Is the American Jobs Act Worth its Price Tag of $447 Billion?

“Business demand is what drives hiring."--Jeffery Braverman, owner of Nutsonline, in recent New York Times article

How do you create demand when people are unemployed? People need jobs to earn income, and you need people to have income in order to increase consumption, and you need consumption in the economy in order for businesses to experience demand. It's all cyclical.

The preliminary verdict on Obama's job creation plan, aka the American Jobs Act, is that it won't make a big dent in the unemployment rate. Cutting payroll taxes might cause employers across industries to "hire at the margins," because the monetary incentive provided just isn't enough...and a substantial number of jobs under the plan would be in the education (i.e. teachers who don't have to be laid off because of government support) and construction/transportation/infrastructure sectors. Unemployed white-collar, college-graduated people are probably looking over this, scratching their head and thinking, what part of the plan addresses my situation? Unless they're willing to become a construction worker (assuming they'll be hired) or have some sort of IT background, have worked or have an interest in the energy sector, or are looking to become certified in a healthcare sector job...three of the industries in the US predicted to grow in the near future.

Hope on a String

I got a phone call from a firm I interviewed for today. HR told me their client needs had changed and so hiring had stopped. The flooding of disappointment somewhat obscured what he was telling me next, but I caught the fact that I interviewed very well and I would be kept on file if other openings became available. An insider told me they're beginning to hire for their Palo Alto and San Francisco offices, so these two factors combined give me hope. Right after this I checked my email and HR from another firm asked me when I would be available to talk today. I wanted to shout in the email, CALL ME ANYTIME! EVEN AT MIDNIGHT! Obviously that wasn't a reasonable answer. I wish I could know now. It's killing me. Just put me out of my misery please.

I haven't really thought about what I would do if I didn't get an offer from this place. I haven't landed an interview elsewhere. This firm really is sort of my last glimmer of self-created hope. I just sat at Starbucks for a while, trying to decide how I felt. It was like a mixture of panic, frustration, hope, and finally, I was just like, fuck it. So then I baked some chocolate cupcakes.

 Therapy through baking.

Reject

I woke up at 6 AM this morning to check email on my phone and found out I had been rejected for an administrative assistant position. New low. I blame this for me rolling back into bed and sleeping for another 4 hours.