"And the trouble is, it's because they either can't find people to come to work sober, daily, drug-free and want to learn the necessary skills going forward to be able to do those jobs," he added.
Wondering why is it that these conservative assholes always place the blame for our social ills on the poor and working class. If I was daring, I could interpret his words as meaning: Those lazy brown and black people smoke weed and drink. They collect welfare, unemployment and food stamps. They don't want to work. They just want everything given to them by big government. But see the reality is there are more of us white folk on the dole than black and brown.
Contrary to the welfare queen stereotype that President Reagan fostered in the late 70s (you remember the Chicago woman with 80 names, 30 addresses, 12 Social Security cards and tax-free cash income is over $150,000) of the 46 million people living in poverty in the US in 2010, the U.S. census revealed that 31 million were white.
Personally I don't care about skin color, the stats should just read 46 million Americans live in poverty. But what we are seeing with statements such as Joyce's is a re-mix of the ole Southern strategy of the 60s. That race is a powerful tool in securing the white vote, even if it means convincing working-class whites to vote against their own economic interests. Again referring to Reagan, it was he that appealed to disgruntled working-class whites across the South and in states like Ohio and Pennsylvania, Reagan fed suspicions that Democrats were purveyors of welfare economics. The black welfare queen image he touted only served to strengthen the resolve of white voters who considered themselves social conservatives.
"3.9 million jobs go unfilled in this country each month," said Christyn Keyes. "Rep. Joyce sees that as an enormous problem and to fix a problem, you must accurately diagnose it,,,"
The key is accurately diagnosing it and Joyce's anecdotal observation(s) doesn't quite fit the bill, especially when one takes into account the there are 3.1 applicants for every job opening. The biggest problem IMHO is not a skills shortage; rather, it is a persistently weak economy where businesses do not have sufficient demand to justify adding employees.
Case in point, the factories here where I live run on what is called a lean manufacturing model or JIT (Just In Time). Inventory, both supplies and final product, are kept at the bare minimum. When business dictates, they will beg for workers (hire) for 3-4 months out of each year (usually from March -June). Come July 4th those "new" hires are then laid off again. The demand for their product is just is not there for these companies to maintain a strong workforce. The economy is too weak, no one is buying, compared to 15-20 years ago when the factories where working 24/7 with mandatory OT.
Also one must bare in mind that 3 million+ job openings might sound like a lot, it is still below the pre-recession average, in 2007, of 4.5 million openings a month. It is also far lower than the 5.2 million openings in December 2000.
Another point that Joyce seems to ignore, the disparity of opinion between CEOs and HR personnel responsible for hiring. CEOs say that schools are failing to give workers the skills they need, and the people who actually do the hiring, say the real obstacles are traditional ones like lack of on-the-job experience. Add to that employers tend to wait for the perfect match, their criteria for jobs are to exacting; or they are too tightfisted with pay packages.
What I find disconcerting about Joyce's comment(s) as a whole, the apparent disconnect between his assertions and reality. Both the economy and pay need to be improved. This so-called skills gap, that does not exist IMHO, will not help. It is all a smokescreen to avoid what really needs to be done.
Republican Rep. Joyce: Unemployment caused by drunk, high workforce not lack of jobs | The Raw Story
