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01 Dec 2010 11:10

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Politics: Senate GOP: We’ll block all bills until we extend Bush tax cuts

  • 42 GOP senators will make Lame Duck Congress suck more source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 1 Comment • Permalink

01 Dec 2010 11:05

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Biz: Like contradictory jobs data? Here’s some good, then some bad

  • 93k the growth in private-sector employment last month (nice!)
  • 03/07 the last time job growth was that high in a single month (pre-recession)
  • ten consecutive months of private-sector job growth source
  • » Not all rosy: The above tally, by payroll processor ADP, is definitely positive, but separate data by outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas says that employers were looking to cut jobs, too – at a rate of 48,711 last month, the highest level in six months. Gotta love contradictory data, but the firms tend to focus on different part of the employment life process.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

01 Dec 2010 10:49

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U.S.: Interesting Deficit Panel suggestion: Social Security payroll tax holiday?

  • Would giving everyone back their Social Security payroll taxes next year help the economy? It’s a somewhat wild idea, but one floated in the new report (along with a separate report by the Bipartisan Policy Center task force). The effect would be a noticeable increase in paycheck size and would cost a lot ($50 to $100 billion), but it could be the shot in the arm that the economy needs. Come on, they’ve tried everything else, and this seems like something that both parties would actually go for without much grief. We’ll see. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

01 Dec 2010 10:39

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Politics: Deficit Panel’s final findings: Mostly the same as the draft

These guys have offered up a plan that, among other things, would cut 200,000 federal jobs and trim defense spending. But will Congress go for it? source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

01 Dec 2010 10:22

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World: Ecuador offers Julian Assange asylum … oh wait, not really

  • problem Julian Assange needs to find somewhere to go, stat, because he’s wanted by INTERPOL (RED ALERT!) for sex crimes in Sweden.
  • solution? The Deputy Foreign Minister of Ecuador offered to have Assange stay in his country as a safe haven “without any conditions.” Yeah!
  • denial Unfortunately, Kintto Lucas’ offer wasn’t approved by Foreign Minister Ricardo Patino, or by president Rafael Correa. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

01 Dec 2010 10:08

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Politics: Arguments for and against extending unemployment again

  • for According to Judy Conti of the National Employment Law Project, an advocacy group, two million people will prematurely lose their unemployment benefits, causing a “ripple effect.”
  • against Matt Mitchell, a senior research fellow at George Mason University, suggests that “Unemployment benefits probably actually increase unemployment,” allowing people to stay unemployed longer. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

01 Dec 2010 09:54

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Politics: Heckuva job: Senate fails to extend unemployment benefits

  • God forbid we actually think ahead … working together and coming up with a common solution. It makes no sense to me.
  • Sen. Scott Brown • Arguing that the Senate missed a golden opportunity to work on an unemployment extension, instead working on other things while a bipartisan opportunity passed them by. Instead, a bill to extend unemployment for some by an entire year was introduced Monday night, which made it hard to draw consensus support, especially since the benefits weren’t paid for. “I’m not sure why it took so long to get to his point while we spent seven days on food safety,” Brown said. “I’m very, very curious to see what’s next.” source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
 
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