Unemployment is expected to remain above 9% for at least the next two years, according to Christopher Woock, research associate for The Conference Board, and other economists. That’s because many of the estimated 4 million jobs lost in the construction and manufacturing industries during the recession may never come back. That’s what happened after the 2001 recession in sectors such as data processing, computer and electronics manufacturing, and textile manufacturing.

Even in strong sectors, the projected 3-4 percent annual economic growth won’t be enough to entice employers back to pre-recession hiring levels.

So what are out-of-work construction workers or auto workers going to do if their jobs don’t come back? Many of them are going to need to be trained to work in an industry that isn’t floundering.

“If we have substantial structural change,” says Woock, “then that’s going to require a significant reallocation of workers across various industries and that is going to make for a very slow and drawn out labor market recovery.”In other words, as industries shift and jobs vanish forever, some workers may be forced to retrain to find work in a different industry.

And yet, the latest version of the jobs bill offers tax credits to employers to hire workers — but it doesn’t give credits to workers enrolled in retraining programs, let alone help state and local governments or non-profits fund the establishment or expansion of such programs. Yet the sectors that economists expect to grow over the next few years require skilled labor more often than not.

Barry Bluestone, dean of the School of Public Policy and Urban Affairs at Northeastern University, predicts that within the next eight years, 2.4 million job vacancies could appear in the U.S. in the education, health care, government and nonprofit sectors.Jagadeesh Gokhale, an economist at the Cato Institute, says demand from aging baby boomers will drive job growth in health care and other related service industries.

The transition from an automotive assembly line to the health care industry might not be an obvious choice, but for people unwilling to give up on working, it could be exactly the transition they need — and they may well need help from the government to make it happen.

“If President Obama had any courage he would demand Reid step down as Senate Majority Leader, and discontinue any support for his Senate reelection,” says West. “Notice I said ‘if.’ I am quite sure the Soros money which elevated Obama to the position of President has bought his servitude.”

Read the whole statement, and remember: West is one of the NRCC’s supported candidates, and a video of him talking about his  beliefs has, under-the-radar, gotten well over a million YouTube views. His appeal to the conservative base is reminiscent of the appeal someone like Rep. Alan Grayson (D-Fla.) has to liberals — fiery rhetoric, with the promise of more if he gets to Congress. If West was in Congress today, there’s no doubt he’d be drawing media attention for comments like these.

Greetings,

The revelation of Senator Harry Reid’s comments referencing “negro talk” is just indicative of the true sentiment elitist liberals, and indeed the Democratic party, have toward black Americans. The history of the Democrat party is one of slavery, secession, segregation, and now socialism. It is this new aged socialism born from the Johnson Great Society programs that have castigated blacks as victims needing government dependency. One need only to look upon the city of Detroit to ascertain what liberal social welfare policies have produced for the inner city… the new plantation for black Americans.

The Ku Klux Klan was birthed by the Democrats as a terrorist wing to intimidate blacks, and whites, who sought to promote economic and education independence and social justice for blacks. What was once overt has just morphed and become covert, yet still exists.

One can only imagine the insanity and media outrage if Reid’s quote had come from a member of the Republican party. I look forward to hearing from Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton on Reid’s comments… or has liberal hush money paid for the silence of these proprietors of poverty and victimization theory. Actually, if President Obama had any courage he would demand Reid step down as Senate Majority Leader, and discontinue any support for his Senate reelection… notice I said “if”. I am quite sure the Soros money which elevated Obama to the position of President has bought his servitude.

Why am I running for US Congress as a Republican? Simple. I would rather stand proudly and be called “an Uncle Tom and a sellout” than lose my self-esteem and be considered an inferior by liberals. I understand the legacy of the GOP and the black community… not the revisionist history espoused by liberal educators. I am not, shall never be, and will not raise my daughters to be a part of the liberal 21st century plantation. I am not just some articulate, clean, well spoken negro. I am an American warrior, Congressional candidate, and shall never submit to the collective progressive ideal of inferiority.

Senator Harry Reid’s comments are disgusting, despicable, and unacceptable. They are representative of how intellectual elite liberals do indeed speak of black Americans in their closed private spaces. Next week I have been invited to NYC to address the Hudson Institute, a conservative organization, conference on “Reclaiming American Liberty”. That invite came to me because I took advantage of the opportunities this great Republic offered. I followed the guidance of my parents and set my standards above all others around me. I speak well and have impeccable communicative skills because my Father and Mother prioritized that quality.

I shiver to think what my future could have been if I listened to the insidious rhetoric of charlatans such as Harry Reid, and the ambassadors of affirmative action who reside in the Congressional Black Caucus.

Sure, the “stuck on stupid” blacks are going to address me in derogatory names, but I possess something which they lack; Honor, Integrity, and Character. To them I say, continue to be slaves to the liberals for your vote… and in a year you will be calling me Congressman West.

Steadfast and Loyal,
LTC(R) Allen B West

The group, Color of Change, is a young civil rights organization that has already has some successes during this political season. It helped oust Democratic Congressman Al Wynn and scuttle a planned primary debate for Democratic presidential candidates that was slated to be cosponsored by Fox News and the Congressional Black Caucus.

“John McCain’s talk about integrity and supporting democracy is just that, talk,” said the group’s director, James Rucker, in an interview with TWI. “Right now, he’s staying silent on an un-democratic program undertaken in this country, for his benefit, and in his party’s name. McCain and the RNC leadership know about these practices, but they won’t condemn or stop them. John McCain can’t shout ‘country first’ on the campaign trail and then choose to ignore his own party when they threaten the most basic right an American has – the right to vote,” added Rucker.

The group is collecting signatures for a petition urging McCain “stand up against his party’s shameful” tactics. While the practice was exposed in Michigan, Rucker also stressed that it is part of a broader pattern:

Caging–the practice being used in MI–is also being done in other states, but in Michigan it’s particularly predatory: they’re going after folks who have been hit hardest by the economy and using that fact to challenge their right to vote. We believe that highlighting this instance, where the despicable nature of the practice is so clear, is a great way to start a national, public conversation, about the tactics.

Politically, Color of Change probably has less leverage over McCain than it had its other recent adversaries, such as Black incumbent Democrats like Wynn and the CBC leadership. Yet combined with the pressure of an Obama campaign lawsuit and mounting national scrutiny, as TWI reported Thursday, this is an effort that could help force McCain to finally answer for tactics that are so widely decried, even his own allies denied deploying them once they were exposed.