The American Dream is dead and you can thank the unsuspected villain -- student loans. How do you look a new graduate in the eye and say here take this low wage $15 per hour job to pay off $80,000, $90,000 or worse $100,000+ in student loans. Basically, student loans have turned professionals (recently graduates) into indentured servants. So who's to blame? You know who...the other guy. It's always the other guy. The GOP blames the Dems for financing students that don't stand a chance. Meanwhile, the Dems blame the GOP for holding jobs over the heads of students with six figure student loans. So who's telling the truth...well the truth of the matter is that there's a little truth to both positions. At the same time, how is it that bright intelligent new graduates are walking around with "will work for food" signs while Big Corp execs get golden parachutes for running the housing market in the ground? Gee let's ask Bank of America (purchaser of CountryWide Mortgage), maybe they know something. Book em' Danno!

One month the job report numbers are down and now the numbers are up. While I'm no economist, that doesn't sound like a stable economic rebound to me. That in turn raises the question -- what happened to the job security safety net? Historically that has been the Feds, but while we're trumpeting an increase in private sector hiring, at the same time the Feds are axing jobs like it's Armageddon or something. What's that all about? Hummh, maybe it's the narrow focus of bean counters at the expense of the big picture i.e. economic stability an d national security.

What do jobs have to do with national security? Well, its a little hard to ensure national security when the Pentagon is up for big budget cuts which mean massive job losses in defense. Make no mistake about it, those cuts will hurt and they will hurt badly. It's a simple reality, many US military bases are located in cities in which those bases are the primary source of revenue flow. Now what do you think is going to happen to those cities when the cash stops flowing? You guessed it, many of those towns will be hit hard economically. It's a little hard to figure out how a measly increase up to 200,000 or so private sector jobs [for November] account for the tens of billions of dollars of revenue loss for many military towns and states. Sounds like a classic case of one step forward and two steps backwards. Needless to say it just begs the question, what happened to the job security safety net? Maybe that's something the Occupy DC movement can better ask.

All the hype about alternative energy and the promise around such is just that -- hype. The fact of the matter is that oil related jobs still lead the way, as far as energy goes. You can get pissed at BP if you want, but Big Oil is where it's at right now. In a backwards kind of way, the fact that so many people love to hate BP right now has contributed to the latest oil boom right here in the states. That's right, drilling right here in the states. Obama was against this for a while but Big Oil has won in the long run. Drilling in the states has increased considerably particularly in North Dakota and Montana. Those states aren't exactly very exciting places to live, especially given the extreme cold. On the other hand, if your pockets are on "e" than having some warm cash flowing may offset the cold weather.

The increase in drilling has actually created a surplus in jobs. Yes a surplus, to the tune of about 3,000 jobs on any given day, coming out of those two states alone. Again, much of that has to do with the fact that no one is in a hurry to live in either North Dakota or Montana. At that same time, if you're out of a job or looking for a change, a steady paycheck and sleeping in the comfort of your own bed is better than unemployment and sleeping at the YMCA...it's too cold outside. You won't hear any talk about Occupy Bismarck. lol. Still not ready to pack your bags? How about this, there is so much cash flowing through North Dakota right now that people are paying $1,200 a month just to park an RV. WTF - $1,200 a month to park an RV! Before the Big Oil boom you couldn't pay the RV owner to park in the same spots. Totally crazy. But then when you consider the 11 Billion barrels of oil those two states are sitting on, that puts matters into perspective. Get with it...there's going to be lots of oil jobs coming out of that area for some time. Clearly, oil jobs still lead the way as far as energy goes; the only question is will you cash in on gold rush.Bring a sweater...no bring a parka (better yet bring two).

The job crisis in the USA is getting national attention, with the help of the Occupy Wall Street movement. At the same time, many people are still wondering what's the real problem underneath the job crisis? The short answer is -- there is no short answer. On the other hand, a summary of the major factors include:

1. Economy: The economy in the USA is pretty mature. After reaching the mountaintop you normally have to go down the mountain to climb back to the top.
2. Reckless capitalism: As the saying goes, "just because you CAN do something doesn't make it a good idea." Need I say more?
3. Taxes: Taxes are way to high. Why? The tax code factors in greed, corruption and tax evasion. Basically, the tax system accounts for reckless capitalism.
4. Democracy: It always has and always will cost more to operate in a democratic society. Deal with it.
5. Who's the Boss?: Not the tv sitcom but in the real world. Who's the boss - government or the private sector? Everyone loves to hate giving government power, which would mean the power is in the private sector's hands. Now look at the results and judge for yourself.

Of course, there is light at the end of every tunnel, so just hang on for little while longer. In the mean time, moving to China is always an option; China is growing and hiring. let's hope China is as eager to employ Americans as we are eager to open our doors to so many other Countries. Needless to say, but the real problem underneath the USA job crisis involves many factors and it's going to take a hard push (maybe shove) to move matters along.