Obama visits Minnesota; details new jobs program for vets

Obama visits Minnesota; details new jobs program for vets

Bill Salisbury and Frederick Melo
St. Paul Pioneer Press
June 1, 2012

President Barack Obama swooped into Minnesota on Friday, June 1, to make a pitch for hiring veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, plug his efforts to revive the economy and raise more than $1 million for his re-election campaign.

In his presidential role, the president told a crowd of 1,700 gathered at the Honeywell International headquarters plant in Golden Valley that now the war in Iraq is over and the war in Afghanistan is winding down, more than 1 million "outstanding heroes" are returning to civilian life, and the nation must do more to help them find jobs.

"I believe that no one who fights for this country should ever have to fight for a job when they come home," he said.

Obama announced he has ordered the Defense Department to create a new program in cooperation with manufacturers to transfer the skills veterans learned in the military into the certificates and credentials they need for civilian jobs. He said it would help or 126,000 veterans gain "industry-recognized certification for high-demand manufacturing jobs like the jobs right here at this plant at Honeywell."

He came to the plant because Honeywell has been a leader in hiring returning vets. The company has hired more than 900 veterans since 2011, including 65 in the Twin Cities. Veterans comprise 11 percent of its workforce, a company spokesman said.

"Unfortunately a lot of heroes with advanced skills not hired because they don't have certificates," Obama said.

But they have leadership skills honed on the battlefield, mastered cutting-edge technologies and learned to adapt to unpredictable situations.

"You can't get that stuff from a classroom," he said. "These are the kinds of Americans that every company should want to hire."

He cited the case of a combat medic from Minnesota who couldn't get a first responder job back home because he lacked the required academic credentials.

"Let me tell you something: If you can save a life on a battlefield, you can save a life in an ambulance," he said.

Ryan Sullivan, a Navy veteran and Honeywell electrician, introduced Obama to the Golden Valley crowd. Sullivan served off the coasts of Iraq and Yemen before he was discharged and hired by Honeywell in February through a veterans' employment program.

Among those watching was Honeywell maintenance manager Nick Phillippi, who served in the Navy during the Vietnam war and he was excited this year to receive an application Sullivan.

"I hired him about four months ago, and his Navy service was part of the consideration given when he was hired," Phillippi said. "It wasn't the sole thing. I liked what I saw. I liked what I heard." He's hoping more employers will do the same.

Honeywell "made it a mission to hire more veterans," Obama said. His new initiative will "make it easier for a lot of companies to do the same thing."

The president spoke on a stage with a bleacher full of veterans employed by Honeywell as a backdrop.

In response to a bleak jobs report issued earlier in the day, Obama acknowledged the economy is "not growing as fast as we want it to grow."

The jobs report showed only 69,000 jobs were created in May, the fewest in a year, and the unemployment rate rose to 8.2 percent from 8.1 percent in May.

"So we've got a lot of work to do before we get to where we need to be," he said.

But he pledged the economy will improve.

"We will come back stronger; we do have better days ahead," he said.

Before Obama arrived, former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, a surrogate for Mitt Romney's GOP presidential campaign, told reporters in a conference call that Obama's economic policies are stifling job creation.

"What we see is a president whose policies are hostile to free enterprise, are hostile to job creators and are not only not sparking the kind of economic recovery at the pace we had hoped for and need in America, but we are seeing the voices and perspectives of people who credible, established business leaders increasingly call the president out and holding him accountable," Pawlenty said.

Obama urged Congress to pass his jobs initiatives that would put construction workers back on the job rebuilding roads and bridges, offer tax breaks to small businesses that hire more workers, create a "Veterans Job Corps" and give homeowners a chance to save an average of $3,000 a year by refinancing their mortgages.

"It's time for Congress to end tax breaks for companies that ship jobs overseas," he continued. "Let's use that money to cover moving expenses for companies that are bringing jobs back to America."

He closed his 26-minute speech with a message to veterans: "Just like you fought for us, we'll keep fighting for you."

Afterward, nine-year-old Cora Fett was all smiles. She got to shake the president's hand while attending with her mother Vanya Hagen.

"I basically agreed with the whole message," said Hagen, a St. Paul resident and attorney for the Fond du Lac band of Chippewa. "I think it's great that he's taking executive action to do it and not waiting for Congress, which doesn't work very well."

Bill Green of Maplewood never saw combat, but he spent over a year with the military in Korea in 1968. The maintenance millwright was excited to hear the president during the speech put so much focus on younger veterans returning from war and the sacrifices they and their families have made.

"I'm hoping that that's going to work, because these veterans need the back-up," said Green, a Honeywell employee for 33 years. "They're looking out for the country, and they need to be looked out for too."

Bob Poretti, a technical writer in defense and space engineering at Honeywell's Stinson plant in northeast Minneapolis, said he's seen older veterans retire as the defense industry shrinks. He's nevertheless optimistic that the government and private sector can team to find jobs for younger vets.

"You'd have to get back into an arms race if you're going to do it on the defense end ... but there's plenty of things for them to do. Commercial aviation is starting to come back," Poretti said. "It's not a Republican solution. It's not a Democratic solution. It's an American solution."

After the speech Obama reverted to his role as a candidate to attend three fundraising receptions at the Bachelor Farmer, a Minneapolis restaurant owned by Gov. Mark Dayton's sons.

He delivered remarks to 100 contributors at a $5,000-a-plate luncheon, then spoke to about 20 donors at two separate roundtable discussions that cost $40,000 and $50,000 a person. The proceeds went to the Obama Victory Fund, a joint fundraising committee for his campaign, the Democratic National Committee and several state Democratic parties.

Air Force One landed at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport at 10:47 a.m. with Democratic U.S. Reps. Betty McCollum and Tim Walz aboard. The president was greeted on the tarmac by Dayton, U.S. Sens. Amy Klobuchar and Al Franken, U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison, St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman and Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak.

Dayton rode to the Honeywell plant with the president. Obama told the crowd they talked about the governor's successful bid to build a new stadium to make sure the Vikings stay in Minnesota.

"Now that's a hard thing for a Bears fan to do," he joked. "But I was rooting for the Vikings sticking around here, and the governor did a great job."

A few points I'd like to make.

1) A program for returning vets is a good thing and I'll give Obama kudos for wanting to implement this.... as long as it doesn't come with some stupid bullshit attached to the bill from Democrats that would make the GOP vote it down. Tax increases wold be the most likely idiotic thing. Just present the bill as a stand-alone.

2) If this is classified as a non-campaign stop, then it's bullshit. It is a campaign stop. Use your own campaign money, not the taxpayers.

3) I watched the Minneapolis local news on this. All the people they talked to were absolutely nauseating. You'd swear it was the Beatles that came to town. All this fucking rock star shit from his supporters make them look small and idiotic. No president in history has had this. It's dumb. Absolutely dumb. Just goes to show the mentality.........

I'm sorry, but I don't believe for a nanosecond that Obama.has even one scintilla of empathy for our returning veterans. They are nothing more than a campaign prop for him. He is a vile and disgusting person who knows no shame and would tell any lie that would extend and expand his power.

This bullshit about being for veterans is just that, bullshit.

dblboggie wrote:I'm sorry, but I don't believe for a nanosecond that Obama.has even one scintilla of empathy for our returning veterans. They are nothing more than a campaign prop for him. He is a vile and disgusting person who knows no shame and would tell any lie that would extend and expand his power.

This bullshit about being for veterans is just that, bullshit.

I agree, like you said before, he's a "political whore".

Exactly!