dagblog - Comments for "Get out there and BUY your job. What is WRONG with you people? "

I thought the $6 mill was a

wabby — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 17:41:35 +0000

In reply to It's just crazy. Sure, some

I thought the $6 mill was a little light myself, but didn't bother to reread the article before posting. I'd read the figure was around $14 mill for Snyder while Bernero was under the $2 mill mark. It was lopsided at whatever the final tally was. Still, it was no where near DeVos's self-funded war chest. Over $40 mill for the governorship which he lost to Granholm. Ha.

"Somewhat distasteful" is

Ramona — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 12:56:00 +0000

In reply to If you listen to the

"Somewhat distasteful" is more than a bit of an understatement. "Outrageously obscene" is my take on it. We're in an economic crisis the likes of which most of us haven't seen in our lifetimes, and we're talking about billions with a B going toward political campaigns.

We love to be stingy when it comes to actual needs, pretending that real people aren't being hurt, but this seems to be outside of any kind of moral distinction. I'm sickened by it, and intellectual analyzing is not the antidote. I still feel like vomiting.

If you listen to the

Contrarian — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 12:17:11 +0000

In reply to You got me, Dave. Still

If you listen to the 'Political Gabfest' (a podcast from Slate), David Plotz has been arguing that what this shows is that the U.S. elections have previously been "under capitalized". It's a somewhat distasteful notion that there could be a dollar value assigned to elections, but distasteful or not I think he's right.

You got me, Dave. Still

Ramona — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 11:23:17 +0000

In reply to Only the ads from the

You got me, Dave. Still having a hard time with billions of dollars being spent on election campaigning (the point, actually), but you got me.

Only the ads from the

Contrarian — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 06:58:03 +0000

In reply to Technically, you're right,

Only the ads from the candidate's campaign have to have an "I approve this message". Outside groups are legally prohibited from coordinating with the campaign, so that while they do support a candidate, the candidate doesn't 'own' it. (This doesn't count ads sponsored by the candidate's party.) Outside ads usually end with someone talking really fast saying, "This ad was paid for by Citizens for a Prosperous America"- or something similarly anodyne.

Wow, that's a bombshell. Not

Ramona — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 03:19:14 +0000

In reply to Ran across this the other

Wow, that's a bombshell. Not the news--it doesn't come as a shock to most of us--but the fact that Gallup was so emphatic about their findings, even to the point of offering solutions.

Who was listening? Was it used during the campaigns? If it wasn't, it should have been. It should have changed everything.

Just a mailing of the following would have done it (This came right after your quotes above. Notice the emphasis on "good" jobs):

How does this change everything?
* The leaders of countries and cities must make creating good jobs their No. 1 mission and primary purpose because securing good jobs is becoming the new currency for leadership. Everything leaders do must consider this new global state of mind, lest they put their cities and countries at risk.
* Leaders in education will be forced to think beyond core curricula and graduation rates. If you are a school superintendent or a university president, you'll need to recognize that students don't want to merely graduate -- their education will need to result in a "good job."
* Lawmakers need to contemplate whether and how new laws attract or repel a wide range of individual value systems. If enough people are sufficiently repelled, then the new laws will effectively strangle job creation.
* Military leaders must consider it when waging war and planning for peace. They must ask themselves whether military strikes, occupations, or community policing will effectively build a growing economy with good jobs. The opportunity to have a good job is essential to changing a population's desperate, and violent, state of mind.
* The mayors and city fathers of every city, town, and village on Earth must realize that every decision they make should consider the impact, first and foremost, on good jobs.

Technically, you're right,

Ramona — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 02:48:37 +0000

In reply to A distinction worth making:

Technically, you're right, but don't the candidates end each ad with "I'm so-and-so and I approve this message"? So whether or not they've paid for them out of their own pockets they're their ads. Someone in their campaign has to approve an ad the candidate puts his or her name to. They know what's out there and who is behind it. To my mind that means they own it.

It's just crazy. Sure, some

Ramona — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 02:39:55 +0000

In reply to Jobs, jobs, jobs....at least

It's just crazy. Sure, some won and some lost, no matter what they spent, but in Bernero's case he didn't stand a chance. That article says Snyder spent 6 million dollars in the primary. What did he spend overall?

Something has to be done about campaign finance reform. There will never be such a thing as a level playing field if money is the answer to everything. Not fair.

A distinction worth making:

Contrarian — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 02:28:10 +0000

In reply to Get out there and BUY your job. What is WRONG with you people?

A distinction worth making: the $3-4.3 billion was the amount spent for political advertising NOT the amount spent BY the political candidates.

http://adage.com/article?article_id=146818

If a candidate spends $14 million, but outside groups spend $57 million because they wish to further their own interests, then don't blame the candidate for the combined total!

Ran across this the other

artappraiser — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 01:26:14 +0000

In reply to Get out there and BUY your job. What is WRONG with you people?

Ran across this the other day.

Published Oct. 11, 2007 (that is, before "the crash."):

Global Migration Patterns and Job Creation
Gallup’s World Poll reveals new findings on the “great global dream” and how it will affect the rise of the next economic empire

Gallup is committed to conducting the World Poll for 100 years, but we may have already found the single most searing, clarifying, helpful, world-altering fact. If used appropriately, it may change how every leader runs his or her country. But at the very least, it needs to be considered in every policy, every law, and every social initiative. All leaders -- policy and law makers, presidents and prime ministers, parents, judges, priests, pastors, imams, teachers, managers, and CEOs -- need to consider it every day in everything they do.

What the whole world wants is a good job.

That is one of the single biggest discoveries Gallup has ever made. It is as simple and as straightforward an explanation of the data as we can give. If you and I were walking down the street in Khartoum, Tehran, Berlin, Lima, Los Angeles, Baghdad, Kolkata, or Istanbul, we would discover that on most days, the single most dominant thought carried around in the heads of most people you and I see is "I want a good job." It is the new current state of mind, and it establishes our relationship with our city, our country, and the whole world around us.

Humans used to desire love, money, food, shelter, safety, and/or peace more than anything else. The last 25 years have changed us. Now we want to have a good job. This changes everything for world leaders.....