A lot of good points are hit upon in this report. I am an engineer with children and see the affects on many angles.
Corporate greed sends jobs away and cuts R&D for short term gains. Our company is still recovering from the recession and cuts are being made left and right. R&D is always one of the first to be considered for elimination since it's pay back is too far off.
We talk about higher education but only the rich can afford it. The chasm that is filled by the middle class is enormous. My daughter can't continue her college education because the schhol in Pennsylvania where she was attending wants her to pay off her outstanding bill before they can transfer her credits. She missed a loan signatory letter since the rules have changed and now can't continue for several years which is how long it will take to pay last year's tuition by working part-time. We have several other children about to end their high school creers and the optimism of a higher education is dwindling.
History is an amazing teacher and these are sure signs of an empire imploding upon itself.
First, I would like to complement CBS News for real reporting. You guys are doing it right! Thank you. Second, as with any public forum, we speak to the relativity of our observance personally. As a career public school educator for the last 31 years, I would like to concur with much of what nazalclan had to express. For years, even generationally, our society has told our young that it was alright if you didn't make the grade. We just patted them on the back and told them it was ok. We passed them on. Administratively, it fell upon the teacher to correct the child's homelife, the lack of parental time/influence, healthcare, clothing, housing, hunger, etc. and all those other social factors influencing learning (tests scores). Without the tools, we patted them onward, void of any insistance upon personal responsibility. And now we have a substantial percentage of our citizenry lacking that personal responsibility & knowledge to compete, to even create on broad levels new technology that will become the next bread-basket. Yes, we still have thinkers and researchers, just not the numbers we should; nor the supporting casts, as spoken of so eloquently in the news piece. If America wants to come out on the other side economically sound as a nation, industry must put up the capital as infosystems has done. For a corporation to do business in America, why shouldn't they educate/invest directly into the educational system in that community?
Competition is and has been at the heart of our economics. Competition used to be the idiom in our educational system also. What changed? Parents did not want their child to fail regardless of whether enough academic standards were mastered. And, we as educators, administrators, and school boards agreed to this less litigious path. After about 25 years of this mentallity, kids got it: they didn't really have to study to pass. As a result, junior college enrollments are now skyrocketing with kids in remedial classes. Many more are struggling in the work force in low paying jobs or unemployed. It's time to change that paradigm.
This country is based on greed. Why are corporations moving their businesses to foreign countries? Because wages are cheaper! If we want to help America to get back on track we need to fine these corporations that insist on moving their businesses out of the United States. It used to be after the war that everyone wanted to "keep up with the jones's", now the attitude is "what's in it for me" and "I don't get paid what I am worth". Speaking of that "what is it worth to watch professional football?" These people are making hundreds of thousands of dollars and yet millions are out of work and barely paying their bills. Where is the logic in that? We need to rethink what we really can do to help others and helping ourselves will follow
If consumer spending creates jobs then raise the wages for the lower middle class and working poor.Corporate profits show there is plenty of money to do this.Without credit cards any more to bridge the gap between the cost of living and their wages these incomes classes cant spend.We can't all be engineers and scientists.Every job is an important part of the system. Start major infrastructure work and provide free training for the inexperienced but fund it with real money.Cut the bloated military budget by closing bases in non threatening areas of the world.Recover tax revenue from coporate and individual tax fraud. 60 minutes showed billions in tax evasion from wealthy individuals with one swiss bank.Imagine the tax revenue lost from corporate tax evasion.
As a country built on struggle, we have lost our history and our since of what is right. Since NAFTA more and more jobs have gone overseas. We still provide companies incentives to establish themselves here with various credits and tax breaks, but when the competition gets hard, they send it overseas. We have also deeply neglected our countries infrastructure and education system.
Having noted these two key items, our country needs to do the following: 1) Companies that establish themselves here in the US and then send work overseas, should be obligated to refund the benefits afforded them in the deal that helped them to build their company in a certain state. They should also be accountable to materials they buy overseas verses what they buy in the US. This would create a push to buy competitive materials within the US. 2)Our kids need to be challenged to be better than the rest of the world. Too many choices for children, often leads to no choice at all. Let's adapt a culture of three choices in leaving High School, Military for a year, College, or a work apprenticeship training program (establishing opportunities within companies and incentives for the future). This will push kids to be focused prior to be dropped off at graduation of HS. If I knew these would be my choices, I would have been much more motivated early on. 3)With the airlines struggling, the demand for more green transportation, and the lack of mass transportation throughout the country, we have an opportunity to invest! Invest in high speed rail systems that traverse this great country. Just as the public works program cam into play, this can be of the same character. Allow Americans to invest (saving bonds or something of this nature). This would give us something tangible to be apart of, something that would enhance our current infrastructure, something that would establish jobs in construction, something that would establish accessible jobs in regions that my have not been as accessible, something that would bring us into a greener future, less dependent on oil. Ingenuity would sprawl, and flying would not be a stumbling block but just a secondary means of transport.
My final words..we are taught that a countries infrastructure is its richest asset, thus let's get our heads in the game and focus on our greatest asset, the ability to rise up out of despair and make great things happen. Lets give our children's children a brighter future.
To many of our company's are moving out of our Country, how could there be jobs for people out of work!! Then there is all of the illegal's taking our jobs. Plus China is taking over because they are so cheap on everything.
I don't understand why the news coverage of the lack of jobs in America does not include a discussion about China and the fact that everything we pick up in stores in the US is made in China and not in the US. And every time we in the US call a help desk it's in India. And we wonder why there are no jobs here? It's called cheap labor and greed on the part of business owners who want to turn a large profit...but they are about as un-American as anyone can get.
political parties have become more important than the good of the nation. as long as washington continues to bicker over health care and who said what about whom, and its more important than jobs and people, china and india will surpass us and we will become the third world countries they were.wake up america our politicians are railroading us by not investing our tax dollars back in our nation.giving aid to coumtries that hate us and not breaking our addiction to fossil fuel,the list is endless,and time is running out.we need the investment in the jobs of the future and the education to do those jobs.government is expanding its power but not research and development in the technology of this next decade that will be the high paying jobs america needs.lies and greed are the ways of politicians bickering out one side of there mouths while they take bribes and send our jobs over seas.this nation is being torn apart and torn down by political parties and companies more worried about shareholder profits that where we are headed. god help us
In April 2009, President Obama announced, with Vice-President Biden, DOT Secretary LaHood, and others at his side he wanted the U.S. to improve our passenger rail system in this country by creating 10 "high speed" rail corridors for trains that would travel at speeds up to 150 MPH. As we all know, we badly neglected our passenger rail system during the last 50 years, and settled with AmTrak, the only national passenger rail carrier in the U.S.
I believe it is time we changed all that. I also believe we can do better than the President and the Federal Railroad Administration believes we can do in terms of speed, safety, reliability, and high speed coverage of the country.
I recently viewed a video on YouTube about the April 2007 French TGV train speed record setting run (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Ir_n3J5ABA). They reached a maximum speed of 574.8 km/h or 356 miles per hour with a "modified (larger wheels)" TGV train. If you surf the web to European rail web sites as I have, you will discover that many of the rail carriers in Europe have trains that routinely travel in excess of 250 km/h (155 mph), and will soon be traveling in excess of 300 km/h (185 mph). The Madrid to Barcelona train completes the trip in 2 1/2 hours; Paris to Brussels in 1 hour 20 minutes.
We should make this a priority for jobs creation, and build a national high speed rail network on dedicated track and using ERTMS (the up and coming global standard) technology or an equivalent. We should do it by the end of the decade - 2020! Make it so!
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Corporate greed sends jobs away and cuts R&D for short term gains. Our company is still recovering from the recession and cuts are being made left and right. R&D is always one of the first to be considered for elimination since it's pay back is too far off.
We talk about higher education but only the rich can afford it. The chasm that is filled by the middle class is enormous. My daughter can't continue her college education because the schhol in Pennsylvania where she was attending wants her to pay off her outstanding bill before they can transfer her credits. She missed a loan signatory letter since the rules have changed and now can't continue for several years which is how long it will take to pay last year's tuition by working part-time. We have several other children about to end their high school creers and the optimism of a higher education is dwindling.
History is an amazing teacher and these are sure signs of an empire imploding upon itself.
Second, as with any public forum, we speak to the relativity of our observance personally. As a career public school educator for the last 31 years, I would like to concur with much of what nazalclan had to express. For years, even generationally, our society has told our young that it was alright if you didn't make the grade. We just patted them on the back and told them it was ok. We passed them on. Administratively, it fell upon the teacher to correct the child's homelife, the lack of parental time/influence, healthcare, clothing, housing, hunger, etc. and all those other social factors influencing learning (tests scores). Without the tools, we patted them onward, void of any insistance upon personal responsibility. And now we have a substantial percentage of our citizenry lacking that personal responsibility & knowledge to compete, to even create on broad levels new technology that will become the next bread-basket. Yes, we still have thinkers and researchers, just not the numbers we should; nor the supporting casts, as spoken of so eloquently in the news piece.
If America wants to come out on the other side economically sound as a nation, industry must put up the capital as infosystems has done. For a corporation to do business in America, why shouldn't they educate/invest directly into the educational system in that community?
Competition is and has been at the heart of our economics. Competition used to be the idiom in our educational system also. What changed? Parents did not want their child to fail regardless of whether enough academic standards were mastered. And, we as educators, administrators, and school boards agreed to this less litigious path. After about 25 years of this mentallity, kids got it: they didn't really have to study to pass. As a result, junior college enrollments are now skyrocketing with kids in remedial classes. Many more are struggling in the work force in low paying jobs or unemployed. It's time to change that paradigm.
Having noted these two key items, our country needs to do the following:
1) Companies that establish themselves here in the US and then send work overseas, should be obligated to refund the benefits afforded them in the deal that helped them to build their company in a certain state. They should also be accountable to materials they buy overseas verses what they buy in the US. This would create a push to buy competitive materials within the US.
2)Our kids need to be challenged to be better than the rest of the world. Too many choices for children, often leads to no choice at all. Let's adapt a culture of three choices in leaving High School, Military for a year, College, or a work apprenticeship training program (establishing opportunities within companies and incentives for the future). This will push kids to be focused prior to be dropped off at graduation of HS. If I knew these would be my choices, I would have been much more motivated early on.
3)With the airlines struggling, the demand for more green transportation, and the lack of mass transportation throughout the country, we have an opportunity to invest! Invest in high speed rail systems that traverse this great country. Just as the public works program cam into play, this can be of the same character. Allow Americans to invest (saving bonds or something of this nature). This would give us something tangible to be apart of, something that would enhance our current infrastructure, something that would establish jobs in construction, something that would establish accessible jobs in regions that my have not been as accessible, something that would bring us into a greener future, less dependent on oil. Ingenuity would sprawl, and flying would not be a stumbling block but just a secondary means of transport.
My final words..we are taught that a countries infrastructure is its richest asset, thus let's get our heads in the game and focus on our greatest asset, the ability to rise up out of despair and make great things happen. Lets give our children's children a brighter future.
I believe it is time we changed all that. I also believe we can do better than the President and the Federal Railroad Administration believes we can do in terms of speed, safety, reliability, and high speed coverage of the country.
I recently viewed a video on YouTube about the April 2007 French TGV train speed record setting run (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Ir_n3J5ABA). They reached a maximum speed of 574.8 km/h or 356 miles per hour with a "modified (larger wheels)" TGV train. If you surf the web to European rail web sites as I have, you will discover that many of the rail carriers in Europe have trains that routinely travel in excess of 250 km/h (155 mph), and will soon be traveling in excess of 300 km/h (185 mph). The Madrid to Barcelona train completes the trip in 2 1/2 hours; Paris to Brussels in 1 hour 20 minutes.
We should make this a priority for jobs creation, and build a national high speed rail network on dedicated track and using ERTMS (the up and coming global standard) technology or an equivalent. We should do it by the end of the decade - 2020! Make it so!