If the system is so ? up

heyslick wrote: »

California—are teetering on the brink of bankruptcy, consider this depressing statistic: Today in America there are nearly twice as many people working for the government (22.5 million) than in all of manufacturing (11.5 million). This is an almost exact reversal of the situation in 1960, when there were 15 million workers in manufacturing and 8.7 million collecting a paycheck from the government.

It gets worse. More Americans work for the government than work in construction, farming, fishing, forestry, manufacturing, mining and utilities combined. We have moved decisively from a nation of makers to a nation of takers. Nearly half of the $2.2 trillion cost of state and local governments is the $1 trillion-a-year tab for pay and benefits of state and local employees. Is it any wonder that so many states and cities cannot pay their bills?

And guess which group is employed disproportionately by the government? The same group of people who still support Barack Obama with a staggering 85 percent approval rating; Black people.Let's take a quick look which private sector jobs have the lowest Black participation before we get started:

[Not sure why you would highlight this section unless you are making a purely racial argument under the guise of fiscal conservatism. Black peoples support of Obama is in no way tied to jobs within the Federal government. Last time I checked, conservatives work for the Federal government too. 88% of Blacks supported John Kerry & 90% voted for Gore.]

1. Artists and related workers—0.8%
2. Environmental scientists and geoscientists—1.0%
3. Cost estimators—1.1%
4. Farmers and ranchers—1.4%
4. Dentists—1.4%
4. Surveying and mapping technicians—1.4%
7. Farm, ranch, and other agricultural managers—1.5%
8. News analysts, reporters and correspondents—1.8%
9. Millwrights—2.1%
9. Miscellaneous physical scientists—2.1%


What was the Wall Street Journal alluding to again?

We already know that TSA, Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, the Post Office, NASA and virtually every other Federal agency hires Black employees at rates that far exceed private companies. Black people rely on the public sector for jobs that the private sector just can't create for them to perform, hence high rates of unemployment because every Black person can't work in human resources for the state department.

[Again, basing your argument around the race of Federal employees shows more about your agenda than it does about the merits of your argument.]

Just how reliant are Black people on the government for jobs?:

The figures on the number of blacks in federal government positions tell the story of just who will be hurt the most in a government shutdown. According to a 2010 study by the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, blacks make up nearly one out of five non-postal federal employees. The disproportionate number of black federal employees is more than a paper figure if the government issues temporary pink slips to nearly one million federal employees in any shutdown. They have rents and home mortgages to pay, children's tuition due, food and clothes to buy.

In short the human toll would be huge, and would go far beyond the $100 million dollar per day that some experts estimate a government shutdown would cost. The disproportionate hurt that a government shutdown will inflict on blacks is no anomaly. Public employment, and the federal government being a centerpiece of that, has been the economic life blood of black communities for generations.

[I would imagine that the discrepancy between the numbers of Black folks employed by the Fed and other sectors of the economy is due to the fact that Black people live in urban areas where those jobs are and a stronger adherence to equal employment standards.]

Let's dig further into those numbers:

Nearly 60 percent of older black people rely on Social Security for more than 80 percent of their income, according to the study, released Friday by the Boston-based non-profit United for a Fair Economy. That's compared to 46 percent of older white Americans.

[Again, to highlight this as a point of your argument shows your true intentions. White people control a much larger share of wealth than Blacks. The idea that Black people require more Federal money, that they paid into, just like any other citizen, is evidence of the historic unlevel playing field that this thread ignorantly tries to sidestep.]

"These programs are to lift up all Americans, regardless of race," said Brian Miller, executive director of United for a Fair Economy and a co-author of the report. Still, he added, "for black and Latino households, things like social safety nets are far more important."

The safety net is not all that's at stake. African Americans are 30 percent more likely than the overall workforce to hold public sector jobs -- and 70 percent more likely to work for the Federal government, the study found[/b].

Spending cuts, then, amount to a "one-two punch" for black households, Miller said.

"Not only do they get these cuts in public services, they also get hit with layoffs," he said.

Budget austerity would come at a time when unemployment among African Americans has reached epidemic proportions. Last month, the national unemployment rate was 9.4 percent, and the white unemployment rate was 8.5 percent. For black Americans, it was 15.8 percent.

How bad would Black unemployment be without public jobs? We might find out soon if the government shuts down, however brief a period it might be.

We joke about what will happen when the welfare checks and Section 8 housing vouchers run out, but let's face it, it won't be funny. It will be chaos. Worse, think about how many jobs the government provides Black people that the private sector can't replicate[/b].

Think about all the various organizations that exist on the government dime that help Black people:

[Most of these programs benefit Whites more than Blacks as White people make up the majority of people receiving food stamps and other forms of public aid. FACT.]

The government has run out of money. At some point, austerity measures will be implemented that will impact Black people at rates


One the biggest pushes by the GOP is to cut funding for Planned Parenthood. Despite the GOP’s demonization of Planned Parenthood, the organization isn’t purely about providing abortions. Planned Parenthood provides condoms and other means of contraception to people in urban communities. They also educate teens on sex, children and parenthood and offer other options such as adoptions and counsel young parents on how to raise children.