The Recession was over in June 2009—before the stimulus kicked in—in 2013 he says recovery has begun

If Obama hadn't tried to take over 1/6 of the economy throwing all plans for development, invention and expansion into a free fall, the recession he continues to blame on Bush could have been solved quickly. (Technically, it was over in June 2009, so everything he did after that caused the economy to remain sluggish.)

Skills you need to find a job

One of my temp jobs I had in 1976 (see below) was with JTPA (successor to CETA)--Ohio Senior Training and Employment Program (STEPS). I worked with a wonderful group of women in an efficiently run state agency. I wrote publications, planned workshops, travelled throughout the state, and wrote speeches for the head of another government agency. I learned so much on that job, not the least of which was job hunting skills (because I had to write about them and teach them in workshops not because I used them). However, I got the job in aerobics class overhearing my instructor talking about it--and that's how most jobs are found, "networking." Still, there are other important points I learned, and have updated to account for new technology.

1) If you're unemployed, your job is to find a job. Spend 40 hours a week researching, interviewing, networking, updating skills, writing thank you notes, and knocking on doors. If you do internet social networking about job hunting, be careful what you say. Never, never bad mouth your previous employer or boss.

2) Dress appropriately for the interview (this might take some research if you are 18-25). If you love that big hair look from the 80s, you might want to reconsider what it says about you. Cut the gray pony tail if you're a guy.

3) Develop a fabulous resume, brief is best. Use a professional or have someone proof it for you. Anything you have on the internet may speak louder than your resume, so better check that out. Read requirements carefully! Some companies don't want paper; some don't want attachments.

4) All jobs need good oral and written communication skills. If you've been text messaging for 4 years, you might need a brush up on how to spell "you" and "are."

5) Eye contact, body language, posture, good grammar--they say more about you than you know. Video tape yourself--watch for all those unneccesary uhs, now, hmmm, etc. It's a form of stuttering and doesn't make a good impression. Just don't put anything on YouTube.

6) If they take you to lunch (this is customary at the university), it's not because you look hungry. Your table manners will be observed. How you behave in a social setting will be important to your colleagues.

7) Do I need to remind you to be on time? No excuse will be accepted--they've heard them all--babysitter didn't show, mother in law is ill, snow plow covered the drive, etc. etc.

8) Also, do your homework on the company! At least know what they produce, service, loan or build.

9) Be prepared for really dumb or tricky questions. Maybe they can't ask your age, but they can chit chat about other things that will trip you up if you're lying.

10) One last thing--although they can't ask about your kids, they can spot baby spit up on your clothes.

I won't even go into drug testing, but there are now companies that won't hire smokers, and they test for it. If you need to worry, you're probably not right for the job anyway.

Putting on the kid gloves for the jobs report

In today's WSJ there's a real sentimental softy worthy of the 2008 campaign coverage on the stimulus and jobs. Louise Radnofsky opens with this grabber:

"The number of jobs the Obama administration credits to federal stimulus money could be overstated by at least 20,000 of the 640,000 claimed, a Wall Street Journal analysis found.

If 20,000 were the only mistake, I'd probably take it. But there's so much more. Did you think when he touted this "recovery" that the money would go for "Head Start" jobs--a program that's been in place for 40 years, absorbing billions of dollars, and has yet to show any academic improvement for minorities, so they've moved the goals to nutrition and health? But according to Ms. Radnofsky, who apparently didn't dig very deep, it was misunderstanding how to report that caused the misreporting. Maybe the directors were victims of their own programs?

But then, what's the excuse for colleges and universities who misreported jobs created and saved, counting part time and work study students as discreet numbers instead of FTEs? And how about those low-income housing landlords, who've been on the federal dole for decades. Do you really think they'd want to show no jobs? How would they get their next installment? And those confusing forms and no accountability? Who designed that, Louise? Was that Bush's fault too? Or the money that went for raises and bonuses. Yes, I suppose you could say it's a job saved--except where would they have gone?

If it clunks like car loan, or crashes like a $8,000 mortgage credit, or bails like a rich bank lobbyist, let's call it what it is. F-A-I-L-U-R-E.

Let’s not confuse summer jobs programs with “recovery”

"President Barack Obama promised green jobs to be funded through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, and those federal stimulus dollars are the focus of a new program in Beloit that's putting young people to work and saving energy." Story from Beloit, Wisconsin.

There is nothing new in the world of politics and jobs programs. I’m sure we had them even before FDR raised them to their glory in the WPA. Perhaps it’s a family legend, but I remember stories of the “Tennessee migration" to Ogle County, Illinois, aided by my great-grandfather, Grandad Ballard, who got his friends and relatives jobs on the road crews for the county in the early 20th century.

In the 1980s I worked on a contract program funded by the JTPA (Job Training Partnership Act, which replaced a public works jobs program, CETA, 1974-1982) and the Ohio Bureau of Employment Services (or was that Unemployment? Labor?). I was a Democrat; my boss was a Republican and also my aerobics instructor; her boss was a Republican; his boss was a Democrat at the cabinet level; her boss was Governor Gilligan, a Democrat and the father of former Kansas Governor Sebilius, now head of HHS of the Obama administration. I believe the President at that time was a Republican named Reagan. The problem with all these federal jobs programs is that either they train for jobs that aren't there, or they are the actual jobs with nowhere to go. Either way, the poor usually stay poor with the government's help. This Wisconsin ARRA program is a jobs program, almost guaranteed to go nowhere. I think 5 young adults are "energy advocates." They are teaching people to do what our mothers taught us back in the 1950s.

"Members of a team of five from the Beloit area are called Energy Advocates. They are all between 18 and 24 years old, and their job is teaching others to save energy and money.

"(We remind people to) turn off their appliances when they're not using them. You're still pulling energy in just because they're plugged in," said Sharome Crawford.

Crawford uses devices like kilowatt readers, energy efficient light bulbs, low-flow shower heads and sink aerators to help residents cut costs.

"You're going to have the full capacity of water, and it's going to keep your bills low," he said, displaying the low-flow sink aerator.

The Department of Workforce Development program gives these young workers training for future careers."

In what? Nanny state community organizing? Well, some do get to the top that way.

I learned so much in that 6 mo. JTPA job--about how hard some lower level, career government employees work, and how others who do nothing were appointed because of connections and donations to the party (either). My job specifically was in a training program to get seniors (over 55) re-employed and re-trained because the recession during the Carter years was not unlike today's but with both high inflation and high unemployment. We worked through the Private Industry Councils (PIC) and the Area Agencies for Aging. Even though I was a novice at government largesse and wealth transfer, even I could see that dollars were taken from the taxpayer, filtered through a variety of huge departments in Washington like Labor, then partially returned to the states, and then to various levels within the state, and counties, each agency and official (and contract worker like me) getting a cut along the way.