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By Times Staff
Published February 10, 2008

Hire me, anyone, please Feb. 7

Being unique gets your a job

Brandie McGowan-Fitzgerald's plea for a job got a good spread in the Business section. I glory in her spunk. She did the right thing and I do believe she'll find a job. Her doing is not new but it is courageous.

Early in the last century, during the Great Depression, I worked for a small paint manufacturer. Our office faced a busy street. One day, an old lady walked in leaning heavily on her cane and stood in front of my bosses desk and said to him: "I'm looking for a job!" His reply? "Why lady? This is a paint manufacturing plant!" She came back with: "I know. I'm not looking for a job for myself. I'm looking for a job for my grandson."

"Then why isn't he out looking for his own job?"

"He is. He's downtown looking for work and his sister is on the other side of town looking."

With that, my boss engaged her in conversation in which she verbally recited her grandson's resume. Nothing impressive but she spoke with pride. Her grandson came to work for that manufacturer the following Monday morning.

No matter how well written your resume, or how skilled your verbal presentation, it still takes a uniqueness all your own to gain success. I'm proud of Brandie.

Hartley Steeves, Tampa

Region's hot job growth doubted Feb. 5

Always dubious of job numbers

I have been incredulous about the reported national job growth statistics over the past year. It seems counterintuitive that the thousands of job increases reported could be real. Clearly the economy has been tanking for many months with manufacturing and business moving jobs offshore. Where was the reported job growth coming from?

Now I see one possible source. Nationwide, how many PEOs professional employer organizations who hire companies' employees to deliver in-house services for their former employers have been reporting thousands of newly hired employees as creating new jobs - when in fact the workers have merely changed employers? At the same time, how many of the PEOs' client companies have continued to report those same employees (who have been shifted to PEO employment) as current employees? The sum of job reports from both PEOs and (former) employers may have caused a huge double-reporting surge, counting the growth of hundreds of thousands of jobs that really do not exist!

The national job report seems to rely on self-reporting of employment by employers. I see a great probability of error and the double-reporting. Above all, I don't trust the Bush administration to accurately report data that they consider will have a negative impact on the economy and thus the election prospects of the Republican Party.

David Pearce, Tarpon Springs

Ignore the obituaries - U.S. reign will endure, column Feb. 6

Military spending is excessive

In seems author Kevin Hassett would support his thesis by observing that this country's defense spending "was greater than the combined national incomes of Saudi Arabia, Iran, and Qatar." He might have added that it is also greater than the defense spending for the rest of the world combined, amounting to more than $8,000 for every American household for this year alone. Meanwhile, the Times' editorial page carried Signe Wilkinson's cartoon from the Washington Post depicting our nation's economy as an overtaxed vehicle towing a bloated military budget while Uncle Sam at the wheel laments: "Our mileage just keeps getting worse."

Deaf to Dwight D. Eisenhower's warning concerning the power of the "military industrial complex," our government continues to spend massively on weaponry suited to yesterday's adversaries but inappropriate to the current kind of warfare being waged against real and perceived threats around the world. The results are deficits and foreign indebtedness that may very well lead to consequences similar to those that caused the collapse of the Soviet Union in its efforts to compete in the arms race. Hassett's optimism convinces only those who choose to believe whatever makes them feel good about themselves, irrespective of reality.

Richard A. Preto-Rodas, St. Petersburg

About women, SBA contract rules

Female-owned firms face hurdle

The Small Business Administration recently issued a proposed rule that would result in a drastic step backward for women's businesses. The SBA wants to raise the barrier of entry for women-owned businesses to win federal contracts. The effect of this proposed rule is a clear statement that the federal government considers women-owned businesses unessential to the growth of our nation's economy.

If enacted, the rule would grind away at the bottom line of our nation's 10.4-million women-owned companies and the $1.9-trillion in sales these companies contribute each year to the economy. This includes my own business, which, for 14 years, has supplied consulting, training and team building services to the federal government, our biggest customer.

SBA's action did not go unnoticed by the women business organizations. Women Impacting Public Policy testified at a Hearing called by Rep. Nydia Velazquez , D-N.Y., on Jan. 16 and will be responding to the proposed rule. Presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton issued a press statement decrying it, and Rep. Ellen Tauscher, D-Calif., is gathering support from her congressional colleagues, who are asking that the SBA withdraw the proposed rule, consult with Congress and reissue a fair ruling.

In addition, the National Association of Women Business Owners, the U.S. Women's Chamber of Commerce and many other women's business organizations are frustrated, irate and uniting to act to change this disappointing and insulting SBA ruling.

This election year, presidential candidates are working to garner the female vote, but very few have discussed the inequities of the federal contracting system. While I applaud Sen. Clinton for shedding light on this issue and calling for change, it is not enough. Others must come forward.

For true change to happen, candidates from both parties must speak out against the rule and ongoing under-representation of women in federal contract programs. Federal contracting for women business owners is more than a gender issue. It is an economic reality.

Gayle Waldron, Clearwater

He compared airport security to the Nazi party, column Feb. 6

Know the rules, and follow them

Passengers realize that flying on an airplane is not as easy as it used to be. TSA is trying very hard to prevent planes from blowing up in the sky or being hijacked. TSA needs the cooperation of the American public to do its job effectively. This includes checking in stowed baggage any prohibited items and coming to the airport early so, if there is a long line, a passenger will not miss his or her flight. Passengers, you cannot bypass security, no matter how late you are. You can go the front of the line only if all of the other passengers agree to it. This may not work, if there are other late passengers in the line. It is not a TSA decision. Attitude is very important at the airport. People who are arrogant, argumentative and disrespectful are casting suspicion on themselves. Electronics, like computers and video cameras, have to screened, so make it easy and place them in a tray separately. Shoes have to be removed and X-rayed, so why not wear socks to the airport or pick up a pair of free disposable paper slippers at the entrance to the checkpoint? Stop complaining that you had to walk in bare feet if you know in advance that all shoes must come off. Have a nice flight and thank you for your cooperation.

Eugene Keesler, St. Petersburg

Former airport screener

Powering green jobs Feb. 6

Exemptions hurt free economy

The president recently signed an energy bill into law. The House version of that bill contained tax breaks for solar and wind energy. Those incentives were stripped out of the bill in the U.S. Senate by a margin of one vote. That vote was cast by none other than our own Mel Martinez. This would not be a problem if Congress had stripped away all subsidies for all forms of energy (such as the oil depletion allowance, the Price-Anderson Act, etc.) because a truly free market would quickly cure our national addiction to foreign oil. But too many politicians are more concerned about feeding their own addictions to money and power than they are about promoting the general welfare of the nation.

The good news is we can vote them out of office. The bad news is we keep re-electing them instead.

Thomas Eppes, Largo

Fed slashes to stimulate Jan. 31

Interest income is at risk

Interest rates have dropped an unprecedented 1.25 percentage points in only eight days! Seems to me folks are being encouraged to borrow and discouraged to save. This is not good news for those of us depending on interest from our savings to supplement our income and living expenses.

Dorothy E. Karkheck, Dunedin

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[Last modified February 8, 2008, 22:02:27]