truetexan's Blog

Thursday, November 20, 2008 Where There Are Jobs In a Dismal Job Market  

Pink slips are coming fast and furious in financial services and retail, but that doesn’t mean other industries aren’t hanging "help wanted" signs.

From health care to information technology to government, a slew of companies is still looking to hire and offer competitive salaries. And jobs are limited to areas that require advanced degrees, employment experts say job openings run the gamut from administrative assistants to medical technicians and doctors.

There’s big growth in health care, government, energy, education and IT, said Erik Sorenson, chief executive of Vault.com.  “These jobs are available, continue to be available and are going to be increasingly available.” 

Nobody is dismissing the dismal state of the job market, with unemployment reaching a high not seen since right after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, but experts say behind the numbers are some pockets of strength.

Take the health-care industry. With the aging population, demand for health care jobs is on the rise. According to Tom Musbach, managing editor of HotJobs.com, a quick search of Hot Job’s Web site found that there are over 32,000 listings for health care jobs, with nursing jobs representing almost half of the vacant jobs. Medical assistants were also a big category on HotJobs, with 4,000 help-wanted ads.

“Similar to the last recession in 2001 and 2002, health care has been recession-proof,” said Richard Castellini, chief marketing officer at CareerBuilder.com. “If you look at the demographics in the field of nursing the median age nurse is 45 years old.” He said there were 350,000 health care jobs added so far this year.

Government jobs are also an area seeing growth. According to Castellini, 250,900 state, municipal and federal jobs were added in the past year, with two-thirds on the local level. He said 40% of the government workers are eligible for retirement in the next five years and those jobs will need to be filled. “It’s from lower level positions all the way to high level management positions at government agencies and government departments,” said Castellini.

Information technology, which took a big hit during the downturn of 2001, isn’t expected to feel the pain this time around. That’s because while companies are cutting expenses, they can’t afford to rein in technology spending so much. During the first downturn there was still skepticism about the role IT played in businesses, but the importance of technology can’t be disputed today.    

Take Synaptics (SYNA), the Santa Clara, Calif., maker of a touch interface for computers and smartphones. While other technology companies are retreating, Synaptics is actually growing. Synaptics is looking to increase its 450 headcount to more than 500 in its next fiscal year.

“The reality is you can’t cut back on tech,” said Sorenson of Vault.com. There will be continued demand for network systems analysts, code writes and product manager to name a few, he said.  

The areas that are going to see continued weakness include retail, financial services and middle-management jobs, said experts. People looking for jobs in those areas may have a tough time but it’s not all doom and gloom. After all middle managers can always become teachers, which are also in demand, while retail workers may have an opportunity to rebuild America’s infrastructure if the government opts to throw money that way to create jobs.

“There’s a need to invest in bridges, roads and transportation,” said Sorenson. “Anybody in decent health can pick up a shovel, put a hard hat on and start digging.”

Congress examines $700 billion rescue program MARTIN CRUTSINGER ASSOCIATED PRESS
Originally published 07:50 a.m., November 13, 2008, updated 07:01 a.m., November 13, 2008

WASHINGTON (AP) - While the Bush administration shifts course on its $700 billion rescue plan, Congress is examining whether even bigger changes should be made in the program in light of the deteriorating economy and soaring mortgage foreclosures.

The debate may not be resolved until President-elect Barack Obama takes office on Jan. 20 and pursues policies for administering the rescue program that are likely to be more closely aligned with his Democratic allies in Congress.

Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson announced Wednesday that the administration had decided to scrap what had originally been the centerpiece of the program _ a proposal to buy troubled assets to get them off the books of banks as a way of promoting increased lending.

Instead, Paulson said the administration will proceed with an alternative plan to spend $250 billion to buy stock in the banks as a way of bolstering their financial situation and accomplishing the same goal _ getting the institutions to return to more normal lending.

 

Despite its new flexibility, the administration said Wednesday it remains opposed to using the rescue fund to bail out the ailing auto industry or to provide guarantees for home loans, an idea that supporters contend offers the greatest hope for helping legions of Americans who are facing foreclosure.

Congressional Democrats felt otherwise on autos, and strongly. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid were pressing for quick passage of a major package for carmakers during a postelection session that begins next Tuesday, and one key House Democrat was putting together legislation that would send $25 billion in emergency loans to the beleaguered industry in exchange for a government ownership stake in the Big Three car companies.

 

  Now this is only part of a long article. If you want to read the entire article you can find it in the Washington Times website.  These are just the IMPORTANT HIGHLIGHTS of the article.

     THESE ARE THE DEMOCRATS THAT ARE NOW AND WILL BE RUNNING THIS COUNTRY SAYING "WE WILL BUY STOCK IN THE COMPANIES WE BAIL-OUT"RATHER THAN "LOAN" THEM THE MONEY TO GET BACK ON THEIR FEET.

Biden routes campaign cash to family, their firms Discloses $2 million in business arrangements.

Democratic vice-presidential candidate Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr. has paid more than $2 million in campaign cash to his family members, their businesses and employers over the years, a practice that watchdogs criticize as rife with potential conflicts of interest.

The money largely flowed from the coffers of Mr. Biden's failed presidential campaign during the past two years to a company that employs his sister and longtime campaign manager, Valerie Biden Owens, according to campaign disclosure filings.

The senator from Delaware also directed campaign legal work to a Washington lobbying and law firm founded by his son R. Hunter Biden, the disclosures show.

Putting family members and their companies on the political payroll is legal if the work is legitimate and charged at market rates, according to the Federal Election Commission. Still, public watchdog groups have long criticized such arrangements.

"Even though legal within restraints, it's not something I view as completely ethical," said Craig Holman, legislative director for Public Citizen, a campaign finance watchdog organization. "Any candidate ought to shy away from that."

Aides to Mr. Biden said all of the payments he has made to family members or their employers were aboveboard.

 

EXCLUSIVE: Pelosi paid husband with PAC funds $99,000 for rent, utilities, accounting fees

EXCLUSIVE:

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has directed nearly $100,000 from her political action committee to her husband's real estate and investment firm over the past decade, a practice of paying a spouse with political donations that she supported banning last year.

Financial Leasing Services Inc. (FLS), owned by Paul F. Pelosi, has received $99,000 in rent, utilities and accounting fees from the speaker's "PAC to the Future" over the PAC's nine-year history.

The payments have quadrupled since Mr. Pelosi took over as treasurer of his wife's committee in 2007, Federal Election Commission records show. FLS is on track to take in $48,000 in payments this year alone - eight times as much as it received annually from 2000 to 2005, when the committee was run by another treasurer.

Lawmakers' frequent use of campaign donations to pay relatives emerged as an issue in the 2006 election campaigns, when the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal gave Democrats fodder to criticize Republicans such as former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay of Texas and Rep. John T. Doolittle of California for putting their wives on their campaign and PAC payrolls for fundraising work.

Last year, Mrs. Pelosi supported a bill that would have banned members of Congress from putting spouses on their campaign staffs. The bill - which passed the House in a voice vote but did not get out of a Senate committee - banned not only direct payments by congressional campaign committees and PACs to spouses for services including consulting and fundraising, but also "indirect compensation," such as payments to companies that employ spouses.

 

Democratic Proposal Includes Federal Stake in Car Companies

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

 

WASHINGTON —  Congressional Democrats are pushing legislation to send $25 billion in emergency loans to the beleaguered auto industry in exchange for a government ownership stake in the Big Three car companies.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., hope for quick passage of the auto bailout during a postelection session that begins Monday.

Legislation being drafted by Rep. Barney Frank, chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, would dip into the $700 billion Wall Street rescue money, approved by Congress last month, for the auto aid.

President Bush is cool to that idea. But the White House says he is open to helping the industry, which is buckling under poor sales, tight credit and a sputtering economy.

In an Oval Office meeting Monday, President-elect Obama spoke to Bush about doing more to aid the industry, aides said, and Bush said he was open to it.

Any effort to throw the companies a lifeline could run into GOP roadblocks that could derail it in the Senate. In that chamber, Republicans, including some who believe their votes for the Wall Street bailout hurt, and in some cases doomed, their re-election bids, are loath to agree to any new money.

Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., the minority leader, was noncommittal about additional aid. In a statement, his spokesman said Congress should move to speed the release of a $25 billion loan program passed earlier to help the carmatives and dividends to their shareholders than the financial companies that get a piece of the original bailout.

Auto executives, labor leaders and other industry proponents are mounting an intense lobbying effort for a bailout, painting a grim scenario for the economy if even one of the Big Three companies were to go under. They want an immediate $25 billion loan to keep the companies operating and a separate $25 billion to help cover future health care obligations for retirees and their dependents.

The Big Three and United Auto Workers will have a high-profile chance to make their case at a hearing next Wednesday before Frank's committee, where executives from Chrysler LLC, Ford Motor Co. and General Motors Corp. and a UAW leader are scheduled to testify Wednesday.

"It is critical that the nation understand this isn't just a Michigan problem, that one in 10 jobs in the country are impacted by the auto industry," Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm said in an interview.

A House vote on Frank's measure could come as early as next Thursday.

Democratic leaders also are considering pairing the measure with a broader economic aid bill including money for unemployed workers whose jobless benefits have run out, aides said. It was not clear whether such legislation could get enough support to pass.

Pelosi on Tuesday urged "immediate action" for the industry, while Reid noted it would only happen with bipartisan support from Bush and Senate Republicans.

Her request came less than a week after GM and Ford posted bleak third-quarter earnings reports. GM, the nation's largest automaker, posted a $2.5 billion quarterly loss Friday and warned that it may run out of money by the end of the year without government aid.

"We're in a situation where there's a great unknown about what will happen," said Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich. "And a great concern that at least one of the companies will find themselves in a situation where they cannot make it until Jan. 20," when President-elect Obama is inaugurated.

Democratic leaders will need to convince some skeptical lawmakers who question whether a bailout would cause changes in the auto industry or simply lead to more handout requests from other industries.

"Once we cross the divide from financial institutions to individual corporations, truly, where would you draw the line?" asked Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala.

   Of course by all means let the Government start getting their hands into running Corp. America. I don't think so.

Obama to pioneer Web outreach as president In this Aug. 23, 2008 file photo , the text message announcing the choice of Sen. Joe Biden of Delaware as the vice presidential selection for the Democratic party is seen on a communication device in Greenville, Del., after it arrived at 3:09 AM. Haraz N. Ghanbari By BETH FOUHY (Associated Press Writer) From Associated PressNovember 12, 2008 4:09 PM EST

NEW YORK - Transition officials call it Obama 2.0 - an ambitious effort to transform the president-elect's vast Web operation and database of supporters into a modern new tool to accomplish his goals in the White House. If it works, the new president could have an unprecedented ability to appeal for help from millions of Americans who already favor his ideas, bypassing the news media to pressure Congress.

"He's built the largest network anyone has ever seen in politics, and congressional Republicans are clueless about the communications shift that has happened," Democratic strategist Joe Trippi proclaims. The results, he says, "will be amazing to watch."

Republicans say they'll be watching for White House Web outreach that appears overly political.

"Hopefully, Obama will be a president for all Americans, not just the political supporters on his e-mail list," said Republican National Committee spokesman Alex Conant.

Obama's people know they'll have to extend their reach.

During his 21-month campaign, Obama built a list of 3.1 million contributors and over 10 million supporters who helped power his victories over Democratic rival Hillary Rodham Clinton and Republican John McCain. In addition to helping raise a staggering $660 million, the campaign's Web effort reinforced his message and themes, responded to political attacks and created volunteer social networks that served as the basis for his field operation.

Obama's team is determining how best to convert his army of online activists into a viral lobbying and communications machine. Staffers are reluctant to discuss specifics, but Obama clearly is poised to become the first truly "wired" president of the digital age.

For legal and privacy reasons, Obama's campaign list must be kept separate from White House operations. Aides are figuring out if that list should be run through the Democratic National Committee or as a freestanding political entity that will eventually become his 2012 re-election committee.

But transition officials have already begun a new digital outreach effort, based on the campaign model, aimed at supporters and others interested in being connected to the activities of the Obama White House.

The transition operation has a new Web site, http://www.change.gov, designed for anyone who wants to post a message of congratulations, offer suggestions for the new administration or apply for a government job. People are invited to submit their names and e-mail addresses, with the goal of creating a new list for the president-elect to tap when he wants to communicate directly about a program he's promoting or seek help urging members of Congress to support legislation he's proposed.

"Just imagine what happens when a congressman comes back to his district and 500 people are lined up for his town hall meeting because they got an e-mail from Obama urging them to attend," said Thomas Gensemer, managing partner of Blue State Digital which designed Obama's campaign Web site and change.gov.

Gensemer said to be most effective, Obama needs to make clear that his Web outreach efforts aren't directed only at partisan Democrats.

"If you're looking to build a community as president, the net needs to be cast a little broader," Gensemer said. "If you want to bring Republicans along, you use the Web to say, 'Work with me. Help me cut through the partisan rancor.'"

Such direct online contact with voters could also present a challenge for reporters covering Obama, since the new president will in many ways be able to bypass traditional media while also taking advantage of it to reinforce his online messaging.

"He can do a half-hour YouTube address every Saturday, addressing millions," Trippi said. "The networks would never give the president that much television time each week, but the press is still going to have to cover what he says on YouTube."

Aides say the Obama team will staff a robust "new media" operation out of the White House and plans a complete overhaul of the White House Web site to make it more interactive and user-friendly. On the campaign trail, Obama promised to use the Internet to make his administration more open, such as offering a detailed look at what's going on in the White House on a given day or asking people to post comments on his legislative proposals.

Such freewheeling use of new technology also carries certain risks, as Obama discovered last summer when he signaled he would vote in the Senate for a sweeping intelligence surveillance law reviled by liberal activists. Thousands of angry supporters jammed his campaign Web site to express their outrage - a phenomenon that could easily be repeated when he becomes president.

There are also limits for reaching citizens not yet on the digital grid.

Peter Daou, who ran Internet operations for Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign, said her campaign's Web outreach was limited by the fact that older and lower-income people - demographic groups most supportive of the former first lady - weren't using the Internet for communication. Obama will need to find ways to reach those people, Daou said.

"We spent a year trying to bring these people to the Web, and President Obama and his team will have to do the same thing," Daou said. "It requires a huge public relations effort, using more traditional communications efforts to invite then to participate this way."