Archives for: February 2010
02/26/10
 04:01:34 pm, by Bud  , 315 words 
Categories: Daily Posts
Senator Jim Bunning (R-Ky.) filibustered unemployment insurance, COBRA, and other federal programs, citing that this extension was not pay-as-you-go. His amendment sought to find the funds from the Stimulus Bill of 2009, and declared that he supported the unemployed, but a bill such as this only adds to the growing deficit and should be paid for immediately.
Bob Corker joined Bunning, while other senators worked to break his filibuster until 11:48 PM EST. When Senator Jeff Merkley urged him to drop his objections to vote on a 30-day extension of benefits, Bunning responded "tough shit."
In Bunning's closing comments to the senate floor he said Democrats were remiss in causing him to miss the Kentucky basketball game vs South Carolina. (Bunning, 78, a former Major League Baseball pitcher who is in the Hall of Fame, is considered one of the more eccentric members of the Senate.)
In an e-mail I recieved from Senator Harry Reid he states: "Over the past week, my colleagues and I have worked diligently to prepare legislation that will provide an immediate extension of unemployment benefits to American families in need. I, however, have been disappointed to see this important legislation blocked by Senator Jim Bunning (R-KY). Senator Bunning has objected to repeated calls for "unanimous consent" on the Senate floor that would allow the Senate to pass the proposed extension. This obstructionism on an issue that is so very important to jobless Nevadans has been, to say the least, very discouraging. Senator Bunning's attempts notwithstanding, I am confident that we will pass this legislation soon."
But Bunning blames Harry Reid: "Remember now, this all could’ve been changed had not the leader of the Senate decided that a bipartisan compromise jobs bill was not as important as his partisan jobs bill that just passed just before all of this debate," he said in his final remarks.
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0210/33566.html
07:50:19 am, by Bud , 1016 words
Categories: Daily Posts
...and the ones who do it should be hailed as heroes, because Reyes and McDermott are underminung the safety of our brave soldiers in Afghanistan and Iraq, putting them in greater danger - and further risking their lives (and the lives of American citizens here at home).
Reyes and Jim McDermott's ideologies are directly tied to the Progressive Eric Holder, and Holder's hiring of lawyers who defend Islamic terrorists.
Democrats tried to sneak a provision into the intelligence authorization bill that would establish criminal punishment for CIA agents and other intelligence officials who engage in "cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment" during interrogations.
An 11-page addition was inserted into the bill late Wednesday night as the House Rules Committee considered the legislation.
The provision, previously not vetted in committee, applies to "any officer or employee of the intelligence community" who during interrogations engages in beatings, infliction of pain or forced sexual acts. The bill said the acts covered by the provision would include inducing hypothermia, conducting mock executions or "depriving the [detainee] of necessary food, water, sleep, or medical care."
The language gives Congress the discretion to determine what the terms mean, and it would level punishments of up to 20 years in prison, and in some cases, life sentences if a detainee dies as a result of the interrogation.
Intelligence Committee Chairman Silvestre Reyes (D-Texas) added the language, originally offered by Rep. Jim McDermott (D-Wash.), to his manager’s amendment, which makes several changes to the bill passed by committee.
Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.) said the language underscores existing law and enhances national security. (Schakowsky backed ACORN, is a member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, is a friend of Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, supports the "public option", was a supporter of Gov. Pat Quinn and SEIU.)
Reyes’ manager’s amendment also includes language that would change the rules governing executive branch notification to Congress about covert intelligence operations.
On December 1, 2006, Silvestre Reyes was tapped by Nancy Pelosi to be the new chairman of the House Intelligence Committee. As a Mexican-American, he was instrumental in leading the opposition to the House immigration reform bill proposed by James Sensenbrenner, H.R. 4437. Reyes was against "The Surge" in Iraq.
The issue of changing the notification process became a priority last year after a partisan fight over when and how Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) was informed about the use of harsh interrogation techniques such as waterboarding. The media spotlight grew hotter after a briefing in June when CIA Director Leon Panetta informed lawmakers that the agency had failed to notify them about plans for an assassination program begun in 2001 that was designed to capture or kill al Qaeda leaders.
One intelligence source described the debate as bizarre. "You've really got to wonder what's going on here. The CIA no longer has a detention and interrogation program. That ended in January 2009 by executive order. It's over, so the need for this proposal is your classic head-scratcher," the source said.
Like Jan Schakowsky, Jim McDermott (from Chicago, Illinois) is also a member of the House Progressive Caucus.
After a visit to Iraq in 2002, McDermott received a $5,000 contribution to an unrelated legal defense fund from Shakir al Khafaji, an Iraqi-American businessman with alleged ties to the Oil for Food scandal. McDermott returned the contribution in 2004 after it was questioned in the media.
On April 28th, 2004, Congressman McDermott omitted the phrase "under God" while leading the House in reciting the Pledge of Allegiance
In December 2004, Rep. McDermott came under investigation by the House Ethics Committee when they had to determine whether he violated standards of conduct for leaking an illegally recorded telephone conversation during a committee investigation in 1997. At that time, the committee was investigating the conduct of then-Speaker Newt Gingrich. (No action was ever taken by the Ethics Committee against Gingrich). On March 31, 2008, Chief Judge Thomas Hogan of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia ordered McDermott to pay $1.05 million to Boehner, covering attorney's fees, costs and interest. McDermott also has had to pay over $60,000 in fines and close to $600,000 to his own lawyers.
This blogger: No one in al Qaeda participated in the Geneva Convention, and al Qaeda, as an army, represents no one country (and their homicidal members are not citizens of the U.S.) - They hack the heads off innocents, drag their dead bodies through the street, hang them from bridges, hide behind children when shooting at U.S. soldiers, praises a deity that they claim will give them virgins for using kamikaze tactics to slaughter thousands...they are demented and rabid animals and should be treated as such. But the Democrats want to read them their "rights".
The Democrats and their love affair with these Muslim terrorists is sickening!
And Silvestre Reyes and Jim McDermott, who like cowards, tried to sneak this legislation through, can join them in hell. Read their resumes - they too are scum.
Silvestre Reyes and Jim McDermott - two Democrats and two more reasons why we should vote ALL the Democrats out of office this year. It seems that every day I am finding it increasingly difficult to find ANY good apples in the Democrat's basket...it has been poisoned with too many "Progressives".
- - - Tell the PROGRESSIVES I said so - - -
Silvestre Reyes - http://reyes.house.gov/Contact
El Paso Office
(Open Monday-Friday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. - closed on federal holidays)
310 N. Mesa
Suite 400
El Paso, Texas 79901
Phone: (915) 534-4400
Fax: (915) 534-7426
Washington, D.C. Office
(Open Monday-Friday 9 a.m. – 6 p.m. EST - closed on federal holidays)
2433 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515
Phone: (202) 225-4831
Fax: (202) 225-2016
Jim McDermott - http://www.house.gov/mcdermott/contact.shtml
Office via telephone at (202) 225-3106 or by fax at (202) 225-6197
If you are a constituent of Washington's 7th district, contact Congressman McDermott's office in Seattle by phone (206-553-7170) or fax (206-553-7175)
Sources:
http://thehill.com/homenews/house/83817-gop-cries-foul-over-amendment-to-intel-bill
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/02/26/house-tries-pass-intel-controversy-cia-punishment/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%253A+foxnews%252Fpolitics+%2528Text+-+Politics%2529
02/25/10
12:08:58 pm, by Bud , 1191 words
Categories: Daily Posts
I had been watching the Healthcare Summit all day today. At the end of over 7 hours of discussion (in which the Democrats and Obama dominated the time by 2 to 1) Obama spent more time pontificating than actually promoting a real consensus. His excuse for using up so much time was, "because I'm the President." (Nancy Pelosi, as usual, wasted her share of time by just spewing more silly nonsense).
But Obama made it perfectly clear in the last 5 minutes of the summit that the Democrats would use the nuclear option to pass their healthcare bill.
Note: Early on in the discussion Reid denied that any Democrat ever considered using the nuclear option...that raised a few eye brows!
Obama controlled and changed the subject matter; or moved on to another speaker when asked about something he felt uncomfortable answering.
Obama also attempted to demean Senator John McCain by saying "the campaigning is over" when McCain legitimately asked about the backroom deals (Louisiana Purchase, the Unions, etc). Then Obama talked over him when McCain tried to reply (a typical far left-wing maneuver - and very disrespectful to the Senator).
But despite their lack of fair time allotment, the Republicans clearly showed that they were NOT the party of "NO". In fact, they made many common sense recommendations, but it appeared that Obama winced at most of them...his mind having already been made up before going in to the discussions.
The part about extending coverage to adult-dependent children (up to the age of 26) really irked me...another Democratic ploy to issue hand-outs to gain the young votes. Tell those "kids" to get off their lazy ass and get REAL jobs, just like older unemployed people without jobs and healthcare must do!
Only by fixing unemployment first, can our leaders improve healthcare costs, not by One-Upmanship
It's not just about insuring more people, but of lowering the cost of healthcare - which will do both. Lower the cost by creating a larger pool of employed people, and you will increase the availability of healthcare.
Children with genetic diseases, young adults practicing risky behavior, and the elderly with a natural biological breakdown of their bodies can all be covered in this way.
One radical idea would be to do away with Medicare entirely and have a National Healthcare Plan for all...the only difference being to "Obamacare" (to fund this) is to have all working people pay a percentage of their wages (such as a 5% National Healthcare Tax) and get rid of the capital gains tax to encourage re-investment and just impose a 5% National Healthcare Tax on those type of profits.
Put this revenue into one single healthcare insurance pool for all citizens, which would be used to pay for any insurance policy that the individual (or collective group) wanted - - - and from any insurance company they choose. There would be no "high risk" pools. Insurance companies can compete for the business. (Eventually this would be narrowed down to a selective few, with less competitive and mis-managed companies dropping out of the healthcare insurance business altogether.)
Then, only "Healthcare insurance reform" would be needed and should include portability, prohibiting cancellations, eliminate caps on lifetime care, and covering pre-existing conditions.
So far, my take:
1 - One reason why insurance premiums have been going up is because 17 million unemployed people have no longer been paying into the pool over the last 2-year recession. That's why JOBS should be the first order of the day, not "healthcare reform".
2 - Healthcare COST is what should be addressed, to increase availability. Eliminating waste and fraud should not just be promised, but implemented first before any "reform" is initiated. Health insurance investigators from the private sector, working on a commission basis, could identify and report on waste and fraud in Medicaid and Medicare. Individuals guilty of fraud should be convicted, fined, (and if criminal) imprisoned to establish a deterrent from such future practices. Proceeds of fines would go to the cost of implementing this.
3 - Tort reform is VERY significant (as Senator Harry Reid knows well when doctors were fleeing Nevada because of high insurance rates protecting them from malpractice suits). That encourages doctors to perform too many unnecessary (and/or redundant tests), driving up medical costs. Patients seeking second opinions are already protected. It's not just the cap on jury awards, but the COST of doing business for doctors.
4 - Allowing people to purchase generic drugs from Canada (bypassing the FDA) should be looked into - millions of Canadians are not dying from drug poisoning. Pharmaceutical companies recover their costs from medical research from the marketing of new drugs at certain prices, but their prices are kept too high for too long. "Pharma-reform" should be looked into.
5 - Competing across State lines, bypassing the current inter-state commerce laws that allow monopolies - that's why many banks are based in Delaware, because of laws that are very favorable to them. Allow competition between insurance companies across State lines by individuals, small business collectives, government blocks, unions, and large corporations.
6 - The pie is only so big - the slices of the unemployed and illegal immigrants are growing, while the slices who are actually paying premiums into the system are decreasing. Eliminate corporate out-sourcing of jobs to make widgets overseas; importing the widgets back to the U.S. for sale in a shrinking market is just plain crazy. I'd rather pay a little more for an item at Wal-Mart than to cope with high unemployment. (Then reform illegal immigration.)
7 - "Healthcare insurance reform" should only include portability, prohibiting cancellations, and covering pre-existing conditions.
Conclusion: Insurance companies make less profits than most other industries. Hospitals are going broke. Illegal immigrants drain resources. "Healthcare insurance reform" is needed to a lesser degree than "healthcare cost reform". Government mandates are Socialistic in nature; free-market based solutions are more American using capitalism. Smaller government, not bigger. Government regulation in ALL aspects of society raises ALL costs for everyone.
United States manufacturing base: Corporate greed has encouraged joblessness in America - even the jobs that were once exported to Mexico are now being out-sourced from there to India and China...the economies that are actually growing (no Cap and Trade there!). We've come full circle - joblessness reduces the insurance pool, driving up insurance premiums (COST).
If Congress and Obama passes the present healthcare bill with only 51 votes, I predict a very negative outcome for the Democrats in November (and that's putting it VERY mildly). But I doubt Obama or many Democrats don't much care about that very much...they are more concerned about "making history".
Look at Obama's "Plan B" (a plan that only covers about 15 million people - almost as many who lost their jobs over the last 2 years.)
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703510204575085970815851804.html
My next post (maybe) - Get rid of the IRS entirely and implement a National Flat Tax on consumption, not Federal Income Tax on payroll earnings.
Just ask me and I'll fix all our problems 
P.S. - Is it just me, or does Pelosi and Reid really enjoy being in each other's company? Hey, just wondering.
02/24/10
10:20:56 am, by Bud , 616 words
Categories: Daily Posts
The current "recession" will likely last longer than Japan's "Lost Decade" or America's "Great Depression".
More bank failures, falling consumer confidence, declining new home sales, long-term unemployment, excessive debt, and future inflation will haunt the U.S. economy for years to come.
The F.D.I.C. is bracing for a wave of bank failures. With bank failures running at their highest level in nearly two decades, the F.D.I.C. is racing to keep up with rising losses to its insurance fund. With so many banks failing, the federal deposit insurance fund has been severely depleted. At the end of 2009, it carried a negative balance of $20.9 billion.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/24/business/24fdic.html
New Home Sales at a Low in U.S. - New-home sales fell 11.2 percent in January (the third consecutive month of declines) to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 309,000, the lowest since record keeping began in 1963, the Commerce Department said. Analysts had forecast an increase of 3.5 percent. With January’s numbers so low, and consumer confidence weakening, several economists said they were revising their forecasts.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/25/business/economy/25econ.html
Ben S. Bernanke, the Federal Reserve chairman, said the economic recovery would remain halting for months to come (months ???). He said,"The Federal Reserve will at some point need to begin to tighten monetary conditions to prevent the development of inflationary pressures." Mr. Bernanke predicted that the recovery would be slow. "Obviously unemployment is the biggest problem that we have...the job market remains quite weak."
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/25/business/economy/25fed.html?partner=rss&emc=rss
The stock market has partially recovered since the lows of March last year, but that's mostly because corporations have cut back on expenses by laying off workers to accommodate lack of demand for goods and services. Existing workers, who fear losing their jobs, have been pressured to be more productive.
This does not signal an economic recovery, but a decline in Gross National Product...a company can produce less widgets with less employees and still make a profit.
And of course, American corporations continue to out-source overseas for cheaper labor...that also helps their company's bottom line. (I find this to be ironic since most of their products are shipped back to the U.S. for sale here; but to hell with American labor!)
And I fear most of those jobs are lost forever. New hiring can't even come close to the population growth. The ones who are lucky enough to still be working will be burdened with paying Federal, State, and City union pensions for years to come.
See all my well-researched posts on the current unemployment situation:
The New Poor - Millions of Unemployed Face Years Without Jobs
http://tobuds.com/blogs/blog1.php/2010/02/21/the-new-poor-millions-of-unemployed-face
Government Jobs (Bigger Government) Drive Employment Numbers
http://tobuds.com/blogs/blog1.php/2010/03/01/government-jobs-bigger-government-drive
Actual Unemployment in 2010 - Recession Worse than Reported
http://tobuds.com/blogs/blog1.php/2010/02/04/actual-unemployment-in-january-2010-rece
Deep Recession Shows No Sign of Letting Up - Maybe Getting Worse
http://tobuds.com/blogs/blog1.php/2010/02/24/deep-recession-shows-no-sign-of-letting
Largest U.S. Labor Union: AFL-CIO says Jobs Won't Return
http://tobuds.com/blogs/blog1.php/2010/01/07/largest-u-s-labor-union-afl-cio-says-job
More Bad News for the Unemployed in 2010 - and Beyond
http://tobuds.com/blogs/blog1.php/2010/02/23/more-bad-news-for-the-unemployed-in-2010
Almost 1 out of 5 People are Out of Work in the U.S.A.
http://tobuds.com/blogs/blog1.php/2009/12/31/unemployment-december-2009-new-release
FOX News Wages War on Unemployed - Thinks They're Lazy
http://tobuds.com/blogs/blog1.php/2010/03/02/real-reason-why-extended-unemployment-be
Tea Party, Fox News, and Conservatives Attack the Unemployed
http://tobuds.com/blogs/blog3.php/2010/03/04/tea-party-gets-in-wrong-on-unemployment
Extended Unemployment Benefits in 2010 - Fully Explained
http://tobuds.com/blogs/blog3.php/2010/02/16/extended-unemployment-benefits-in-2010
02/23/10
08:25:26 pm, by Bud , 520 words
Categories: Daily Posts
The National Tea Party Convention presented a Special Screening: "Generation Zero - The Truth About the Financial Meltdown".
"Generation Zero," a Citizens United production, was also featured and well-received at the 2010 Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC).
Tonight it was reviewed by Sean Hannity on FOX News.
SEE >>> http://generationzeromovie.com for preview
What stood out the most to me was that ever since Wall Street investment houses went from being partnerships to publicly traded stocks, the partners evaded responsibility for huge risks and took large profits for a prize. Stockholders and taxpayers got the bill when Wall Street made risky investments that went bad, but investment brokers got to keep their mansions and airplanes while the rest of us suffered great losses. (Doesn't the recent Wall Street activity just prove that?)
"Generation Zero" was written and directed by awarding-winning director, Stephen K. Bannon. In addition Mr. Bannon and Alan Peterson acted as producers.
"This film is about a crisis - one that is as profound as The Revolution, The Civil War, or The Great Depression and WWII," says Bannon. "The title ‘Generation Zero’ is ironic, as it refers to both the Baby Boomers and the generation born today: the one generation whose greed and fiscal mismanagement has destroyed the financial legacy and inheritance of the other."
The trailer is on one of Andrew Breitbart's Big Government web sites: Big Hollywood
A comment by Peter Alberice:
As a Baby Boomer, the question I ask myself, and I suspect many others as well, is no longer what's in it for me but, "what have I contributed or accomplished?"
It is a sobering question for Boomers who have surfed the great wave of post WWII prosperity without a whole lot of effort relative to the struggles that prior generations have had. The founders of our country, those living through the Civil War, and the Great Depression come to mind.
Recently, the last two living WWI veterans of the British Army passed away and soon, the Greatest Generation will pass as well. We will be on our own. We will become the gatekeepers and the guardians for the generations to follow.
Now, instead of not trusting anyone over 30, we will not trust anyone under 30; not because of a deep animosity towards a younger generation, but a realization that the naiveté of our youth apologized for some of the latter part of the 20th Century's great tragedies and villains ( Che, Pol Pot, Mao). We are seeing that same naiveté in those 30 or younger, some of whom think that life is nothing but a free download and that "hope and change" have meaning. We’ve been there before. We are now as the default guardians of the West's free democracies and markets. Will we as a generation be able to step up to the challenges at hand?
The release of Generation Zero comes at a time when citizens of our nation, and Boomers in particular, are struggling to understand why our economy and our nation’s exceptionalism have been challenged to such a critical level not seen since the Great Depression. This is a timely film.
11:57:57 am, by Bud , 729 words
Categories: Daily Posts
Formula shows why it’s so hard to cut jobless rate
By JEANNINE AVERSA, AP Economics Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) - The economy’s 5.7 percent growth last quarter (the fastest pace since 2003) was a step toward shrinking the nation’s 10 percent unemployment rate.
There’s just one problem: Growth would have to equal 5 percent for all of 2010 just to lower the average jobless rate for the year by 1 percentage point.
And economists don’t think that’s possible.
Most analysts say economic activity will slow to 2.5 percent or 3 percent growth for the current quarter as the benefits fade from government stimulus efforts and from companies drawing down less of their stockpiles.
That’s why the Federal Reserve and outside economists think it will take until around the middle of the decade to lower the double-digit jobless rate to a more normal 5 or 6 percent.
Another way of looking at it: A net total of about 3 million jobs would have to be created this year to lower the average unemployment rate by 1 percentage point for 2010, economists estimate. Yet even optimists think the creation of 1 million net jobs is probably out of reach this year.
High unemployment poses a risk to the unfolding recovery because it leads consumers to spend less, keeping economic growth weak. A sharp pullback in spending might even push the economy back into recession. Joblessness also represents a danger for President Barack Obama’s Democratic Party in this fall’s congressional elections.
The National Association for Business Economics and the International Monetary Fund think gross domestic product will rise just under 3 percent for all of this year. GDP, the best gauge of economic activity, measures the value of all goods and services produced in the United States.
To get a sense of just how deep a dent the worst recession since the 1930s has made in the economy, consider this: The economy shrank 2.4 percent for all of 2009 - the sharpest drop since 1946. It was also the first annual decline since 1991.
Mark Zandi, chief economist at Economy.com, and Bill Cheney, chief economist at John Hancock, agree that the economy would have to grow roughly 5 percent for all of 2010 just to ratchet down the average unemployment rate for the year by 1 percentage point - to a still-high 9 percent.
Their math is based on Okun’s law, named for economist Arthur Okun. In 1962, Okun produced a formula for the connection he saw between unemployment and economic activity.
Exactly how much GDP growth is needed to lower the unemployment rate for a given period varies. That’s because the formula involves several factors besides GDP growth. It also considers, for example, businesses’ productivity growth.
When the economy was recovering from the 2001 recession, it took two years to reduce the unemployment rate by nearly a full percentage point: It fell from 6 percent in 2003 to 5.1 percent in 2005. GDP growth averaged just over 3 percent.
Economists say the formula hasn’t always held up perfectly in recent decades. Rather, it’s relied upon as a rough rule of thumb for determining how much growth will be needed to lower unemployment.
But a near-textbook case occurred in 1976, when the economy expanded at a 5.4 percent pace. As Okun would have predicted, that growth drove down the unemployment rate by nearly a full percentage point: from 8.5 percent in 1975 to 7.7 percent.
See all my well-researched posts on the current unemployment situation:
The New Poor - Millions of Unemployed Face Years Without Jobs
http://tobuds.com/blogs/blog1.php/2010/02/21/the-new-poor-millions-of-unemployed-face
Government Jobs (Bigger Government) Drive Employment Numbers
http://tobuds.com/blogs/blog1.php/2010/03/01/government-jobs-bigger-government-drive
Actual Unemployment in 2010 - Recession Worse than Reported
http://tobuds.com/blogs/blog1.php/2010/02/04/actual-unemployment-in-january-2010-rece
Deep Recession Shows No Sign of Letting Up - Maybe Getting Worse
http://tobuds.com/blogs/blog1.php/2010/02/24/deep-recession-shows-no-sign-of-letting
Largest U.S. Labor Union: AFL-CIO says Jobs Won't Return
http://tobuds.com/blogs/blog1.php/2010/01/07/largest-u-s-labor-union-afl-cio-says-job
More Bad News for the Unemployed in 2010 - and Beyond
http://tobuds.com/blogs/blog1.php/2010/02/23/more-bad-news-for-the-unemployed-in-2010
Almost 1 out of 5 People are Out of Work in the U.S.A.
http://tobuds.com/blogs/blog1.php/2009/12/31/unemployment-december-2009-new-release
FOX News Wages War on Unemployed - Thinks They're Lazy
http://tobuds.com/blogs/blog1.php/2010/03/02/real-reason-why-extended-unemployment-be
Tea Party, Fox News, and Conservatives Attack the Unemployed
http://tobuds.com/blogs/blog3.php/2010/03/04/tea-party-gets-in-wrong-on-unemployment
Extended Unemployment Benefits in 2010 - Fully Explained
http://tobuds.com/blogs/blog3.php/2010/02/16/extended-unemployment-benefits-in-2010
02/21/10
04:44:58 pm, by Bud , 1181 words
Categories: Daily Posts
By PETER S. GOODMAN for the New York Times
Published: February 20, 2010
(Excerpted for this post)
Even as the American economy shows tentative signs of a rebound, the human toll of the recession continues to mount, with millions of Americans remaining out of work, out of savings and nearing the end of their unemployment benefits.
Economists fear that the nascent recovery will leave more people behind than in past recessions, failing to create jobs in sufficient numbers to absorb the record-setting ranks of the long-term unemployed.
Call them the new poor: people long accustomed to the comforts of middle-class life who are now relying on public assistance for the first time in their lives - potentially for years to come.
Yet the social safety net is already showing severe strains. Roughly 2.7 million jobless people will lose their unemployment check before the end of April unless Congress approves the Obama administration’s proposal to extend the payments, according to the Labor Department.
Every downturn pushes some people out of the middle class before the economy resumes expanding. Most recover. Many prosper. But some economists worry that this time could be different. An unusual constellation of forces - some embedded in the modern-day economy, others unique to this wrenching recession - might make it especially difficult for those out of work to find their way back to their middle-class lives.
Labor experts say the economy needs 100,000 new jobs a month just to absorb entrants to the labor force. With more than 15 million people officially jobless, even a vigorous recovery is likely to leave an enormous number out of work for years.
Some labor experts note that severe economic downturns are generally followed by powerful expansions, suggesting that aggressive hiring will soon resume. But doubts remain about whether such hiring can last long enough to absorb anywhere close to the millions of unemployed.
Some labor experts say the basic functioning of the American economy has changed in ways that make jobs scarce - particularly for older, less-educated people who have only a high school diploma.
Large companies are increasingly owned by institutional investors who crave swift profits, a feat often achieved by cutting payroll. The declining influence of unions has made it easier for employers to shift work to part-time and temporary employees. Factory work and even white-collar jobs have moved in recent years to low-cost countries in Asia and Latin America. Automation has helped manufacturing cut 5.6 million jobs since 2000 - the sort of jobs that once provided lower-skilled workers with middle-class paychecks.
Some 34 million people were hired into new and existing private-sector jobs in 2000, at the tail end of an expansion, according to Labor Department data. A year later, in the midst of recession, hiring had fallen off to 31.6 million. And as late as 2003, with the economy again growing, hiring in the private sector continued to slip, to 29.8 million.
It was a jobless recovery: Business was picking up, but it simply did not translate into more work. This time, hiring may be especially subdued, labor economists say.
Traditionally, three sectors have led the way out of recession: automobiles, home building and banking. But auto companies have been shrinking because strapped households have less buying power. Home building is limited by fears about a glut of foreclosed properties. Banking is expanding, but this seems largely a function of government support that is being withdrawn.
At the same time, the continued bite of the financial crisis has crimped the flow of money to small businesses and new ventures, which tend to be major sources of new jobs.
If, as Mr. Sinai expects, the economy again expands without adding many jobs, millions of people will be dependent on an unemployment insurance already being severely tested.
"The system was ill prepared for the reality of long-term unemployment," said Maurice Emsellem, a policy director for the National Employment Law Project. "Now, you add a severe recession, and you have created a crisis of historic proportions."
Some poverty experts say the broader social safety net is not up to cushioning the impact of the worst downturn since the Great Depression. Social services are less extensive than during the last period of double-digit unemployment, in the early 1980s.
On average, only two-thirds of unemployed people received state-provided unemployment checks last year, according to the Labor Department. The rest either exhausted their benefits, fell short of requirements or did not apply.
Yet as jobs have become harder to get, so has welfare: as of 2006, 44 states cut off anyone with a household income totaling 75 percent of the poverty level - then limited to $1,383 a month for a family of three - according to an analysis by Ms. Albelda.
"We have a work-based safety net without any work," said Timothy M. Smeeding, director of the Institute for Research on Poverty at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. "People with more education and skills will probably figure something out once the economy picks up. It’s the ones with less education and skills: that’s the new poor."
Full story here: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/21/business/economy/21unemployed.html
See all my posts on the current unemployment situation:
Like the last Great Depression, Unemployment and Foreclosures, Might See Rise in Suicides
http://tobuds.com/blogs/blog1.php/2010/03/10/unemployment-foreclosures-might-see-rise
The New Poor - Millions of Unemployed Face Years Without Jobs
http://tobuds.com/blogs/blog1.php/2010/02/21/the-new-poor-millions-of-unemployed-face
Government Jobs (Bigger Government) Drive Employment Numbers
http://tobuds.com/blogs/blog1.php/2010/03/01/government-jobs-bigger-government-drive
Actual Unemployment in 2010 - Recession Worse than Reported
http://tobuds.com/blogs/blog1.php/2010/02/04/actual-unemployment-in-january-2010-rece
Deep Recession Shows No Sign of Letting Up - Maybe Getting Worse
http://tobuds.com/blogs/blog1.php/2010/02/24/deep-recession-shows-no-sign-of-letting
Largest U.S. Labor Union: AFL-CIO says Jobs Won't Return
http://tobuds.com/blogs/blog1.php/2010/01/07/largest-u-s-labor-union-afl-cio-says-job
More Bad News for the Unemployed in 2010 - and Beyond
http://tobuds.com/blogs/blog1.php/2010/02/23/more-bad-news-for-the-unemployed-in-2010
Almost 1 out of 5 People are Out of Work in the U.S.A.
http://tobuds.com/blogs/blog1.php/2009/12/31/unemployment-december-2009-new-release
FOX News Wages War on Unemployed - Thinks They're Lazy
http://tobuds.com/blogs/blog1.php/2010/03/02/real-reason-why-extended-unemployment-be
Tea Party, Fox News, and Conservatives Attack the Unemployed
http://tobuds.com/blogs/blog3.php/2010/03/04/tea-party-gets-in-wrong-on-unemployment
Obama-Care © Verses Unemployment and Suicide in 2010
http://tobuds.com/blogs/blog3.php/2010/03/07/out-of-work-buy-a-shotgun
27 Million of 154 Million in Workforce w/o Jobs
http://tobuds.com/blogs/blog3.php/2010/03/15/27-million-of-154-million-in-workforce-w
Fox News Continues to Insult Unemployed
http://tobuds.com/blogs/blog3.php/2010/03/13/fox-news-continues-bashing-the-jobless
"Diversity" and Illegal Hiring Practices
http://tobuds.com/blogs/blog2.php/2010/03/12/mgm-mirage-illegal-hiring-practices
Obama-Care© Makes it Easier to Fire Older Workers!
http://tobuds.com/blogs/blog5.php/2010/03/27/obama-carec-makes-it-easier-to-fire-olde
Too Old for the Workforce in 2010 - Unemployed Because of Age
http://tobuds.com/blogs/blog3.php/2010/03/06/too-old-for-the-workforce-in-2010-unempl
No, Unemployment Benefits is not an Inalienable Right
http://tobuds.com/blogs/blog3.php/2010/03/15/no-unemployment-benefits-is-not-inaliena
Senator John Ensign and the GOP - "Let the Jobless Eat Cake"
http://tobuds.com/blogs/blog3.php/2010/03/27/john-ensign-and-gop-let-the-jobless-eat
The Jobless Have Been Lost in Debate Over Healthcare
http://tobuds.com/blogs/blog3.php/2010/03/27/the-jobless-lost-in-debate-over-healthca
Extended Unemployment Benefits - Fully Explained - UPDATED
http://tobuds.com/blogs/blog3.php/2010/02/16/extended-unemployment-benefits-in-2010
02/16/10
04:41:11 am, by Bud , 198 words
Categories: Daily Posts
The real reason Evan Bayh is leaving Congress might be to avoid being further scrutinized of his and his wife's financial holdings in healthcare stocks, and why he DID in fact vote for Obama's healthcare plan. I believe it's only a ruse to salvage his career.
All this mealy-mouth talk about being conservative in government spending is just plain hog wash...look how he voted on healthcare!
Notice: He's not resigning, he's just announcing that he won't be running for re-election again.
Evan has ALWAYS been an avid supporter of Obama (almost in a loving way) and is just jumping a sinking Democratic ship (even though oddly, Evan personally may be leading the polls in his own State).
Evan Bayh's wife, Susan, owned up to $1 million in employee stock in WellPoint, the Indianapolis-based insurance giant on whose board she sits.
Read more...
http://tobuds.com/blogs/blog1.php/2009/12/25/evan-bayh-healthcare-reform-it-s-all-abo
ALSO SEE "California insurer to face questioning over rate hike."
A U.S. House of Representatives committee will question executives from Anthem's parent company, WellPoint Inc. of Indianapolis, about its rate proposals.
Story continued here:
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D9E1P3H80&show_article=1
02/15/10
12:14:46 pm, by Bud , 754 words
Categories: Daily Posts
It's no longer the Republicans, but the Democrats who now sleep with the big American corporations.
Article by Michael Barone
In his bestseller "Inside U.S.A.," the hugely readable journalist John Gunther described America as it was in the last year of World War II. He interviewed hundreds of politicians, businessmen and journalists, but only four men rated a separate chapter -- three politicians and Henry J. Kaiser, the California construction magnate who built dams and ships and manufactured concrete and steel and aluminum.
Kaiser was, Gunther wrote, "tough, creative, packed with ideas and energy, above all a man who likes to make things." But he was also, he noted, a "link of enterprise by government, since government was on his side."
That was putting it mildly. Kaiser hired Tommy Corcoran, a brilliant former aide to Franklin Roosevelt, to open doors and got a $645 million contract to build ships and $28 million financing to manufacture magnesium. Corcoran, according to the first-rate biography by longtime Democratic staffer David McKean, got $200,000 in fees. Believe it or not, that was a lot of money in Washington in the 1940s.
Government spent a lot of money in World War II -- and mostly spent it well. Kaiser delivered on his contracts and even managed to build ships out of concrete, most of which did not sink. But, as always happens when government is shoveling out money, lobbyists thrived.
Fast forward to the present day. Lobbyists, reports the Center for Responsive Politics, had a record 2009 in Barack Obama's Washington. Despite candidate Obama's promises to shun them, they raked in $3,470,000,000. Somewhere up there, Tommy Corcoran is chuckling.
Last week, amid Washington's blizzards, Obama was asked about the $17 million bonus awarded to JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon and the $9 million bonus for Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein.
"I know both these guys; they are very savvy businessmen," he said. "I, like most of the American people, don't begrudge people success or wealth." So much for campaign-trail denunciations of "fat cat" bankers and bloated bonuses.
From what I know, Dimon and Blankfein are in fact first-rate CEOs, as able in their way as Henry J. Kaiser. Their banks soured on mortgage-backed securities before most of their competitors and started unloading them early or, in Goldman's case, getting them insured by AIG (and getting the government to pay 100 cents on the dollar for them, thanks to Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, then head of the New York Fed). They paid their TARP money back as fast as they could, with interest.
But the savviness that Obama handsomely acknowledged has been evident not only in their business judgment but in their politics. Goldman employee contributions to Democrats in 2008 ranked second only to those employed by the University of California. JPMorgan Chase's employees ranked No. 7. The stereotype of Wall Street being Republican is decades out of date.
Crony capitalism is now the order of the day in the United States. The government and the United Auto Workers own General Motors and Chrysler, which aren't likely to pay back their billions in TARP money anytime soon, if ever. Meanwhile, the government tells Americans to stop driving Toyotas.
The government was going to remake the health care sector, and so Billy Tauzin and other health care industry lobbyists were busy in the White House cutting deals to keep their clients above water. The government was going to remake the energy sector, and utility CEOs and lobbyists have been busy flaunting their green credentials.
As my Washington Examiner colleague Timothy Carney has been documenting, Big Business has been busy lobbying Big Government for "reforms" that serve big companies' interests. Wal-Mart backs a health care mandate, Philip Morris shapes tobacco regulation, General Electric is setting up a joint venture to trade carbon offsets (wasn't that Enron's line of work back in the day?).
The picture is not pretty. Government's pets -- or, in the president's words, "savvy businessmen" -- use government to get policies that will give them competitive advantages and stifle smaller competitors. Pleasing their masters in government is now absorbing the psychic energy of CEOs who used to concentrate on meeting consumers' needs in order to make profits.
Back in the 1940s, there was an excuse for crony capitalism -- there was a war on. And FDR had a gift for picking people who, like Kaiser, delivered the goods. Today, that excuse is not available, and it's far from apparent that Obama has that gift.
http://townhall.com/columnists/MichaelBarone/2010/02/15/under_obama,_crony_capitalism_again_rules_the_day
11:32:26 am, by Bud , 551 words
Categories: Daily Posts
Obama is expected to touch down in Las Vegas 3 days from today, after recently making the remark "You can't go take a trip to Las Vegas or go down to the Super Bowl on the taxpayer's dime."
Las Vegas Mayor Oscar B. Goodman was miffed and said Obama's remarks at the town hall meeting were unwarranted: "That's outrageous, and he owes us an apology!"
Two weeks ago President Obama had previously angered Nevadans by saying, "You don't blow a bunch of cash on Vegas when you're trying to save for college." The Groundhog's Day comment was the second time he mentioned Las Vegas in a way that the tourism community found unflattering.
Finally Nevada Senator Harry Reid responded: "The President needs to lay off Las Vegas and stop making it the poster child for where people shouldn't be spending their money," Reid said in a statement. "I would much rather tourists and business travelers spend their money in Las Vegas than spend it overseas.
President Barack Obama's visit to Las Vegas this week will include a fundraiser for the Democratic National Committee.
Senate Majority Leader Senator Harry Reid (D-NEV) and Las Vegas' MGM Kirk Kerkorian have a relationship, and now I've learn that the Las Vegas Palms boss George Maloof will host a DNC event at his home this week...aren't these Las Vegas casino bosses getting just a little too cozy with the Obama administration?
(Las Vegas has the second highest unemployment rate in the nation because of lost business to the casinos, yet the casino operators are hosting events for Obama in their own homes. Why?)
What I can't understand is Obama's national economic policies and his remarks about Las Vegas, and his relationship with our Democratic leaders and casino bosses here in Nevada - and what they mean to us, the average people.
Las Vegas tourism officials worry that increased scrutiny on business travel will discourage meetings and conventions - business that would be crucial for the city already suffering economically.
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. said it had moved a three-day conference from the Las Vegas Strip to San Francisco amid what the bank called a broad review of its activities. Goldman Sachs has accepted $10 billion in federal bailout funds.
Wells Fargo & Co., which received a $25 billion infusion, canceled a planned employee recognition conference in Las Vegas after an AP story reported on the trip and the bank received criticism from Capitol Hill that it was misusing the funds.
Yet a year later the employees of these big banks are still getting multi-million dollar bonuses while Senator Harry Reid wants to cut off extended unemployment benefits to people who lost jobs...am I missing something here?
Who's side are the Democratic leaders, the casinos bosses, and the unions on? The banks or the people? And why? What relationship does the MGM and the Palms have with Harry Reid and the Democrats?
Maybe...
Under Obama, Crony Capitalism Again Rules the Day
Senator Harry Reid has reported a total of 4,043 contributions totaling $5,362,845
Rank / Contributor / Total
1 - MGM Mirage - $153,400
45 - Maloof Companies - $21,000
Source:
http://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/contrib.php?cid=N00009922&cycle=2010&type=I&newMem=N&recs=100
See also: Tracinda / Goldman Sachs / Harry Reid / MGM/Kirk Kerkorian / Obama / unemployment / political malpractice / corporate corruption
02/12/10
10:05:43 pm, by Bud , 252 words
Categories: Daily Posts
With millions of Americans already unemployed, Senator Harry Reid (D-Nevada) wants to punish them more - - - especially his own constituents in his State of Nevada, who has the second highest unemployment rate in the nation. His job approval ratings and the polls showing him lagging behind for re-election in November must have prompted him to turn against his own people.
The new version of the Jobs Bill and what was taken out by Harry Reid...
...Unemployment assistance for the long-term jobless and a 65 percent health insurance subsidy for the unemployed.
http://reid.senate.gov/contact/
"Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is rewriting a jobs bill after Democrats complained of too many concessions to Republicans," The Hill reports. Unlike the bill unveiled hours earlier by Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., Reid's measure "does not extend unemployment and COBRA benefits that many in both parties want."
Some Democrats are concerned by the change.
"Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, said the jobs bill should include a yearlong extension of unemployment insurance benefits. Harkin noted the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates the impact of extending unemployment insurance would create more jobs then providing tax credits to employers who hire new workers."
Harry Reid is a personal friend of MGM's Kirk Kerkorian.
Harry Reid in bed with casinos, not helping labor.
Sources:
http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/80787-reid-overrules-baucus-chops-jobs-bill
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/11/AR2010021104716.html
http://www.nationaljournal.com/congressdaily/eca_20100212_2444.php
02/04/10
09:16:25 am, by Bud , 509 words
Categories: Daily Posts
Take 10%, then double the number.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, there are 14.8 million unemployed Americans. http://www.bls.gov
(What's odd is, even though more people lost jobs, many "discouraged" people were dropped from the statistics, and the revised "official" unemployment rate was lowered from 10.1% to 9.7% - - - Obama's number-crunching.)
The younger people who want to leave their parent's home and be on their own for the very first time must find it very difficult - - - because this recession is the longest and deepest on record.
In the past 2 years the recession has cost Americans 8.1 million jobs - - - and the actual unemployment rate is at 17.3% (but only 10% are collecting State or Federally Extended Unemployment benefits; 10% being the figure the government uses because it makes it sound less severe.)
See "Massive Revision will Show Recession is Worse than Reported"
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/massive-revision-to-show-recession-was-even-worse-2010-02-04?reflink=MW_news_stmp
More lost jobs...
The Labor Department said today that weekly unemployment claims rose 8,000 last week, to a "seasonally adjusted" 480,000.
See "Wall Street Opens Lower on Job Weakness"
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/05/business/05markets.html
One reason is because of jobs lost to China by Multi-National corporations (many American based).
See "China Shows Little Patience for U.S. Currency Pressure"
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/05/world/asia/05diplo.html
Where I live, Nevada's unemployment rate was over 13 percent last month, the second highest in the nation...and Las Vegas was over 14% (but probably 20% is the ACTUAL number). And it is the elderly who are mostly being left behind in the Las Vegas casino job market - - - they hire "younger and prettier" people for most jobs. (That might help explain their weak stock prices.)
What are the chances of graduating from high school or college this year and finding a job? I guess most of those kids who voted for Obama will be living with their parents for a few more years.
See all my well-researched posts on the current unemployment situation:
The New Poor - Millions of Unemployed Face Years Without Jobs
http://tobuds.com/blogs/blog1.php/2010/02/21/the-new-poor-millions-of-unemployed-face
Government Jobs (Bigger Government) Drive Employment Numbers
http://tobuds.com/blogs/blog1.php/2010/03/01/government-jobs-bigger-government-drive
Actual Unemployment in 2010 - Recession Worse than Reported
http://tobuds.com/blogs/blog1.php/2010/02/04/actual-unemployment-in-january-2010-rece
Deep Recession Shows No Sign of Letting Up - Maybe Getting Worse
http://tobuds.com/blogs/blog1.php/2010/02/24/deep-recession-shows-no-sign-of-letting
Largest U.S. Labor Union: AFL-CIO says Jobs Won't Return
http://tobuds.com/blogs/blog1.php/2010/01/07/largest-u-s-labor-union-afl-cio-says-job
More Bad News for the Unemployed in 2010 - and Beyond
http://tobuds.com/blogs/blog1.php/2010/02/23/more-bad-news-for-the-unemployed-in-2010
Almost 1 out of 5 People are Out of Work in the U.S.A.
http://tobuds.com/blogs/blog1.php/2009/12/31/unemployment-december-2009-new-release
FOX News Wages War on Unemployed - Thinks They're Lazy
http://tobuds.com/blogs/blog1.php/2010/03/02/real-reason-why-extended-unemployment-be
Tea Party, Fox News, and Conservatives Attack the Unemployed
http://tobuds.com/blogs/blog3.php/2010/03/04/tea-party-gets-in-wrong-on-unemployment
Extended Unemployment Benefits in 2010 - Fully Explained
http://tobuds.com/blogs/blog3.php/2010/02/16/extended-unemployment-benefits-in-2010
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