The economy seems to be leveling out, but how long will it take to get employment back to where it was before the Great Recession? Brookings has this frightening chart with some explanation: In recent months, on this blog, we described the job gap — the number of jobs it would take to return to employment levels from before the Great Recession, while also accounting for the 125,000 people who enter the labor force in a typical month. After today’s employment numbers, the job gap stands at almost 11.3 million jobs. How long will it take to...
Continue reading...Poplicola
Morning Constitutional – Friday, 16 July 2010
Good morning, everybody. The guy who blackmailed Letterman learned he was nominated for an Emmy while in jail. Now, your morning constitutional: Too early for good news? Well, oil has stopped spilling out of the busted well in the Gulf, and while it may be premature, any good news is exciting. Financial reform passed Congress yesterday, another big win for the Obama administration. But will Americans notice or care? A new Pew Research poll finds that only 34 percent of Americans are aware that the government\’s bailout of the banks was actually under President Bush, while 47...
Continue reading...Morning Constitutional – Thursday, 15 July 2010
Good morning, folks. Landon Donovan is not having a love child. Now, your morning constitutional: Financial regulation reform to be voted on in the Senate today and likely to pass. Former SEC Chair Harvey Pitt thinks it will create more problems than it solves. Paul Volcker gives it a \”B.\” Why are some financial instruments called \”exotic?\” BP has fixed an equipment problem on a new cap for the broken well in the Gulf and will move ahead with a test which could lead to stopping the oil spill. Argentina approves same-sex marriage, making it the first...
Continue reading...Candidate for Congress Ed Martin thinks Barack Obama wants to stop you from being saved
Via TPM, we learn that Ed Martin, who seems to get his energy from the tea party movement, is afraid that the president wants to take away your freedom to worship. His logic? Well: One thing I like to say is: America is great, not because of our genetics. We’re great because we created a place and space where people can be free. And they can choose Christ, they can choose to be faithful. They can worship, and they find their way to the Lord. And — or some of them don’t. We sure want them all...
Continue reading...New York Times Columnist Line of the Day
If you’re one of the four-or-so frequent readers of this here blog, chances are you also occasionally check out the New York Times op-ed page. You may even know the names: Thomas “Friedman’s Just Another Word For Nothing Left to Lose” Friedman, Gail “The Colander” Collins, Nicholas “The Dark Crystal” Kristof, &c. Well, I’ve decided to devote a daily feature to these folks, by daily pointing out one line that is either awesome, funny, insightful, intelligent, ridiculous, or utterly divorced from reality. I hope you enjoy. Today\’s is from Thomas \”Tommy Boy\” Friedman, who in his column...
Continue reading...Morning Constitutional – Wednesday, 14 July 2010
Happy Bastille day, everybody. Bristol and Levi are engaged (again). Now, your morning constitutional: President Obama has nominated Jacob Lew to be the next director of the Office of Management and Budget. Lew had previously held the same position in the last few years of the Clinton administration, and most recently was deputy secretary of state. BP has placed a new cap on the broken oil well in the Gulf and has high hopes for its success. However, testing has been delayed. The NAACP passed a resolution on Tuesday condemning what it feels is rampant racism in...
Continue reading...Justice Ginsburg on Roe and more
I would have loved to have heard Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg in person when she spoke recently at the Aspen Ideas Festival, but I’ll have to content myself with reading excerpts from the conversation she had with Jeffrey Rosen. Justice Ginsburg, who was introduced by former Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, described herself as a “flaming feminist” and talked eloquently about the economic realities of abortion rights, among other subjects. (Quotes courtesy of these two articles on the event) ~On her husband Marty, who recently passed away after 56 years of marriage: He “was the first boy I...
Continue reading..."Irrational Prejudice"
I’m on my way out of town right now, but a pretty huge development occurred yesterday that really needs mentioning before I go. In two decisions yesterday, Commonwealth of Massachusetts v. HHS and Gill v. Office of Personnel Management, U.S. District Judge Joseph Tauro held section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) unconstitutional. The Defense of Marriage Act, which was passed back in the ’90s in a cynical play against a weakened President Clinton when same-sex marriage was barely on the horizon, prohibits the federal government from recognizing either state-sanctioned or non-state-sanctioned same-sex marriages and...
Continue reading...Sharron Angle attacks Harry Reid for…saving jobs?
Sharron Angle may want to stop talking. In case you’re not sure who she is: Angle’s a tea party favorite running for Senate against Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid in Nevada. She beat out prohibitive favorite Sue Lowden in the Republican primary, mostly due to Lowden saying some ridiculous things. However, she also tends to say ridiculous things and get in trouble for them. As a result, she doesn’t get out much. Earlier this week, she got riled up because the Reid campaign dug up her old website and, well, put it back online. I’m not an...
Continue reading...Morning Constitutional – Thursday, 8 July 2010
Good morning, folks. Richard Starkey, the former drummer of Rory Storm and the Hurricanes, turned 70 yesterday. Now, your morning constitutional: The Cuban government has agreed to release 52 political prisoners who were swept up during a major crackdown on dissent in 2003. The prisoners will likely be accepted by Spain. CNN: The face of America\’s homeless youth. A solar-powered aircraft has completed a 26-hour test flight. No matter how conservatives may feign outrage, NASA has always had a diplomatic mission. CNN has fired a reporter for expressing respect for a Lebanese cleric who inspired Hezbollah. If...
Continue reading...
Recent Comments