Help The Middle ClassNews and Information For The Heart Of America
Unemployment Holds Steady At 9.7%. Temp. Hirings Up March Job Figures (Politico)
President Barack Obama got the first unequivocally good news on the nation’s employment picture Friday, as new government figures showed the nation gained 162,000 jobs in the month of March.
The unemployment rate held steady at 9.7 percent. That’s the first time the nation has gained, rather than lost, in jobs since late 2007, with the [...]
ONE MORE REASON BARACK DOESN’T GET IT: Pres Is ‘Cool’ With Big Executive Bonuses At JP Morgan Chase (Bloomberg.com)
President Barack Obama said he doesn’t “begrudge” the $17 million bonus awarded to JPMorgan Chase & Co. Chief Executive Officer Jamie Dimon or the $9 million issued to Goldman Sachs Group Inc. CEO Lloyd Blankfein, noting that some athletes take home more pay.
The president, speaking in an interview, said in response to a question that [...]
THE STORY HUFFINGTON POST DIDN’T REPORT CORRECTLY: Poll Finds 2/3 of Americans Are “Dissatisfied” or Downright “angry” About The Way The Federal Government Is Working, According To A New Washington Post-ABC News Poll (Washington Post)
Two-thirds of Americans are “dissatisfied” or downright “angry” about the way the federal government is working, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll. On average, the public estimates that 53 cents of every tax dollar they send to Washington is “wasted.”
Despite the disapproval of government, few Americans say they know much about the “tea [...]
Boston Tea Party Redux: GOP Lands A Victory Blow Against Obama (Fox News)
Republican Scott Brown's victory could grind President Obama's agenda to a halt and portend unexpected losses for Democrats in the November midterms.
Washington was waking up Wednesday to a new Senate make-up, one featuring Republican Massachusetts Senator-elect Scott Brown, who defeated Democrat Martha Coakley in a victory few thought possible just a month ago.
The race for [...]
Obama’s Poll Numbers Dropping: Americans Split On His First Year (AFP)
A new sheaf of opinion polls show Americans sharply divided on President Barack Obama’s first year in office, as his ratings on key issues like health care and the economy hit new lows.
Polling also suggests independent voters are turning away from Obama as he nears the anniversary of his January 20 inauguration — though in [...]
Robert Reich/Opinion: The Year Wall Street Bounced Back and Main Street Got Shafted (Huffington Post)
In September 2008, as the worst of the financial crisis engulfed Wall Street, George W. Bush issued a warning: “This sucker could go down.” Around the same time, as Congress hashed out a bailout bill, New Hampshire Sen. Judd Gregg, the leading Republican negotiator of the bill, warned that “if we do not do this, [...]
DAVID BROOKS: OP-ED/NEW YORK TIMES – No, It’s Not About Race
You wouldn’t know it to look at me, but I go running several times a week. My favorite route, because it’s so flat, is from the Lincoln Memorial to the U.S. Capitol and back. I was there last Saturday and found myself plodding through tens of thousands of anti-government “tea party” protesters.
They were carrying “Don’t [...]
ROGER SIMON OPINION/POLITCO: Line In The Sand, Squiggle In The Mud
The guy knows how to give a speech. Give him that.
Barack Obama’s speech to a joint session of Congress Wednesday night was both an elegant celebration of the American character and a strong denunciation of our current inability in this country to “engage in a civil conversation.”
But will it really help him pass health care [...]
Opinion-Gene Lyons/Slate.com: President Obama Has Only Himself To Blame For The Healthcare Reform Quagmire
If President Obama expects Congress to pass a healthcare reform bill worth signing, he’d better grasp that “bipartisanship” is a means, not an end. After eight years of cheering themselves hoarse over one catastrophic Bush blunder after another, Republicans will start dealing with reality only when they’re afraid not to. Right now, it’s their talk-radio/Fox [...]
Tanking Labor Market Takes Its Toll On Small American Towns
Pablo Garcia describes himself as a hard worker and has the broad shoulders and thickly muscled arms to prove it. But like so many people in this timeworn former mill town, he’s been involuntarily idle for months.
“There’s a lot of people looking for work. They’re in the same situation I am,” Garcia says. “I’ve been [...]
