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Obama: Interns for Me but not for Thee
WashingtonTimes.com
Apparently,
the administration's campaign arm knows the reciprocal benefits of offering
unpaid internships, so why take that option away from private businesses?
Such
arrogance is reminiscent of the health care mandates that will exempt select
congressional staffers who work for committees or leadership offices. This
shows yet another blatant example of a "Do as I say, not as I do" policy
position of the Obama administration, and hitting businesses like this will
win him no further fans in the struggling private sector.
At a time when the unemployed are concerned about not
only money but also loss of job skills,the Obama administration's top law
enforcement officer at the Labor Department, M. Patricia Smith, is looking
to come down on companies who give unpaid internships to young people. An
editorial in The Washington Times on April 7 stated:
"Basic
economics teaches that if the price is raised, demand falls. If companies
have to pay wages, they will take on fewer interns. If these youngsters were
actually benefiting companies more than it costs to train them, companies
would pay them. Profit-seeking companies compete against each other for
employees. If untrained students were such valuable workers, firms would
gladly offer money to beat out the competitor next door to get them."
The New York
Times reported that Nancy J. Leppink, the acting director of the
department’s Wage and Hour Division, said, "If you’re a for-profit employer
or you want to pursue an internship with a for-profit employer, there aren't
going to be many circumstances where you can have an internship and not be
paid and still be in compliance with the law."
The unemployment rate among teenagers and college
students is
26 percent, reports Red State's Erick Erickson, and if companies are
forced through government regulation to pay these interns, companies will
look to rework their budgets to be in compliance, and fewer students will be
offered internships. This means fewer students can be brought in and gain
valuable experience in a workplace environment. The federal government is
attempting to change the entire point of gaining work skills and create yet
another underserved demographic of victims falling prey to private sector
companies.
It is amusing to see the Obama administration creating
the image of poorly treated unpaid interns, when Mr. Obama's Organizing for
America
offered internships to help elect the president during his presidential
campaign and still is offering up
unpaid internships
today. In fact, the summer organizing program also does not even offer
food, transportation or housing stipends:
2008
Presidential campaign internships