bridges?

You of course have heard the expression “burn a bridge”.  As in doing something that pretty much guarantees you will not be welcome back.

 

So here now is a tale of such events.

 

I worked at company X for well over a decade, and rose through the organization. My last job there was what they call a development type job, meaning that if you do well, they make your job permanent, and if not, well then you go back to the job you had before.  In my case the boss (Let’s call her Jane) failed to get the position funded, so towards the end of the 3rd budget year, her boss told me I would be going back. Now at this point I decided that was not an option, and since other companies were hiring, I went for it. Got pretty much the same salary and benefits, and was a good opportunity. My boss (you remember, the one that forgot to get my job funded) was happy for me.

 

 The new job was great, gained a lot more experience, worked with great people. But alas, all good things come to an end, and the company began the slow circle around the drain starting in 2010. So, I started looking around again, and interviewing, etc.  I even asked about a job back at the old company; even though my rule #3 is ‘Never go back’, a rule I have broken one other time in the past. To my surprise, they hired me back, so I went.

Here is where it gets real weird. 2 weeks into my return to company X, another company I had interviewed with called, and wanted me to meet with their executives. I did, and at the end of the day, they offered me the job. With a substantial raise, nice corner office with view of the city, small staff with room to grow as they launch a new project; I was torn.  Do I bail out on the people that just re-hired me, or do I take an opportunity to maybe move my career along and in the process maybe make a little more money so I can save for retirement. The kicker was when they called again and said they would also pay for most of my benefits. So besides a nice place to work, more money, I could keep more of it since they were paying for benefits (mostly anyway). I agreed, but told them I needed to give a minimum of two weeks’ notice. They agreed.

I gave notice by scheduling a meeting with my boss, who was shocked but said he understood, who could turn down such a great offer.

 

As the day came for me to leave, we met again to discuss things, and I assured him I understood the pressure on him for re-hiring me and then I leave, but I seriously had no idea the offer was coming. I had not heard from them in months, and that is not an exaggeration. He told me he did catch some crap from the big shots, but for me not to worry about it.

 

So now I am at my new job, and everything is pretty much great. One of my pals at Company X and I are chatting on the phone, and she lets out that “Jane” has been telling everyone at Company X that she tried to warn people re-hiring me was a mistake, that I would be leaving, “just like she did me”…ok, SO that’s not exactly how that went down, so what’s up with the assertion I bailed out? She never lifted a finger to help me out, and now she is spreading this garbage?

 

So today, I contacted my pal, and told her hearing that bit of news actually didn’t shock me; it reaffirmed my low opinion of Jane as a manager. She laughed and told me that that was everyone was saying, her petty behavior was only reaffirming her own shortcomings.

If we honor their service, how about a job?

Prior to me joining my current employer, they had made the decision to hire another person in the unit I would manage. The boss decided this would be a good job to give the new manager, which in this case turns out to be me.

I was handed a pile of applications and told to devise a rating system based on company needs and policies…so I reviewed what they had advertised for, and then reviewed a bunch of hiring policy statements.

 

 

Then I did a spreadsheet, and delegated points for things like being a veteran (1 pt), key skills and abilities (10 pt), practical experience(10 pt) and education- degrees and certifications (10 pt).

I then reviewed each application, looking to see how they described things they had done, writing style, and the items in my point scale.

I think the top candidate had 26 pt and got an extra point for being a veteran.

The boss asked why we should care about if they were a veteran, that it’s unrelated to the job.

I replied that a veteran has demonstrated ability to absorb training, self-reliance, judgement, discipline and every veteran I know had hired in my career turned out to be a worthwhile hire. He shrugged and said , “well, OK”.

That people in this country think veterans are unworthy of any benefit at all in hiring is sad. It also is illegal.

 The Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994 (USERRA, 38 U.S.C. §§ 4301 – 4335) is a federal law. Part of the law states that its intent to “to prohibit discrimination against persons because of their service in the uniformed services”. Although many believe this applies only to reservists and National Guard called to active duty, another section of the law says no, and says “A person who … has performed… an obligation to …service in a uniformed service shall not be denied initial employment”

Sorry for the employment law lesson, but the above experience apparently is not unique to my company, because on the news they were discussing “rampant unemployment among the nations veterans” and one of the commentators said “Frankly that these people are unemployed in these numbers demonstrates a lack of respect for what they have done for this country”

 

I think enough said.