John Stossel reports (link added 10/4@12:37p):
To check this out, I sent four researchers around the area. They quickly found 40 job openings. Twenty-four were entry-level positions. One restaurant owner told me he would hire 12 people if workers would just apply.
It made me wonder what my government does in buildings called “job centers.” So I asked a college intern, Zoelle Mallenbaum, to find out. Here’s what she found:
“First I went to the Manhattan Jobs Center
and asked, “Can I get help finding a job?” They told me they don’t do that. ‘We sign people up for food stamps.’ I tried another jobs center. They told me to enroll for unemployment benefits.”
So the “jobs” centers help people get handouts. Neither center suggested people try the 40 job openings in the neighborhood.
Other interesting factoids:
Our government helps you apply for handouts immediately, but forces you through a maze if you want to work.
and…
My intern learned a lot from this experience. Here are her conclusions:
It’s easier to get welfare than to work.
The government would rather sign me up for welfare than help me find work.
America has taxpayer-funded bureaucracies that encourage people to be dependent. They incentivize people to take “free stuff,” not to take initiative.
It was easier to find job openings on my own. The private market for jobs works better than government “job centers.”
Yet now New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg wants to expand
I bet he never does either. How much tax payer money can be wasted while providing no useful service.
