Posted on 03/05/2013 12:30:57 PM PST by mdittmar
The Department of Labor is sending more than $5 million to Eastern Kentucky to help laid-off coal miners and their families. $5,192,500, to be exact.
The federal government announced the emergency grant today. In a press release, the agency said the money would go to providing re-training for miners and their spouses.
“When families lose their entire source of income, they often need more than one job to make ends meet,” said acting Secretary of Labor Seth D. Harris. “This grant from the Labor Department will help prepare both displaced miners and their spouses for new employment in eastern Kentucky’s growing industries.”
This grant, awarded to the Eastern Kentucky Concentrated Employment Program Inc., will provide eligible laid off miners and spouses with training and other services they need to compete for employment in other industries throughout the area, such as business services, construction and skill trades, energy creation and transmission, and health care.
The money could definitely help Eastern Kentucky families who have been affected by all of the recent coal layoffs—in the past year, more than a thousand miners in the region have lost their jobs. But it will be interesting to see what kind and quality of retraining the money provides. One of the reasons that coal mining layoffs hit the region so hard is because there are so few other industries. Retraining will help some people, but it’s hard to think of an industry—or a few industries—that are in need of enough employees to absorb all of those laid-off workers.
The federal government is releasing $3.7 of that grant money immediately, and will send the rest if there's a continued need for assistance.
Huh?
There’s a reason they have no jobs.
This is to keep the unions happy and ready to regurgitate this money to the Democrat Party when Mitch McConnell comes up for re-election next year.
McConnell attacking Obama's EPA for what they've done to coal is one of the more potent issues he has.
I am so sick and tired of this welfare crap. Red states are just as bad as blue states if not worse.
This is really going to do a lot to help keep those “the sequester is going to kill minorities and women” stories on the front burner.
WHAT???? Dig that coal and sell it! Robert Byrd must be spinning about 15,000 rpm right about now.
This grant...will provide eligible laid off miners and spouses with training and other services they need to compete for employment in other industries throughout the area, such as business services, construction and skill trades, energy creation and transmission, and health care.”
Incredible. Most all of the business services, construction and “skill” trades are all allied with servicing the coal business. Other industries? Big laugh.
This grant is nothing more than circular government onanism.
“Department of Labor Announces $5 Million in Emergency Grant to Help Laid-Off Kentucky Coal Miners….”
From work to permanent welfare.
Now, that’s the ticket!
Get ‘em all onboard the liberal entitlement train!
They should retrain them to administer government grant programs. The only people who will gain solid, long-term employment from this hand-out are the bereaucrats running the program.
How about retraining them how to build an oil pipeline?
Oh, wait...
How about they stop the rediculous EPA standards and put them back to work! How about that morons! I hate the government.
Stopping the EPA standards only reduces the money being spent by government agencies so we can’t have that. The government created the problem so they had to create something else - $5 Million Grant fund - to fix it. SOP for everyone and everything in DC.
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