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Monday, June 13, 2011

Oh my goodness!!!: Engineers are on the way

If you weren't previously, you might want to start worrying.

You know, like stocking up on water, canned goods and ammo worried.

Obama Unveils Plan to Train U.S. Engineers


Selected excerpts…

1.) President Obama, in what he described as an "all-hands-on-deck strategy" to boost the economy, announced a new program Monday aimed at training 10,000 new American engineers every year.

2.) Last week, the president announced a new training program in the manufacturing sector. The program he unveiled Monday would try to ensure U.S. engineering students have the skills to qualify for openings that companies sometimes struggle to fill.

3.) The president also announced what he called the "better buildings initiative," a push to upgrade buildings for energy efficiency that would be co-led by former President Bill Clinton. He claimed the upgrades, while putting contractors to work, could in the long run save companies $40 billion a year -- money that could be put to use hiring new workers.

"It is a win-win-win-win proposition," Obama said.

4.) The president's jobs council is headed by General Electric chairman and CEO Jeff Immelt.

In an opinion piece published Monday in The Wall Street Journal, Immelt and American Express CEO and chairman Ken Chennault laid out a series of jobs council ideas to increase employment, including easing visa applications to attract more tourists and the plan to increase energy efficiency in commercial buildings.


Meanwhile, back at the back of the growing soup line…

Perkins files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection

Excerpt #1...NEW YORK - Restaurant owner Perkins & Marie Callender's Inc. today filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, brought down by tough competition, the weak economy and rising food costs.

 
The owner of the Perkins Restaurant & Bakery and the Marie Callender's chains said in the filing it plans to shutter 65 stores and cut 2,500 jobs, or about 20 percent of its work force of 12,350.

 
The restaurant chain has three locations in Luzerne County: on Route 309 in Wilkes-Barre Township, Route 315 in Pittston Township and Route 93 in Sugarloaf Township. Perkins also has locations in Dickson City, Tunkhannock, Mount Pocono and Stroudsburg.


Excerpt #2 (much more telling)…The two chains were "adversely affected by the languishing economy, including declines in consumer confidence and sluggish consumer spending and increased commodity costs," CEO J. Trungale said in a statement in November, following its most recent quarterly earnings filing for the period ended Oct. 3, 2010.
Food costs have increased since then, pressuring food makers and restaurant chains alike.


As a former general manager of restaurants owned by not just one, but two different restaurant chains, I think my opinion on this development should carry more weight than those of most others.


The most pressing of the myriad of problems facing Perkins are the obvious shortage of engineers, a clear lack of “better buildings” and the lack of visa-sporting tourists.

The question I have is, could Jimmy “Economic Malaise” Carter win next year’s Democrat Primary election?

Methinks it’s worth exploring.

Methinks our current lame duck president is beginning to wildly flail all about.

Methinks all that he really cares about is his job.

Later

*As I said, intellectual dishonesty.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

http://nation.foxnews.com/president-obama/2011/06/13/obama-jokes-jobs-council-shovel-ready-was-not-shovel-ready-we-expected


President Obama's Council on Jobs and Competitiveness met today in Durham, NC at Cree Inc., a company that manufactures energy-efficient LED lighting. One of the Council's recommendations to President Obama was to streamline the federal permit process for construction and infrastructure projects. It was explained to Obama that the permitting process can delay projects for "months to years ... and in many cases even cause projects to be abandoned ... I'm sure that when you implemented the Recovery Act your staff briefed you on many of these challenges." At this point, Obama smiled and interjected, "Shovel-ready was not as ... uh .. shovel-ready as we expected." The Council, led by GE's Jeffrey Immelt, erupted in laughter.

The Obama administration promised the Recovery Act ("the stimulus") would prevent the jobless rate from going over 8%. It now stands at 9.1%.