This page features links to the best independent, progressive reporting about the economy from members of The Media Consortium. For the best progressive reporting on critical environment, health care and immigration-related issues, check out The Mulch, The Pulse and The Diaspora.
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Weekly Audit: The GOP Hates Jobs
By Zach Carter, Media Consortium blogger
Through inaction and timid legislative negotiations, Congress just keeps letting the U.S. sink deeper and deeper into the economic abyss. Last week, Congress denied relief to the jobless and is currently poised to undercut a proposal that would rein in predatory lending. With unemployment out of control and banks pillaging citizens’ pocketbooks at every turn, the economy is in dire need of serious financial reform and a major jobs package.
More than one million have lost unemployment benefits
As James Ridgeway emphasizes for Mother Jones, over a million people receiving unemployment benefits ran out of financial rope on March 1 thanks to Sen. Jim Bunning’s (R-KY) self-righteousness. As a result of bizarre Senate procedural rules, Bunning’s sole “no” vote was enough to stop a bill that would have extended unemployment benefits for those who are out of work. Of course, Bunning had plenty of moral support from his fellow Republicans. Ridgeway highlights a Think Progress post on Rep. Dean Heller’s (R-NV) preposterous argument that it is time for the government to cut off unemployment benefits, since there are so many bums. READ MORE…
from our members
- Older Michgan Workers Swell Unemployment Ranks | Public News Service
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - The recession has been tough on many – but for older Michigan workers, it's been even tougher. The AARP Public Policy Institute reports workers ages 55 and over have endured a staggering 331 percent increase in unemployment over the last 10 years. - Reports: Where the Jobs are in MA
Public News Service: BOSTON - With the unemployment rate still hovering at around 9 percent in Massachusetts, two new reports released by Crittenton Women's Union (CWU), Boston, show just what types of new jobs are available, as well as some old standbys that have proven to be "recession-proof." One report focuses on just how much a Bay Stater must earn to make ends meet. For a single parent of two, that means an annual income of more than $61,000. - The Army of Chronic Unemployment | Mother Jones
There aren't any major shockers in the latest monthly employment report for February out today from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The most commonly used unemployment rate held steady at 9.7 percent, and the economy shed 36,000 jobs—up from 22,000 in January. What you should care about in the latest jobs report is the army of unemployed Americans who remain chronically unemployed, meaning they've been without work for 27 weeks or more. As you can see in the graph below from the invaluable economics site Calculated Risk, in the past two years the number of chronically unemployed Americans has skyrocketed, shattering the previous record in the early 1980s. - One year after stimulus, blacks and Latinos still struggling | The Progressive
In January, the overall unemployment rate fell to 9.7 percent, but the rate for blacks inched up to 16.5 percent and the Latino rate stood at 12.6 percent. For black men, the unemployment rate is the highest among all such categories of workers: 17.6 percent. - The Washington Monthly
UNEMPLOYMENT RATE HOLDS STEADY.... For about two weeks now, administration officials and economists have been warning everyone who would listen: the unemployment numbers for February would be ugly. Goldman Sachs predicted the economy lost as many as 100,000 jobs in February, due almost entirely to the series of winter storms. The New York Times' Floyd Norris said the other day that he expects "a truly horrid" report. - Will Massive Statewide Protests Staunch Calif. Budget Bleeding? - Working In These Times
A massive movement is rumbling through California today, with support from across the country. Thousands of students, teachers, union members, parents and workers have joined forces to descend on areas throughout the state from north to south, east to west, in a national Day of Action — and outrage. - Why are We Afraid to Create the Jobs We Need? « SpeakEasy
Unemployment is the scourge of our nation. It causes death and disease. It eats away at family life. It erodes our sense of confidence and well being. And it’s a profound insult to the richest country on Earth.
earlier from the consortium report
Weekly Audit: The Global Economic Crisis
By Zach Carter, Media Consortium Blogger
Over the past thirty years, Wall Street has waged a steady war against governments around the globe, convincing policymakers of various ideological stripes that whatever raises profits for bankers and traders will be good for the rest of society. It’s a very simple and appealing portrait of how the world... Read More
Weekly Audit: More Jobs Please
By Zach Carter, Media Consortium Blogger
One year after President Barack Obama secured passage of his critical economic stimulus package, the U.S. Senate is finally taking anther look at how to create jobs and repair the economy. These issues are more important than ever, but absurd Republican obstructionism and timid Democratic negotiation are once again threatening... Read More
Weekly Audit: Attack of the Imaginary Budget Demons
By Zach Carter, Media Consortium Blogger
On Feb. 1, President Barack Obama unveiled his 2011 budget proposal. While conservative pundits reacted with predictable, yet preposterous, wailing about the federal budget deficit, the short-term U.S. budget outlook is just fine. If anything, Obama’s budget doesn’t dedicate nearly enough funding to create jobs.
As John Nichols notes for The... Read More
Weekly Audit: Don’t Let Citizens United Wreck Our Economy
By Zach Carter, Media Consortium Blogger
In a landmark decision last week, the Supreme Court ruled that corporations could spend unlimited funds to influence American elections, overturning a century of legal precedent. The Court’s ruling in Citizens United v. FEC undermines the integrity of the U.S. government, as President Barack Obama emphasized at his State of... Read More