With
the economy slowly reviving, an executive from Atlas Van Lines recently
visited Louisville, Ky., with good news: the company wanted to hire
more than 100 truck drivers ahead of the summer moving season.
But
a usually reliable source of workers, the local government-financed job
center, could offer little help, because the federal money that local
officials had designated to help train drivers was already exhausted.
Without the government assistance, many of the people who would be
interested in applying for the driving jobs could not afford the $4,000
classes to obtain commercial driver’s licenses. Now Atlas is struggling
to find eligible drivers.
Across the country, work force centers
that assist the unemployed are being asked to do more with less as
federal funds dwindle for job training and related services.
And
that's because Republicans have cut job training programs again and
again. Both this year's version of the Ryan Austerity Plan and last
year's version called for massive cuts to job training programs, and the
Republicans got a healthy chunk of those cuts as part of budget deals
(that they are looking to renege upon now). By the way, every single
Republican in Congress voted to keep paying federal oil subsidies which
would have more than covered the job training budget several times
over.
Instead, these programs are out of money in April already.
To
bolster training and other services for jobless workers, the Obama
administration recently proposed consolidating two programs. The general
dislocated worker program paid for under the Workforce Investment Act
would be combined with the Trade Adjustment Assistance program, which
provides training and other benefits to workers who lose their jobs
because of foreign competition.
The trade program, which has an
annual budget of $575 million, is typically more generous, but narrow in
eligibility. The combined program would make all funds available to
anyone who had lost a job, regardless of the reason.
In his latest
budget proposal, President Obama also requested an additional $2.8
billion a year for job training over the next decade. “Even in this very
tight budget,” said Gene Sperling, national economic adviser, “the
president felt that there was an imperative to call right now for a more
simplified and effective training system” that also had an increase in
funds.
You're probably saying to yourself "Why cut
job training programs for people who want to work when unemployment is
as high as it is?" You've answered your own question, same as why
Republicans want to eliminate federal programs for birth control,
preventative care, sex education, early childhood education, and day
care. They don't want anything to get better for the working
poor. They might end up with an extra five bucks to give to a
Democrat. Can't have that. Gotta have tax cuts for the Job Creators
instead. That'll teach you to be poor.
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