The U.S. economy added 290,000 jobs last month, 100,000 more than economists had predicted. The unemployment rate rose to 9.9 percent “mainly because 805,000 jobseekers — perhaps feeling better about their prospects — resumed their searches for work.” The jobs numbers in February and March were also revised to show stronger improvement than previously reported.
The Conservative Party made major gains in Britain’s national election yesterday, but preliminary results indicate that the Tories — while winning more seats than Labour — will not make enough gains to win a governing majority. Tory Leader David Cameron said the Labour Party has lost the right to govern, while Prime Minister Gordon Brown said he would look to form an alliance with the Liberal Democrats.
Faisal Shahzad, the suspect in the attempted Times Square bombing, appears to have been acting out of anger toward the U.S. that “accumulated over multiple trips to his native Pakistan” where he received training from the Pakistani Taliban. His radicalization “did not involve typical catalysts such as direct contact with a radical cleric, a visible conversion to militant Islam or a significant setback in life.”
Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-WA) plans to bring up an amendment to the Senate’s financial regulatory reform bill that would reinstate the Glass-Steagall firewall between commercial and investment banking. Although Senate leaders have not yet agreed to allow such an amendment to be voted on, Cantwell said she expects it to be voted on.
A coalition of civil rights and labor groups yesterday announced a national boycott of Arizona over its new anti-immigration law. The protest, organized by the National Council of La Raza, includes the Service Employees International Union and the League of United Latin American Citizens. In the past week and a half, 23 meetings scheduled in Arizona have been canceled, resulting in a loss of at least $6 million.
Sen. Scott Brown (R-MA) signed on to Sen. Joe Lieberman’s (I-CT) bill to strip Americans of their citizenship if they associate with foreign terrorists yesterday. “I’ve always felt we should treat people who are trying to kill us…as enemy combatants,” which is not an option for U.S. citizens, Brown said.
A Los Angeles Times investigation finds that the Community Financial Services Association, a trade group for the payday lending industry, is pressuring its borrowers to call Congress and ask it to back off of the creation of a Consumer Financial Protection Agency. Some borrowers are calling out of fear of retaliation from lenders if they don’t. “What if they call in their loan?” asked one.
Carol Browner, President Obama’s adviser on energy and climate change, tells Bloomberg News that the Gulf oil disaster “is actually heightening people’s interest in energy in this country and in wanting a different energy plan.” But, Browner also sounded support for increasing domestic oil production as part of a new energy bill.
The Senate Judiciary Committee delayed voting on Berkeley law professor Goodwin Liu’s “controversial nomination” to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals yesterday, after Republicans asked for more time. Ranking member Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL) said Republicans “had concerns about his public speeches and appearances.”
And finally: House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) cries. Again.
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