The Hollywood Liberal

U.S. Unemployment Edges Toward Double Digits
Economic news and pessimistic views: U.S. unemployment increased slightly to 9.8 percent and, moreover, this figure shows the crisis is far from over, experts say. Joblessness is at a 26-year high. The Guardian: American employers cut 263,000 jobs last month, pushing the US unemployment rate up to a 26-year high of 9.8%, in a worse-than-expected set of figures which fuelled anxiety that stimulus efforts are failing to strengthen the ailing labour market. The number of job losses sharply exceeded a consensus forecast among economists of around 187,000 for September, and the figure was significantly worse than a revised figure of 201,000 losses in August. It was the 21st consecutive monthly drop in jobs, providing a stark reminder that the economic crisis is far from over. The unemployment rate ticked up by a tenth of a percentage point from August’s figure of 9.7%. Read more READ THE WHOLE ITEM

Economic news and pessimistic views: U.S. unemployment increased slightly to 9.8 percent and, moreover, this figure shows the crisis is far from over, experts say. Joblessness is at a 26-year high.

The Guardian:

American employers cut 263,000 jobs last month, pushing the US unemployment rate up to a 26-year high of 9.8%, in a worse-than-expected set of figures which fuelled anxiety that stimulus efforts are failing to strengthen the ailing labour market.

The number of job losses sharply exceeded a consensus forecast among economists of around 187,000 for September, and the figure was significantly worse than a revised figure of 201,000 losses in August.

It was the 21st consecutive monthly drop in jobs, providing a stark reminder that the economic crisis is far from over. The unemployment rate ticked up by a tenth of a percentage point from August’s figure of 9.7%.

Read more

READ THE WHOLE ITEM

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Jindal turns down $300 million in stimulus funds for high-speed rail.
In response to President Obama’s national address in February, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal pointedly went after stimulus funding for high-speed rail projects as “wasteful spending.” But in August, state officials began drafting plans to request $300 million in stimulus funds to develop a high-speed rail between Baton Rouge and New Orleans. An official in […]

In response to President Obama’s national address in February, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal pointedly went after stimulus funding for high-speed rail projects as “wasteful spending.” But in August, state officials began drafting plans to request $300 million in stimulus funds to develop a high-speed rail between Baton Rouge and New Orleans. An official in the state Department of Transportation and Development called the project “a very valuable economic incubator.” The plan had the backing of Louisiana legislators such as Rep. Anh “Joseph” Cao (R), who was pressing Jindal to request the money. Jindal, however, let the midnight Friday deadline pass, allowing his right-wing ideology to win out:

Jindal aides have said the administration is not applying because of concerns about the project’s ongoing costs. They said the state would incur an annual $18 million bill to run the rail system once it became operational. […]

But U.S. Rep. Anh “Joseph” Cao, R-New Orleans, on Friday called on Jindal to apply for the money. Since all U.S. taxpayers will foot the bill for the stimulus spending, Cao said, the state’s elected officials should see that Louisiana gets its fair share. “It’s our duty to obtain as much as we can to rebuild this region,” Cao said at a news conference at his city’s train station.

He acknowledged “a real concern” about the state’s responsibility for paying the annual costs, but said the overall project would be “an $180 million win for the state of Louisiana.”

Earlier on Friday, Cao had still been optimistic that Jindal would file application for the funding, which was all ready to go. “We’re counting on his leadership in this goal to go beyond any party lines and do what’s right for Louisiana,” Cao said.

Following the release of ?Capitalism,? Rep. Gutiérrez will introduce legislation to curb ?dead peasants insurance.?
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Yesterday, Michael Moore’s newest film, “Capitalism: A Love Story” was released in more than 1,000 theaters nationwide. One of the issues that Moore looks at is “dead peasants insurance,” where companies take out life insurance policies on their employees without their knowledge and then cash in when they die. Chicago Public Radio reports that Rep. Luis Gutiérrez (D-IL) will introduce legislation that will curb the ability of employers to take out these insurance policies:

Rep. Luis Gutiérrez (D-Chicago) is raising a red flag. He chairs the U.S. House Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit.

This week Gutiérrez introduced a bill that would ban employer-owned life insurance unless the worker earns at least a million dollars a year from the company. He presented the legislation Wednesday on the House floor.

“In a nation where millions of full-time workers have no health insurance, maybe if we can prevent companies from betting on the death of their employees, they’ll invest in the health of their employees,” Gutierrez told Chicago Public Radio.

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