6th straight month of job losses.
The monthly Labor Department jobs report released this morning says “payrolls dropped by 62,000” while the unemployment rate held steady at 5.5 percent. June marks the sixth month in a row that the economy has lost jobs. According to the Joint Economic Committee, nearly 440,000 jobs have been lost in 2008.
UpdateIn a statement, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) says, "Americans across this country are hurting and today's job numbers are just the latest indication. … At a time when our small businesses need support from Washington, we cannot raise taxes, increase regulation and isolate ourselves from foreign markets. These are the same old siren songs that have failed the American people time and time again."
Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) states: "As these numbers demonstrate, the American people can't wait another six months. We need action now. That's why I'm calling on Congress and the President to enact real, immediate relief with energy rebates for working families this summer, a fund to help families avoid foreclosure, extended benefits for the long-term jobless, and assistance to states that have been hard-hit by the economic downturn."
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So let me get this straight — both candidates acknowledge that many Americans are hurting. McCain’s solution is to do nothing, and Obama’s is to do something.
Watch the trolls spins this into “Obama stands for socialism.”
July 3rd, 2008 at 9:51 amabberjaw Says:
Barack Obama: “…energy rebates…” Sounds a lot on its surface like a gas tax holiday which he previously dismissed as a “gimmick.” I’d be curious to see how this “energy rebate” differs.
why?
:)
good luck.
•
July 3rd, 2008 at 9:54 amAnd I’m one of those 62,000. Came back from vacation and on June 30 I was RIF’d after 24 years.
Trying to wrap my head around the concept of being unemployed for the first time in my life.
July 3rd, 2008 at 9:54 amjabberjaw Says
July 3rd, 2008 at 9:50 am
I’d be curious to see how this “energy rebate” differs.
______________________________________________________
Yes, I would also like some additional details on what an “energy rebate” might be. I’m leaving my mind open for the possibility that it may have to do with more than just gasoline. During the summer (particularly in the hotter states), electrical bills can go through the roof, because of A/C use. And where people quit using their air conditioning because they can’t afford the cost, we have more instances of heat stroke, heat exhaustion, and even death.
Whatever solution Obama comes up with, I hope it’s more than just a gas tax holiday gimmick.
July 3rd, 2008 at 9:55 amLike good little Bush soldiers, the McCains are doing their part for the economy - $750,000 in charges in one month on a credit card, purchasing a new Boeing jet, but those $3,000 German suits will have to go.
July 3rd, 2008 at 10:03 amMeanwhile, the rest of us may not be employed tomorrow, can’t afford necessities today, but let’s make sure that the coprporate moguls keep their personal bonuses and their corporate tax welfare- after all, they keep the economy humming —- right.
But, but, but… It’s Clinton’s fault!
July 3rd, 2008 at 10:03 amThe difference is Jabberjaw is that the gas tax holiday has to be given to you at the pump depending on the oil companies to not raise rates to make up the difference. This rebate sounds like it would be given directly to the individual.
July 3rd, 2008 at 10:09 amIn a statement, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) says[…]we cannot raise taxes, increase regulation and isolate ourselves from foreign markets. These are the same old siren songs that have failed the American people time and time again.”
Since when? On the contrary, we’ve been following the supply side economic model of lower taxes (on the rich), deregulation and “free trade” for over three decades now and stagnating wages, home forclosures and a general decline of the middle class is all we have to show for it.
http://progressiveworldreview.com
July 3rd, 2008 at 10:11 amAnd in Cook County, Illinois, where I have my business they just raised our sales tax by 1% Senator McCain. The second time in 3 years it’s been raised. We can’t raise income tax for the rich but we can stick it to the poor with increased sales taxes because no federal dollars come into the states any more. We have to keep those poor where they belong after all.
July 3rd, 2008 at 10:12 amMcNutzi: “My friends, the economy is in the dumper so I propose staying with the same tired scheme that put it there.”
Obama: “I want to get elected so I propose a lot of vague stuff that sounds pleasant and won’t get acted on so I can’t be held accountable for its failure.”
Let’s see some white papers candidates. Four more months of platitudes will just increase the number of third party voters.
July 3rd, 2008 at 10:13 amDidn’t John McCain think a gallon of gas was about $2 this week. He probably thinks every family spends half a million a month on incidentals.
July 3rd, 2008 at 10:14 amXXX(because I’m afraid of the big black scary gay man) Says:
This is George Bush’s fault?
YEP!
July 3rd, 2008 at 10:15 amNo X it’s your fault for voting in a totally incompetent fool because you people are intimidated by anybody with a brain.
July 3rd, 2008 at 10:15 amIn the meantime McCain and Obama are not in a position to do anything now. What’s Bush going to do about it and how long are we going to allow him to do nothing.
July 3rd, 2008 at 10:16 amDRxJ Says:
XXX(because I’m afraid of the big black scary gay man) Says:
This is George Bush’s fault?
YEP!
walked into that one,
didn’t you?
^
good luck.
*
July 3rd, 2008 at 10:17 ammcBUSH offers LIES.
OBAMA offers ideas and remedies.
hmmmmmm…….
July 3rd, 2008 at 10:18 amXXX Says:
This is George Bush’s fault?
July 3rd, 2008 at 10:13 am
__________
Yes.
He launched an illegal and unnecessary invasion of Iraq, a major oil-producing nation in the oil-producing region of the Middle East. The market responded to the resulting instability by raising the price of oil. The price of oil affects everything from food to transportation to heating and cooling costs, making it more expensive to run a business. This causes businesses to lay off workers in order to cut costs.
So, yes. It is George Bush’s fault.
July 3rd, 2008 at 10:18 amjabberjaw Says:
But wouldn’t an “energy rebate” take money away from government funded programs like highway projects, thus leaving more people unemployed? Wasn’t that one of the stated problems with the “gas tax holiday?”
no it wouldn’t.
*
good luck.
+
July 3rd, 2008 at 10:18 amtrolls droppings
are rather weak
this morning.
they’re not really trying.
*
they need help
but they’re not getting it.
*
is the rnc server down?
*
good luck.
#
July 3rd, 2008 at 10:21 ami know!!!
let’s all just NOT pay our REAL ESTATE TAXES!!!
the mcLAME defense!
yea! that’s the ticket!
July 3rd, 2008 at 10:21 amIt’s wintertime and you are a small child and you are poor and you have only ‘one’ pair of shoes that you purchased with money that was earned doing chores for neighbors. Somehow you lose one, and you still have to walk to school. This is just like losing your job as a working-poor adult and your family needs to be fed. Does any sane person think that there is no place for social help from the government what so ever.
July 3rd, 2008 at 10:25 am“These are the same old siren songs that have failed the American people time and time again.”
Like GOP claims that tax cuts are the proper response to any economic condition, bust or flush? News flash for ya, McBush: when you offer the same solution to every problem, YOU DON’T HAVE A SOLUTION!
Obama ‘08
July 3rd, 2008 at 10:25 amshayne - i read that this morning… chicago now has the highest tax rate of any major US city… 10.25%…
NY - 8.4% … LA - 8.25% …
BUT - illinois’ “minimum wage rises to $7.75 per hour” !!!
so, is that a “wash”?
July 3rd, 2008 at 10:27 amRight., but it’s still not a recession because of the technical term, which requires two consecutive quarters of negative GDP growth?
July 3rd, 2008 at 10:37 amIf it walks like a duck, smells like duck shet, well, you get the idea…
XXX,
don’t get mad at the voters.
they lost their jobs because
of the republican party.
so of course they’re not going
to vote for republican candidates.
*
you can understand that,
can’t you?
;)
good luck.
&
July 3rd, 2008 at 10:38 amIt makes me laugh out loud when repugs claim that the dems have been in power for two years and now they blame them for everything. They are taking their lead from GW who blamed Clinton for 9/11 after he ignored the PDBs warning.
July 3rd, 2008 at 10:41 amDems have a one-vote majority in the Senate and they were without that one vote for 9 months while Sen. Johnson recovered. He’s back, but the one-vote lead has been taken up by the traitorous LIEberman.
So we have one vote in the Senate - sometimes - and we’re supposed to reverse the horrific actions of GWB that have affected us all — sure, with the repugs now filibustering everything that they don’t like — no, I mean everything! They’re on record as vowing to stymie, stop, filibuster, and undermine every democratic proposal in congress.
The lying repugnican trolls, the lying repugnicans in congress, the lying, traitorous repugs think of only themselves — then they blame everyone else. Smug, sanctimonious, sneering sons-of-b!tches.
Has there ever been a more grotesque joke than the “unemployment rate” so frequently trotted out to hide reality from us? Let’s don’t ever let it appear in a government handout without challenge.
July 3rd, 2008 at 10:42 amXXX(because I want to hide from the big scary gay black man) says:
How did Bush Create the Subprime mortgage crisis? Ethanol was Spear headed by the democrats and Rev Gore. You are over simplifying the problem. Who has been controlling the senate sense 2006?
NOPE!
July 3rd, 2008 at 10:42 am“Do you hear that suckin sound”? I do it`s called NAFTA, we do not manufacture anything in America anymore all we do is consume.Nafta continues to lower wage hence we don`t make anything, everything we consume is imported, food and gas have risen exponentially in 8 years and pretty soon we will not be able to cosume anything that is imported because nobody will have a job in middle class or working class America. We need to return to pre- Reaganomics and help put our manufacturing skills of this country back to work, this all worked for 200 plus years until Reagan came along and dismantled it fot the wealthy to takeover and run it into the ground…….
July 3rd, 2008 at 10:42 amThe “war” in Iraq does that.
July 3rd, 2008 at 10:42 amMarie Says: It makes me laugh out loud when repugs claim that the dems have been in power for two years and now they blame them for everything. They are taking their lead from GW who blamed Clinton for 9/11 after he ignored the PDBs warning.
Someone conservative recently tried to pull that with me. He said “It’s the previous Administration who’s to blame for the economy.” I simply reminded him that George W. Bush was the previous Administration…
If Republicans would stop wasting so much time looking for scape goats and instead would focus on finding solutions, we’d currently be energy independent, out of debt, and respected in the global community… I sincerely think they enjoy screwing everything up.
July 3rd, 2008 at 10:47 amWell if you have a job and it pays minimum wage I suppose you’d feel like any increase you got just went down the toilet. Remember the good old days when sales taxes used to be deductible on income taxes. Just like credit card interest was deductible. All tax breaks given to middle and low incomers were taken away so tax breaks could go to the wealthy.
July 3rd, 2008 at 10:47 amxxxxxxx,
you’re sounding a bit
like a victim,
aren’t you?
*
btw, you’re republican buddies
are exporting jobs to india.
think about that while you stand
on the unemployment line.
&
good luck.
$
July 3rd, 2008 at 10:49 amXXX Says:
DRxJ Says:
NOPE!
Good rebuttal! I’m stumped!
(fixed it for you)
*
rnc server still down?
*
good luck.
$
July 3rd, 2008 at 10:50 amYou elect an incompetent idiot to do the world’s toughest job and we’re the lunatic fringe. Now you’ve nominated a man with a wife who spends half a million a month on incidentals and we’re the elitists. You don’t HAVE to be stupid to be a Republican it just makes it easier to swallow their crap.
July 3rd, 2008 at 10:51 amXXX(Because I don’t want the big scary black gay men to find me) Says:
DRxJ Says:
NOPE!
Good rebuttal! I’m impressed!
THANKS!
July 3rd, 2008 at 10:52 amxxxxx?
xxxxxx…?
zzzzzz!
July 3rd, 2008 at 10:56 amYeah X because we’re here to “impress” you, putz.
July 3rd, 2008 at 10:57 amXXX Says:
How did Bush Create the Subprime mortgage crisis? Ethanol was Spear headed by the democrats and Rev Gore. You are over simplifying the problem. Who has been controlling the senate sense 2006?
July 3rd, 2008 at 10:32 am
_______
Did Bush create the predatory lending crisis? Not directly, but his Friedmanite advisors helped it along through deregulation. And while Gore may have helped incubate the ethanol industry with some tax incentives, I don’t recall him pushing corn-based ethanol as the magic solution to climate change - you can thank the agribusiness lobby for that.
July 3rd, 2008 at 10:57 ammeanwhile bush fiddles.
from us news:
Allies Worry About President’s Schedule
Some of President Bush’s allies tell the Political Bulletin they are embarrassed and angry that the White House seems to be wasting Bush’s time on frivolous events when much of the country is suffering through economic hard times. “Look at the schedule for Monday,” says an outside Bush adviser. “A highlight of his day was witnessing a tee ball game. … He is being reduced to child’s play.” The adviser says Bush also signed a supplemental appropriations bill for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan on Monday, but he adds that it didn’t get much coverage and that the tee ball game set the wrong tone. There is growing concern among Bush allies that the Democrats will effectively portray the President and GOP candidate John McCain as out of touch. Some GOP insiders now predict that the Republicans will lose at least five seats in the Senate and 15 to 20 in the House, and it could get worse if gasoline prices continue to soar and the public remains in a disgruntled mood.
*
thank you.
&
July 3rd, 2008 at 11:09 amAbout five years ago I started a small business. A hobby store - you know - model trains, rc planes and cars, plastic models, doll houses and stuff. It was my retirement after a quarter century of practicing law as corporate counsel and as a litigator doing complex civil litigation where I had been in the upper 3% of income but never got into the country club, golf playing and networking social life. It was a dream that I had had since I was a little kid. So, I opened my small business which had a customer base that is fairly blue collar, engineers and such. Now, from an owner of a soon to be defunct small business, I can tell you how the Bush and McSame policies affect small business.
1. The regulations are not that bad. Yes, they take time but do not really kill you as long as sales are half ways decent and you can afford to have sufficient time to do the paper work or hire it out. Sales go down and you have to handle it yourself. A real killer.
2. Taxes - a pain but certainly not any worse than when I was practicing law. Indeed, my effective fed tax rate then was only 17 - 22% then. Now, I have to make a profit which is primarily offset by equipment depreciation. A brick and mortar store is killed by sales tax. We lose a lot of sales because the vast majority of internet sales escape sales tax. We match internet pricing but still suffer an absolute 7% disadvantage because of sales tax. It costs a lot of business.
3. Health care - nonexistent for my employees. Just cannot afford it in the budget. Strangely enough, I suffer for it because their illnesses mean time off and usually more of it because they do not seek help until a minor ailment becomes a more serious problem. I end up working most of those lost hours on my own. Single payer health care would be a real blessing by keeping my staff on the job and by keeping my customer base with some money to spend. I saw too many customers who disappeared for a year or two and then come back in to start up their hobbies again after they made it through an illness and lost most of their disposable income. Saw a lot of customer who divorced after the experience.
4. Who needs help? The working and middle class. I saw my entire customer base get depleted by layoffs after these wonderful tax breaks were to create jobs. Yes, a lot of them got new jobs, but only at far lower wages. We have a fair amount of auto related firms in our town, like Delphi. Now we have a GM plant closing. So much for all those new industries. I watched my business shrink and shift to the weekends when gas hit $3.00 a gallon. People consolidated trips. Now, gas is $4.00 a gallon and the weekend business is now in the tank.
5. Mortgage foreclosures - yes, another real kick in the teeth.
Obama, please get elected.
July 3rd, 2008 at 11:12 amjoe - Bush’s schedule throughout his entire Presidency has pretty much looked like a VP’s schedule of gues appearances and publicity stunts, while Cheney’s has much more looked like - yep, you guessed it - the President’s.
July 3rd, 2008 at 11:12 amLet me guess -
McCain sez
Less taxes will solve everything
and the band played on
July 3rd, 2008 at 11:20 amCal Malenky Says:
Let me guess -
McCain sez
Less taxes will solve everything
and the band played on
it’s a ball of confusion.
*
July 3rd, 2008 at 11:40 amCan we afford 6 more months of Bush, or of the Rethuglicans blocking legislation?
July 3rd, 2008 at 11:46 amjabberjaw Says:
“More taxes will solve everything.” Is that really better?
Is your universe really that simplistic? Ah, maybe it is, since you’re an “independent.”
July 3rd, 2008 at 11:48 amgummitch Says:
jabberjaw Says:
“More taxes will solve everything.” Is that really better?
Is your universe really that simplistic? Ah, maybe it is, since you’re an “independent.”
gum,
thanks for the laugh,
that was funny!
independent.
*
:)
July 3rd, 2008 at 11:51 amtk,
still hurting?
remember what florence king
once said:
“I’d rather rot on my own floor than be found by a bunch of bingo players in a nursing home. ”
*
cheer up.
X
July 3rd, 2008 at 11:54 amTrippleKick Says: The unemployment rate held at 5.5% in June. That’s essentially full employment. Neither Barry nor John will have an effect on this, and obviously you’ll never have 100% employment. This is all just silliness.
Please, go back to first grade math class.
100% - 5.5% (unemployed collecting benefits) - 5.5% (unemployed who aren’t counted because their benefits expired) = 89%
89% does NOT ever equal 100%.
July 3rd, 2008 at 11:55 amTrippleKick Says:
Face it, the economic sky is not falling by any stretch. This is all just typical election year hype. 5.5% unemployment is not bad.
Polls show Americans are pretty darn happy people.
Interestingly enough, Republicans are happier…
Of course they’re happier. Ignorance is bliss.
July 3rd, 2008 at 12:04 pmTrippleKick Says: Face it, the economic sky is not falling by any stretch. This is all just typical election year hype. 5.5% unemployment is not bad.
Except that we don’t have 5.5% unemployment. 5.5% (actually it’s closer to 6%) is only the number of people who are on unemployment benefits. Those whose benefits expired no longer count in the number. The actual total is more like 11% to 14% - which isn’t good.
Most Americans (80%) think the country is headed in the wrong direction. That’s not a measuring device for ‘happiness’.
Obama will win big in November and so will more Democrats in Congress. Deal with it.
July 3rd, 2008 at 12:07 pmTrippleKick Says:
Face it, the economic sky is not falling by any stretch. This is all just typical election year hype. 5.5% unemployment is not bad.
Yeah, everything is great. Just great.
July 3rd, 2008 at 12:08 pmIf the Republicans were doing such a great job and everything was just rosy, they wouldn’t need to be in here trying to sell it… It would sell itself.
There are valid reasons for the Obama-revolution.
July 3rd, 2008 at 12:11 pmtk,
you must not be a republican.
you don’t sound very happy
at all.
:(
good luck.
*
July 3rd, 2008 at 12:19 pmtk,
did you lose your job
too?
•
smile.
*
July 3rd, 2008 at 12:25 pmTrippleKick and the other die hard Republicans show an utter lack of commonsense and intellect. But such is to be expected from those who have been so excessively inbred.
1. The income of more than 80% of Americans have been stagnant or falling for years.
2. The unemployment statistics have been played with ever since the great patron saint of the wealthy, Ronnie Raygun was president.
3. The ratio of employment to employable has been falling. Look at the number of those new jobs created on a month by month basis during w’s term in office. You need 150,000 new jobs a month just to keep even with population growth. W barely covered the job losses from his first recession.
4. How do the Republicans explain their inability to keep up with population growth? They do not.
5. Any idiot knows that an economy can not function in a rational manner when there is great wealth disparity as we currently have. You end up a third world nation.
This is what the Republican elite want. They want a third world country where they can live in a gated community and place their feet up upon the backs of their poor servants when they need to rest.
July 3rd, 2008 at 12:30 pmTripplekick, XXX
July 3rd, 2008 at 12:46 pm–Does torture work?
McCain the truth didn’t he?
Come on don’t be so scared.
Tripplekick, XXX
July 3rd, 2008 at 12:46 pm–Does torture work?
McCain the truth didn’t he?
Come on don’t be so scared.
Maybe if it gets said twice the Pussies for Life might deal with the question…
July 3rd, 2008 at 12:47 pmXXX(My name out so the big scary black man doesn’t find me) Says:
JMOHR Says:
You dumb Marxist hippie!
NOPE!
July 3rd, 2008 at 1:18 pmjabberjaw Says:
Barack Obama: “…energy rebates…” Sounds a lot on its surface like a gas tax holiday which he previously dismissed as a “gimmick.” I’d be curious to see how this “energy rebate” differs.
I suspect that Obama is talking about helping people pay for home heating oil and other energy necessities for living. And even if he is talking about gasoline, I doubt that he is going to say that we should stop taxing gasoline to save the motorists a few pennies, resulting in the loss of many jobs and the further deterioration of our infrastructure like roads and bridges.
July 3rd, 2008 at 1:19 pmTrikkieDick Says:
Polls show Bigoted Americans are pretty darn happy people when them colored folk ain’t working (keeps em out of the workplace so they don’t have to interact with em).
Interestingly enough, Racist Republicans are happier…
There, fixed it for ya!
July 3rd, 2008 at 1:24 pmjabberjaw Says:
“More taxes will solve everything.” Is that really better?
It is if it means that we are actually paying our bills rather than mortgaging our country to China. The day will come when we will have to pay the piper. It’s not going to be pretty.
July 3rd, 2008 at 1:31 pmTrippleKick Says:
Polls show Americans are pretty darn happy people.
Interestingly enough, Republicans are happier…
http://www.gallup.com/ poll/ 103483/ Most-Americans-Very-Satisfied-Their-Personal-Lives.aspx
Of course that poll was taken in December 2007, long before oil hit $4.00 a gallon and before the recession really kicked in. I’m betting if you took the same poll today, the results would be much different.
July 3rd, 2008 at 1:38 pmWhat everyone should understand is that there is no magical entity called “goverment” that generates wealth. To be “generous”, the govt. has to take money from people who produce the wealth and then distribute it. Taking money out of the private sector will further limit the private sector’s access to capital. This will hurt the economy more than anything else. There has been no country that spent it’s way to prosperity. Govt. should cut down on spending. Whether it may be on wars, foreign aid, earmarks, subsidies or entitlement programs. Unless the people and the politicians wake up to this reality, the economy will continue to tank.
July 3rd, 2008 at 1:49 pmOh but on Faux News they say unemployment is only at 5.5% which I guess if you are working is just wonderful. Faux needs to talk to someone in the 5.5% and see what they think.
July 3rd, 2008 at 2:42 pmAnd Congress doesn’t want to extend unemployment insurance nor raise funds for Food Banks. But you see, our Legislators aren’t in that 5.5 % YET !
You McCain people do you really think he has a clue on job loss? A man that went from a rich family, to Air Force, to a rich wife. Does McCain even understand the word budget?
Bonus making CEO’s don’t understand those without jobs can’t buy your product. It will trickle down eventually.
July 3rd, 2008 at 2:43 pmIsn’t it time we foreclosed on the White House?
July 3rd, 2008 at 2:46 pmIt is so past time to foreclose on the White House and change the locks. I wonder how cheney sleeps at night knowing his company Haliburton with KBR electrocuted 13 soldiers from faulty wiring in showers in Iraq. And they knew there was a problem 4 YEARS AGO.
July 3rd, 2008 at 2:54 pmIn order not to sleep at night, one would have to have a conscience.
July 3rd, 2008 at 3:21 pmCheney’s has been replaed with a steel heart.
Bush doesn’t know what one is.
Like this one guys said about about a one-payer health care system for his employees, if they simply had it, they wouldn’t lose so many days at work and companies could reap a profit from not having to pay for it themselves. In Canada they have a one-payer system and a lot of manufacturing jobs moved up there because it is one less cost to pay for employees, thats and cheaper pensions plans as well. The dollar doesn’t matter, it’s is already on par with U.S.
So, Canada has higher taxes and yet their economy is at full blast right now…so exactly how does this little Republican theory of “less taxes - more jobs” work? I’m really confused here, because according to your theory, we should have an extraordinarily great economy!
But nope. Ever since the Bush tax cuts, wages have been virtually frozen. Ever since Bush got into power and start his wars, the barrel of oil has been skyrocketing! And not because of democrats, it has been steadily climbing ever since Bush was in power and thats a fact. Only recently has it jumped a crazy amount, but thats due to speculators in the market, not the democrats…you silly pseudo-cons.
More and more jobs have gone over-seas and more and more illegal immigrants have come under the Bush 8 yr term. Both these factors contribute to the stagnation of wages.
So as a result of the high price of oil which affects inflation for everything and as a result of little job protection and over-saturation of the job market….you get a middle and lower class which are getting more and more poor, while the top 1% who control the economy and the current Bush administration are getting richer and richer and richer. And thats exactly how they want it!
July 3rd, 2008 at 4:30 pmTHe Reagan administration changed the way unemployment was computed, and it hasn’t been a useful measure since that time.
How can the population be increasing, payrolls be declining, and unemployment stays at 5.5%.
The same way people gget 40 mpg from their old car–by lying about it.
But what’s happened since the Horseless cowboy got inoffice is this:
Good paying jobs have vanished, to be replaced by what used to be called ‘entry-level’ jobs. Sure the local Target may have been hiring (though not recently), but if you had a good IT job, a house and kids that you expect to go to college, taking that job will ensure you lose that house.
Or if you have young kids and you both work, and then both of youur jobs drop their benefits–you’re unemployed, but the first time you take your kid to the emergency room because she can’t breathe and is burnin up with fever, and you thing you can pay for it with your savings and you find that the procedure that cost $300 with health insurance costs nearly $2,000 without it–you’re both working, right? So what’s the problem?
Things have gotten really bad for the middle class really quickly for the last few years–and now the turbochargers have kicked in. It’s not just stagnant wages–it’s increased chaos and risk. Health care has turned from an incidental to a nightmare. If you wanted to get a good job, you got additional training–but now it’s the people with tech degrees and all manner of certifications who are manning the night booth at the self-serve gas station.
The dream is dying–and the Republicans deny it’s happening.
This sort of bland trollery makes me think you guys must still be in college. I live in a very, very Republican area–Dennis Hastert’s home district. You want to know why the district elected a liberal Democrat this year to Denny’s seat? Because the people out here are scared. Not just because of gas prices, but because of jobs, and health care, and the fact that the life that people were expecting would just get better in 1999 has vanished,
July 3rd, 2008 at 4:31 pmAnd the fact that Republican operatives deny thatthings are bad–5.5 percent, after all!–and other operatives sneer at working people as ‘Losers!”, while offering no help (we have to stat competitive!) or bizarre help {remove the tax break for employers’ health care! Drill in the Arctic for more oil!) is why Bob Foster is in Dennis Hastert’s seat, and why Rock-solid salt-of-the-earth Republicans are hoping that Obama will win without them having tovote for him–because they won’t be able to survive 4 more years of this–or even two.
I too, wonder how the 5.5% is computed since many have dropped off the workforce and unemployment check but are still unemployed or underemployed and not being counted.
July 3rd, 2008 at 4:44 pmIraq and the economy are intertwined… at this point one cannot solve one without solving the other.
July 3rd, 2008 at 5:55 pmRecruitment center Bombed in NY City! Pipe bomb detonates out side Federal court house in LA!
Long-term unemployment rises.
Perino Spins Administration Knowledge Of Bush Donor’s Oil Deal, Dismisses The Contacts As ‘Routine’.
Americans worse-off than they were seven years ago.
ACLU of Indiana defends First Amendment by defeating censorship law.
Judge requires YouTube to turn over user IP addresses and all data concerning what videos users watched to Viacom.
These Headlines and those to come like them are just the tip of an Iceberg Coming up on the horizon. The police state, spindoctors or the Main stream media, I’m afraid will not be able to cover up for the escalation of American anger against it own government.
As the voice of Americas more diverse and outside the mainstream political thinking, have been marginalized by the lack of representation in the U.S. House of representatives. The opportunity to have ones opinion and thoughts given voice in that house becomes day by day more muted. The House you see is supposed to represent the Population of the U.S. in a direct manner known as the one person one vote rule.(Reynolds v. Sims, 377 U.S. 533, 1964). This Supreme Court ruling is negated by the self imposed, 1911 house rule, capping membership at 435. Google it! It is also problematic on account the House has never complied with this decision.
To the More Main stream among us, this may seem just fine and dandy. However what you consider The Main stream today was viewed quite differently years ago.
July 6th, 2008 at 6:30 pm(Back in the day Main stream.)
Slavery was considered Main stream and it was morally sound to own slaves at one time.
This gave rise to the Radical political party the Republicans and their presidential candidate Abraham Lincoln.
How about Child labor laws, the 8 hour work day, safe working standards, Women’s suffrage, these were all considered radical ideas in their time however we today can’t imagine how dangerous the factory of 50, 75, or 100 years ago might have been. Their were our children, working in the mills loosing fingers, toes, and lives. Can you think of what it would be like today if the boss through his own fault could fire you for getting hurt on the job? Yet all these Ideas were considered radical in their day.
What I’m saying is some of the best Ideas to improve life for the American people came from places outside the Main stream, they came from “The radical Fringe” When we had a more representative and a more responsive House. In 1911 The House implemented a self imposed cap of 435 members. Since the House’s self imposed cap. We have added 4 stars to our flag, women’s suffrage doubled the amount of eligible voters in 1922, and we have added 200,000,000 people to the U.S. population. And still we have only 435 house members, that’s 1 for every 687,000, as of the 2000 census.
A growing number of People don’t want to bother voting any more because their vote doesn’t count. Notice I didn’t say, they feel as though their vote doesn’t count, I said their vote DOESN’T count. They are now too remote, ignored, disregarded, and disenfranchised. Why? This too comes back to the lack of representation in government, (the House).
Let’s look at My House Member, Rush Holt-(D) 12 dist NJ. He represents the city of Trenton and the surrounding Mercer, HUNTERDON, MIDDLESEX, and MONMOUTH county areas. So who does he speak for? The poor who live in the inner city? The wealthier middle and upper middle class? or the corporations, who make all the contributions to his next campaign, in the greater mercer, HUNTERDON, MIDDLESEX, and MONMOUTH county areas? This is a problem.
George Washington had the solution, it’s time to bring it back. It’s time we expand the house membership a bit. How about 1 house member for every 80,000 or 90,000, people. We could even match Canada’s parliament, 1 for every 93,000 people. What are the benefits of this action?
Well, It would make it little harder for candidates to pander to a populace. Smaller districts mean better responses from the Representative, It would make the House a little harder to buy and sell. It would bring fresh blood into the stale and unresponsive body the House has become today. It would bring a fresh perspective. it would end the seeming endless fund raising and re-election campaign of each House member. (Think about it they are elected to a 2 year term and from the minute they are elected they begin running for the next term. when do they have time to do real Representative’s work? Lets face it it’s a part time job.)We would have Citizen Representatives! This also would end the life time entitlement that current house members feel they have a right to. Like a 19 member staff, a hefty income, a lifetime of perks, free health insurance for life, after their first re-election. and a future as a lobbyist
The most important way it would help would be by Giving a voice to the voiceless. A voice that is heard is better than any act of violence, or bomb, that kills. It would end the duopoly that the Democrats and Republicans have on the government, that duopoly that strangles the very life out of our republic.
I fear a silence is descending upon us all. A silence that is oppressive, it is our silence. Let us not let it linger too long, for those who make peaceful revolution impossible make violent revolution probable. (JFK) Those Men and Women, who call themselves our representatives, are not. It’s time to clue them in on this.