La Cucaracha by Lalo Alcaraz for August 03, 2011

If my job skills were tab A in slot B, I think I’d use 99 weeks to get some training.

Income tax rtes are lowest they’ve been in years plus there’s a payroll tax holiday.

Training for jobs that don’t exist isn’t much of a plan. Corporate economy doesn’t want skills, it wants obedience from low-paid workers. Only way the rich and corporations will start creating jobs in the US again is when we all agree to work for less than the Vietnamese. Raise the top tax rates to Nixon levels and replace the tax on Wall Street speculation that lapsed in 1964 and we’d be able to put folks to work rebuilding America to be energy independent and sustainable. Keep giving the looters tax breaks and the jobs will keep moving off shore.

Lewreader, the problem with getting training during the time you’re unemployed can disqualify you for unemployment, although they’re working on allowing that. Basically, if you can’t accept a job because you’re in school, you can’t get unemployment. There are a few programs where you can work it out, but it’s not easy and I think funding is a common problem.Personally, I think it’s poor policy to disqualify people for unemployment when they’re building legitimate work skills, but so far as I know, most places that’s how it usually goes. I don’t want people taking advanced underwater candle lighting to qualify for unemployment during their training, but if you’re improving your work skills, I’d love to see it be easier to get unemployment so you can survive in the meantime.