Did Media Drop Ball On Unemployment?
New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof went back to Oregon for vacation this summer and discovered something shocking: a lot of people there are out of work. My husband is from Oregon, so this wasn't news to me. Many members of his own family and their friends are out of work or so underemployed as to be in a bad situation. One example: a relative by marriage went from owning a lucrative business of construction contracting to pounding nails for just above minimum wage.
In his Sunday column, Kristof says that on the East Coast, people are passionate about politics. But unemployment dominates the thoughts of Oregonians.
I’ve spent a chunk of summer vacation visiting old friends here, and I can’t help feeling that national politicians and national journalists alike have dropped the ball on jobs. Some 25 million Americans are unemployed or underemployed — that’s more than 16 percent of the work force — but jobs haven’t been nearly high enough on the national agenda.
When Americans are polled about the issue they care most about, the answer by a two-to-one margin is jobs. The Boston Globe found that during President Obama’s Twitter “town hall” last month, the issue that the public most wanted to ask about was, by far, jobs. Yet during the previous two weeks of White House news briefings, reporters were far more likely to ask about political warfare with Republicans. ...
A study by National Journal in May found something similar: newspaper articles about “unemployment” apparently fell over the last two years, while references to the “deficit” soared.
You don't say! I wonder why the media would do such a thing!
Kristof then gives examples of men who lost their jobs and the toll it's taken on them. We're told about the lifestyle changes and the psychological damage.
He then proceeds to have some of the worst ideas out there for what to do, including "make federal money available to pay for teachers who are otherwise being laid off." Newsflash to the New York TImes, lack of money being sent to public teachers such as my mother is not the problem with the economy. Another brilliant idea is to "increase spending on service programs like AmeriCorps." Great idea, Kristof. Except the opposite.
But the point still stands that a Washington and New York obsessed with politics and debt talks are cities that aren't paying enough attention to unemployment. It's nice that someone at the New York Times editorial page became aware of the scourge of unemployment. Let's hope that knowledge, if not the poor solutions offered, spreads.
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Jun '10
Re: Did Media Drop Ball On Unemployment?
If Kristof wants reporting about the pain and scope of unemployment in America, from the mainstream press, then what he's really wishing for is that a Republican was in the White House.
Re: Did Media Drop Ball On Unemployment?
Who knows if Obama or the media will begin paying more attention to the dire unemployment situation but the administration just named Alan Krueger to be an economic advisor.
Here he argues for a $500 billion VAT. And no, that's not a joke. He thinks a consumption tax would fix the economy. Why am I not hopeful?
Aug '10
Re: Did Media Drop Ball On Unemployment?
Drop the ball ? That's a nice way to say what they're doing .
The unemployment / underemployment reality is alot closer to 20%. With 10% being a third rail for politicians, explains why we have never seen the number written on the front page on any MSM paper since Obama took office.
We need a trade war with our biggest creditor to correct things. Put everybody back to work making the stuff that could no longer be imported. Probably have to move half of GE headquarters to China though.
When is the last time someone made a tv or a birdhouse in the US ?
Edited on Aug 29, 2011 at 6:46amAug '10
Re: Did Media Drop Ball On Unemployment?
The very idea that government can DO something to create jobs is the core of our problem. Government action does not create jobs. It never has. It never will.
What we need is for the government to UNDO a whole lot of the damage they've done to create this mess.
The very act of the government trying to fix the problem IS the problem. If we haven't learned that yet, eight decades after FDR's magnificent screw-up, I fear we never will.
Apr '11
Re: Did Media Drop Ball On Unemployment?
The media elite dropped the ball on unemployment because they walked off middle America's court.
the article doesn't do much for Kristof's reputation either. Kristof has to visit family members to understand the scale of the crisis? Unless he takes a punch himself, he doesn't see the fight. That's the mark of a poor reporter.
Nov '10
Re: Did Media Drop Ball On Unemployment?
I don't think they dropped the ball, I think they let it hit the ground and deliberately ignored it. Short term unemployment is not a cause for "fundamental transformation" and the transfer of individual autonomy to the state, whereas the prospect of inescapable poverty is. These people know their history.
Dec '10
Re: Did Media Drop Ball On Unemployment?
Where does Kristof live that he does not notice the unemployed?
Jun '10
Re: Did Media Drop Ball On Unemployment?
Echoes of a time, long long ago, when wars in the Middle East, 5% unemployment, $4-per-gallon gasoline, and lack of White House transparency was very very serious:
[language warning] May 24, 2008: Open Letter to George Bush
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2I_McLpZQvw
Sep '10
Re: Did Media Drop Ball On Unemployment?
This guy should keep his mouth shut and his pencil in his pocket.
This quote: "President Obama is saying the right things lately about creating jobs. But he is saying them far too meekly, and his jobs agenda seems anemic — while the Republican Congress is saying the wrong things altogether" is stunning in its idiocy.
He advocates Americorps as a job creator? His pal that works detecting underground cables got let go. Will he work for Americorps? The housing market that Barney Frank and Fannie Mae and ACORN helped destroy is who fired his buddy Terry Maggard.
Yeah. They dropped the ball. A bowling ball on their collective heads.I would call this guy an elitist moron, but that may violate Ricochet's code of conduct; so I will not.
Re: Did Media Drop Ball On Unemployment?
New York, I imagine. I notice the same problem with all of our wealthy Northern Virginia neighbors. They don't know anyone unemployed so it doesn't seem to be a problem for them.
May '10
Re: Did Media Drop Ball On Unemployment?
There is nothing fundamentally wrong with the principle of AmeriCorps- in fact, the late great William F. Buckley proposed exactly such a thing- not as a WPA unemployment measure, but in gratitude for what we are indeed blessed with here and as a cooling off period after high school. Indeed, even now in my dotasge, were I not employed, I would look for such an opportunity. The devil, as always, is in the details. AmeriCorps can be either and ACORN tool for Obama-types or a force for good, and it is up to Congress to set the rules and oversee them.
But Kristof has the wrong place when he talks Oregon. Only Vermont among the several states has done more stupid things to prevent business from being able to operate in some sort of viable market climate. Every asinine zoning idea in the US originates near Portland.
Apr '11
Re: Did Media Drop Ball On Unemployment?
True, however those in the government, especially those on the Democrat side, have allowed the idea that government is the source of job creation to flourish. The fact that high unemployment news tends to be hidden tells me that the liberals are unwilling to take responsibility for the negative side of their ideas.
In other points, being from Oregon myself, I tend to follow the news there. Oregon is also a hotbed of liberal policy and much of the job destruction there and in Portland is due to their own heavy-handed politics. Portland has long been known as business-unfriendly due to the sheer amount of its regulatory burdens alone. Just last year Oregon voters were sold a tax hike on income that grossed $250,000 or more.
Government can't do much to create jobs, but it can do a lot to destroy and inhibit them.
Sep '10
Re: Did Media Drop Ball On Unemployment?
Americorps is not a job. Having Americans dig holes and then fill them is beneath us as the greatest country in history. I doubt that he was for that. We don't need AmeriCorps in order to volunteer. Kristof should quit and open up a job. I give up.
May '10
Re: Did Media Drop Ball On Unemployment?
Andrew
Americorps is not a job. Having Americans dig holes and then fill them is beneath us as the greatest country in history. I doubt that he was for that. We don't need AmeriCorps in order to volunteer. Kristof should quit and open up a job. I give up. · Aug 29 at 10:16am
Andrew, actually read the Buckley interview before opining. No one- neither me nor WFB- said that AmeriCorps is a job.
I agree with you about Bastiat's criticism of Keynes. But only Ron Paul would say that a properly operated national service program is digging holes and refilling them. This is exactly the kind of nonsense that turns the reasonable middle off of the fire-breathing Right (Paul, Bachmann)
The point of AmeriCorps, for those who are not disposed to volunteer for the military, is that it is subsistence reimbursement, not a job.
Sep '10
Re: Did Media Drop Ball On Unemployment?
I did and respectfully responded.
"Isn't this contrary to the conservative position on large, costly federal programs? "
"There is no need to federalize the program. A small panel appointed by the President would recommend auxiliary legislation by the federal government, but it would always leave the initiative to the states to devise those service programs and finance them."
Re: Did Media Drop Ball On Unemployment?
Poor Mr. Kristof. Like other members of the bigtime media, he lives in a bubble. Someone should follow his column and see whether he touches in a serious way on unemployment again. As far as I can tell, he thinks that it is nothing more than a talking point for his favorite president.
Dec '10
Re: Did Media Drop Ball On Unemployment?
Duane Oyen:
But Kristof has the wrong place when he talks Oregon. Only Vermont among the several states has done more stupid things to prevent business from being able to operate in some sort of viable market climate. Every asinine zoning idea in the US originates near Portland. · Aug 29 at 8:56am
Shout it from the rooftops, Brother! Oregon's vaunted "urban growth boundary" is the double whammy economic killer for the state. First, it artificially inflates land values - only when your piece of property is included in the miniscule portion added to the urban growth boundary can it be developed. Therefore, when a portion of land is added, the price skyrockets.
The second whammy is that it prevents building and thus jobs. It's a good thing the place is so beautiful, otherwise even the libs wouldn't live here.
Apr '11
Re: Did Media Drop Ball On Unemployment?
The Great Adventure!
Duane Oyen:
But Kristof has the wrong place when he talks Oregon. Only Vermont among the several states has done more stupid things to prevent business from being able to operate in some sort of viable market climate. Every asinine zoning idea in the US originates near Portland. · Aug 29 at 8:56am
Shout it from the rooftops, Brother! Oregon's vaunted "urban growth boundary" is the double whammy economic killer for the state. First, it artificially inflates land values - only when your piece of property is included in the miniscule portion added to the urban growth boundary can it be developed. Therefore, when a portion of land is added, the price skyrockets.
The second whammy is that it prevents building and thus jobs. It's a good thing the place is so beautiful, otherwise even the libs wouldn't live here. · Aug 29 at 12:11pm
I hear that. My last job was closely tied with housing construction. Given the growth boundaries and regulations required to build, plans for developments could take years to start construction. I could see the housing bubble well before it burst.
May '10
Re: Did Media Drop Ball On Unemployment?
Speaking of housing, a very good related article written by Ricochet's own King Banaian seems not to be available any longer, despite my contributions to the Center of the American Experiment.
Someone tell him to post it again: http://www.huduser.org/rbc/searchrbc/rbcdetails.asp?DocId=1360
Andrew, the source of our disagreement seems to be that you take issue with AmeriCorps as a federal program (your posted quote), even though you spoke as though it was about funding (i.e., a "job"). If it is funded by any government, these days it makes little difference whether it is state or federal. And I disagree with WFB a bit here- he is desperately trying to reconcile "national" service with his state-focus. Pick one, Bill.