'Entitlement' mentality reflected in Obama's questioner

[Revmitchell]

.................Osegueda went on to share with the president that he has been working at McDonald's for four-and-a-half years and cannot find another job. He then asked Obama if he has any plans to help better his life:

"Would the fact that I've been there for as long as I've been there, do you have any plan or any idea of making one that has been there for a long time receive any better benefits than what they've already received?"

Jason Mattera (Young America's Foundation)Jason Mattera with the Young America's Foundation (YAF) says Osegueda's question highlights the mindset of the entitlement generation.

"That happens to be the mentality today," says Mattera. "It's...no longer 'What can I do for myself?' or 'How can I enrich my own life?' -- it's 'What can Uncle Sam do through displacing wealth that I never created and that I didn't work for, but I think I'm entitled to?'"..........


More Here

 

[targus]

"Would the fact that I've been there for as long as I've been there, do you have any plan or any idea of making one that has been there for a long time receive any better benefits than what they've already received?"

When I heard him say this my understanding was that he was asking Obama to do something to make McDonalds give him better benefits just by virtue of his time on the job.

I wouldn't be suprised to see legislation to that effect from the Obama bunch. It wouldn't surprise me to see new labor laws dictating how much and when employers are required to give raises and benefit increases based on nothing more than time on the job - ignoring performance or value to the employer.

 

[LeBuick]

He is a side effect of this economic crises. When I came along teenagers and college students worked fast food. Increasingly today you find people trying to support a family or live a self sustaining life off the pay and benefits. McDonald's would have to raise the price of the big mac to give workers better benefits so this is quit a dilemma.

What would be nice is if he can get his degree and get a job with a decent company in the private sector then this will be a non-issue for him.

 

[targus]

He is a side effect of this economic crises.

He has held the same low paying McDonald's job for four and a half years. The situation in which he finds himself has less to do with an "economic crisis" and more likely is a product of a personal characteristic. I don't know what that specifically would be... lack of education, lack of confidence, lack of ambition, lack of a mentor/role model... who knows.

One would think that after four and a half years a person of moderate competence and ambition would have moved up within McDonald's if nothing else.

When I came along teenagers and college students worked fast food. Increasingly today you find people trying to support a family or live a self sustaining life off the pay and benefits. McDonald's would have to raise the price of the big mac to give workers better benefits so this is quit a dilemma.

Actually, my understanding is that McDonald's provides for tuition reimbursement for their more promising employees.

What would be nice is if he can get his degree and get a job with a decent company in the private sector then this will be a non-issue for him.

That would be nice but I wouldn't count on it. He is attending "college" to become a disc jockey. He would do better to acquire a more marketable skill.

 

[J.D.]

He is a side effect of this economic crises. When I came along teenagers and college students worked fast food. Increasingly today you find people trying to support a family or live a self sustaining life off the pay and benefits. McDonald's would have to raise the price of the big mac to give workers better benefits so this is quit a dilemma.

What would be nice is if he can get his degree and get a job with a decent company in the private sector then this will be a non-issue for him.

There's really nothing new about this. Since the creation, economic progress depends on effort, skill, and education. Unskilled, uneducated labor is always going to have to settle for menial jobs.

If our socialist president were to make such jobs more financially rewarding, it would de-incentivize young people from entering college or trade school/skilled profession apprenticeships. The corresponding drop in the number of qualified plumbers, electricians, and clerical workers would drive our quality of life down and spread misery.

The government should leave the economy alone and focus on doing it's job of prosecuting crooks, cheaters, colluders, book-fixers and such.

 

[LeBuick]

He has held the same low paying McDonald's job for four and a half years. The situation in which he finds himself has less to do with an "economic crisis" and more likely is a product of a personal characteristic. I don't know what that specifically would be... lack of education, lack of confidence, lack of ambition, lack of a mentor/role model... who knows..

You left out lack of jobs... Another 600K lost just last month.

 

[targus]

You left out lack of jobs... Another 600K lost just last month.

Sorry. As was pointed out - he has been at the same low paying job for four and a half years.

A whole lot of under educated, non-english speaking, illegal aliens have done a whole lot better than that in less time in the exact same economy.

Go figure.