Obama: There are No Self-Made Men?

[bean]

All true. And I don't think that was the President's point. He was making the point is that all of this awesome individual success and innovation is POSSIBLE because we live here.

Darrell, we have people at Tea Party rallies around here all wild about ANYTHING the government does. They cash their SS checks and are on medicare. Lots of em get farm subsidies. They want draconian cuts to everything but the programs that directly benefit them...and massive tax cuts. It just reeks of hypocrisy.

[lucrezaborgia]

You have to work at least 20 hours per week or be FULLY disabled to qualify for food stamps here. If you have kids and qualify by income but not work hours, the kids get a very small amount, but not the parent.

[bean]

My son was working a minimum wage job out in a western state, trying to make a go of being on his own. He got part time and temp work. He barely made anything and got zero help from their state government. Nothing. No food stamps, assistance, medicaid, zip. He didn't qualify. I think he ate a lot of beans and rice.

People think that the "welfare king and queen" is true. It's not. There are still people who believe they'd be better off on welfare than with a 67,000 dollar a year job. Good luck and go give it a try. You'll get a swift kick in the pants from every state I know. (Which is fine, no one should live large and permanently on it...but it should be there for those who need it short term.

My biggest beef was son struggled to find a job and that state's job service office was not helpful..at all. It's reduced to a website. Would have thought they would have brought him in and done some skill testing and perhaps referred him to places that would match his skills. Not so much.
The good news was that when he moved home after 6 months, he had a new appreciation for my cooking, our home, the car papa helps him to maintain, and that he needed more skills to get a better job. He's now in tech school and (largely) self sufficient.

[Darrell]

Quote:People think that the "welfare king and queen" is true. It's not.

You need to visit my town.

[greg]

(07-22-2012 06:44 AM)bean Wrote:  My son was working a minimum wage job out in a western state, trying to make a go of being on his own. He got part time and temp work. He barely made anything and got zero help from their state government. Nothing. No food stamps, assistance, medicaid, zip. He didn't qualify. I think he ate a lot of beans and rice.

People think that the "welfare king and queen" is true. It's not. There are still people who believe they'd be better off on welfare than with a 67,000 dollar a year job. Good luck and go give it a try. You'll get a swift kick in the pants from every state I know. (Which is fine, no one should live large and permanently on it...but it should be there for those who need it short term.

My biggest beef was son struggled to find a job and that state's job service office was not helpful..at all. It's reduced to a website. Would have thought they would have brought him in and done some skill testing and perhaps referred him to places that would match his skills. Not so much.
The good news was that when he moved home after 6 months, he had a new appreciation for my cooking, our home, the car papa helps him to maintain, and that he needed more skills to get a better job. He's now in tech school and (largely) self sufficient.

Ditto to what Darrell said. I can clearly see your entitlement mindset right here in your very own post! It's not up to your state to find your son a job!

"Would have thought they would have brought him in and done some skill testing and perhaps referred him to places that would match his skill."

How about your son hitting the pavement, putting his ear to the rail, running off a hundred resumes and handing them out, networking with friends, family, associates. Dedicating himself to a minimum one hr a day on the phone with prospective employers. Offering to work for a week w/out pay to show his initiative. About a milliion things he could do, to actively get himself gainfully employed.

I didn't even think about having my son "check" with the state to get a joh. He just started his first job this week and loves it.

[Persnickety Polecat]

(07-22-2012 09:05 AM)greg Wrote:  

(07-22-2012 06:44 AM)bean Wrote:  My son was working a minimum wage job out in a western state, trying to make a go of being on his own. He got part time and temp work. He barely made anything and got zero help from their state government. Nothing. No food stamps, assistance, medicaid, zip. He didn't qualify. I think he ate a lot of beans and rice.

People think that the "welfare king and queen" is true. It's not. There are still people who believe they'd be better off on welfare than with a 67,000 dollar a year job. Good luck and go give it a try. You'll get a swift kick in the pants from every state I know. (Which is fine, no one should live large and permanently on it...but it should be there for those who need it short term.

My biggest beef was son struggled to find a job and that state's job service office was not helpful..at all. It's reduced to a website. Would have thought they would have brought him in and done some skill testing and perhaps referred him to places that would match his skills. Not so much.
The good news was that when he moved home after 6 months, he had a new appreciation for my cooking, our home, the car papa helps him to maintain, and that he needed more skills to get a better job. He's now in tech school and (largely) self sufficient.

Ditto to what Darrell said. I can clearly see your entitlement mindset right here in your very own post! It's not up to your state to find your son a job!

"Would have thought they would have brought him in and done some skill testing and perhaps referred him to places that would match his skill."

How about your son hitting the pavement, putting his ear to the rail, running off a hundred resumes and handing them out, networking with friends, family, associates. Dedicating himself to a minimum one hr a day on the phone with prospective employers. Offering to work for a week w/out pay to show his initiative. About a milliion things he could do, to actively get himself gainfully employed.

I didn't even think about having my son "check" with the state to get a joh. He just started his first job this week and loves it.

I think you missed the first part of her post where she said he WAS working both minimum wage and temp jobs. He WAS trying to find work. There's nothing wrong with reaching out in one's job search to whatever program the state already offers.

Demanding that the state find one a job when one isn't willing to do the legwork on one's own is an entitlement attitude. Taking advantage of resources already there when one is doing the work on one's own as well? Not so much, imo.

[bean]

Greg, once again...
You missed the point.
I never insisted that they find him a job. Most states have an JOB SERVICE office which partners those looking for work with those looking for help.
I don't have a damn entitlement mentality and neither does my son. I've worked my ass off since I have been 8 years old. I have worked two, three jobs at a time. I am a professional in my mid 40s and am currently working three jobs. Your comment crosses the line. I worked 40 hours a week IN COLLEGE full time. I work 55 hours a week at my SUMMER JOB. In the spring of the year I put in routinely 65 hour weeks as a teacher and a coach.

As far as your comment about working without pay for a week to show initiative-ridiculous.

[bean]

PP, thank you. That was what I was trying to say.

[greg]

(07-22-2012 11:06 AM)bean Wrote:  Greg, once again...
You missed the point.
I never insisted that they find him a job. Most states have an JOB SERVICE office which partners those looking for work with those looking for help.
I don't have a damn entitlement mentality and neither does my son. I've worked my ass off since I have been 8 years old. I have worked two, three jobs at a time. I am a professional in my mid 40s and am currently working three jobs. Your comment crosses the line. I worked 40 hours a week IN COLLEGE full time. I work 55 hours a week at my SUMMER JOB. In the spring of the year I put in routinely 65 hour weeks as a teacher and a coach.

As far as your comment about working without pay for a week to show initiative-ridiculous.

I'm trying to find out why my comment crossed the line. The only thing I can think of is that I suggested that you had an entitlement mentality, but I based that assessment on your commentary regarding the state not doing what you thought it should be doing to get your son a job My contention then and now, is that it's not the state's job or duty to find your son a job, however if they (the state) could help him get a job, I would certainly not be averse to utilizing that resource.

Hey I want your son to find a job, and I encourage him to beat the bushes to do just that. And folks have found fantastic careers by offering to do free work to show the employers their stuff, I wouldn't dismiss the idea so easily.

[bean]

I guess suggesting that I (or he) had an entitlement mentality was part of it.
He does have a job, it was much easier in our home state to get one. He got on last fall at a pizza place and is currently the night supervisor while going to school.
My larger point was that the help everyone decries and thinks is so easy to come by really isn't all that easy...