Posted: 3:13 p.m. Friday, Jan. 2, 2015

Americans rank these as top problems in 2014

By Michael D. Pitman

Staff Writer

    Four issues held court in 2014 as the most important problems facing the country, according to a significant percent of Americans polled.

    According to a recent Gallup Poll, government leadership — including the Republicans in Congress, President Barack Obama and general political strife and conflict — topped the list with at least 18 percent of Americans saying it was a problem.

    These problems were queried by the pollster over the year, and the highest monthly result for the trio of trouble was 21 percent.

    The economy was a close second with 17 percent of Americans for a year saying it was the most important problem in the United States last year followed by unemployment and jobs at 15 percent and health care at 10 percent.

Immigration was fifth at 8 percent for a yearly average, however, 17 percent of Americans at one point said it was the most important problem facing the country.

    The top four issues — government, economy, unemployment and health care — for 2014 were the same top issues in 2013, though the economy was the top problem followed by the governmental strife.

    Last year is also the first time since 2001 the poll did not have a single issue with an annual average at least 20 percent of Americans claiming it was a top problem for the country to address.

 

Bocephus wrote: I wonder if immigration will be listed higher as a problem this time next year after obama passes out work permits aka green cards to 5-10 million and counting illegals? Shouldn't affect the working class in America at all right? See it coming now, the help wanted adds will say must be bilingual.

Yep. Allowing illegals (or workers willing to take much less per hour) into the country is devastating to the normal working market we are accustomed to seeing in this country. They drive down wages.

Case in point. Tucson Arizona. A city of almost a million people. Pleasant weather. Beautiful mountains and scenery. 80 degrees and a pair of shorts on in February while looking at the white caps on the surrounding mountain ranges. 72 degrees and sunny on Christmas day out there. The family experienced it all back in 2004.

For 8 months, my son and I looked for a decent paying job. The job market, in a city of a million people mind you, centered on low paying service jobs and call center wages offering a maximum of 10 bucks an hour. Couple that with low wages due to the illegals/legals influence from 60 miles away in Mexico, who are willing to take the low wages and no benefits. The employers of Tucson know this and are more than happy to pay lower than normal wages and save a bundle on benefits costs. The influence of the immigrants, in this case, has caused a collapse of the normal wage/benefit structure found in other parts of the country and does not offer enough for most to experience a decent standard of living.

I found a job in a plastic injection molding shop, in quality control, working the midnight shift. The ENTIRE shift spoke Spanish with little English understanding. The night shift plant manager from England, came down each night to talk to me because I was the only person on the shift who understood English. Makes one feel like a stranger in their own country.

As more illegals are allowed to enter the country, and as more filter to other parts of the country from the Mexico border, will we see more of this "low wage/no benefits" thinking from employers if they know that there are people to select from that will accept this offer? And if so, what will happen to those in the job market as to job selection, pay and bennies? In the future, will the average American have to accept what these people now accept? Will the whole country be like Tucson is now........IE, offering absolutely no jobs that pay a decent wage nor offer bennies with most jobs being in the service sector. Might be great for the employers but it would be devastating for the worker.

Tucson is a great place to live......if you are already retired and not dependent on the job market there. If you are still in the working world, you just can't afford to live there because of the low wages being offered and the non-diverse job scene.

Bocephus wrote: We have been sold out by the Democrats for the future votes of "illegal immigrants" and by 95% of the Republicans who are going to make it easier for corporations and people like bill gates and the dweeb that runs facebook to get a non ending supply of cheaper foreign labor because Americans are just too dumb for high skilled jobs and too lazy for manual labor! So it's a win win situation for everyone but American workers.

Well, by all means, let's keep putting the incumbants of both parties back in office on a repetitive basis, then complain when they shaft us time and time again.

So, American companies hire the illegals for cheap labor to replace the American worker, then have the audacity to ask for loyalty to the company? They may not realize it, but loyalty to a company went out the window decades ago when the workplace started changing, stacking the deck in favor of the company and against the worker in extreme fashion.