U.S. Politics: A Song Of Mimes And Musicians

[Kalbear]

2 hours ago, Altherion said:

If increasing wages does not make a profession more attractive, then the wages have not been increased enough or something is offsetting the increase.

Such as needing anywhere from 5 to 10 years to train a qualified applicant.

You can't just randomly grab people off the street and have them be a senior-level programmer, and programming is similar to pregnancy in that throwing 9 people at a job 1 person can do in 9 months does not complete it in a month.

[Zorral]

2 hours ago, mormont said:

  6 hours ago, mormont said:

It's almost as if people on this thread don't really understand or have any education about how labour markets work.  

 

Especially who traditionally for decades now staff the markets that involve picking, washing, etc. fruits and vegetables, do the massive chicken parts plants, clean the hospitals, hotel rooms, etc.  Even work the horse racing tracks.

By the way, a friend's mom's home carer is gone because the agency that supplies home care has lost so many of its employees, who tended to be from South America and Caribbean. Nope, the agency hasn't -- at least so far -- been able to replace them with white h.s. students.  Though, the employees of color were not getting anything near $15  - $18 an hour, so who knows what the kids are being offered, if they're going to the agency for jobs.  In any case, a whole lot of people say they can't afford to pay $15 - $18 an hour for either child care or home care for other relatives.  But you all know that.

 

[Zorral]

2 hours ago, IheartIheartTesla said:

Looks like the new Woodward book is going to be a doozy; I'm not sure what his reputation is these days (I thought he had an Obama administration book out that appeared was a bit harsh, but I could be mis-remembering). However, based on some select quotes I have read this Trump administration is something else.

Of course, none of this will matter to his sheep-like followers.

You've seen this Washington Post transcript of the Bob Woodward telephone convo with the orange, right?

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2018/09/04/transcript-phone-call-between-president-trump-journalist-bob-woodward/?

 

[lokisnow]

1 hour ago, Zorral said:

You've seen this Washington Post transcript of the Bob Woodward telephone convo with the orange, right?

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2018/09/04/transcript-phone-call-between-president-trump-journalist-bob-woodward/?

 

Hah, Woodward was masterfully played by trump in that transcript. Hilarious. Didn’t get a single bit of info and trump hit every single one of his talking points. Kind of genius talking circles around Woodward about a completely meaningless “access” problem. Hah. Fuck that DC privilege mindset that thinks the real problem is his lack of access, so he’s going to whine about the rules change instead of doing an interview. Genuinely funny move by trump. Hah

[Deadlines? What Deadlines?]

23 hours ago, ThinkerX said:

I am saying I have little or no sympathy for industries that engage in price gouging - which includes pretty much the whole 'medical industry' for want of a better term.  I do not believe that there is a significant shortage of US workers for the vast majority of 'advanced' US positions. (One of my multitude of relatives is a newly minted anesthesiologist, and another has a reputation as a skilled programmer.)   Rather, the US people have qualms about working at the wages the people in charge of those industries wish to pay.

 

or are you seriously attempting to argue that ordinary workers wages in the US these past few decades have NOT remained stagnant?

This thread seems to have move on a bit.

No I am not arguing that. In fact, the line “wages have stagnated.” Doesn’t go far enough. For people at the lower end of the distribution, they’ve actually lost ground. For people in the middle, when you take reduced pensions and increasing healthcare costs, they have likely lost ground too. People get compensated with more than just wages. 

I just don’t think hiring skilled foreign workers has anything to do with that. This falls under the whole “immigration depresses wages” argument and I don’t think there’s much evidence for that. In fact, the opposite is probably true.

if you want to talk about how companies rip people off, that’s a valid discussion, I just don’t think it has anything to do with this issue.

Also, in any dynamic, diversified economy, there will always be shortages of skilled trades/professionals somewhere. That’s just the nature of the beast.

 

[Deadlines? What Deadlines?]

On 9/3/2018 at 4:34 PM, Martell Spy said:

Trump rolls back worker safety rules
'We want to protect our workers,' Trump said in 2017. But his administration has weakened measures designed to keep them safe.

https://www.politico.com/story/2018/09/03/trumps-worker-safety-regulations-protections-unions-806008

 

And when they get home after a long day at work, they’ll have chemical soup coming out of their taps.

[Deadlines? What Deadlines?]

33 minutes ago, lokisnow said:

Hah, Woodward was masterfully played by trump in that transcript. Hilarious. Didn’t get a single bit of info and trump hit every single one of his talking points. Kind of genius talking circles around Woodward about a completely meaningless “access” problem. Hah. Fuck that DC privilege mindset that thinks the real problem is his lack of access, so he’s going to whine about the rules change instead of doing an interview. Genuinely funny move by trump. Hah

You Americans and your sarcasm.

[Martell Spy]

What an insult. Someone might get confused and think she actually works for a living.

Quote

 

“You’re nothing but a fucking staffer!” Bannon screamed at Ivanka at a staff meeting, according to Woodward. “You walk around this place and act like you’re in charge, and you’re not. You’re on staff!”

“I’m not a staffer!” she shouted back. “I’ll never be a staffer. I’m the first daughter” — she really used the title, Woodward writes — “and I’m never going to be a staffer!”

 

The Word Steve Bannon Used to Provoke Ivanka Perfectly Sums Up the Grossness of the Trump White House

https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2018/09/ivanka-trump-reportedly-cant-bear-to-be-called-a-staffer.html

[Deadlines? What Deadlines?]

10 minutes ago, Martell Spy said:

What an insult. Someone might get confused and think she actually works for a living.

The Word Steve Bannon Used to Provoke Ivanka Perfectly Sums Up the Grossness of the Trump White House

https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2018/09/ivanka-trump-reportedly-cant-bear-to-be-called-a-staffer.html

Holy shit. Holy fucking, fucking...

I can’t even.

Just as long as Jared is OK.

[Darth Richard II]

We are living in a goddamn South Park episode.

[Rippounet]

16 minutes ago, Darth Richard II said:

We are living in a goddamn South Park episode.

Didn't you write that a few days ago ? I have a déjà vu feeling...

[Martell Spy]

Trump Ordered Mattis to ‘Fucking Kill’ Bashar al-Assad

https://www.thedailybeast.com/speed-read-the-most-explosive-revelations-from-bob-woodwards-new-book-inside-trumps-white-house?ref=home

Quote

Per The Washington Post’s summary of the excerpts: “After Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad launched a chemical attack on civilians in April 2017, Trump called Mattis and said he wanted to assassinate the dictator. ‘Let’s fucking kill him! Let’s go in. Let’s kill the fucking lot of them,’ Trump said, according to Woodward.”

 

[Darth Richard II]

53 minutes ago, Rippounet said:

Didn't you write that a few days ago ? I have a déjà vu feeling...

Probably.

The one that really weirds me out is the Simpsons episode where the bear wanders into town and they raise taxes for bear patrol and then blame illegal immigrants.

[Jace, Extat]

1 hour ago, Martell Spy said:

Trump Ordered Mattis to ‘Fucking Kill’ Bashar al-Assad

https://www.thedailybeast.com/speed-read-the-most-explosive-revelations-from-bob-woodwards-new-book-inside-trumps-white-house?ref=home

 

He didn't say that.

I guaran-fucking-tee he did not say that.

Have you ever heard the man talk? 'Kill the fucking lot of them' ?????

That is way too advanced a sentence structure for that dolt.

I'm not joking either, I don't think he said that.

Now if the quote was "we should just get 'em! Let's just get 'em. Just shoot 'em!" Then I could believe it.

[Bonnot OG]

Trump said his biggest regret was denouncing neo nazis at Charlottesville. When did he denounce them? And him being regretful over that shows how much of a bigoted piece of shit he is.

[Zorral]

3 hours ago, lokisnow said:

Hah, Woodward was masterfully played by trump in that transcript. Hilarious. Didn’t get a single bit of info and trump hit every single one of his talking points. Kind of genius talking circles around Woodward about a completely meaningless “access” problem. Hah. Fuck that DC privilege mindset that thinks the real problem is his lack of access, so he’s going to whine about the rules change instead of doing an interview. Genuinely funny move by trump. Hah

Jest, correcto?:

[Zorral]

3 hours ago, Deadlines? What Deadlines? said:

This thread seems to have move on a bit.

No I am not arguing that. In fact, the line “wages have stagnated.” Doesn’t go far enough. For people at the lower end of the distribution, they’ve actually lost ground. For people in the middle, when you take reduced pensions and increasing healthcare costs, they have likely lost ground too. People get compensated with more than just wages. 

I just don’t think hiring skilled foreign workers has anything to do with that. This falls under the whole “immigration depresses wages” argument and I don’t think there’s much evidence for that. In fact, the opposite is probably true.

if you want to talk about how companies rip people off, that’s a valid discussion, I just don’t think it has anything to do with this issue.

Also, in any dynamic, diversified economy, there will always be shortages of skilled trades/professionals somewhere. That’s just the nature of the beast.

 

However, one believes that focusing on the highly trained skilled foreign workers such as physicians and etc. leaves out a whole lot about the labor spectrum, including the people who work in the food and medical industries -- not to mention our dentistry.  My dentist, who adjuncts at the Denistry dept. of NYU, says it's really hard to find US citizens qualified to do the level of work he wants.  Because it's a lot quicker these days, people think, who might have gone into dentistry, to do it in finance and other realms that have nothing to do with learning actual technical skills.  They want it big and they want it now.  Foreign professionals are happy making a really great well financed live by working in people's mouths.

\

[lokisnow]

6 hours ago, Kalbear said:

Such as needing anywhere from 5 to 10 years to train a qualified applicant.

You can't just randomly grab people off the street and have them be a senior-level programmer, and programming is similar to pregnancy in that throwing 9 people at a job 1 person can do in 9 months does not complete it in a month.

On the other hand every university in the Midwest and south (and everywhere else but those are the regions that seem segregated out of that sector) each respectively churns out hundreds of computer science students with BS degrees every semester. Is there really a dearth of college educated USA citizens to be mined when there are thousands of well educated domestic options who probably need minimal training? Why should we use these visas to artificially depress employment domestically in a well paying middle class jobs sector simply to save trillion dollar corporations a few thousand dollars (per employee)  in on the job training?

 

[Martell Spy]

Quote

 

Pressley takes down incumbent Dem Capuano in Massachusetts primary
“This is a fight for the soul of our party, and the future of our democracy,” she says.

https://www.politico.com/story/2018/09/04/massachusetts-primary-capuano-pressley-807064

BOSTON — The progressive left crowned its latest star Tuesday, as Ayanna Pressley upended Massachusetts politics and toppled 10-term Democratic Rep. Mike Capuano in a primary.

Pressley, the first woman of color to win a seat on Boston’s city council, is now set to reprise the same feat in Massachusetts’ congressional delegation — part of a wave of young, female and non-white Democrats reshaping their party in the era of President Donald Trump.

 

Capuano conceded about 90 minutes after the polls closed Tuesday night, with early results showing him trailing Pressley.

“This is a fight for the soul of our party, and the future of our democracy, at a time when our country is at a crossroads, the Massachusetts 7th is at a crossroads,” Pressley told reporters after voting on Tuesday.

[Frog Eater]

3 minutes ago, Martell Spy said:

Capuano conceded about 90 minutes after the polls closed Tuesday night, with early results showing him trailing Pressley.

“This is a fight for the soul of our party, and the future of our democracy, at a time when our country is at a crossroads, the Massachusetts 7th is at a crossroads,” Pressley told reporters after voting on Tuesday.

And she will run unopposed in the General Election. As the left pushes further left, the Republican Party needs to field moderate Republican candidates to compete in the Generals.