mcclatchydc.com — Republicans almost unanimously oppose spending $33.9 billion for extended unemployment benefits for some 2.5 million people who've lost them, because they say it would increase federal budget deficits.
At the same time, they're pushing a permanent extension of Bush administration tax cuts, especially for the wealthy, which could increase federal budget deficits by trillions of dollars over the next 10 years.
huffingtonpost.com — Senate Minority Whip Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) said Monday that tax cuts for the wealthy shouldn't be offset by revenue increases elsewhere because their purpose is to shrink the size of government, fleshing out an argument he made on Sunday. The White House has seized on Kyl's assertion that unemployment benefits should be paid for but tax cuts shouldn't, hoping to portray the GOP as staunch defenders of the rich. But Kyl stood by his statement, calling jobless benefits a "necessary evil."
washingtonmonthly.com — I've been marveling in recent months at the ways in which Republican lawmakers and candidates seem to actively dislike -- on a personal level -- those who've lost their jobs in the recession. It's kind of odd, given that the unemployed don't seem to have done anything to offend the GOP and earn the party's disdain.
In the latest example, we see Pennsylvania Attorney General Tom Corbett (R), the frontrunner in this year's gubernatorial race, arguing publicly that jobless workers in his state are choosing not to work, preferring to live on meager unemployment aid.
truth-out.org — Young Americans might not get full Social Security retirement benefits until they reach age 70 if some trial balloons that prominent lawmakers of both parties are floating become law.
No one who's slated to receive benefits in the next decade or two is likely to be affected, but there's a gentle, growing and unusually bipartisan push to raise the retirement age for full Social Security benefits for people born in the 1960s and after.
ourfuture.org — Why not address both problems with a major public program to directly put people to work saving energy?
Plenty of green-job advocates have offered practical details, including my University of Massachusetts colleague, Robert Pollin. Yet no one in Congress or the White House seems willing to plant this garden.
I’m trying to figure out why green job-creation proposals have gotten stuck in the mud. Maybe environmentalists as a group are viewed with suspicion because they make us all feel guilty. Certainly, we’ve seen a conservative backlash against promotion of green jobs, linked to skepticism about the threat of global warming.
thedailygreen.com — The phrase "building a green economy" means different things to different people, but in general it refers to encouraging economic development that prioritizes sustainability--that is, working with nature and not against it in the quest to meet peoples' needs and wants--instead of disregarding environmental concerns in the process of growing the economy. The primary way governments around the world are trying to "green" their own economies today is by increasing investment in--and, by extension, creating jobs in--industries on the cutting edge of non-polluting renewable forms of energy, such as solar and wind power.
ourfuture.org — It was a finely honed machine, this United States Census team, and it had a good run. But in the coming days and weeks, many of its members will experience the pain of unemployment — once again.
Christine Egan, a 31-year-old massage therapist, says her census job offered shelter from the economic storm last year. “The economy was terrible; there was nothing,” she says. “I’ve already gone through ‘horrific,’ so I’m immunized.” She smiles, optimism almost extending to her eyes. “It must be better now, right?”
npr.org — When members of Congress return from their Fourth of July break Monday, they'll find a big challenge waiting for them right where they left it. The issue is unemployment — specifically an extension of benefits for people who've lost their jobs. The debate has turned into a high-stakes, election-year stand-off over deficits.
More than 2 million people have had their benefits cut off in the six-plus weeks since lawmakers began debating the bill.
Ever since the Eisenhower administration, Congress has approved jobless benefits that go beyond the usual half-year for up to two years of benefits during times of high unemployment.
blog.aflcio.org — Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) and his Senate cohorts who have flipped off long-term jobless workers by blocking unemployment insurance (UI) extensions and jobs legislation are enjoying a pleasant week off, with pay. Meanwhile, 250,000 workers this week and 1.7 million since June 1 have lost their UI lifeline.
Yesterday in Louisville, union activists led by the Kentucky State AFL-CIO marched and rallied outside McConnell’s office demanding McConnell lift the blockade on jobless aid and job creation. Says Kentucky State AFL-CIO President Bill Londrigan:
online.wsj.com — The White House is shifting the focus of its job-creation efforts away from appeals for more federal spending and toward expanding exports and persuading business leaders to invest more.
The new approach, which President Barack Obama is highlighting in appearances this week, reflects a recognition by the administration that it can no longer sell government stimulus as an antidote to the nation's 9.5% jobless rate.
Delicious
Digg
StumbleUpon
Propeller
Reddit
Magnoliacom
Newsvine
Furl
Facebook
Google
Yahoo
Technorati
