Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Common Interests 300,000 new jobs last month..

Hip Hip Hooray! My fiance got a part time job paying $8.50 an hour with no benefits this week too. She'd been making $35K/yr until 7/02.

So the economy may limp back into employment just in time for Iraq to blow up in Bush's face. Anyone wanna place bets on whether the ayatollahs in Iraq will really allow the US sponsored interim constitution to stick as it is written now? Our election does not happen until months after sovereignty is to be passed to the Iraqis. Maybe our rebounding economy will help pay for our keeping forces over there for a full four more years, like members of the senate foreign relations committee co-chaired by Sen. Lugar (R-IN) had surmised. If that sovereignty change happens around the end of June, lets see how the Dow Jones responds to the ayatollahs around July through October, and then we can discuss our vibrant, healthy economy.

Is Condi Rice still focusing on missle defense? (OK, that last one's a cheap shot. That was her focus on 9/10/01. After all, she did change her focus the next day to Iraq. Must have been because of all those Iraqi hijackers.)

And while you flame me, quit the "But Clinton messed up on terrorism too" chant. Clinton's not running in this election packaging himself as a hero in the war on terrorism. (But if you MUST dwell on the past, then how about discussing how Saddam got the gas he used on the Kurds... during the Reagan administration? What was Rumsfeld's job back then?)

Anyway, our show of force did not exactly turn the tide in Vietnam, but here we are again, needing to "win the peace," to "win the hearts and minds." Do you really do that by turning the Middle East into a sea of glass?

Enjoy your jobs and contemplate how many MORE enemies we have NOW, swearing to kill us all, than we did one year ago. Between 9/11/01 and 3/03, we had allies newly eager to share intelligence on terrorists. Now we have former allies who are convinced we're liars on a deluded power trip. Thanks George, I feel safer already.

I think it is a 2 way street. We outsource good and not so good jobs out of the U.S. Typically it makes the company more profitable...so it expands (and some of the expansion often involves hiring US worker) and pays more US taxes. On the otherhand tying US companies hands by restricting outsourcing may make them less competative than other companies which may be based in other countries. So they gain market share, the US company is crippled or killed off and LOSES US JOBS ANYWAY.

Furthermore, insourcing provides some really good jobs. A great example is Honda..a big plant is near my home town in Ohio and many HS classmates are working there. Without any college they are now making $60-$100K+/year with excellent benefits. No better jobs available (without a professional degree) near my old town. Many Japanese and Euro car comanies now build in the US...it has been a win-win for the US.

America invented capitalism and global economy as we know it. We do it better than anybody. This "game" we are talking about is our own game. We have won and will continue to win. There are some risks but risks are greater when you tamper & place restrictions that interfere with global trade. We lose jobs in one segment, we invent another(I hear nanotechnology is going to be up and comming). Have faith in America folks..

Good stuff. Consider that those numbers do not include new business startups and the outlook is even better. The new business startup numbers will usually lag behind 6 months or so because the polling agency doesn't have any contact info to querry the new business.

I KNOW that there are LOTS of startups in this area. Myself for one.

...Al Gore invented the internet

The administration can spin their numbers all they want. I ask myself the basic question: Am I as well off under the Bush administration as I was under the Clinton administration? NO. Do I feel as confident of this country's future under the current administration as the past administration? NO. From my viewpoint, jobs are still evaporating around here. Just yesterday, a company here in Topeka closed up, eliminating 1000 jobs. I've been looking for a better job for years, as have most of my co-workers, but there's nothing to be found in this area. I'm talking upper level engineering positions, not burger-flipping. Things may be looking better on the east or west coasts, but here in the midwest, we're always years behind when it comes to economic trends. By the time the economy picks up around here, I'll be retired.....literally.