Economy and Business
Time for a Job Surge
Well, the good news is that the U.S. economy gained a net 431,000 jobs in May—albeit largely due to the hiring of 411,000 temporary Census workers.
Deficit Fascinates Media–Its Causes, Not So Much
For all the tea party’s complaints about the so-called liberal media, one of the movement’s central rallying cries–the looming threat posed by the country’s deficit–is one that always gets a warm media reception. In fact, turn on your TV or pick up your newspaper, and you’ll be hard pressed to find much of a difference between the media line and the tea party’s angle on the deficit.
Work vs. Wealth
Now that the dust has settled from this year’s tax-filing scramble, here are a few facts to keep in mind as Congress moves closer to debating the expiring Bush tax cuts. By the end of 2010, those cuts, which began to take effect in 2001, will have cost our nation $2.5 trillion dollars.
Benefits for the Long-Term Unemployed to be Debated Again
Democrats are working to pass legislation that will extend unemployment benefits, but it faces GOP opposition.
Resurrect the Estate Tax
America’s first-ever billionaire, John D. Rockefeller, died in 1937. His heirs faced a 70 percent estate tax on the bulk of his estate. Tycoon Dan Duncan’s heirs are enjoying a zero percent estate tax. When he died, his son and three daughters became instant billionaires.
A Main Street and MLK Boulevard Stimulus
“What good is having the right to sit at a lunch counter if you can’t afford a hamburger?” Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. asked in 1968. Today, many of us who fought for lunch-counter rights have children and grandchildren who can’t afford a restaurant meal.
Racial Wealth Divide now a Vast Gulf
Tough Budget Choices
As in recent years, military spending accounts for over half of the 2011 discretionary request: 58 percent. In January, President Barack Obama announced plans to freeze spending for many discretionary programs for three years to control the government’s spiraling debt. However, he exempted from this freeze “security-related” programs including the Pentagon, foreign aid, veterans’ programs, and homeland security.
Wake Me Up When It’s June
After investigating the matter over the weekend officials now think it was a systemic glitch, which, under certain circumstances, can torpedo the market. But they’re going to fix it, probably. Great. Do you ever get the feeling that we’re shooting craps with the other guys’ dice and the dice don’t have spots on them?
No Fixing Housing Woes Without Dealing with Jobs First
Our country has plenty of housing. It’s just in the wrong place. There are lots of houses in Detroit, East St. Louis and rural spots where jobs have left. Cheap. But who wants to settle there?
