“Pass This Bill Now”… President Obama said tonight in his address to Congress and the nation, as he “ticked off a list of measures he said would put money in people’s pockets, encourage companies to begin hiring again, and jolt an American economy at risk of relapsing into recession.” “Pass This Bill Now,” repeated again and again in so many words, as he “all but ordered Congress to pass the legislation.” “You should pass this jobs plan right away,”...
“Perrycare” vs. “RomneyCare” Rick Perry promises to bring his “Personal Responsibility ” health reform to the rest of the country. He also vows to dismantle President Obama’s health care reform. One of his main tactics is to fiercely attack Mitt Romney for putting through a 2006 health care reform in Massachusetts, which was a model for Obama’s new reforms. Even Romney, in the sights of the Tea Party, has been forced to backtrack on the success of his reforms. But if Romney...
The second-highest ranking Democrat in the Senate will chair a hearing Thursday to begin probing the rash of GOP-led voter ID laws being enacted in states nationwide. Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois will preside over the session, to be held by the Senate Judiciary Committee’s Constitution, civil rights and human rights subcommittee. These new state laws — enacted in Wisconsin, Texas, Alabama and elsewhere under GOP governors — significantly reduce the number of early voting days, require voters to...
The fundamental SHAPE of our system is being crippled by a wildcat strike -- by union busters, go figure -- who seem to think that they're all John Galt, and that by bringing down the country some sort of golden age of beneficial and idealistic selfishness will erupt, and the air will sparkle and the waters will be pure and fields of daisies will cover the slag heaps and the open pit mine tailings and lions will lie down...
If you’re like me, you’ll be watching President Obama on television Thursday night as he outlines his new plan to get America back to work. And, like me, you’ll be wondering if any of his proposals stand a chance of actually making much of a dent in the nation’s massive, 9.1-percent unemployment rate. Helpfully, a group of economists and analysts at the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) released a set of four criteria that we at home can use...
AP News reports today that “Working-age America is the new face of poverty.” I’m not sure that that is any big news to those struggling with making ends meet on unemployment or low wage jobs, but at least the media is talking about it. Currently, the ranks of the working-age poor are at the highest level since the 1960s when the war on poverty was launched. When new census figures for 2010 are released next week, analysts expect a...
For most Americans, the only significance of Labor Day is that it concludes a three day weekend. For Kirk Artley, it means he has about six weeks left of employment. On Aug. 24, RR Donnelley, a Chicago-based megacorporation that claims to be “the world’s premier full-service provider of print and related services,” told Artley and the other 283 workers at the Bloomsburg, Pa., plant that “economic conditions” forced the closing of the book printing facility. The workers said they...
Although the federal government reported zero net job growth in August, the dismal unemployment picture extends beyond poor month-to-month news, according to a top Washington economist. The nation’s unemployment rate is not expected to fall below 8 percent until mid-2014, and that will require serious attention of Washington policymakers, says Chad Stone, chief economist at the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities, an independent think tank. The Labor Department on Friday reported that U.S. employers added no net new...
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