WP: Quality of New Jobs Caught in Election-Year Debate

[kskiska]

On television screens across Ohio this week, a dejected middle-aged worker will slip on a white paper cap and prepare to flip burgers as an announcer intones, "After a year, you finally land another job. And you wonder, is this what you worked your whole life for?"

The MoveOn.org political ad, and a furious counteroffensive by President Bush's reelection campaign, are crystallizing a burgeoning election-year debate over the quality of jobs being added to the nation's payrolls. One key measure is wages.

MoveOn intends the humble burger flipper to play on worker anxiety about the loss of relatively high-paying jobs, forcing breadwinners to accept lower-wage service jobs.

The Bush administration says that is a misleading picture. Most of the jobs created last month were in industries that pay above-average wages, including health care, construction and financial services, the campaign says. "These are areas where people get paid well, and that has a big impact on kitchen-table issues," said Bush campaign spokesman Terry Holt.

more…
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A61975-2004Jun22.html

[xray s]

1. Notice how they spin!

"Most of the jobs created last month were in industries that pay above-average wages, including health care, construction and financial services...."

They did not say the new jobs were paying above-average wages, but that the jobs were in industries that pay above average wages...which means squat.

More Bushspeak.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

2. Excellent point...

Shifty scumbags!

[xray s]

3. Case in point-health care

Doctor salaries drive the average way up, but most of the jobs are low wage paying.

My bullshit radar always goes off when economists emphasize averages...

[leesa]

16. They sure are...the only reason to stay in health care is a desire to make

illness tolerable and not horrific.

[Sinistrous]

4. ...healthcare, construction, and financial services...

Healthcare: Personal Care Attendants, Nursing Assistants

Construction: Laborers (non-union)

Financial Services: Bank Tellers

None of them will see $10.00 an hour.

[dusty64]

8. Ya can't believe

a SINGLE word they say, good catch.

[NewYorkerfromMass]

10. Bingo: These industries employ their own burger flippers

and the like.

[The Zanti Regent]

14. No, it's the WHORESHINGTON POST lying for the GOP again

Is it too much to ask the Whoreshington Post to be fair and balanced?

[napi21]

5. This kind of spin only works if there's truth.

If most of the people where this ad is seen actually got decent paying jobs, the ad won't work. If most of those jobs were a much lower pay scale than the ones lost, the viewers will relate to that ad. The spin just doesn't matter. The real world does.

I think this is the real reason the Pubs and the media keep saying how strong the economy is and jobs are being created, but the polls still show the public doesn't agree. There really are 2 Americas (as John Edwards has said). Those who have nice stock portfolios and are making verygood wages who are enjoying their tax cut and watching their stock values rise, and then there are the others who are unemployed (or scared they might be), saw a very small tax cut, their property taxes doubled, grocery bill jumped, price of gas is killing them, and they don't see any truth to this "great new jobs/strong economy" BS.

[Media_Lies_Daily]

9. I wonder what part of the country is actually supplying decent....

...paying jobs? I personally don't believe that places like that really exist. The NeoCon Junta economic disaster is an equal opportunity unemployer.

Only the top 1% are doing fabulously well thanks to their massive tax cuts. Probably another 10-15% below that are doing as well as can be expected. After that? Forget about it.

[Voltaire99]

6. Great ad; run more like this

We must speak to the truth of American decline, and incite the belief that political change can reverse it.

Alternatively, we can accept servitude.

[DeepModem Mom]

7. Thanks to MoveOn! n/t

[seasat]

11. Unfortunately some of this may be temporary.

The Bush administration says that is a misleading picture. Most of the jobs created last month were in industries that pay above-average wages, including health care, construction and financial services, the campaign says. "These are areas where people get paid well, and that has a big impact on kitchen-table issues," said Bush campaign spokesman Terry Holt.

The rises in construction, financial services, and even the manufacturing jobs (which are in businesses related to construction) are dependent on people building and buying new structures. Interest rates are starting to rachet up again along with inflation. The 10 year treasury note is expected to head up for at least the next 2-3 years and the Fed will soon have to raise interest rates. This means that borrowing money for business or personal home building and buying will drop due to the increased interest rates. I hope that I'm wrong but we may slip back into a recession when that occurs.

[NewYorkerfromMass]

12. Debt bomb is growing

a lot of money out there on loan.

[Jack Rabbit]

13. It's about time these stories were told

A high tech worker who, after a year of unemployment, takes a job stocking shelves at WalMart probably doesn't really consider himself permanently employed.

Economic figures are not getting "better" because of Bush's tax cuts. They are looking better because they couldn't get any worse.

When Kerry asks this Fall "Are you better off than you were four years ago?", more Americans will answer No than Yes. Those who answer Yes didn't have problems four years ago to begin with. The economy is a losing issue for Bush.

[struggle4progress]

15. kick for burger-flipping

:kick: