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Comments
India Graduates Millions, but Too Few Are Fit to Hire - WSJ.com /a>
I have several friends that have high level positions in software development and they've been telling me that for years.
So what they have is a bunch of socially-promoted uneducated idiots (sound like affirmative action here) that are no good for anything...that is what we get with social promotion, where they keep passing some illiterate to save his self-esteem, only to find upon high school graduation that he has the reading level of a 2nd grader...NOW what happens to his self-esteem, to be 18 with the skills of an 8 year old...
Dubious "engineer" qualifications, too.
I'm all with you in your criticisms of the auto unions (UAW). the UAW had a lot of blame for poor quality, as did the engineers, as did the management, as did everyone at those Disposable Car companies called the big 3 at one point.
However, I can't agree that all unionism is bad, since Costco, Target, and other great organizations seem to compete just fine with the non-union folks at Wal-mart and other places.
...and now they are a bunch of your doctors. Let's see, you need to be pretty much near a 4 point college student to get into med school here, but we let in all kinds of foreign trained doctors instead of expanding our own schools - doesn't make much sense to me?
Sort of curious to read the WSJ article and think back to Bill Gates' pleas for more H1B1 visas.
Do any of the other posters recall car problems with the foreign brands? This post seems to be another in a long series of ridicule of the Detroit 3.
Let's have some reality. I recall the Rabbitts long ago that died in cold weather in Ohio. I can point to the long saga of throwaway transmissions by HOnda, which are forgiven by most of their owners who will continue to claim their car has been trouble free while it's on the third transmission at 110,000 miles? Or Hondas VCM. And then we have toyota's long (since 2002 at latest) runaway problems. I recall VW's quickdown power windows; they would fall down into the door! Friend owned one. Of course it spent months with the check engine light on and the dealer couldn't find out what would repair the new Jetta--it spent at least a third of it's life at the dealer that first many months.
Anyone have other problems that weren't the Big 3's?
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
I've only owned two non domestic vehicles, so it's not a very good sample, but they were far more rewarding to own than any of my domestic vehicles. The drove better, were more refined, and IMO generally designed much better regardless of reliability. The foreign cars I had were very reliable, but I didn't keep them to high mileage either.
To me reliability is only part of what I'd consider a good car. Just because a car is 100% reliable doesn't mean I want to own it. I've had several perfectly reliable domestic cars that I still considered complete trash.
Second class = globalized reality. Dumb it down a notch.
We also probably lost textiles because unionized workers wanted 10X their value to fold a shirt on the assembly line, calling it "skilled labor" kinda like tightening 5 lug nuts on a wheel is "skilled labor"...skilled if you are a basic primate, not so much for humans, but who ever said the UAW had humans for members???
In the days and weeks to come, working families across America will need to pull out all the stops to stand up to these extremist legislators who are emboldened by recent attacks on working people and will stop at nothing to pass a radical budget that raids benefits ordinary Americans rely on every day. The Republican budget plan includes privatizing Medicare and rigging our tax system to transfer yet more wealth from working people to corporations and rich CEOs.
That's the code word they have been told to include in all their propaganda.
It's odd the same people who didn't pass a budget by Oct 1 of last year when they owned all parts of government because they didn't want toa admit the extreme high spending of the current administration now balks at making minor cuts to start reigning in the overspending that is causing the dollar to decrease in value which increases the cost of solid commodities, to wit oil.
You can either slow down this ridiculous overspending rate of the last two years or the economics of the world financial system will do it for us.
The biggest increases have been in Medicaid and housing subsidies along with some other welfare programs. These have increased 50% in 2 years.
There must be change. We who are working and paying taxes can't subsidize the nonproductive people.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
Really, it's in the best interests of the top few to keep everyone else relatively OK, and they will do a lot to maintain that status quo. Do you think unemployment benefits have been extended out of altruism?
Eventually, the masses will realize that trickle down results in a trickle, literally.
If the country shuts down, I may have to buy Canadian for a while.
We recall problems with all brands. They were just much more widespread in the D3. Countless years and data support this conclusion. YMMV, individually.
I'm sure there are others who have gotten more mileage out of a set of tires. A friend of mine with an '06 Xterra got something like 70,000 out of his OEM tires! But for me, ~60K was the best I've ever done!
I didn't want to post it at work, because I was already into overtime.
And now, in the case of us contractors, they're telling us now that most likely what will happen is that we'll come to work on Monday, all of us, gov't and contractor alike. The only difference is, the gov't people will have to turn in all of their gov't furnished smart phones, laptops, etc, sign some paperwork, and go home. As for us contractors, we'll probably sit around, twiddle our thumbs, and get bored out of our skulls. They're planning to shut down most of the servers as well. Hopefully they don't end up yanking the internet!
And I can almost guarantee that the work will pile up enough that the first day the gov't comes back to work, I can almost guarantee I'm going to hear the words "Andre can you work some overtime?"
Heck, they tell me to work overtime and I'd be like "Mo' money! Mo' money!"
How long do you suppose they'd be out?
How long do you suppose they'd be out?
I dunno. We had a meeting this morning, and the info they disbursed was purposefully vague.
I just hope they don't come back the Friday of Spring Carlisle and be like "Andre, can you work over the weekend?" :mad:
And speaking of which, if gas prices are still sky high, maybe I should ask my uncle if I can borrow his Corolla for that trip? :P Heck, for the GM show, maybe I should try to see if I can get it in the show...tell 'em it was built in the NUMMI plant along with the Pontiac Vibes! :shades:
Eventually, the masses will realize that trickle down results in a trickle, literally."
When will the masses REALLY realize that unemployment itself is a welfare program where employers are taxed so that working people will receive a check when they don't work...kinda like the "job bank" except run by the govt instead of GM...call it whatever you want, but it is a tax on the employer, taking $$$ out of his/her pocket, to pay people not to work...don't you find something inherently wrong with that???
lemko: "The Republican budget plan includes privatizing Medicare and rigging our tax system to transfer yet more wealth from working people to corporations and rich CEOs."
What is wrong with privatizing Medicare???...it is an unconstitutional system run by the fed govt, which means, by definition, that govt has more people doing the work than any private employer would, because govt exists to perpetuate itsefl with more employees...and what is wrong with the rich only paying the same percentage as the rest???...why should the tax system be "progressive" to soak the rich???...why can't Bill Gates pay 10% the same as the guy making $30K a year???
Don't give this crap "the rich guy can afford it easier"...that may be numerically true, but that does not explain WHY he should pay a higher percentage...guy makes 10 million a year, pays a million in tax, guy makes $30K a year, pays $3,000 a year (altho if everyone had a flat $25K exemption, the $30K guy would only pay $500 [10% of $5,000] in tax, while the other guy would still pay close to a million in tax)...so, the rich guy pays much more in taxes, and, yes, he also has much more left over...them's the breaks, that's why he's rich...
The tax system should NEVER be used to bring the rich guy down to the poor guy, that's just class warfare, and only the Democrats play it, while most of the Democrat Senators are millionaires...
Why do you believe that the govt should be used as a weapon of plunder to take from those who produce, or, heaven forbid, inherit their wealth???...the entire concept of income re-distribution is communism at its best, and, frankly, those who receive the wealth are quite undeserving, usually those that just sit on their a** and rail against the wealthy, while doing nothing but smoking cigarettes, getting fat on junk food, and adding to the Medicaid costs because the poor have the worst health habits of all...hell, just take away cancer treatment from Medicaid and we might balance the budget tomorrow by just letting all the welfare smokers die from the diseases we refuse to treat on the taxpayer' nickel...
Time to thin the herd, and a good place to start is welfare smoking-related diseases, just stop treating them and eliminate half the welfare recipients in a year...then for the remaining half, stop welfare altogether and make them sweep the streets and clean the parks...no work, no eat...no more food stamps, just give them the food staples like milk, eggs, cheese, potatoes, 70% ground beef, etc...stop this crap with debit cards to "save their dignity"...if they had any human dignity at all, they wouldn't be a welfare sponge parasite, so let's make them stand in line so that EVERYBODY at the supermarket knows who is on welfare and maybe some loss of dignity might make 'em work...but, since they are society's throwaways, don;t expect dignity to be something they would understand...
Producers and taxpayers get to live...welfare, tax parasites and UAW members...the opposite...
Yes; my Mazda has had its share of problems, as did my Merkur(Ford of Germany).
That said, my main issue with the Big 3 -aside from the fact that they employ UAW members- is that they don't build anything I want to own; they are either FWD, too big, too heavy, or a manual is unavailable. The Mustang GT is the only car I would seriously consider- assuming it was built in a non-union factory.
Mine: 1995 318ti Club Sport-2020 C43-1996 Speed Triple Challenge Cup Replica
Wife's: 2021 Sahara 4xe
Son's: 2018 330i xDrive
Just imagine what the future will be for classic car shows, if fuel prices stay high. I remember in 2008, a few people in my Mopar club had to bail on the Mopar Nationals in Carlisle because of high prices. Not just the gas prices, but getting pinched in other ways as well, such as rising insurance rates, food costs, the fear of layoff, etc. I remember one guy came all the way from Florida, and had a '69 or So Roadrunner or GTX that he trailered, with a Diesel truck. I'd imagine his fuel bill was pretty obscene.
My total fuel bill was around $95. That was around 400 miles total, of driving up there, various running around, and coming back home. Got pretty good mileage on the trip up...almost 22 mpg! Started with a full tank, and filled up just before getting to Carlisle, so it was almost a pure highway run. The second tank, which involved driving around up there, plus the trip home, was around 16.3 mpg. Weighted average was around 17.7 mpg. Managed around 17.4 mpg for the trip in 2009, and 17.5 in 2010, so at least that car is fairly consistent!
It's not exactly the so-called "producers" who are cashing in right now.
The sons of the poor die in contrived wars so the sons of the rich can keep their entitlement inheritance with military-industrial complex investments. Tax it like they did in WW2. In the past century, the rich have never had it as good as they have it now, and here they have it better than in any other first world nation.
We're led by idiots, and we get an idiocracy. Hard to tell which comes first - but when the same interests win no matter who gets the election, I guess it doesn't matter.
Filled up the Taurus last night and it was over $60. Second tank yielded 25.5 mpg. Thankfully my wife has a corporate fuel card. Still, mileage is pretty good considering how big and heavy the Taurus is. It appears that it's getting 1-2 mpg better than the Grand Prix did. Impressive considering how much more the Taurus weighs and the fact it has a lot more power.
I always get a kick out of the different sides of the legal spectrum arguing "constitutionality" of things like this. Heck, I doubt our forefathers had an inkling of the technology, complexity and cost of things like medicine when they wrote the Constitution. Same goes for many other of today's issues.
The tax system should NEVER be used to bring the rich guy down to the poor guy, that's just class warfare
I don't think the rich should be gouged or unfairly penalized, but I think you'll find a fair share of wealthy who don't mind some progressivity in tax rates. It's not because they are all charitable or liberal minded Democrats. Rather it really comes down to this "show me a country that has been successful over a long period of time without a strong middle class". Without a strong middle class consumer, economies tend to have difficulty and that means it becomes more difficult to attain, or even maintain wealth (except for a few monarchies or dictators). That's why emerging countries like China and India are working hard to expand their middle class - its the long term ticket to prosperity for a country.
I feel the media and Congress tend to either be ignorant or deceptive in their explanations of economic matters. I suspect the former for media and the latter for Congress. Here are a few examples:
The US has a higher corporate top tax bracket than most of Europe. It probably also has more deductions allowed since few corporations pay anywhere near the top. But the biggest difference IMO is that many European countries also have a value added tax (VAT) which is sort of like a national sales tax except it is often also levied at various stages of the manufacturing process. That is a big reason why the cost of living tends to be higher there (besides currency fluctuations). The US is more consumer focused which probably makes it more difficult to impose VAT.
I certainly feel that government has gotten too big and involved in too much. However, it took many decades to build up to this. It will take at least a decade to unwind. Politicians advocating tearing it down quickly are fools. There are actually more business people involved in the government than government workers. Tearing all of this down too quickly will have very serious ramifications on employment and the economy. This past recession will look like child's play if you try to do all of this in just a few years. We need to get smaller and reduce our deficit, but do it smartly.
Congress suggesting it greatly pare down things like medicaid is also misleading. What will likely be a result is sticking it to the states and local governments, so you'll see increased state income or local property taxes as a result.
Flat rate tax means no real estate or state and local tax deductions. That is going to impact the middle class much harder on a percentage basis than the wealthy - don't kid yourself, you can't lower the rate without eliminating the deductions.
Government shutdowns are no big deal except for a few government workers and closing national parks and museums. Well, it might not hurt the rest too much short term, but if it is prolonged there are things like delayed tax refunds and the little matter that the federal government is involved in around a quarter of the mortgages written. Housing is already hurting and affecting the economy and employment because the US is a housing focused economy. A shutdown of 25% of mortgage writing is only going to aggravate the situation.
Sorry this got long, but I'm just getting so sick of all the nonsense being shoved on the American citizen and the too frequent lack of intelligent analysis in the media or in Congress.
Unemployment compensation shouldn't be a long term program, but don't you think a big reason for it shorter term is to keep money flowing to stores and businesses in the economy? I guess I don't see it as simply a one sided matter. Transfer payments are as much about economics. They become welfare when they go on and on.
Prius = over 1 million units sold. Volt around 1,600. Nice head start.
Bought Kumho's for my CR-V. Excellent tires.
NOT trying to buy american cars for a long, long time.......................
Regards,
OW
It would be like comparing the budget of a Las Vegas Casino's monthly expenses (electricity, gas, rent) to the expenses of a water cooler service for your home. It just doesn't compare.
It's so laughable, that I for one, will never buy another American make unless the competition really falls; and/or they pay me my money back for the lemon I bought previously, and/or they offer me a no questions asked 10 year 100,000 mile bumper to bumper warranty (with rental car rights complimentary everytime it needs warranty service).
Otherwise, I'll stick with what works.
Therefore, if a company is gonna hire people, it shouldn't plan on failing and laying them off, which is really the companies fault for failing, and I do think the employee is entitled to some serverance pay (ie. unemployment payments) that they've been paying into for 5, 7, 10, 15 years depending on length of employement anyway. I have no problem with unemployment benefits since they are PAID for already earlier by those same unemployed when they WERE employed.
I do however, have a problem with poorly performing CEO's getting $50,000,000 severance packages, in ADDITION to the state supplied Unemployment benefits when they get let go!
Therefore, if a company is gonna hire people, it shouldn't plan on failing and laying them off, which is really the companies fault for failing"
It is part of their total compensation package, but it is still a direct tax on the employer based on their payroll...no payroll, no unemployment tax...and it is not deducted from the employees paycheck like income tax is withheld, the employer sends a check to the local govt...
As far as "it shouldn't plan to fail and lay them off" does not make sense...I would think that NOBODY starts a business with the intent to fail, so, to say it is the company's fault for failing, has no bearing on whether employees should be paid not to work...
You obviously live on another planet. It is deducted from my paycheck each and every check. Clear as can be. It is a required insurance policy for which I pay a premium.
Does it vary from state to state, perhaps? I don't see a deduction for unemployment insurance on my pay stub, so I'm presuming my employer covers the tab.
Trickle down, greatest con of modern economic history.