John Ratzenberger was just on MSNBC talking about how there are plenty of jobs out there.

[JohnnyRingo]

He put the blame on "education" and how we aren't training enough welders and roofers to fill the jobs void. He went on to tell of a friend in Detroit who could hire 20 workers to do welding but not one applicant will step forward to take the job.

In typical Hollywood disconnect Ratz doesn't mention that trained welders expect more than $8 an hour and roofing is a young man's job that demands long hours in the hot sun doing demanding physical work for Amish wages. I'm surprised he didn't mention that the country has a shortage of fruit pickers willing to bend over all day gathering grapes for less than minimum wage. For some reason, Napa Valley vineyards have a hard time finding neighborhood kids looking for part time jobs to put gas in their BMWs.

I have a real life suggestion for John Ratzenberger. The local used car lot here is having a hard time finding a qualified actor to do their commercial spots for them. They can only pay a couple hundred dollars and out of work Cheers actors seem unwilling to fill the position.

[arcane1]

1. I would ask him "who is this 'we' who aren't training these people?"

:shrug:

[JohnnyRingo]

6. I know.

I'd have asked if he was aware that the stimulus initiative spent billions on vocational education training people for exactly that. Those trained for welding and auto repair are now having a hard time finding jobs that pay above McDonalds wages.

Perhaps being the devout conservative he is, he thought the stimulus should have been bigger.

[spinbaby]

51. My son is a welder

A skilled welder actually makes quite a bit more than McDonalds wages. We'd like to keep it that way.

[tularetom]

2. I thought he was the pope

[trumad]

3. Cliff Clavin? Seriously?

[leftstreet]

7. And didn't he work for the Socialist Post Office?

:scared:

[truebrit71]

4. He's a complete RW nut...

...but his surname really says it all, RATzenberger...

[AngryOldDem]

5. I call bullshit.

On almost every manual labor job I come across -- from landscaping to roofing -- is done by foreign workers. I wonder why? Can you say cheap labor?

ON EDIT: I remember reading the same argument back in the late '90s when outsourcing was just taking off. The rationale: There were no qualified IT people available, when in fact a lot of these very-same qualified IT people were being shown the door.

[alpine62]

35. Yep. Americans create the shortage of American roofers

I am a roofing contractor. I pay my roofers a living wage, but due to that I may soon be out of business. Most of my competitors employe people who are here illegally and work for minimum wage. It never fails to amaze me that even so-called educated people will look for the cheap roofing bid. Roofing does take skill to do properly. Contractors who are cheap and have cheap labor also have unskilled employees and perform substandard work. Contractors like myself who properly train and compensate their employees are sinking due to the feds not enforcing immigration laws. If the cheap labor wasn't available to my competitors then they too would have to pay a living wage. If Americans ensured that they did busines only with companies who follow the law then wages for skilled manuel labor wouldn't be driven down to the point that it's not worth doing the work.

The main thing keeping me going so far is calls to repair or reroof homes that were roofed improperly by the cheap foreign labor you mention.

[AngryOldDem]

37. I know exactly what you mean.

About a year ago we had new siding and roof put on our house by such a crew. And as time passes we're finding more evidence of shoddy work. It's a shame, because everyone loses when, as you say, the laws aren't followed.

Good luck to you and welcome to DU.

[Edweird]

39. Yep. The biggest anti-TFA poster here is also pro illegal immigration. Major disconnect.

Former GC now IBEW lineman.

[Contrary1]

8. Where's McCain with his $50 an hour lettuce picking jobs in Arizona when we need him?

Ignorant assholes...every one of them.

[tinkerbell41]

54. Hell I'd pick lettuce for 35 an hr. N/T

[Archae]

9. Ratzenberger's last role was voicing a clueless, greedy, money-hoarding pig.

Fits.

[OHdem10]

10. This is Republican and Conservadems fall back. Over the

last 30 years I have heard this so much, i roll
my eyes.

There might be one or two companies in Detroit
area shich do some very high mfg and they point
to this.

There are Millions of people out of work.

Tell me this and I might take them seriously.
With all the educated workers out of jobs,
why not start a trainging program at the Company?
They could have the cream of the crop trainees.

Blame the American People for their screw-ups
on Trade Policy especially.

When one Media Person pushes people like John
Ratzenberger to answer questions like this, my
faith will begin to heal.

With as many people(educate) without jobs, why
are these companies not bringing in trainees.

I am sick of this lame excuse.

[spanone]

11. isn't he a latte drinking uber liberal hollyweird actor?

no he's a right wingnut idiot

[Pitr]

12. Hey Cliff - SHUT UP

If you know nothing about what we seek, then you should get your unemployed ass out and looking for jobs instead of lying for Fux and the Republicans.

[GoCubsGo]

13. Pssst...Cliffie.....

There are THOUSANDS of roofers who are out of work right now because the construction business is in the toilet. Nobody is building right now, you dumb, ignorant jackass.

[geardaddy]

14. Douche.

[Erose999]

15. Fitting with his Cheers character. Cliff just pulled "facts" out of his ass.

[VWolf]

18. Correction: Out of his Clavin n/t

[On the Road]

16. It's Not Surprising for Certain Types of Skills

Obama has said some similar things IIRC.

Companies, of course, have the option of doing the training themselves. This used to be more common when an investment in an employee could be amortized over a whole career.

Vocational training high schools used to be common, but have fallen into disfavor. I don't think employers were breaking down the doors for

Once again, however, using these particular skill shortages to argue that there are plenty of jobs are people simply aren't working is ridiculous. There are always certain skills in high demand.

[dogman]

17. He actually said he had a friend in Chicago that couldn't find welders.

He should just tell his friend to call the Union Hall. I know they have welders available. Most Union Halls in the Chicago area have men on their books waiting for a job, and if they don't have local help available they have a list of out of town workers who want work. The thrust of his Bull was that no people are training for these jobs because they get no respect. I wonder who doesn't respect workers and their rights? Maybe Conservatives? He impressed Tamron Hall with his lies.

[gratuitous]

22. But, but, but, UNION! {Ratzenberger wets his pants}

You know how much you have to pay a union welder? And they all seem to know about breaks, meal times, overtime pay and other stuff! If you're going to get top-notch results for rock-bottom wages, you can't be hiring union welders! It's so much easier for a contractor to bid a job like he's going to use union work, employ low skill workers and pay them shit wages, and then skedaddle with the difference. When the welds don't hold or the roof collapses because of shoddy work, the contractor will be miles and miles away.

[Bluenorthwest]

30. One could remind him that he is a Union member and that he

has profited greatly from the hard won, collectively bargained contracts under which he worked, and because of which he is still paid for the reuse of that work. If it were not for his Unions, Ratezberger would be flipping burgers by now.

[Tom Ripley]

32. But...but...actors and other performing seals do IMPORTANT work

[stanwyck]

28. Another "I have a friend" fairy story. The Right has thousands of

these "I have a friend" stories. And this one smells just as badly as all the others. No way there are welder jobs available that aren't being taken. Totally phony story. Another Joe the Plumber totally fake lie which the gullible will believe.

[butterfly77]

19. He is a teabagger...

he has been going on Fox since the President took office with the same nutty talking points..

[geckosfeet]

20. Yeah. I can put my graduate engineering degree to work drying cars at a car wash.

[dogknob]

21. Last time I ate a Ratzen-burger...

... I puked. Took me two seasons of Aqua-Teen to get that taste out of my mouth! Ick!

[Bloke 32]

23. One can't help but notice

that these 'celebrities' who support the nutters tend to be has-beens.

[valerief]

24. He's right wing and always has been. Which means he lies. nt

[KamaAina]

25. "A little-known fact is that, during the Middle Ages, there were plenty of jobs."

"All those dukes and lords needed thousands and thousands of serfs to keep their huge estates operating. So no one was ever without a job!"

[JohnnyRingo]

27. Hahaha... There was an amazing turnover at the pyramids too.

It's a historical fact that there was always a drastic shortage of teamed stone draggers back then. Obviously, the answer would have been education to fill the vacancy left by lazy workers who preferred to die on the job.

[SoCalDem]

26. Gee what a surprise..

Those kids who watched their Dad/Grandpa/Uncles/older brothers come home from work dirty, dead-tired & grumpy as hell, are not lining up to take their place at the factory. I know that things need to be made, and dirty jobs need to be done, but where once those jobs were mostly union, and afforded a blue-collar guy a wage that was large enough to support the whole family, those days are long gone. The ones still "at it" are older people desperately hoping to leave that job & have at least a few years of retirement R & R.

They worked their asses off to educate their kids so they did not HAVE to do that work.,.

ROOFERS??

Really Cliffie..Around here guys-who-roof are mostly paid shitty wages and work in 100+ temps...

[Missy Vixen]

29. It's the height of irony that Ratzenberger made his fortune

working in the television industry while supported by a UNION. He also played a UNION employee, a postman.

In the meantime, I challenge Mr. Ratzenberger to live on $8 an hour. I'm sure whomever syndicates "Cheers" is pulling their hair out right now.

[SheilaT]

31. There is a small

amount of truth to that.

In some fields there are more workers than jobs, other fields more jobs than workers.

Quite frankly, I'm inclined to advise almost everyone to look into health care. Become an RN, a radiology tech, a medical records person. I work in a hospital myself (the information desk) and at any given time there are at least 30 openings for nurses, often as many as 60. Not to mention all the other jobs at the hospital.

Of course, if you're an electrical engineer or a paralegal or a school teacher, that's absolutely no help to you.

[LynneSin]

33. Ironic since it comes from a man who hasn't had a real job in Hollywood since Cheers series ended

:eyes:

[Blue_Tires]

34. Just wondering; why would they ask HIM of all people??

[spanone]

36. best question of the day.

[JohnnyRingo]

45. He's promoting a group he's paid to represent called "Center For America"

The group collects donations as a 501(c)(3) and provides lip service about how there aren't enough skilled workers with experience available to fill jobs with sub-par pay and benefits. They commit themselves to ensuring these job providers can "open new avenues of progress" by "reducing barriers to entrepreneurship, including excessive liability, lawsuit abuse and over-regulation".

In other words, he's another corporate stooge, a harmless and familiar face for the cold dead hand of the great American Money Machine. though he claims America needs education to employ our unskilled masses, the lobby seems to have no provision to offer scholarships or educational grants. Instead, they work from the top down in true Republican fashion.

As John Ratzenberger himself puts it:
Government needs to help; in some respects, it can do so best by simply getting out of the way. Too often, regulations are disconnected from good intentions and become economic roadblocks with little social value. Add to that a lawsuit-crazy culture that makes every job and activity a liability waiting to happen. Government policies that drive young people into a “college or failure” mindset make skilled work career choices a practical impossibility

Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2011/01/31/the-jobs-tide-threatens-an-american-industrial-tsunami/#ixzz1a3u7OKJq

Click the "about" tab for details:
http://www.centerforamerica.org/

[JohnnyRingo]

44. He's promoting a group he's paid to represent called "Center For America"

The group collects donations as a 501(c)(3) and provides lip service about how there aren't enough skilled workers with experience available to fill jobs with sub-par pay and benefits. They commit themselves to ensuring these job providers can "open new avenues of progress" by "reducing barriers to entrepreneurship, including excessive liability, lawsuit abuse and over-regulation".

In other words, he's another corporate stooge, a harmless and familiar face for the cold dead hand of the great American Money Machine. though he claims America needs education to employ our unskilled masses, the lobby seems to have no provision to offer scholarships or educational grants. Instead, they work from the top down in true Republican fashion.

As John Ratzenberger himself puts it:
Government needs to help; in some respects, it can do so best by simply getting out of the way. Too often, regulations are disconnected from good intentions and become economic roadblocks with little social value. Add to that a lawsuit-crazy culture that makes every job and activity a liability waiting to happen. Government policies that drive young people into a “college or failure” mindset make skilled work career choices a practical impossibility


Click the "about" tab for details:
http://www.centerforamerica.org/

[rucky]

38. When was the last time he worked?

[Raine]

40. BIG talk coming from a guy who made a living sitting his fat ass on

a fake barstool in a fake bar and making real big bucks for it. Has he even done ANYTHING at all since Cheers went off (?) probably nothing but collecting residuals while still sitting on his fat ass. :puke:

[Fuzz]

41. He's engaged to my brother in law's sister. The entire bunch are too difficult for me to stomach.

[yankeeswin]

42. Someone needs to call him out on this

Since Tamron Hall didn't (of course). A union official or an unemployed welder needs to ask him who this person is and challenge Clavin to help him find a job. Me thinks Clavin will end that conversation in a hurry.

Don't Republicans want to eliminate the wages and benefits that let Cliff Clavin sit in a bar everyday for 11 years without a care in the world for his health and welfare?

[NoGOPZone]

43. Someone who only works when Pixar makes a film is talking about how many jobs are out there? nt

[Honeycombe8]

46. Roofers aren't highly skilled workers. In my area, they are illegal immigrants.

So there aren't many of those jobs available for Americans. Can't compete with wages that illegal immigrants will accept.

I have heard there aren't enough skilled welders around. But are there really a lot of welding jobs these days? Haven't machines taken over a lot of those jobs?

[TK421]

47. He should probably shut the fuck up, since roofers I know get paid a hell of a

lot more than $8 an hour, and they are looking for help, STEADY help, especially from private contractors. I can't speak for the rest of the country, but the area I live in is an area John Ratzenfucker wouldn't be welcomed to! Offer someone around here a roofing job, they will jump for it!

What are you doin' these days, Ratz? Getting a little bored with your time off from your previous calling? Not feeling the pinch, John? Not yet, John? Give it time, John...give it time.....

[occupy_wall_street]

48. INVITATION TO WALL STREET -- for Saturday at 11 AM at Liberty Park @ Red Cube corner

Please assemble peacefully at 140 Broadway.

A company such as Apple or General Motors or the old Ben & Jerrys has a responsibility to act in a responsible manner. Profit is not bad, but adding social justice makes these organizations much better.

The companies of Financial Capitalism are different. The crimes of their employees are what produced the Great Recession of 2008 and massive unemployment. They also took trillions of dollars from retirement funds and from other small investors.

Prosecute Wall Street's criminals. Fraud is still fraud. Banking regulations cannot to cited to usurp the general protections of the Common Law.

No one ever thought of prosecuting Steve Job for anything. He was not a criminal. He was a good man. Steve Jobs would not have been a success on today's Wall Street. "We Are The 1%" was not his motto.

"Think different" sums it up.

-- DU members are all invited to come to the Occupy Wall Street site on Saturday, October 8th at 11 AM

-- Please assemble peacefully at the Red Cube at 140 Broadway, at the corner of Broadway and Liberty Street

-- A speaker from OWS will greet everyone from DU. A statement of purpose and an invitation to support OWS will be presented.

That site can accommodate 250 DU members and their friends easily. As many as 1,000 extra people connected to DU can be accommodated directly with OWS plans for Saturday afternoon.



Freely exercise your freedom of speech and of the press; and the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

Please, feel free to do all of this with Occupy Wall Street.

[global1]

49. He Seems To Be Making The Rounds - it's Friday A.M. And He's Going To Be On CNN Soon......

& again CNN's Carol Costello is a complete dunce. Now she was taking to a lady from Moline, Illinois and even after this lady corrected her she still proceeded to call it Molina. She really is a bad reporter/news anchor. She really irritates me with her inappropriate laughing and snide comments that seem to be aimed at the Dems and the President.

[Enrique]

50. let me guess

he didn't name this friend that couldn't find welders. They never do, which is odd. You'd think they would name the company so that people needing work could call them up.

[JVS]

52. What would that guy know about working?

[tinkerbell41]

53. Oh really???

There is a 3 yr waiting list at my union hall. Five years of school and on the job training. I think this asshole means there are plenty of jobs if you are willing to work for minimum wage. FUCK HIM!!

[piratefish08]

55. that has-been motherfucker is a cartoon voice on a kid's show......

must not be ton's of ACTING jobs out there though, eh Cliffy?