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G-20 Standing Up To China, Now It’s Your Turn by Dave Johnson, OurFuture.org | March 31, 2010
As the manufacturing infrastructure of suppliers, technology knowledge, etc., moves to China, dependence follows. China appears to be ready to answer, "So what are you going to do about it?" The world is starting to realize this. Financial Times, yesterday, China reprimanded by G20 leaders read more »The Magic Potion by Bob Herbert, The New York Times | March 30, 2010
You can’t get back to a robust economy without putting Americans back to work. The economy needs to be rebuilt on a solid foundation of good jobs at good pay, and many of those jobs will have to come from thriving new industries. This is a long-term project that demands big-time government involvement. It will require the kind of commitment — over an even longer period of time — that President Obama and the Democrats in Congress gave to their health care initiative. The closest thing to a magic potion for individuals, families and the American economy is a job. F.D.R. understood that. The longer it takes for the rest of us to catch on, the deeper the long-term damage to the society will be. read more »Chinese Currency Manipulation Is Just One Piece by Dave Johnson, OurFuture.org | March 30, 2010
I've been focusing on the Chinese currency manipulation problem because the Obama administration is supposed to make its twice-a-year declaration on this on April 15. But even if this problem is addressed as it needs to be, keep in mind that it is just one piece of the larger problem of Chinese trade policies. read more »Crescent Corridor Rail Plan Brings No-Cringe Bipartisanship, At Last. by Natasha Chart, OurFuture.org | March 30, 2010
In theory, there's nothing that gets people riled up like government spending. In practice, everybody likes government spending that benefits them. Or, if you're a governor, that benefits your state. read more »Bill Clinton Apologizes To Haiti For Effects Of Free Trade by Dave Johnson, OurFuture.org | March 29, 2010
The "free trade" craze wiping out Haiti's farmers by flooding the country with cheap American rice. The same this happened in northern Mexico with cheap (heavily subsidized) American corn. On March 10 Bill Clinton apologized to Haiti. See With cheap food imports, Haiti can't feed itself read more »CNBC: Made in America Making a Comeback by Dave Johnson, OurFuture.org | March 29, 2010
For many years we've been hearing about outsourcing and offshoring. President Obama has started taking steps to rebalance world trade and the pendulum is about to start swinging the other way. More and more often you'll be hearing new words: "insourcing," "on-shoring" and "re-shoring." Watch this CNBC segment from Friday, Made in America Making a Comeback. read more »The Cleanest Coal Is None by Natasha Chart, OurFuture.org | March 28, 2010
West Virginia is having to build a new, $8.6 million school because the Marsh Fork Elementary School in Raleigh County is threatened by an enormous coal impoundment pond, with its hundreds of millions of gallons of coal slurry. As described at the link, Massey energy has given the state a $1 million, tax-deductible gift to help defray the costs. read more »Making A Clean Energy Revolution In America by Natasha Chart, OurFuture.org | March 26, 2010
If any more proof was needed that living wage labor and benefits packages aren't the barrier to job growth they're presented as, look no further than GE's recent investment in the UK, Norway, Germany and Sweden, Rachel Layne and Kari Lundgren reporting: read more »Even Chinese Officials Understand -- Their Currency Must Rise by Dave Johnson, OurFuture.org | March 26, 2010
When a policy is just wrong it's just wrong. I have written about how Chinese CEOs and Chinese economists have been making the case for China to bring its currency up to market rates. read more »Local Governments Laying Off, Conservatives Oppose Helping by Dave Johnson, OurFuture.org | March 25, 2010
Problem:: States shed government jobs as revenue plummets. Just last month: In Michigan, where the unemployment rate is 14.1 percent, the nation's highest, government jobs at all levels fell by 5,000. They accounted for one-third of the state's job losses. read more »
The Latest
Smoother Ride for Auto-Parts Makers , The Wall Street Journal | August 4, 2010
A year ago the U.S. auto-supplier industry was all but left for dead. Companies such as Lear Corp. were filing for bankruptcy, demand for parts was plummeting and investors were abandoning the sector as General Motors Co. and Chrysler Group LLC grappled with Chapter 11 reorganizations. read more »
U.S. To Train 3,000 Offshore IT Workers , informationweek.com | August 4, 2010
Despite President Obama's pledge to retain more hi-tech jobs in the U.S., a federal agency run by a hand-picked Obama appointee has launched a $22 million program to train workers, including 3,000 specialists in IT and related functions, in South Asia. read more »
New Democratic Strategy for Creating Jobs Focuses on a Boost in Manufacturing, The Washington Post | August 4, 2010
When Jobs Go Away for Good, stateline.org | August 3, 2010
99 Weeks Later, Jobless Have Only Desperation, The New York Times | August 3, 2010
Ms. Jarrin, 49, wound up at a motel here, putting down $260 she had managed to scrape together from friends and from selling her living room set, enough for a weeklong stay. It was essentially all the money she had left after her unemployment benefits expired in March. read more »
Will The GOP Senators Whose States Face Thousands Of Teacher Layoffs Vote Against Teacher Funding? , wonkroom.thinkprogress.org | August 3, 2010
Today, the Senate will be taking a procedural vote on a bill providing $26 billion in aid to state and local governments, $10 billion of which is dedicated to preventing teacher layoffs. This particular batch of funding has been included in, and then cut from, multiple bills, as each time conservatives have objected. read more »
Budget Woes Snare State Aid Bill, dyn.politico.com | August 3, 2010
While scrambling to save pre-election jobs assistance, Senate Democrats are quietly conceding that Republicans have already won and big swaths of President Barack Obama’s 2011 budget will be cut when Congress returns after its summer recess. read more »
Few in U.S. Move For New Jobs, Fueling Fear the Economy Might Get Stuck, Too, The Washington Post | July 30, 2010
Labor mobility has nearly ground to a halt in the past two years, and policymakers are increasingly worried that the slowdown is not just a symptom of the nation's economic struggles but also a barrier to overcoming them. read more »
Netroots Nation: Channeling the Power of Jobs, Populism and the Angry Voter, blog.aflcio.org | July 23, 2010
Where does populist anger over the economy go—left or right? It’s a question Working America has focused a great deal on as it relates to both policy and politics, in our discussions of a “working class at the tipping point,” in our daily work and as it relates specifically to this fall’s elections. This morning, a Netroots Nation panel also took up the question. read more »
Checks are Coming: Obama Signs Unemployment Bill, salon.com | July 23, 2010
Federal checks could begin flowing again as early as next week to millions of jobless people who lost up to seven weeks of unemployment benefits in a congressional standoff. read more »
