Jesus?!?! Has Anyone Looked At LBN This Morning?

[THUNDER HANDS]

Sprint to eliminate 8,000 jobs http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x3706837

GM Announces More Layoffs (2,000),Production Cuts Amid Falling Demand http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x3707053

Pfizer to buy Wyeth for $68 billion, cut (8000) jobs http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x3706840

ING Group to Cut 7,000 Jobs http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x3707013

Home Depot to cut 7,000 jobs, exit Expo business http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=3706907&mesg_id=3706907

Caterpillar Moves to Cut 20,000 Jobs http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x3706825





That's over 50,000 jobs in one day!

[graywarrior]

1. What in hell will they do with all the homeless?

[TechBear_Seattle]

8. Make full use of the social support network already in place

(Do I really need the sarcasm tag on this?)

[graywarrior]

17. LOL, you should have kept your original DU name

:rofl:

[TWiley]

58. That has been replaced with "Faith Based Iniatives" and they only help those who tithe

[EstimatedProphet]

11. Soylent Green

[tom_paine]

12. Civilian Slave Labor Force?

Ha ha, made you look!

;-) :hi:

[SmileyRose]

15. hopefully people will be able to double/triple up in family homes

My brother and I have already discussed that if times get too bad I will walk away from my home and we can move into his basement - pool our meager resources and at least keep his house. He does not have a large home, but the layout is such that it could work long term if it had to.

Hopefully the people losing jobs will have that option too and not be homeless.

[Pacifist Patriot]

41. My family has been talking about this for years because several members...

were in the building industry. They are out now, but still a measure to keep in mind.

[murielm99]

50. We have talked to our kids about this.

They live in cities and for now their jobs seem safe. We live in the country. If we have to do this, we will.

[AngryOldDem]

61. Some will, but most won't.

Obviously, by the time someone has to resort to a shelter all options have been exhausted. But with the widespread economic crisis the safety nets are just not there anymore.

I'm trying to make those running the shelter where I work to see this harsh reality. They are still laboring under the delusion that people can have up to six months to find alternative situations. In addition, we'll be seeing more "first-time" homeless -- people who in a million years never thought they would be in such a dire situation -- and we have to find ways to accomodate their needs, too. Entering a shelter is a jolt to the soul. Many people who call asking for information are shocked and angered at the prospect of giving up a lot of their independence and freedom, since shelters, by their definition, are highly structured environments that serve highly diverse clientele. I have spoken at great length with such people, and I hear their anger, desperation, and disbelief. That is doubled when there are children involved.

In addition to a burgeoning population that is mentally ill, we are beginning to see people whose main reasons for homelessness are loss of job, utility shutoff, and low income. They report staying with friends or family, or being evicted from their home or apartment before coming to us. We are in an economically depressed city and an extremely economically depressed part of the state, so I see nothing getting better anytime soon.

The social-service sector is going to be hit, and hit hard. Homelessness always has been "someone else's problem;" plus, with belts tightening everywhere, monetary donations that fuel a lot of shelter operations are drying up. We're getting it from all sides here.

[surrealAmerican]

42. Not "they", graywarrior, "we".

This problem belongs to us all.

[graywarrior]

46. I stand corrected

[lumberjack_jeff]

2. I was just there and thinking the same thing. Yikes. n/t

[hamsterjill]

3. I noticed that

So very depressing!!! President Obama has his work cut out for him, doesn't he?

Mercy!!!

[bdamomma]

14. just remember he inherited this mess.

[hamsterjill]

Yes, I do remember.

Obama didn't create this. Bush did. And we need to ALL always remember that because the Republicans will use every opportunity to try to pin the blame on Democrats.

But I feel so much better knowing that we have Obama who will try to solve the issues.

It could have been Sarah Palin!

[jus_the_facts]

Bill Clinton is responsible for signing NAFTA/GATT into law....

....there's plenty of blame on BOTH sides for this mess...I'll NEVER forget Ross Perot's warnings about that "GREAT WHOOSH SOUND OF ALL THOSE AMERICAN JOBS GOING OVERSEAS"...everybody thought he was an idiot but he was tellin' it like it IS. :think:

[4_TN_TITANS]

63. It was a "Giant Sucking Sound"...

I'll never forget that wording, and it has indeed sucked. One can only wonder what the conntry would look like today if a proficient businessman like Perot had gotten a crack at it.

[lib2DaBone]

67. Yes..remember Ross Perot? The media ridiculed him....

.. and glorified Republican Regonomics.

NAFTA gave us the SHAFTA. Get out of NAFTA now!

[pipi_k]

66. He certainly did, and I'm not surprised

In fact, it's just what I expected when I learned way back eight years ago about the many failed business attempts by George W Bush.

Everything he touched turned to SHIT.

The US is just another one of his colossal fuckups...the very worst economic scenario imaginable.


When this nightmare will end, who can tell....

[Warpy]

4. Yeah, we've seen it

Remember last fall when I said March was going to tell us the story of how bad this is going to be?

Hold on to your hats, people.

Good luck to us all.

[elocs]

5. I saw this in a post here about a half hour ago:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=114x54940

[NMDemDist2]

21. you can add 3000 more now between GM and a Steel Co.

:cry:

[elocs]

25. It seems that whatever the latest job loss total may be it is soon outdated. n/t

[Tangerine LaBamba]

6. rawstory.com

had the right headline on this event this morning:

http://rawstory.com/news/2008/US_companies_cut_45000_jobs_even_0126.html

[ixion]

7. and Wall St. reacts

by going up a hundred points...

Wall St. LOVES IT when Main St. has a bad day.

[shraby]

13. I've read that Wall Street loves it because

they view the layoffs as making a more profitable company. :crazy:

[tom_paine]

20. Yep. Been quite a close correlation now since about the late 80s.

or what we who can see and connect those dots have come to know as something likeBushevism Phase I (or perhaps that's phase II - maybe Phase I was getting Nixon and the Kennedys out of the way - who knows for sure?): beginning to dismantle the Constitutional and economic infrastrcuture that made post-WWII America a great, free nation for regular people.

[SmileyRose]

48. Judging the state of our economy by Wall Street has been irrelevant for some time

Wall street is not "the economy" anymore. At one time nearly all stocks were traded by individuals, now huge fund managers trade stocks in the 100's of 1000's in one sale and they routinely deliberately manipulate what goes up and down. This whole mess was created by these assholes. They deliberately ran up the price of one thing and depressed the price of other things in their speculation games.

In the meantime Main Street keeps going to work and trying to keep "food on their family". The way out of this mess is probably to blow the fuck out of the whole investment structure and start over back where it was before Saint Ronnie. I can't see even President Obama taking on that task though because it would condemn Democrats to the history books for eons.

[whistle]

9. Golden parachutes are opening all over America as workers are thrown

...out of the corporate airplanes without any protection.

[alfredo]

10. the Dow is up. go figure.

[Soylent Brice]

16. i noticed

sitting here with my head in my hands.

was happy at the prospect of BoA and Citi being nationalized (or at least partially.

but yes. we're officially in the shitter, and slowly swirling down.

[Taverner]

18. Christfuck - we can't take much more of this

And for those of you who smile and say "It's going to get far worse :) :) :)"

All I gotta say is fuck off

[TahitiNut]

32. It has NEVER been with a 'smile' that I've warned for over 8 years that it'll get worse.

Never. This melt-down has been obviously in the offing for more than 8 years. I've been absolutely consistent in that time that the equities markets were HORRIBLY inflated and that the housing 'bubble' would be the next to burst. This has been obvious. I warned family and friends to get the Hell out of the equities markets in early 2000 and stay out. I've warned family and friends that housing prices were hugely inflated for even longer since the median wage has been priced out of that market. Cheney/Bush were guaranteed to make it worse.

"Smile"?? Not at all.

[bvar22]

52. My brothers ....

My brothers couldn't hear me either.
They were too infatuated by the free money from ballooning property values/refinancing, and soaring Wall Street paper.
They thought my wife and I were crazy when we sold everything in 2005, cashed out most of our IRAs, bought Bubble Proof rural property outright, and moved to The Woods in 2006.

Now they are glad to know they have a place to go if things get really bad.

[Bigmack]

56. bvar22...

Did the same. Add that my property is near the saltwater and I have a couple of small boats and access to the water.

We - most of us - knew this would happen eventually.

Question for you. I did all the divesting stuff that you did, but I've held on to a Tax Sheltered Annuity money market account. I've got no money at risk, but that damned TSA worries me, hanging out there like that. Fidelity won't go broke, but they might "restructure" or some such.

Does a fellow gloom-and-doomer like you think I should just pay the tax bite and get my money out?

[bvar22]

70. I sincerely don't know.

We still have some assets that are vulnerable.
Our cabin, land, water, and food sources are protected.

I don't know what is going to happen next.
I pray that things have Bottomed Out, but fear that they have not.
So we're in the same boat.

[Mari333]

19. until corporations are held responsible

for shipping jobs out of the United States, there will be no change.

the Dow is up because houses are selling for some reason..perhaps people think the housing market has hit bottom.

[OhioChick]

22. "until corporations are held responsible for shipping jobs....."

Agreed.

[Azlady]

24. Agree

[lib2DaBone]

65. Do we blame the Corporations.. or the CONgress that gives them

tax breaks to move jobs to China?

How hard would it be.. (as part of the new stimulas plan) to reverse the tax laws and reward companies that bring jobs home?

Can we quit NAFTA?

[lonestarnot]

45. And the off-shore accounts where billions stolen from tax payers resides.

[Blue_Tires]

23. don't forget Circuit City last week - 35,000 jobs

[MillieJo]

26. UK Steel - 2.500 jobs gone today..

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ukpress/article/ALeqM5jDEz_z2VdbBsj9IA_wnAk8hlDV2g

[OhioChick]

27. John Deere 700 gone today, as well. n/t

[RedEarth]

28. Add 17, 000 more from European companies... Philips, Corus and Wolseley

Philips 6,000 Sprint and Philips are the latest to announce layoffs with Sprint cutting 8000 and Philips 6000 employees


Corus 3,500 Corus, Europe’s second-largest steelmaker, will cut 3500 jobs as it reduces production following a collapse in demand from builders


Wolseley 7,500 Wolseley Plc, the world’s biggest distributor of plumbing gear, lost more than 40 percent in London trading after spiraling debt and ...

[JohnnyRingo]

29. Not one of them cited high corporate taxes as the reason for layoffs.

Yet Republicans like John Boehner insist that a new and deeper tax cut for business will "create jobs".

These political dinosaurs just can't let go of the notion that their outdated supply side theories have been effective over the last eight years. Not one company that is laying off is citing high taxes as the reason.

I say put "trickle down economics" in the same coffin with the Republican party, and bury it 12 feet deep.

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

36. The idea that this has anything to do with taxes is laughable.

What's happening now involves amounts of money so far beyond average corporate tax rates that it's really, really dumb to even try to pin it on that. Not that that ever stopped the Republicans in Congress from advocating a tax cut (provided that they're still able to send pork back to their districts, of course.)

[anonymous171]

37. Trickle down economics= welfare of the rich

Or Richfare, as I like to call it.

[uppityperson]

30. I've noticed the front page of Stl paper is mostly about the economy last week

There has been 1 article (typically) on something other than the economy. About time they noticed.

[DemReadingDU]

31. Link to daily layoffs

http://www.layoffdaily.com/

[leeroysphitz]

33. Well isn't that a cheerful pick-me-up of a web site...

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

34. There may be 7 - 15 million people out of work before this is over.

I'm somewhat surprised about Caterpillar, but I guess they probably sold a lot of stuff to homebuilding companies which are now doing poorly.

[Pacifist Patriot]

44. We're going to see major repercussions from the homebuilding situation.

A decent-sized home builder in my area is on the verge of stiffing their remaining employees (major layoffs over the course of the last two years), their trades and their suppliers. To the point where we think sheriff's deputies may have to be deployed to the headquarters when the announcement is made. They have already removed the family's photos from the website and yanked any marketing publications with their photos from the model centers. The facilities manager was told to obtain a firearms permit.

It is not just the remaining handful of company employees who will be unemployed, but the entire supply and labor chain.

[brooklynite]

35. This was projected to be a bad week for business news...

Lost of bad earnings reports coming out

[firedupdem]

38. Hubby and I already lost our jobs....we're in Nebraska now

with him working. Now this new job just announced a 10% pay cut to try and keep their jobs. I think we'll be living with the inlaws if he loses this one. So depressing.

My friend left Chrysler after the 18th strong recommendation that she take the buy out. She was given a 25K car voucher and 50k. The check was 22K after taxes etc. She's already spent 7K of that just paying the bills. Everybody is screwed.

[Liberal_in_LA]

55. 22K after taxes etc! That's harsh!

[firedupdem]

64. It is....I couldn't believe that number. I wonder if something else

came out of that check that she didn't tell me about. I couldn't believe less than half is what she received.

[Pacifist Patriot]

39. It's astounding to see big numbers rack up like that, but what it doesn't show is...

the oodles and oodles of 1-200 employee companies that are down to skeleton crews or have had to close their doors forever over the last 24-36 months. A company that just two years ago employed 144 people directly and at least two thousand in trades is gone as of Saturday. It and companies like it will not make LBN.

Oh, and lest anyone fear, the greedy bastard familty who owned the company made it out with their assets in place. It's their employees, the trades and their suppliers who are getting screwed. Not that that's a story anymore.

[Ishoutandscream2]

40. Christ, I'm scared shitless

Obama is going to have to be the FDR of our generation.

[AngryOldDem]

62. As am I.

And there are no quick fixes for any of this, and Obama will take all the shit if things aren't turned around by the end of his first term. That, IMO, is an unrealistic expectation to place on him. If he can just get the economic stimulus up and running, that will help.

The GOP can't continue to stonewall on this. This is a national crisis, for fuck's sake. One that they played a large part in creating.

[radfringe]

43. Welcome to the Bush-GOP depression... n/t

[tjwash]

47. It's all Clinton and Obama's fault.

At least that's what the spew on AM hate radio is this morning.

[AlbertCat]

54. It's all Clinton and Obama's fault.

Of course Clinton had a Repug Congress sending him stuff to sign.

And Obama has been president for less than a week.

But never mind that!

[Dukkha]

49. guess all the foreclosed neighborhoods will become shanty towns

we are all Fucked with a big capital F!

[MessiahRp]

51. Some of these companies are going to need to bite the bullet a bit...

A lot of them will dump jobs just to make investors happy and be more profitable... not that they're all on the verge of bankruptcy or anything... Michael Moore in The Big One did a great job on this asking companies who were doing mass layoffs and moving jobs overseas if they were losing money... they remarked that they were profitable... which sort of proves the point... it's not that they're not profitable it's that they want to make even more profit and fatten the pockets of those on top.

When all of these people are out of work, who buys the services your companies provide?

For all of the degrees these fools that run these companies have they have yet to understand, just as idiot Republicans don't understand that the economy works from the bottom up.

It's consumers' demand for products that come first in creating an economic boom.. not companies supplying unwanted goods.

Getting money to the bottom rung of people gives them more spending money > More spending money = more services purchased > More services purchased = more jobs created > more jobs created = more people to buy services > more profit for companies all around.

This is a pretty simple equation. You can also throw in that this creates more taxpayers that alleviates some of the incredible burden on Government spending and adds more money to the Social Security pool.

For those companies that are just looking to rake in more profit here when they are already doing fine I say to you:

It is your patriotic duty to keep Americans employed on the verge of a depression.

Again, if nobody is employed, who will buy your services?

Rp

[Cleita]

53. Randi Rhodes just said on her show that she came back from Washington

and found many of her co-workers were gone as part of a nationwide layoff by Clear Channel. It seems to me firing Rush Limbaugh would be worth it to bring those people back to work who I'm sure are far more productive than that man.

[Dukkha]

59. considering they're pissing a way $400m on ONE emplyee

That is the quintessential definition of incompetent management.

[Renew Deal]

57. No more Magic Rat!

:wow:

[THUNDER HANDS]

71. it's okay

it's a new day. It's morning in DU.

:D

[LeftHandPath]

60. IBM laid off close to 4000 this week

And more are expected over the next few months. They like to keep it quiet though, as it hurts business.

[Cardiff]

68. It's a depression.

They need to acknowledge that.

[rcrush]

69. We are just going to have to move into the woods and live off the land.

I've always wanted to lead a tribe a woods people and hunt and kill bears.