Gingrich and Reich Unite

Date: Friday, May 06, 2005 2:38 AM

JOB DESTRUCTION NEWSLETTER

by Rob Sanchez
May 06, 2005 No. 1251

I never thought I would see the day when former labor secretary Robert
Reich and Newt Gingrich would become chums, but then again I never
imagined that President Bush would be seen in public holding hands with
a Saudi prince. Times are changing, and not for the better!

Reich and Gingrich were keynote speakers at a Workforce Summit in San
Diego. The price of admission to this was $150 minimum which probably
served its purpose to keep out jobless Americans and labor advocates. I
don't have information on what we missed, but some of Reich's comments
give us a hint of what transpired.

Reich, secretary of labor under former President Clinton,
said the United States has "simply not shown young people
how math and science fit into our economy"

Reich isn't giving the "United States" enough credit because our
government has done an excellent job of showing how math and science
fits into our economy. The clear message from Uncle Sam is that if you
slave through college to get a technical or science degree, you will
have a very short career that typically ends in long-term joblessness.

"We have become fat, happy and lazy," he said. "Now, when
we go looking for the engineers we need, we have to
depend on other countries."

Reich didn't explain who "we" is but you can bet he wasn't talking
about government bureaucrats like himself. His implication is very
clear that American engineers are fat, happy, and lazy.

Gingrich and Reich sure believe in teamwork, especially when it comes
to insulting just every working person in the United States. Gingrich's
comments are often fatuous and this one is no exception.

"Kids are dropping those classes and working at Burger King
or McDonald's so they can make money for their Saturday night
dates," he said. "Why not pay them minimum wage as long as
they make good grades in this classes?

Gingrich seems to be suggesting that kids who work at McDonald's and
Burger King should get paid less than minimum wage if they don't get
good grades. If Gingrich gets his way none of the junk food
"manufacturing" sites will want kids that make good grades because they
all want to pay less than minimum wage, and let's face it, flipping
burgers ain't rocket science! Perhaps in the future we will see job ads
like this, and applications will require students to provide their
grades:

Company: MdDonalds
Location: Every city
Base Pay: $2 an hour
Benefits: none
Vacation: none
Employee Type: part-time
Job Type: Food manufacturing
Req'd Experience: none
Req'd Travel: none
Relocation Covered: No
Req'd Education: Current high school students
Req'd GPA: MUST BE LESS THAN 2.O
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20050428/news_1b28summit.html

Political rivals unite over math-science grad 'crisis'

By Michael Kinsman
STAFF WRITER

April 28, 2005

Robert Reich (left) and Newt Gingrich will speak at tomorrow's
Workforce Summit.

It isn't often that conservative Newt Gingrich and liberal Robert Reich
find themselves on the same side of an issue.
But when it comes to the nation's commitment to science and math
education, both see a serious threat to the economic foundation of the
United States.

"Every American should understand what a crisis this is," said
Gingrich, a former speaker of the House. "I don't understand why the
failure of our country to educate its young people in math and science
gets so little attention. This is crucial issue for America, but we're
just not responding with the urgency it deserves."

Reich, secretary of labor under former President Clinton, said the
United States has "simply not shown young people how math and science
fit into our economy" and now risks losing its economic clout as other
countries capitalize on the missed step.

"We have become fat, happy and lazy," he said. "Now, when we go looking
for the engineers we need, we have to depend on other countries."

Gingrich and Reich meet tomorrow in San Diego for the 2005 Workforce
Summit, which brings business, government policy-makers, educators and
career counselors together to share information on the needs and
opportunities for the regional work force.

The two men are expected to address America's declining competitiveness
because its workers lack math and science skills necessary in today's
technology world.

Organized by the San Diego Workforce Partnership, the event is open to
the public but requires a $150 registration fee at the door. The event
runs from 7:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at the San Diego Convention Center.

The math-and-science education issue is crucial to San Diego because of
the heavy cluster of technology companies that require engineers and
scientists, said Jane Signaigo-Cox, senior vice president of the San
Diego Regional Economic Development Corp.

For several years, local technology companies have complained about the
dearth of college graduates with math and science educations. Some
companies have employed foreign workers under the HB1 visa program, but
reductions in the allotment of those visas is causing problems.

"We really haven't done a good job educating students in the careers
and opportunities that await them if they get a math and science
background," Signaigo-Cox said. "The job opportunities are tremendous,
but I don't think students in middle and high school realize what they
can do in biotech, life sciences, medical instruments or other
industries. There are fabulous careers here in our communities, but the
students don't realize it. The companies that we have in San Diego
can't continue to compete or continue to expand, unless we help grow
the work force here."

This month, Gingrich spoke in favor of federal legislation that would
forgive up to the first $10,000 of a student loan for math, science or
engineering graduates who work at least five years in one of those
fields.

"The Hart-Rudman Commission said that the greatest threat to America by
2025 was the detonation of a weapon of mass destruction," Gingrich
said. "It said the second greatest threat was our country's failure to
remain competitive in math and science. Why aren't we listening to
that?"

Gingrich, who owns a consulting company in Atlanta, also said he favors
paying middle school and high school students to remain in math and
science classes.

"Kids are dropping those classes and working at Burger King or
McDonald's so they can make money for their Saturday night dates," he
said. "Why not pay them minimum wage as long as they make good grades
in this classes? That's how we can turn this around. Money talks."

Reich, now a professor of social and economic policy at Brandeis
University in Waltham, Mass., said he is confident that businesses that
depend on math and science graduates will find a "business solution."

"Unfortunately, the business solution may not be good for America," he
said. "Businesses will expand in those parts of the world that can
supply the educated workers it needs, whether or not that is in the
United States. That's not a good solution for our country, but it will
solve their problems."

Gingrich and Reich are urging businesses to push for legislative
answers.

"Every business leader should be lobbying to triple the funding to the
National Science Foundation," Gingrich said. "That's the way we will
get this started."

Reich said business should also take on a larger responsibility for
training workers.

"Much of the public has no idea how far down our competitiveness in
math and science has gone," he said. "I would hope that the business
community sees it as their responsibility to go to Congress and to
state legislatures to apply pressure that will lead us to fix it."

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