(Image courtesy of The Obama Diary.)
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Showing posts with label jobs. Show all posts
Showing posts with label jobs. Show all posts
Sunday, September 18, 2011
President Obama's American Jobs Act will help modernize schools. Because to SOME people schools still matter.
I thought this might give you a lift this Sunday morning as well.
(Image courtesy of The Obama Diary.)
(Image courtesy of The Obama Diary.)
Saturday, September 10, 2011
President Obama's speech in Richmond, Virginia yesterday: "I'm an eternal optimist."
(Here is the transcript.)
According The Atlantic this Jobs Bill might be the best possible legislation that the President can get passed right now.
President Obama's $450 billion stimulus revolves around a plan to extend and expand the payroll tax cut. It also includes incentives for businesses to hire workers -- with a separate tax credit for hiring long-term unemployed workers -- and it extends unemployment benefits for another year. And it's all offset with a plan to reduce our long-term deficit.
This is a tax-side stimulus to encourage business to hire and put more money in the pockets of both the employed and the unemployed.
Expanding immediate tax stimulus for an economy with struggling demand is smart. And $450 billion is a big number. And the ideas in the speech are boldly, even pugnaciously, presented. But the heart of this plan is an extension of current policies plus a moderate expansion of certain policies. For example, we already have a payroll tax stimulus. We already have unemployment benefits. Companies already have incentives to hire. Still, the economy is growing at less than one percent and job creation is, literally, zero.
Extending and expanding current policies is a necessary thing with economic and labor growth falling to lows since the recession. In the current political climate, this is probably as bold as the president can go. But to borrow a metaphor from football (which followed minutes the president stopped talking), this is neither a 40-yard bomb nor a straight draw for the running back. It's a checkdown pass. Carefully diagrammed, measured to bypass the defense, and just enough to move the ball downfield.
There is much more to this article, including the details that a certain Grizzled Mama claimed were not present in the plan, so go ahead and click the link to learn more.
However even during this time of strife, and as the President prepares to wade into the Republican lion's den again to push through this legislation, he still took time to demonstrate his humanity while visiting the Arlington Cemetery. (Photos courtesy of The Obama Diary.)
According The Atlantic this Jobs Bill might be the best possible legislation that the President can get passed right now.
President Obama's $450 billion stimulus revolves around a plan to extend and expand the payroll tax cut. It also includes incentives for businesses to hire workers -- with a separate tax credit for hiring long-term unemployed workers -- and it extends unemployment benefits for another year. And it's all offset with a plan to reduce our long-term deficit.
This is a tax-side stimulus to encourage business to hire and put more money in the pockets of both the employed and the unemployed.
Expanding immediate tax stimulus for an economy with struggling demand is smart. And $450 billion is a big number. And the ideas in the speech are boldly, even pugnaciously, presented. But the heart of this plan is an extension of current policies plus a moderate expansion of certain policies. For example, we already have a payroll tax stimulus. We already have unemployment benefits. Companies already have incentives to hire. Still, the economy is growing at less than one percent and job creation is, literally, zero.
Extending and expanding current policies is a necessary thing with economic and labor growth falling to lows since the recession. In the current political climate, this is probably as bold as the president can go. But to borrow a metaphor from football (which followed minutes the president stopped talking), this is neither a 40-yard bomb nor a straight draw for the running back. It's a checkdown pass. Carefully diagrammed, measured to bypass the defense, and just enough to move the ball downfield.
There is much more to this article, including the details that a certain Grizzled Mama claimed were not present in the plan, so go ahead and click the link to learn more.
However even during this time of strife, and as the President prepares to wade into the Republican lion's den again to push through this legislation, he still took time to demonstrate his humanity while visiting the Arlington Cemetery. (Photos courtesy of The Obama Diary.)
Friday, September 9, 2011
What the hell is all of that screeching? Oh, I should have known!
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| Click picture to view interview. |
This "rebuttal" to the President's speech the other day is sooo ignorant that I think it would save Palin a lot of time if she just started wearing a shirt that says "I just got lobotomized" and then she would not have to spend so many minutes demonstrating how completely brain damaged she is.
At one point Palin claims that the President is playing us all for fools, and I swear she said it with a straight face, which indicates to me that she is either completely lacking in self awareness or that she is the world's best poker player.
And by the way when Palin claims that Obama is arrogant, and feels he does NOT have to explain what he is planning, that is complete bullshit. The President DID explain what he is planning, she was just TOO stupid to understand him because he was using clear and concise ENGLISH. (Oh and by the way don't think for one minute we don't realize that"arrogant" is just racist code for "uppity.")
You know I cannot speak for everybody else, but I can quite literally go the rest of my life without hearing Sarah Palin say the words "shoving down our throats."
It always makes me gag a little when she uses that phrase.
President Obama introduces "The American Jobs Act".
I thought the speech was very good, and I also thought the President demonstrated great passion as well as great exasperation that he has so little support to do the things for this country that MUST be done.
Here are the highlights courtesy of The Monitor:
Nearly $250 billion in tax relief for individuals and businesses through tax credits and a variety of tax cuts.
140 billion to upgrade roads, bridges and schools.
35 billion to help keep teachers, police and firefighters on the job.
Extending and expanding a payroll tax cut that would save the typical American family $1,500 in taxes in 2012.
A payroll tax "holiday" for employers on any new hires or wages. All companies would be eligible for the break, which would apply to up to $50 million in new payroll spending.
Cut the payroll tax in half for businesses with payrolls of less than $5 million.
The President bent over backwards to find programs and tax cuts that the Republicans should NOT be able to vote against. But sadly for the American people that will only work if the Republicans are not actually willing to let this country crumble into disrepair for short term political gain. I have to say that I do not have much confidence that such an obvious act of treason is not exactly what the Republicans have decided to do.
Here are the highlights courtesy of The Monitor:
Nearly $250 billion in tax relief for individuals and businesses through tax credits and a variety of tax cuts.
140 billion to upgrade roads, bridges and schools.
35 billion to help keep teachers, police and firefighters on the job.
Extending and expanding a payroll tax cut that would save the typical American family $1,500 in taxes in 2012.
A payroll tax "holiday" for employers on any new hires or wages. All companies would be eligible for the break, which would apply to up to $50 million in new payroll spending.
Cut the payroll tax in half for businesses with payrolls of less than $5 million.
The President bent over backwards to find programs and tax cuts that the Republicans should NOT be able to vote against. But sadly for the American people that will only work if the Republicans are not actually willing to let this country crumble into disrepair for short term political gain. I have to say that I do not have much confidence that such an obvious act of treason is not exactly what the Republicans have decided to do.
Saturday, August 20, 2011
President Obama's Weekly Address: Putting Country ahead of Party.
This was definitely a message to Americans about who is REALLY gumming up the works and keeping solutions from being implemented to solve our financial problems.
Too bad the teabagging Republicans are too myopic to understand that their obstructionism is hurting their constituents and causing the very problems that they were sent to Congress to solve.
However I really do believe that the American voters are beginning to see through deceptive tactics used by those who are trying to lay the blame solely at the President's feet, and that that will be confirmed in the next election cycle.
Friday, August 5, 2011
Job growth numbers better than expected. But are they good enough?
Payrolls expanded by 117,000 jobs in July as unemployment fell to 9.1 percent, a bit of good news in what has been a dismal series of economic reports this summer.
US stocks had been in a tailspin leading up this morning's Labor Department report. They closed down 9 of the last 10 trading days, capped by a 500-point loss on the Dow Jones Industrial Average yesterday. The Dow has fallen 1,300 points since July 21, erasing all its gains for the year.
The report "should lessen fears that the recovery is truly faltering," Jim O'Sullivan, chief economist at MF Global, told the Associated Press.
At the 9:30 a.m. ET opening of the markets, the Dow headed straight up, surging 170 points in the first two minutes of trading. Markets in Europe, which have been rattled by rising government debt in Italy and Spain, also rose after the jobs report.
Economists were expecting 85,000 jobs to be added in July and unemployment to stay steady at 9.2 percent. In June, private employers added just 18,000 jobs.
But in July, businesses added 154,000 jobs across many industries, the Labor Department said. Governments cut 37,000 jobs last month, though 23,000 of those losses were almost entirely because of the shutdown of Minnesota's state government.
We keep hearing over and over that NO President has ever successfully run for reelection with job numbers this low, which seems to be encouraging the Republicans to do everything in their power to keep Americans out of work simply for the sake of political expediency.
If they are successful they will have demonstrated how ignorant and uninformed the America voters are, and will once again have sacrificed the good of the country in service to their corporate masters.
I think that it behooves all of us to keep presenting charts like this one...
to our friends, and families. And reminding people that THIS is the result of giving corporations indefensible tax breaks, and allowing businesses to do what they want without Government oversights in place.
Yes the job growth is slow, but under this Democratic President at least it IS growing. What do the Republicans really offer us except more of the same policies that got us into the ditch that Obama is trying to drive us out of, with virtually NO help from the other party?
There are real people suffering here, and the idea that some politicians would play fast and loose with their lives solely in the interest of gaining or retaining power, really pisses me off!
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
Math hates Rick Santorum.
The other day GOP Presidential candidate, and mathematical wizard, Rick Santorum had the following back and forth with CNN's Ali Velshi:
SANTORUM: [Obama] passed a huge stimulus package that now we know, over the past two quarters, has actually cost American jobs, and that’s from the report of his own administration. They claimed in December that, uh, by the end of last year that they created 280 million jobs, and now they’re saying that they created only 240 million jobs. So look, in this, you’re talking about huge increases in spending.
ALI VELSHI: Senator, I’m going to ask you to restate that, I’ve never heard that in my life. Tell me again, what you just said.
SANTORUM: If you look at the report that came out on Friday, the President’s own economic advisers said that the jobs stimulus package actually created fewer jobs over the period of time, since the uh, since the stimulus package went in place than it did when they reported back in December. In other words, there’s 30 million less jobs as a result of the stimulus package.
VELSHI: That’s not a loss of jobs, Senator, that’s a smaller aggregation of jobs. You can’t go on a campaign, a national campaign with this kind of math Senator. It’s just incorrect…I know you’ve got a lot of interviews to do. You might want to check that math.
Here is the video of the exchange.
As ridiculous as Santorum appears during this argument with Velshi, Think Progress points out that Santorum just gave the Obama administration credit for completely solving the jobs crisis and is too ignorant to realize it.
Velshi is absolutely correct that Santorum needs to check his math, but he missed the huge problem with Santorum’s numbers. The entire American civilian labor force is about 153 million people. There are currently 13.9 million people unemployed. If the Obama administration had created 240 to 280 million jobs, the unemployment crisis would have been solved several times over, and America would have so many jobs that it would need to start employing workers from all over the world just to fill all the available positions.
So either Barack Obama is the greatest President in American history, and can solve economic problems with a wave of his hand, or Rick Santorum is an under educated douchebag.
Sadly it appears the latter is more likely.
(Though to be fair, if we give him a second term in office Obama just might prove to be the former as well. I still have hope.)
SANTORUM: [Obama] passed a huge stimulus package that now we know, over the past two quarters, has actually cost American jobs, and that’s from the report of his own administration. They claimed in December that, uh, by the end of last year that they created 280 million jobs, and now they’re saying that they created only 240 million jobs. So look, in this, you’re talking about huge increases in spending.
ALI VELSHI: Senator, I’m going to ask you to restate that, I’ve never heard that in my life. Tell me again, what you just said.
SANTORUM: If you look at the report that came out on Friday, the President’s own economic advisers said that the jobs stimulus package actually created fewer jobs over the period of time, since the uh, since the stimulus package went in place than it did when they reported back in December. In other words, there’s 30 million less jobs as a result of the stimulus package.
VELSHI: That’s not a loss of jobs, Senator, that’s a smaller aggregation of jobs. You can’t go on a campaign, a national campaign with this kind of math Senator. It’s just incorrect…I know you’ve got a lot of interviews to do. You might want to check that math.
Here is the video of the exchange.
As ridiculous as Santorum appears during this argument with Velshi, Think Progress points out that Santorum just gave the Obama administration credit for completely solving the jobs crisis and is too ignorant to realize it.
Velshi is absolutely correct that Santorum needs to check his math, but he missed the huge problem with Santorum’s numbers. The entire American civilian labor force is about 153 million people. There are currently 13.9 million people unemployed. If the Obama administration had created 240 to 280 million jobs, the unemployment crisis would have been solved several times over, and America would have so many jobs that it would need to start employing workers from all over the world just to fill all the available positions.
So either Barack Obama is the greatest President in American history, and can solve economic problems with a wave of his hand, or Rick Santorum is an under educated douchebag.
Sadly it appears the latter is more likely.
(Though to be fair, if we give him a second term in office Obama just might prove to be the former as well. I still have hope.)
Time for a little TRUTH about government, jobs, and the Republican party's attempt to negatively impact both.
The GOP has been a cult for a while, and Grover Norquist is Jim Jones.
Republicans love to wrap themselves in the American flag, and profess their unending, deep love for their country, yet hate the US Government with every fiber of their being. That, in and of itself, is the ultimate CULT disconnect.
These people have drunk so much GOPKool-aid™ they think all science is a myth, and the world is only 6,000 years old. How on Earth do you have a rational conversation with people like that?
Perhaps we need to start with something they can wrap their heads around: JOBS.
Let me lay down some facts that EVERYONE needs to spread far and wide:
One of the biggest GOP lies going around is, “The Government doesn’t create jobs.” When, in fact, the US Government (Fed/State/Local) is the largest employer on PLANET EARTH, with more employees world-wide than any privately held company. Not only does “The Government” CREATE jobs, it does it in the most economical/cost-effective way possible, because it is NOT a private company who has $12 million (+ annual bonuses) CEOs to feed and care for (United Health Care), but doesn’t sell stock, and profit isn’t the bottom line, only the QUALITY of it’s services.
All the Republicans want to do is CUT GOVERNMENT. Think about that for a minute. Why would they want to do that? Because their donors KNOW that the USGov is the largest employer, and they want some of that action.
One of the main Republican mantras is “Leave it alone and the Free Market will take care of it.” The only thing is, the free market already has, which is why the USGov has all those jobs – they’re the ones who can do it the most cost effective way, and protect the people/give high quality service at the same time, because there is no PROFIT.
So the GOP wants to cut government spending so it CANNOT do it’s job, and it becomes ineffective at funding those jobs, so some private company can come in and take it over, and MAKE A PROFIT. But then, that leads to shortcuts, outsourcing, DEREGULATION, and a lack of on the job safety in a race to the bottom. Fewer and fewer people doing the work of many, so that corners are cut, people are overworked, all for corporate profit – and the result can be deadly on a massive scale (please see 9/11 and 19 men boarding aircraft with box cutters when airport security was contracted with private companies.)
The GOP wants to privatize everything so they and their corporate masters can make more money. This is NOT about creating jobs. This is about CUTTING them, and shipping them to India, China, or anywhere where the pay is the lowest.
FACT: American infrastructure is crumbling. There are millions of people who could go to work tomorrow fixing all of that – and not just construction work, but the administrative workforce that goes along with those jobs locally. Those jobs are in the Government’s purview, but it needs funding.
FACT: We have a doctor shortage. There are millions of students who would go into the medical field if they could only afford it. The Government could easily fund these students if there was the tax money to do it. However, the GOP is all about privatizing our Universities, and that doesn’t bode well for students, since grants and scholarships are only available to students who can generate cash – mostly athletes.
FACT: We have fallen behind in the tech and science sectors because of lack of funding. Again, the private sector (PHARMA) has pulled ahead because of lack of funds to government funded programs. This has also resulted in placing money and profit over safety and human lives. It’s more cost-effective to make a drug that kills than test it properly, (made even easier by a Supreme Court that is ruling against being able to even file a class-action suit, and giving corporations more rights that human beings in who they can sue for damages and death.) Manufacture a tire that falls apart, and pay the fine. The profit is more, so where is the incentive to strive for better quality or save lives?
When profit wins over quality of the product or service, we all lose. But the GOP has been dismantling and underfunding our education system for decades to the point we have one of the highest illiteracy rates of any industrialized nation. Civics and government are no longer taught in schools, only a fraction of a watered-down history ever sees the light of day, and now school books are being printed that inserts Creationism, and Intelligent Design into the curriculum. Mythology taught as fact.
FACT: People need jobs. We need things fixed. The Government can hire people and put them to work. The more people who work, the more people are spending money thus stimulating the economy and paying taxes. The more tax revenues the Government collects the more money Government has to create programs and services we need to hire more people to run them, who then spend more money into the economy, creating more demand for goods and services – EVERYONE WINS, except the über-greedy who have sold their soul to the highest bidder. They won’t lose anything except perhaps their write-off on their second and third homes. They will however, stop being carried on the backs of the rest of us, and have to pull more of their own weight. Boo-frakkin-hoo.
If deregulation, tax cuts for the super-rich,tax loopholes, and corporate tax rebates created jobs, we’d have zero unemployment and the most vibrant economy on the planet by now because these policies have been in place for over a decade, yet anyone with a functioning brain stem can see that is not the case, and our folly has melted over into a global crisis. Still the Republicans makes an art form of denial and want to double down on all of it.
The GOP has no interest in people, or investing in in America’s future. It’s only interested in MONEY, and is not only trashing it’s own house, it’s hell-bent on burning down the entire neighborhood, and surrounding villages, all because of their blinding, personal greed and poisonous hatred for one man.
(Eloquently, and passionately written by Tally.)
Republicans love to wrap themselves in the American flag, and profess their unending, deep love for their country, yet hate the US Government with every fiber of their being. That, in and of itself, is the ultimate CULT disconnect.
These people have drunk so much GOPKool-aid™ they think all science is a myth, and the world is only 6,000 years old. How on Earth do you have a rational conversation with people like that?
Perhaps we need to start with something they can wrap their heads around: JOBS.
Let me lay down some facts that EVERYONE needs to spread far and wide:
One of the biggest GOP lies going around is, “The Government doesn’t create jobs.” When, in fact, the US Government (Fed/State/Local) is the largest employer on PLANET EARTH, with more employees world-wide than any privately held company. Not only does “The Government” CREATE jobs, it does it in the most economical/cost-effective way possible, because it is NOT a private company who has $12 million (+ annual bonuses) CEOs to feed and care for (United Health Care), but doesn’t sell stock, and profit isn’t the bottom line, only the QUALITY of it’s services.
All the Republicans want to do is CUT GOVERNMENT. Think about that for a minute. Why would they want to do that? Because their donors KNOW that the USGov is the largest employer, and they want some of that action.
One of the main Republican mantras is “Leave it alone and the Free Market will take care of it.” The only thing is, the free market already has, which is why the USGov has all those jobs – they’re the ones who can do it the most cost effective way, and protect the people/give high quality service at the same time, because there is no PROFIT.
So the GOP wants to cut government spending so it CANNOT do it’s job, and it becomes ineffective at funding those jobs, so some private company can come in and take it over, and MAKE A PROFIT. But then, that leads to shortcuts, outsourcing, DEREGULATION, and a lack of on the job safety in a race to the bottom. Fewer and fewer people doing the work of many, so that corners are cut, people are overworked, all for corporate profit – and the result can be deadly on a massive scale (please see 9/11 and 19 men boarding aircraft with box cutters when airport security was contracted with private companies.)
The GOP wants to privatize everything so they and their corporate masters can make more money. This is NOT about creating jobs. This is about CUTTING them, and shipping them to India, China, or anywhere where the pay is the lowest.
FACT: American infrastructure is crumbling. There are millions of people who could go to work tomorrow fixing all of that – and not just construction work, but the administrative workforce that goes along with those jobs locally. Those jobs are in the Government’s purview, but it needs funding.
FACT: We have a doctor shortage. There are millions of students who would go into the medical field if they could only afford it. The Government could easily fund these students if there was the tax money to do it. However, the GOP is all about privatizing our Universities, and that doesn’t bode well for students, since grants and scholarships are only available to students who can generate cash – mostly athletes.
FACT: We have fallen behind in the tech and science sectors because of lack of funding. Again, the private sector (PHARMA) has pulled ahead because of lack of funds to government funded programs. This has also resulted in placing money and profit over safety and human lives. It’s more cost-effective to make a drug that kills than test it properly, (made even easier by a Supreme Court that is ruling against being able to even file a class-action suit, and giving corporations more rights that human beings in who they can sue for damages and death.) Manufacture a tire that falls apart, and pay the fine. The profit is more, so where is the incentive to strive for better quality or save lives?
When profit wins over quality of the product or service, we all lose. But the GOP has been dismantling and underfunding our education system for decades to the point we have one of the highest illiteracy rates of any industrialized nation. Civics and government are no longer taught in schools, only a fraction of a watered-down history ever sees the light of day, and now school books are being printed that inserts Creationism, and Intelligent Design into the curriculum. Mythology taught as fact.
FACT: People need jobs. We need things fixed. The Government can hire people and put them to work. The more people who work, the more people are spending money thus stimulating the economy and paying taxes. The more tax revenues the Government collects the more money Government has to create programs and services we need to hire more people to run them, who then spend more money into the economy, creating more demand for goods and services – EVERYONE WINS, except the über-greedy who have sold their soul to the highest bidder. They won’t lose anything except perhaps their write-off on their second and third homes. They will however, stop being carried on the backs of the rest of us, and have to pull more of their own weight. Boo-frakkin-hoo.
If deregulation, tax cuts for the super-rich,tax loopholes, and corporate tax rebates created jobs, we’d have zero unemployment and the most vibrant economy on the planet by now because these policies have been in place for over a decade, yet anyone with a functioning brain stem can see that is not the case, and our folly has melted over into a global crisis. Still the Republicans makes an art form of denial and want to double down on all of it.
The GOP has no interest in people, or investing in in America’s future. It’s only interested in MONEY, and is not only trashing it’s own house, it’s hell-bent on burning down the entire neighborhood, and surrounding villages, all because of their blinding, personal greed and poisonous hatred for one man.
(Eloquently, and passionately written by Tally.)
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
o'amnesty - NPR E-Verify Whoppers! (NumbersUSA.com)
From: Roy Beck, President, NumbersUSA.com Date: Tuesday 7JUN2011
NPR's 2 FALSEHOODS ON E-VERIFY ERROR RATES THAT YOU CAN CORRECT WHEREVER YOU HEAR THEM IN THE FUTURE
We have a blog on our website that deals with huge whoppers of falsehoods that National Public Radio recently promulgated against E-Verify.
With two Supreme Court rulings in three weeks backing the expansion of E-Verify to drive illegal aliens out of U.S. jobs, the multi-milion-dollar pro-illegal-worker propaganda industry is in full force.
We need you to challenge falsehoods about E-Verify wherever you find them -- with comments on blogs and on-line news items, with phone-ins to radio shows, with letters to the editor in newspapers and with in-person corrections with friends and colleagues.
And please forward this email widely via email, Facebook and Twitter.
We're picking on NPR because it has been getting worse and worse in its coverage of immigration issues. The story in question was about the Supreme Court ruling in favor of Arizona's law requiring all employers to use E-Verify.
Falsehood #1
The correspondent inexplicably said, "Now, E-verify is a sort of a pilot computer-data-check system that Congress specifically made voluntary because about one out of five workers is erroneously reported as illegal because of mistaken name spellings, similar names, things like that."
Congress did not make E-Verify voluntary because of an error rate. E-Verify was originally made voluntary because it was a pilot program. It has remained mostly voluntary against the wishes of American voters because the cheap labor lobby had been incredibly successful at keeping it that way until several states stepped up to the plate . But this is a small mistake compared to the "one out of five" whopper.
Falsehood #2
See quote above about the one-in-five error rate.
The NPR correspondent's approximation of an error rate for E-Verify of 20% isn't even close to the truth.
The percentage of authorized workers run through E-Verify who receive tentative non-confirmations is 0.3 percent (three-tenths of one percent), and has been for at least two and a half years.
Statistics from Fiscal Year 2010, however, indicate that of the 15,640,167 E-Verify cases submitted:
The supporters of illegal immigration are nearly hysterical about this and are unleashing an incredible misinformation effort. And their main trick seems to be to lie about error rates in E-Verify.
They have been so successful in their lies about error rates that we've even seen some people and organizations that generally have been opposed to illegal immigration repeating the falsehoods.
Read the full blog and join the discussion by clicking here.
THANKS, Roy Beck, NumbersUSA.com
NPR's 2 FALSEHOODS ON E-VERIFY ERROR RATES THAT YOU CAN CORRECT WHEREVER YOU HEAR THEM IN THE FUTURE
We have a blog on our website that deals with huge whoppers of falsehoods that National Public Radio recently promulgated against E-Verify.
With two Supreme Court rulings in three weeks backing the expansion of E-Verify to drive illegal aliens out of U.S. jobs, the multi-milion-dollar pro-illegal-worker propaganda industry is in full force.
We need you to challenge falsehoods about E-Verify wherever you find them -- with comments on blogs and on-line news items, with phone-ins to radio shows, with letters to the editor in newspapers and with in-person corrections with friends and colleagues.
And please forward this email widely via email, Facebook and Twitter.
We're picking on NPR because it has been getting worse and worse in its coverage of immigration issues. The story in question was about the Supreme Court ruling in favor of Arizona's law requiring all employers to use E-Verify.
Falsehood #1
The correspondent inexplicably said, "Now, E-verify is a sort of a pilot computer-data-check system that Congress specifically made voluntary because about one out of five workers is erroneously reported as illegal because of mistaken name spellings, similar names, things like that."
Congress did not make E-Verify voluntary because of an error rate. E-Verify was originally made voluntary because it was a pilot program. It has remained mostly voluntary against the wishes of American voters because the cheap labor lobby had been incredibly successful at keeping it that way until several states stepped up to the plate . But this is a small mistake compared to the "one out of five" whopper.
Falsehood #2
See quote above about the one-in-five error rate.
The NPR correspondent's approximation of an error rate for E-Verify of 20% isn't even close to the truth.
The percentage of authorized workers run through E-Verify who receive tentative non-confirmations is 0.3 percent (three-tenths of one percent), and has been for at least two and a half years.
Statistics from Fiscal Year 2010, however, indicate that of the 15,640,167 E-Verify cases submitted:
- 98.3% were automatically confirmed as work authorized,
- 0.3% were confirmed as work authorized after contesting and resolving an initial nonconfirmationan avenue available to all workers
- 1.43% were not found work authorized (these would be illegal aliens or legal foreign visitors without a work permit -- the very people E-Verify is designed to keep out of U.S. jobs)
So, to make sure you understand, the so-called error rate is 0.3% which means that less than half of one percent of the people run through the system get a notice that they are not yet approved to work even though it turns out they do have the right to work.
Next, be clear that this 0.3% don't lose their job. Rather, they continue on their job while checking with federal authorities to find out why they are not being confirmed and getting their records straight. The fact that 0.3% of the queries produce an "error" doesn't mean that anybody who has the legal right to a job doesn't get to keep the job.
NPR did not have to read the Court's decision to get their facts straight. All they had to do was go to the USCIS website, where the most recent statistics are presented in a colorful pie chart. We don't know which source led NPR so astray, but somewhere, someone is getting high fives for pulling one over on the news team of "All Things Considered."
The supporters of illegal immigration are nearly hysterical about this and are unleashing an incredible misinformation effort. And their main trick seems to be to lie about error rates in E-Verify.
They have been so successful in their lies about error rates that we've even seen some people and organizations that generally have been opposed to illegal immigration repeating the falsehoods.
Read the full blog and join the discussion by clicking here.
THANKS, Roy Beck, NumbersUSA.com
