Change

This is another "idea" sent to President-elect Obama's change.gov web site.

I'd like to see the administration create more jobs. The country needs them. But it matters what type of job is created. An out of work computer programmer may not want to (or possibly cannot) take a job as a construction worker that was created for the sake of creating jobs. It matters where the jobs are created. One reason the economy is in a recession is because a lot of IT (information technology) jobs have been "offshored" - companies cut costs by replacing domestic employees with contracted, lower wage workers in other countries (typically India in this industry, but not to single them out, there are other countries too). By moving jobs offshore, these companies are moving money out of our economy (for a U.S.-based company, a U.S.-based employee will spend money in the U.S. economy, while an India-based worker will not, so money is taken out of our economy), and that doesn't help. What I'd like to see the new administration do is to get those jobs back in THIS country. It will give great help to the flow of our economy.

Circle of Money

Without playing the game of "chicken and egg", the economy works like blood flowing in your body. It's recursive. Each part needs to do its job in order for the whole to continue functioning at the size that it does.

It works like this (again, without trying to establish who's the chicken and who's the egg in the example, or which actually comes first):

1. People pay a company for their services (say a phone company or a cable company)
2. That company, in turn, takes that money and distributes it to several of the following groups (this isn't intended to be a complete list, but rather to illustrate the point):
   • other companies, direct or indirect, for infrastructure and equipment
   • CEOs (this isn't meant to be a weighted list either)
   • Congressmen
   • Employees (through direct salary, rewards, benefits, and bonuses)
3. Either directly, or through another company, each of those items brings money to people. People are consumers.
4. People save some of their income, and spend other portions, mostly on goods and services
5. Some of the money spent may go back to this company from which it came, but all the money spent goes to either other individuals or other companies, each in their own places in the larger chain. Even taxes are a form of this, with the Government(s) acting as the companies, spending the tax money on salaries, goods and services, and infrastructure.

The money keeps flowing, like the blood flowing throughout your body, and it always needs to be pumped.

Now what happens to this large circle of money when companies are paying employees (directly, or indirectly through "outsourcing" agreements) in other countries? Aside from probable loss of jobs on the domestic front, it interrupts the circle of money flowing in our economy.

Take a look. The changes are in red.

1. People pay a company for their services
2. That company, in turn, takes that money and distributes it to several of the following groups:
   • other domestic companies, direct or indirect, for infrastructure and equipment
   • CEOs
   • Congressmen
   • Domestic Employees (through direct salary, rewards, benefits, and bonuses)
   • Offshore (foreign) "resources" (either direct wages or through a contract to another company, who pays the wages)

Some of this money is staying in our economy, but now, some of the money has effectively left our economy. The circle of money is getting smaller.

Health Care

We need to fix the health care system in this country. Health coverage costs entirely too much money - too much to the employers who provide the insurance coverage, and too much to the consumers who need to use it. And paperwork takes up way too much time. msnbc.com had a story that many physicians are either planning on leaving their practice or are cutting back their time spend seeing patients because of the amount of paperwork involved when dealing with the health insurance agencies.

Something here needs to be fixed. Maybe the health insurance agencies should be audited for the amount of data they feel they need to collect per the cost of that data. They like collecting data, but try to get money from them to cover the costs of tests or office visits that they are responsible for paying. It's like pulling teeth.

Let's wipe out what's there, pay everyone off, and start from scratch building it the right way.

Employee Rights

Employees should have their own Bill of Rights. This will lead to people having for confidence and security at work. What do I mean?

• Employees should have the right to make choices in health coverage. My company only offers one health care package, and it sucks. My only choices in the matter are how many people to cover (more people, it does cost more, as expected), and do I want to pre-pay each month to see the annual out-of-pocket maximum lowered. Those are both good things to choose from, but they don't count. I should have a choice between two different health care providers who need to compete for mine and my company's dollars to give me coverage. It would make it more affordable to me to get sick.
• Employees should have the right to protest cuts in company-match monitary benefits, such as stock purchases or 401K.
• Employees should have the right to challenge and refuse decisions made by the employer for a job re-alignment or a job function change.
• Employees shouldn't be threatened with loss of job for not doing something. Employers can make employees do just about anything because there are no laws preventing things from happening.
• Employees shouldn't feel obligated to stay in a job that's sucking the life out of them because they'd have to give up a 5th week of vacation, or they're only a year or two away from retiring with lifetime benefits or pension. There should be a way for workers to change jobs without having to lose cumulative benefits that they've earned.

Unions

I support trade unions. They have the ability to fight for things that non-union employees can't. When a company wants to cut back on health insurance, raises, and other benefits of working, who are they going to hit first? Unions, or Non-Union? The union can fight to keep what is being taken away from me.

The unions have the ability to fight those changes, while the non-unions just have to sit there and take their licks. Everyone should be allowed to unionize to fight (negative) changes. Why? Because the government should be looking out for the people, not the corporations.

Recession?

Is the public today getting the "depression mentality" that people growing up in the 1930s had? That generation has been tight on money because the Great Depression scared the hell out of them. If that happens with this slowdown, it could be a LONG time before things are really fixed, and the damage may already be done.

Update December 2: On December 1, 2008, it was announced that we are officially in a Recession, and have been for 12 months. Go figure.

Un-American activities

We have a problem in this country with more people than jobs. It's hurting the economy. A fortune cookie once told me "Give a man a fish, he eats for a day. Teach a man to fish, he eats for a lifetime." I think the same is true about this piece of the economy. Give a man some money (a stimulus package to the tax payers), and he spends for one day. Give the man a job, and he spends for a lifetime. WE NEED MORE JOBS IN THIS COUNTRY.

What happened to the jobs that we used to have? Corporate America sold them to other countries. Look at all the job functions and industries where jobs once held in America were sent to China, the Philippines, India, etc. Customer service, information technology, Manufacturing, and more. All of these jobs were either "outsourced" to other companies and/or "offshored", creating more people than work on the domestic front. So then the company can cut the jobs. And when you eliminate many positions, it hurts the economy. Corporate mergers too. "We do this. You do this too. We both don't need to do this, so we'll cut your job out." How is that good for anyone?

We need a government that looks out for the people who live and work in this country. Not one that looks out for the interests of the greedy corporate executives who only want to line their own pockets, even if their entire product line is dying a slow death and they had to lay off tens of thousands of workers. HOW UN-AMERICAN IS THAT?

If we want to succeed, we need to succeed together and work together. That means making these companies bring the jobs back to this country, while finding a way not to be bleeding money. When it comes to money, can you trust corporate executives? Maybe not. They will need to be monitored. We don't need a repeat of the U.S. Auto maker CEOs flying to Washington D.C. in separate private planes to beg for money.

Coprorate Greed

Here's an idea. Let's audit corporations. This has nothing to do with taxes, the same reason a regular person would be audited. Start with the "Big 3 Auto Makers". Let's all find out how they're really doing with money. Big corporations hold lots of domestic jobs. They could hold more. We don't want them to hold less. It's vital for the success of the economy. Let's make sure they're not cheating us.

Got another idea. They've tried it sports. Revenue Sharing. Have corporations share their revenue with the government and people. It needs to be thought out a little bit more.

Remember, the NHL took an entire year off to work out a labor dispute. Maybe that's what this country needs to fix the economy.

Change

This is a piece that I submitted today to Barack Obama's transition website, change.gov, looking for people's vision for where America can be.

This campaign means change. My hope is that it means a change from the rule that Corporate America has on the citizens of this country. I hope to see a bill of rights for employees and a bill of rights for consumers that protects everyone from corporate greed.

All employees, especially those of large corporations like myself, should have the right to protest when wage increases, health benefits, and other rewards for working are cut. Employees should have the right to refuse a job re-assignment or relocation, permanent or temporary, without fear of being punished or fired by their employer. Employees should be able to leave their jobs without feeling obligated to stay in a bad environment just because there is a small pot of lifetime health benefits and/or a pension at the end of the rainbow. My work environment has become almost toxic because we have no rights to object to or protest the actions the company is taking to protect itself at the expense of our mental and physical health. These are all problems that myself, my colleagues, and family face right now.

Consumers should have the right to comparable choices for EVERY product. Right now, I have to choose between having certain programming and features and a more affordable, higher quality bundle of TV/phone/internet service. Consumers should have the right NOT to be on the losing end when content and service providers can't agree on the best way for each of them to make money. Consumers, as employees, should be given choices (by their employer) in different health care providers without having to compromise service or quality for price. Consumers should have the right to shop around for comparable services and not face local monopolies (such as a single regional phone carrier or a single cable company who don't offer competitive products). We can choose between banks, supermarkets, pharmacies, and gas stations.

Since every citizen is both an employee and a consumer, my vision for change is that every citizen has these basic rights, and with these basic rights, the country will function as a better place.