Economy
December Jobs Report: A Warning To Washington
The December Jobs Report is a warning to Washington: This economy is growing – with 155,000 new jobs and 7.8 percent unemployment. But that’s barely enough to cover the new workers coming in to the workforce.
Now every working American will face an increase in their payroll taxes. Spending at the Federal level will continue to slow. With the winding down of the Recovery Act and the cuts imposed by the last debt ceiling deal, Congress and the President should stop focusing on deficits and start working to create jobs and get Americans back to work.
How We Get Jobs Back On The Table
Overlooked in the aftermath of the "fiscal cliff" deal and the questions about what spending cuts may be around the corner, was this part of President's Obama statement following the bill's passage: I think we all recognize this law is just one step in the broader...
So Can We Focus On Jobs NOW?
Congress and the media paid homage to the agenda of the billionaires and Wall Street, with the manufactured "fiscal cliff" PR campaign frenzy that just ended. So now can we get back to the country's priorities? Can we talk about jobs now?
An Ugly Deal
Early this morning, the Senate passed the fiscal cliff deal by 89-8, a margin virtually guaranteeing that it will survive in the House. The deal has some good parts. It lets the Bush tax cuts expire on the wealthy, raises the estate tax marginally and increases taxes on capital gains and dividends a bit. Unemployment benefits are extended for a year. Tax boosts for the low paid workers – the child tax credit, expanded earned income credit, refundable tuition tax credits – are extended, if only for five years. Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid are not touched. But no one should be fooled. This is an ugly deal, with foul implications for the coming months.
What About The Jobs and Wages Cliff?
One of the most maddening features of the current fiscal cliff/fiscal swindle debate is that the chattering class rarely acknowledges the people who have already fallen off the cliff: 5 million Americans who have been unemployed for more than 27 weeks. The roughly 7...
Presenting America’s Top Ten Greediest of 2012
Some of today's most greedy are running giant multinationals. Some are just running their mouths. Their stories remind us just how much needs to change, economically and politically, in the year ahead. The essence of greed? Simple. Greed amounts to taking more than...
The Right to Work For Less: What Michigan Means
Wisconsin, Ohio, Indiana, Michigan -- Republicans continue their assault on unions and worker solidarity – and America’s middle class gets mugged. Corporate profits are at the highest % of GDP on record; worker wages are at the lowest % ever. And now the...
How "Right to Work Shirk" Laws Kill Jobs - and Hurt All of Us
Michigan's recent battle makes this a good time to explain the union movement's important role in our economy's overall health. We're about to explain why today's war on unions is bad for all of us, no matter what we do for a living, and we'll do it in four steps. But...
Meanwhile, Back In The Real Economy
Howard Kurtz writes that Americans are "tuning out" the "fiscal cliff" debates in Washington because "the players haven’t gotten serious," about making a deal. Maybe it's because Main Street America has plenty at stake in these negotiations, and none of the players have gotten serious about concerns in the real economy.
Jobs First Because Jobs Fix Deficits
What happened to jobs? The pubic wants government to do something about jobs and getting the economy moving, and in DC the only thing is this weird argument about … anything but jobs and getting the economy moving! "Fiscal cliff?" What about jobs? Fixing the...
