Here's the latest from Washington on the current budget discussions and workforce training/development.
The Continuing Resolution passed by the U. S. House of Representatives last Saturday de-obligates, rescinds and removes the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) from any current or future funding.
This action comes as a surprising development, and hardly logical considering ongoing unemployment and underemployment in the nation. It is, however, a fact of the current House Bill.
By any measure, this is unprecedented. Here in Dallas our workforce commission has operated without decline or interruption for more than 27 years. The nation depends on the workforce system for retraining, remediation, re-employment, national emergency re-employment and youth workforce preparation.
Although the House has determined that the system is expendable, provisions to fund the WIA remain in the budgets developed by the Obama Administration and the U. S. Senate.
The removal of workforce would cut Dallas capacity and space by half.
More of the same: penny wise, pound foolish.
We may perish by movement to the extremes.
All the House has done so far is vote to put even more people out of work. Still no mention of the never ending wars that are bankrupting this country more than any of the programs they are gutting ever have.
ReplyDeleteIsn't it time for people to start writing their legislators and start protests to get out of the war business NOW!
Truly, our Congress is being penny wise and pound foolish. However, until the true elephant in the room is attached--that is, SS, Medicare, Medicaid, and interest on National Debt--then this is the type of poor choices that we are going to see. The proposed 2012 Budget, if adopted and continued, will add $2 T of new spending per year between now and 2021. Where will this $2 T go? To the to the Big Three: 60% will go to SS, Medicare and Medicaid; 31% will go to the INTEREST on the National Debt. That leaves a 9% increase for everything else. These numbers are unsustainable, and will sap the ability of the Fed Govt to provide necessary services and rebuild the infrastructure of our country. Now is the time for leadership on this issue, or else all programs such as Workforce will be sacrificed on the altar of the Big Three.
ReplyDeleteThe true elephant in the room are the 2 ill-advised wars we are waging. It cost $1.2M PER SOLDIER for a year in Afghanistan. Social Security is solvent for quite a few more years if they hadn't spent the money on other things. Our defense budget is more than the next 15 or 20 nations combined. There, Jerry are your elephants.
ReplyDeleteWhen only 12% of the budget is considered "discretionary," there are enough elephants to go around.
ReplyDeleteSwitching animal metaphors, there shouldn't be any sacred cows. But as long as AARP is the single most powerful lobbying group, and military contractors have suppliers and factories in every congressional district, it's hard to see how it's going to stop.
Take a minimum wage job and bootstrap yourself. These job training programs mainly benefit the organizations that host them .Its a myth that the government is going to train you for a high paying job
ReplyDeleteAnon 7:41, not much of a bootstrap at under $15K a year at min wage. You need not agree, but least acknowledge the facts.
ReplyDelete