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This is exactly why I joined the Air National Guard as a backup (well, one of the reasons I joined). If push comes to shove, I would be able to get a full-time job on base and get all the benefits of active duty military.
Please don't think I missed the whole point of the show but really...according to Alan he was (1) struck by lightening at 15, (2) heart trouble at 21, (3) at the WTC when parking garage was bombed, (4) on LIRR when Colin Furgeson shot passengers and (5) was at WTC when it collapsed. For some reason I find it very hard to believe that he could have experienced all of those incidents first hand...just a little too coincidental for me!!?
Anyone else?
I was watching this last night (recorded it), and I took the claim re: Colin Ferguson to mean he was on the LIRR - like at that time he was on a train, not necessarily the train Colin Ferguson shot up, so maybe dealt with delays, uncertainty about what was happening, etc, which was probably stressful, and moreso for his wife assuming he did not have a mobile phone back then. Why wouldn't he have said "I was on the train that Colin Ferguson shot up"?
I wish the documentary had went into more detail regarding the cost of living and salaries for professionals on long island compared to other parts of the country. I would have liked to hear more about specific long island industries leaving and why they are leaving long island as well. And also what can be done about it.
Me too.
Jobs are not just moving to Asia, they are moving to low cost areas in the US. If there is no significant business advantage to be on LI, companies will move to other lower cost states as long as they have the talent pool. I know a medium level manufacturing business that moved to Wisconsin and some employees went with them several years ago, all about costs. The world has changed drastically and will continue to change. Times are very bad on Long Island.
And the fact that those companies can move on the basis of cost says something about the quality of the jobs they are moving away. Those companies will always be using cost as a leverage wherever they do business. Not the kind of careers you would want to be in for long. It's time for New Yorkers, including LIers, to adapt.
Taking a dump EXCEPT for the TRILLIONS in CASH sitting on the sidelines with no place to invest it precisely because of the reasons I stated, not some political BS about "uncertainty." Wang and Rechler can self-finance a state of the art facility with their own cash in a heartbeat but instead of compromise from the parties (including them) to scale down the project a little, they get blatant obstructionism, nimbyism and short sighted "what's in it for me, NOW" politics. The economy is taking a dump because the $ sits on the sidelines collecting 4% in the Cayman's instead of being invested HERE.
Corporations are sitting on record cash reserves but that's happening worldwide. The fact that they aren't spending it has little to do with government, it has to do with lack of demand for products and services because everyone is broke and their sales are down. Businesses hire people, build factories, expand, etc. in response to demand for their products and services, not deregulation.
And the fact that those companies can move on the basis of cost says something about the quality of the jobs they are moving away. Those companies will always be using cost as a leverage wherever they do business. Not the kind of careers you would want to be in for long. It's time for New Yorkers, including LIers, to adapt.
Those white collar jobs are even easier to move than the blue collar ones. I deal daily with co-workers who are located from Miami to DC to Texas to California. All well compensated professionals.
So if you don't need to be in a high cost area then why not move out?
All that cash doesn't have to sit idle. They are deposited in bank accounts where they earn a pittance in interest. The problem is that banks don't want to lend even to real businesses with positive cash flow and hard assets. A lot of proposals in the $200M to $500M range is under "best efforts" where they either get pulled out because of volatility in the capital markets or borrowers pay un-necessarily high interest to bond investors. That's how incompetent banks have become - all these years of relying on investment banking and trading has made them lose their touch for lending. They would rather use funds to cover trading losses. When they realize that governments will not bail out their investment banking operations, that will be the day when they start lending to businesses again.
Corporations are sitting on record cash reserves but that's happening worldwide. The fact that they aren't spending it has little to do with government, it has to do with lack of demand for products and services because everyone is broke and their sales are down. Businesses hire people, build factories, expand, etc. in response to demand for their products and services, not deregulation.
Partly true but not accurate this time around. Sales tax revenues are up. Quarterly earnings are booming. Until a few weeks ago, stocks were having a tremendous year. In down times, historically businesses with cash reserves did NOT sit on them, they re-tooled, upgraded infrastructure, invested in the business since interest rates were low, acquired other entities that were struggling and could be bought cheap. They didn't just sit around waiting to see which side would win, who they could buy and assess their lobbying needs, who might punish them for outsourcing and make them cut margins by manufacturing domestically. Sitting on cash accruing low interest rates is not good business. This is much more about politics than business. They are aiding in a slowdown of the economy until the election. Whoever wins, unless the euro completely folds, the economy can quickly kick start. If it's the dems, a solid WPA style jobs program would work, if it's the repukes, the bogus "uncertainty" should be over so no reason businesses shouldn't start investing again. The global slowdown definitely matters, I won't argue that but we don't export enough anyway and reducing imports won't hurt particularly if it means manufacturing domestically instead.
Unfortunately none of this really helps LI since our problems stem from lack of business development foresight, will, cooperation, compromise and arrogance. All the things I stated earlier. The Kate's and Pete's can never seem to stop smiling like idiots and saying "see, we have a AAA bond rating" while half of Hempstead Tpke closes shop and moves elsewhere and the ones who want to stay need millions in legal fees to get a parking variance or building permit.
I'm just saying there are many places in the US enticing businesses to open. It is a political PRIORITY. On LI we are the poster child for doing the EXACT opposite.
Partly true but not accurate this time around. Sales tax revenues are up. Quarterly earnings are booming. Until a few weeks ago, stocks were having a tremendous year. In down times, historically businesses with cash reserves did NOT sit on them, they re-tooled, upgraded infrastructure, invested in the business since interest rates were low, acquired other entities that were struggling and could be bought cheap. They didn't just sit around waiting to see which side would win, who they could buy and assess their lobbying needs, who might punish them for outsourcing and make them cut margins by manufacturing domestically. Sitting on cash accruing low interest rates is not good business. This is much more about politics than business. They are aiding in a slowdown of the economy until the election. Whoever wins, unless the euro completely folds, the economy can quickly kick start. If it's the dems, a solid WPA style jobs program would work, if it's the repukes, the bogus "uncertainty" should be over so no reason businesses shouldn't start investing again. The global slowdown definitely matters, I won't argue that but we don't export enough anyway and reducing imports won't hurt particularly if it means manufacturing domestically instead.
Unfortunately none of this really helps LI since our problems stem from lack of business development foresight, will, cooperation, compromise and arrogance. All the things I stated earlier. The Kate's and Pete's can never seem to stop smiling like idiots and saying "see, we have a AAA bond rating" while half of Hempstead Tpke closes shop and moves elsewhere and the ones who want to stay need millions in legal fees to get a parking variance or building permit.
I'm just saying there are many places in the US enticing businesses to open. It is a political PRIORITY. On LI we are the poster child for doing the EXACT opposite.
It's not just a LI phenomena - NJ and CT practice the same behaviors to their continued detriment. Keep voting in the incumbents because you went to school with them or because their kids play with yours - either you adapt or you die, it really is that simple.
Those white collar jobs are even easier to move than the blue collar ones. I deal daily with co-workers who are located from Miami to DC to Texas to California. All well compensated professionals.
So if you don't need to be in a high cost area then why not move out?
According to NYT, NY employees in some of the finance companies were offered to take a 40% pay cut to relocate. If that is their strategy, they will do it again to their erstwhile new locations. So in a few years they will approach their employees in FL and TX and tell them that salaries in Boise or Little Rock are lower and they must take a pay cut to relocate with the operations. And the cycle keeps repeating over and over again because there will always be lower cost locations.
It's fine if some workers want to go along with that strategy of having to move around every so often in pursuit of declining compensation. But those who want to stay have no other option but to adapt, learn radically new skills or perish.
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Keep voting in the incumbents because you went to school with them or because their kids play with yours
