Secretary Solis' "State of the American Worker"

[huixera]

need to raise taxes on the wealthiest members of society

[Ryooken]

That's because based my information Labor is discriminating against their employees too. In fact, if you look on their website the EEO complaints filed against the Department has significantly increased. I suggest you all look at this.

[HFG923]

I appreciate the video and message Secretary Solis shared. More than anything, we live in a country that cares about its people. As citizens, we have responsibilities as well, but we often forget that. What are we doing each and every day to help each other out, to help boost our communities? Whether employed or unemployed, volunteering is a great way to help strengthen our community and build your network - and that can only help an individual when trying to gain employment.

[virian2010]

Hi solis, my name is Virian, director, of o.i.o.a.t. inc. we have a way to educate and prepare people to work in the electric vehicle field, a new job creating field that has been asleep, i have a solid plan to raise this school off to start, here is a great program. we need your help to obtain the funding to open our operation, i would like your help . ask president Obama, to see if companies and people who earn at least $ 500.000.00 and more to pay taxes here in the U.S.A. . thanks Virian

[voyeurdug]

Trolls on here merely serve to highlight and emphasize the current administration's even-handed helpfulness in the face of overwhelming, politically-motivated obstructionism and divisiveness. Thanks for all you do.

[seltz99]

Unbelieveable.......The Department of Labor destroys wealth, creates administrative buraeucracies in small & large businesses that adds costs to businesses and results in less hiring in the private sector while adding more buraeucrats creating more rules in the public sector.

DOL rules are the most complicated, vague and confusing regulations of all government agencies. SOLIS is a Disaster

Invest in Asia

[StewartIII]

NewsBusters: Labor Department's Solis Again Politicizes Labor Day With an Error-Ridded, Inadvertently Hilarious Video

[Stincil]

"More jobs", code for "more union jobs".

[richracer1]

I THINK THE GLOBAL CORPORATE MONOPOLIES IN COLLUSION WITH THE U.S. GOVERNMENT RUNS THE SHOW HERE. CONGRESS TALKS BIG, BUT THEY HAVE TAKEN MORE JOBS AWAY THAN ANYONE, INCLUDING THE W.T.O., NAFTA, CAFTA, ALLOWING ALL THIS FREE TRADE CRAP, AND OUTSOURCING OF MOST MANUFACTURING. LABOR DAY HAS TURNED INTO SLAVE DAY.

[jwjaweibel]

YOU SAY THERE ARE 8MILLION UNEMPLOYMENT NO THERE ABOUT 25 million THAT ARE UNEMPLOYMENT AND PEOPLE ARE LOSING THERE HOMES AND BUSINESS AND EVER ONE KNOWS THAT THE LITTLE BUSINESS ARE THE THING THAT RUNS THIS UNITED STATES PLEASE WAKE UP BEFORE IT IS TO LATE!

[safayal77571]

A 4:45 minute campaign ad for B H O. 

[lynnerhodes]

Robert Reich, former Secy of Labor, asks, what does a sane nation do when consumers and businesses can't boost the economy on their own? Government...hires directly...and indirectly, contracting with companies to rebuild our crumbling infrastructure, including school buildings.Not only does this create jobs but also puts money in the hands of all the people who get the jobs, so they can turn around and buy the goods and services they need -generating more jobs. Get it? Not exactly rocket science

[goody1107]

I'm so tired of people blaming the UNIONS for jobs going over seas. The corporations and for that fact the very wealthy could care less if the job is UNION or not. The only thing that drives overseas jobs is GREED. The fact that that can fill their pockets with american money and take advantage of the poor people around the world is the only reason they do it. I say if you sell products here you make them here. WAKE UP PEOPLE.

[richracer1]

@goody1107 I HAVE ALWAYS SAID THIS. GOOD STATEMENT. MORE PROPAGANDA FROM OUR LABOR SECRETARY, WHOEVER THEY ARE. DID SHE EVER MENTION UNIONS AND THE BACKBONE OF A REAL DEMOCRACY. AT 12% AND AND DECLINING WE WILL ONLY BE SLAVES TO THE GLOBAL CORPORATE ELITE. YOU DON'T NEED TO VOTE IF THERE ARE NO UNIONS. TOMFOOLERY AT THE POLLS.

[moiraeve1]

I support Labor Secretary Hilda Solis and I hear what she is saying--the system cannot be fixed quickly b/c it is fundamentally broken. Businesses aren't afraid of taxes--they need customers. So we have to recreate our economy. There's plenty to do! Let's fix the financial disaster that greed built.

[Munchygram]

If anyone is working on saving and creating jobs, if anyone has the skills to make an impact, it's you Hilda. As you can see by the naysayers, people are bitter and cynical. But I want them to know that you are a worker and not a politician who will work the hardest to deliver on this message.

[MrSpokesman1]

To all those criticizing this administration, Know this...We know who you are...you didn't vote for Barack during the elections, you voted for McCain. And you want to do everything to stop him from getting a second term. My question to you is who's better? Bush and the Republicans who squandered 5.7 trillion dollars or Obama who only proposed 1.4 trillion thru 2017. We know the facts!!! We also know that you just can't disguise your racism any longer...

[dilligaffow]

How about the latest idea? To create a new bank for public construction projects. If the administration creates another bank, the bankers will keep all the investment and nothing will filter down to the construction projects and workers.

[1Wunderland]

Thank you Ms. Solis for your heartfelt words and hard work. I appreciate you and President Obama for all that you do and have done. What we need to do as a country is be positive and look for the good. We will rise again as a nation. An attitude of lack creates lack. I am unemployed from the construction industry but I will not remain in this condition. I appreciate this country, our government and extended unemployment benefits. I know you are creating jobs. God Bless You!

[gdrbrntmtn]

I see that the right-wing parrots have jumped right in, yelling to put history in reverse. They'll be happy when decades of middle-class advancement under New Deal labor policies are undone, returning American workers to, this time, south Asian-level wages and working conditions. Nice legacy for your children, fellas.

[bryancar70]

ASK OBAMA where the jobs are!! Get rid of the unions and jobs will be there!!

[lynnerhodes]

@bryancar70 And while you are at it, why not get rid of the Department of Labor...then there might be plenty of jobs-- for your kids as well (the little ones), working 10 hour days and getting paid below minimum wage instead of going to school. I guess you would rather have a seven day work week and employers who operate unsafe workplaces? Bravo...I wonder what the work world would be like without unions and the Department of Labor... lots of luck to you.

[bennon7]

Creating jobs is good,but let's not do it at the expense of the American people.It's bad if the jobs we get are because the working conditions here are becoming so poor that companies from other countries can come in and the use the United States in the same way our companies use Mexico or China because our states our taking away our rights and the federal government isn't doing enough to stop it.Also,a good way to help unemployment is investment in infrastructure.We need it and we need the jobs

[garycsan]

It seems as if only teabaggers have commented. UI actually does create jobs because every penny paid in UI gets spent immediately and supports the local economy and the Department of Labor can do many things to help increase employments. Teabaggers continue parroting the lies that rich republicans feed them,

[thebirdfamily]

Like the jobs at Solyndra?

[wecleanup]

AMAZING!! Still blaming things on what happened before President Obama took office???? When are you going to start taking responsibility for YOUR ACTIONS??

[victorseastrom]

@wecleanup

The people who were in office before President Obama certainly never took responsibility.

It's called "precedent."

[MrTruthRevolution]

More lies from a government that thinks it is too big to fail. We want you out of our lives, out of businesses, and out of our public offices. You have one less than a year and a half to give us back our freedoms, or we will do what is necessary to take them back in 2012.

[kratze1]

This message reveals a complete lack of understanding of basic economics. Paying unemployment insurance is great, but it does not create jobs. When you subsidize something (unemployment) you get more of it.  "Saving the auto industry" saved some union jobs but destroyed others by misallocating scarce resources. Strengthening unions pushes jobs overseas. The Department of Labor cannot create any private sector jobs, it can only destroy them, and it seems to be doing a pretty good job of that.

[thericksmithshow]

@kratze1 Yes. when people spend money it creates jobs. That's how it works. Welcome to reality.

[kratze1]

@thericksmithshow Reality bites - we have been printing money and handing it out on your theory for three years now. How's that working out?

[lynnerhodes]

@kratze1 Perhaps it is you that doesn't understand. Unemployment insurance payments allow the recipients to continue paying the rent, buying the food and the other products that keep their neighborhood businesses operating. Businesses cannot continue unless there are customers. Without the customers, the jobs of the people that work for those businesses are also lost.

[kratze1]

@lynnerhodes Brilliant logic there. So why don't we just pay everyone in the US $100,000 not to work?  We would all be rich and the economy would hum along just fine.

[lynnerhodes]

@kratze1 i'LL FORGIVE YOUR IGNORANCE, BUT UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE IS PAID FOR BY EMPLOYERS FOR THE PEOPLE WHO WORK FOR THEM. JUST LIKE ANY INSURANCE, IT IS THERE TO PROTECT PEOPLE WHEN SOMETHING BAD HAPPENS, LIKE BEING LAID OFF. i SUPPOSE YOU FOREGO YOUR FIRE, LIFE AND HEALTH INSURANCE BECAUSE THERE IS SOMETHING WRONG WITH COLLECTING ON THEM WHEN DISASTER DOES STRIKE? STRIKES ME THAT PERHAPS I SHOULDN'T FORGIVE YOUR IGNORANCE.

[kratze1]

@lynnerhodes No need to shout. Why don't you engage on the question: why not raise unemployment to $100,000 a year? Do you actually believe that the amount someone receives in UI and the length of time they receive it has no impact on whether they go out and get another job?

[lynnerhodes]

@kratze1 Why would I engage with a question that is completely absurd. I wouldn't say that anyone who is existing on unemployment insurance payments is socking much of it away in the bank. It is a bare minimum to keep going. I don't think that most people on UI are just sitting around waiting for it to end before they look for a job...what reality are you living in?

[kevempire]

@lynnerhodes Thought I'd point out an employer view.......I'm small, and never had to use the insurance. I paid heavily the first years, and by 20 years, my pay in dropped to almost nothing because I didn't use it. I finnaly used it. 2009. One of my guys (older, veitnam vet) used it to retire. The other young ones used it long enough to find a new job. GM is one thing. The rest of us are a bit smaller. I was able to hire a couple of seasonal employees. Let's bring it back!

[wildgift2]

@kratze1 There are no unions in IT, but the IT jobs are being sent overseas. In fact, that industry is leading the charge for offshoring. Yet, not a single union member. How do you figure that one?

[kratze1]

@wildgift2 I didn't say the ONLY reason jobs go overseas is because of unions. But private sector unions in the US clearly cause job losses here. When unions "secure" high wages they cause the cost of the goods they produce to go up. That causes consumers to buy lower priced products that are manufactures elsewhere, where unions don't have as much power as here.

[victorseastrom]

@kratze1

1. You are conflating "subsidizing" with sustaining. The corn industry is subsidized. Unemployment is sustaining an individual with a minimal allowance until they have found work. It is finite, unlike most subsidies.

2. Unions do not push jobs, they secure them. Employers choose to move jobs overseas to maximize profits and minimize oversight.

Facts, not feelings please.

[kratze1]

@victorseastrom

1. I'm not opposed to unemployment insurance. But it does not create jobs. There is no logical distinction between subsidizing permanently and "sustaining" - its a matter of degrees but not of effect.

2. Unions secure jobs, true. But in doing so they make their employers less competitive - see GM. That causes job losses in the long term. Otherwise, we could just dispense with unions and set the minimum wage at $100 per hour. Do you think that would cause any job losses?

[lenpony]

@kratze1

"But in doing so they make their employers less competitive - see GM."

Perhaps you should see Verizon who made 6 Billion in profit last year and yet they are trying to cut all health benefits to their unionized work force. How does that make sense?

It is well documented that GM's problems were in upper management. Blaming the union workers is a feel good, scapegoat that serves corporate apologists, but it has no affinity with the truth.

[SpencerPriceinc]

@lenpony You are right.....upper management was the problem. They cheapened their product to increase margins.

Verizon.....an employer doesn't look at an employees salary as the sole cost when hiring. They look at how much their half of social security will cost, training costs, insurance, back ground checks, ect.....then lump them all together. So adding benefits and social security just take the choice away from the employee when they might know a better way of spending their wage.

[larryc6610]

You lost my vote when Obama gave30,000 illegals the right to work and money for college

[0hluzMariluz]

Whatever!! I lost my hope so you and everyone can keep the change. I used up my EDD training benefits to get into Solar and now all these companies are filing bankruptcy! Stop the lies!!!!!!!!!!!! Ya BASTA con las mentiras.

[SpencerPriceinc]

Oh and thanks for all your new proposed regulations. Those really help us small business people.....clearly. Wake up and get out of the way.

[SpencerPriceinc]

Same lies we always hear. GOVERNMENT CAN NOT CREATE JOBS!!!! Labor department and Obama needs to get out of the way so real companies (not corporate welfare receivers like GM i.e. Corporatism) can create real wealth by getting back to the basic philosophy of sustainable business/jobs of value for value.

[wildgift2]

@SpencerPriceinc Government created a lot of jobs. There are teaching jobs, military jobs, police jobs, firefighting jobs, street repair jobs, and even trash collector jobs.

[victorseastrom]

@SpencerPriceinc

"GOVERNMENT CAN NOT CREATE JOBS!!!!"

Really? Tell that to Rick Perry.

According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, Texas lost 178,000 private sector jobs from 2007-2010. It created 125,000 public sector jobs in that same time.

So much for your theory.

[SpencerPriceinc]

@victorseastrom I didn't say government couldn't pay some one to do a job. I said they can not create jobs. The money to pay for that job, whatever it may be, first must come from the tax payer. The tax payer must work to generate that tax. Without business and the cycle of cash through markets governments would have zero revenue stream. Thus, my theory is still strong and your ideas only last in the short run.

[lenpony]

@SpencerPriceinc

Word games. Your theory is still Swiss cheese as you are trying to define what a job is and excluding government created jobs from meeting the criteria because it doesn't suit you.

The government can generate revenue without collecting tax. Property sales and sales of goods to other countries all generate revenue--goods made on, you guessed it, government awarded contracts (see the arms industry for reference).

Assuming your theory was ever strong was your first mistake.

[SpencerPriceinc]

@lenpony word games referring to swiss cheese...but all while your theory stinks of limburger cheese. haha

You defend a system that has proven time and time again to fail. "See the arms industry for reference".... you mean the military industrial complex that costs TAX PAYERS trillions of dollars each year? We paid for government to pay contractors to manufactured those guns. Then the government takes those guns and sells them taking all profits but never pays us back by reducing taxes.

[SpencerPriceinc]

Also, we do not need to be polarized by the title of republicans and democrats. I don't like Perry...at all...and I am a Texan. I am sure we can be civilized...talk economics and end up agreeing on something in the end.

[reneastark]

Please fire yourself and go home

[jackb3856]

Not good enough for those of us not working and are losing everything , thanks!

WHERE are the Jobs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!­!!!!

[victorseastrom]

@jackb3856

Ask John Boenher. He's in charge now and doing such a bang up job.