Jobs Report
U.S. Unemployment Rate Rises to 7.3%; 204,000 Jobs Added [New York Times]: "The American government shutdown was barely evident in the October jobs report Friday, as private employers added positions at an unexpectedly robust pace. Employers added 204,000 workers to their payrolls, the Labor Department reported, while the jobless rate rose to 7.3 percent from 7.2 percent in September, reflecting the impact of temporary federal furloughs. The report, which was delayed by a week because of the shutdown, was especially tricky to predict, simply because economists did not know how much of a swing the furloughs would cause."
Obamacare Update
President Obama apologizes to Americans who are losing their health insurance [Washington Post]: "President Obama apologized Thursday to Americans who are losing their health insurance despite his repeated promises that they wouldn’t, an unusual act of contrition for a president who has come under heavy criticism for misleading the public.
'I am sorry that they, you know, are finding themselves in this situation, based on assurances they got from me,' Obama said in an interview with NBC News. 'We’ve got to work hard to make sure that they know we hear them and that we’re going to do everything we can to deal with folks who find themselves in a tough position as a consequence of this.'"
At Wonkblog Ezra Klein and Evan Soltas say Obama shouldn't apologize for blowing up the terrible individual market: "[T]he real sin would've been leaving the individual insurance market alone. The individual market -- which serves five percent of the population, and which is where the disruptions are happening -- is a horror show. It's a market where healthy people benefit from systematic discrimination against the sick, where young people benefit from systematic discrimination against the old, where men benefit from systematic discrimination against women, and where insurers benefit from systematic discrimination against the uninformed. The result, all too often, is a market where the people who need insurance most can't get it, and the people who do get insurance find it doesn't cover them when it's most necessary."
At Talking Points Memo, Josh Marshal points out how little has change on opposition to Obamacare: "After 6 weeks of bungled rollout and a month of horrific press, public support of and opposition to Obamacare remains exactly where it was the day before rollout."
The Senate Passes ENDA
Senate passes bill to ban discrimination against gay workers [Reuters]: "The Democratic-led Senate, reflecting a major shift in the past decade in public opinion, passed a bipartisan bill on Thursday to outlaw discrimination against gay workers. But the measure faces an uphill struggle in the Republican-led House of Representatives. The bill cleared the Senate 64-32, with 10 Republicans joining 52 Democrats and two independents in voting 'yes.' The Employment Non-Discrimination Act of 2013 has become the latest battleground in an ideological fight within the Republican Party. An increasing number of Republicans support gay rights, but conservative groups threaten to challenge many of those who support the White House-backed bill."
After Senate Win, Gay Groups Shift Focus to Obama [ABC News]: "Moments after the Senate passed a historic measure to outlaw workplace discrimination against gays, activists turned their attention toward President Barack Obama and a long-sought executive order that would have the same effect, though on a much smaller scale. 'We call on President Obama to send a clear message in support of workplace fairness by signing this executive order,' said Chad Griffin, president of the gay advocacy group Human Rights Campaign. The quick shift underscores the reality that the bill is unlikely to ever reach Obama's desk. While the anti-discrimination measure passed comfortably Thursday in the Democratic-controlled Senate, it may never get a vote in the GOP-led House because of Speaker John Boehner's opposition."
David Callahan, at Demos, explains how wedge issues are dividing the right: "Who could have imagined, say ten years ago, that gay rights would one day be an issue that progressives could embrace to their political advantage, dividing the conservative world? For decades, of course, hot button social issues were used in the exact opposite way: to divide the Democratic coalition, driving a wedge between social liberals and more traditional working class voters. One of the main projects of an entire generation of DLC-type Democrats, most notably Bill Clinton, was to defuse these issues by backing away from strong liberal stances on many issues. Now it's exactly such strong stances that end up dividing conservatives, with LGBT rights as a prime example. Just look at what's happening in Washington, with the employment discrimination bill that passed the Senate today. "
Support For Raising Minimum Wage
$10 Minimum Wage Proposal Has Growing Support From White House [New York Times]: "The White House has thrown its weight behind a proposal to raise the federal minimum wage to at least $10 an hour. “The president has long supported raising the minimum wage so hard-working Americans can have a decent wage for a day’s work to support their families and make ends meet,” a White House official said. President Obama, the official continued, supports the Harkin-Miller bill, also known as the Fair Minimum Wage Act, which would raise the federal minimum wage to $10.10 an hour, from its current $7.25.
Largest Civil Disobedience In Walmart History Leads To More Than 50 Arrests [Huffington Post]: "Surrounded by about 100 police officers in riot gear and a helicopter circling above, more than 50 Walmart workers and supporters were arrested in downtown Los Angeles Thursday night as they sat in the street protesting what they called the retailer's 'poverty wages.' Organizers said it was the largest single act of civil disobedience in Walmart's 50-year history. The 54 arrestees, with about 500 protesting Walmart workers, clergy and supporters, demonstrated outside LA's Chinatown Walmart. Those who refused police orders to clear the street after their permit expired were arrested without incident. Those who fail to post $5,000 bail would be jailed overnight, Detective Gus Villanueva, a Los Angeles Police Department spokesman, told The Huffington Post. Their primary demand to Walmart: pay every full-time worker at least $25,000 a year."
Education Reform Update
Name-calling turns nasty in education world [Politico]: "High-profile activists including union leaders and at least one member of Congress have tarred one another with choice epithets including slave master, murderer, bitch, charlatan, roach and bully bound for hell. And that’s just in the past six months. Behind the nasty rhetoric are substantive disagreements over important issues like charter schools, teacher evaluations and private school vouchers. But the substance tends to get lost in all the smack talk."
David Sirota, writing at In These Times, says teacher were never the problem: "Google the phrase “education crisis” and you'll be hit with a glut of articles, blog posts and think tank reports claiming the entire American school system is facing an emergency. Much of this agitprop additionally asserts that teachers unions are the primary cause of the alleged problem. Not surprisingly, the fabulists pushing these narratives are often backed by anti-public school conservatives and anti-union plutocrats. But a little-noticed study released last week provides yet more confirmation that neither the “education crisis” meme or the “evil teachers' union” narrative is accurate. "
