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26 May 2011 02:08

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Politics: Scott Walker is becoming very unpopular

  • Watch out, Walker: If a recall election were held today, you’d get booted faster than you can say “Gray Davis.” source
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink

06 May 2011 10:46

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Biz: April jobs numbers: Mostly good this time, but not completely

  • 244k the number of jobs added in April, according to fresh jobs numbers released today
  • 268k the number of jobs added specifically to the private sector, which drove the growth
  • 9% the unemployment rate, which is up slightly from March’s number, 8.8 percent source
  • » Overall, decent news: Economists largely feel that the numbers are positive this time around. One negative of note is the decline of public sector jobs, which fell by 24,000 last month. However, some economists note that certain numbers, such as weak construction numbers and a lack of growth in average work hours, give them pause. Still though, a few negative-looking economic reports from earlier in the week made these numbers look much better than expected.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

03 May 2011 01:29

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U.S.: Stay in school and you’re much, much more likely to get a job

  • This is why they tell you to stay in school, kids. Seriously, look at that discrepancy! Of course, the usual causation-correlation disclaimer is in effect here; maybe the kids who graduated college were the ones naturally more predisposed to keeping a job anyway? Nevertheless, this should give pause to any high schoolers considering dropping out. (source: Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis) source
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink

18 Apr 2011 22:15

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Politics: Wisconsin: Recall campaign gains steam, control of State Senate now in play

  • three number of GOP State Senators in Wisconsin who will face a recall election, thanks to Democratic organizing efforts
  • three number of seats that have to change hands in order for Democrats to gain control of the Wisconsin State Senate source
  • » Total Recall: Democratic efforts to flip control of the Wisconsin State Senate just reached an important milestone, as organizers have now collected enough signatures to force three Republican senators into recall elections. If Democrats win all three elections, they’ll be rewarded with control of the Wisconsin State Senate. This is, of course, pending validation of the collected signatures; in all three cases, Democratic organizers submitted around 150% of the required number of signatures, so it’s unlikely that the petitions will be invalidated on those grounds. If Democrats are successful in recalling even one Wisconsin Republican, it’ll be an enormous victory for the pro-union movement, which launched the recall campaign last month in response to Governor Scott Walker’s union-busting “budget-repair” bill.
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink

07 Apr 2011 00:20

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Politics: More bad news for Walker: Judicial election shows major shift in county-level support

  • 19 counties in WI switched from Republican to Democrat source
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink

07 Apr 2011 00:09

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Politics: In theory, Democrats have enough signatures to recall Scott Walker

  • 541,000 signatures needed to initiate a recall election for Scott Walker, once he’s eligible in 2012
  • 738,000 votes cast for the Democrat in Wisconsin’s judicial election last Tuesday source
  • » A few caveats: First, a lot can change in a year; who knows if Wisconsonites will even be thinking about Walker’s 2011 assault on unions in 2012? Second of all, an obscure judicial election isn’t really comparable to a signature-gathering recall campaign; they’re apples and oranges. Still, this is reason for Democrats to be cautiously optimistic about the feasibility of recalling Walker in a year. JoAnne Kloppenburg, the Democratic candidate in question, has claimed victory in the judicial election, although there will assuredly be a recount.
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink

01 Apr 2011 11:15

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U.S.: Unemployment falls, 261k new jobs added in March

  • 8.8% unemployment rate, lowest in two years source
  • » There’s more: In the last four months, unemployment has fallen a total of one percent. This may not seem significant, but it’s in fact the largest four-month drop since 1983. Even if the economy continued to grow at this rate, though, the US wouldn’t be back to pre-recession employment rates until–wait for it–2018. So while this is a good jobs report, it’s not quite good enough. Here’s to the future!
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

01 Apr 2011 10:36

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Politics: Anti-union amendment added to FAA reauthorization bill; will Obama veto?

  • veto on the horizon: Remember that anti-union stuff House Republicans wanted in the FAA reauthorization bill? It survived the amendment process, and the House is now set to pass the legislation. After being merged with the already-passed Senate bill and then voted on again by both chambers, it’ll end up on the President’s desk. At that point, Obama will have to decide whether or not to bust out his veto pen. The White House issued a veto threat earlier this week, as the bill would roll back reforms that ease the ability of rail and aviation employees to unionize. While we suspect Obama may be bluffing here, given the rather milquetoast nature of the threat, we’ll only find out if the amended bill passes the Senate. And it’s never particularly wise to assume that the Senate will pass something. source
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink

30 Mar 2011 23:56

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Politics: More GOP union-busting fun, this time at the federal level

  • goal Continuing full-steam ahead with their party’s attack on worker’s unions, House Republicans will vote on legislation making it more difficult for rail and aviation workers to unionize.
  • obstacle The White House, via the Office of Management in Budget, released a statement today threatening—though not explicitly pledging—to veto any bill that contained such changes. source
  • » What’s being proposed: The provision, which comes in the form of an amendment to the FAA reauthorization bill, would affect the way votes are tallied when rail or aviation workers decide whether or not to unionize. Under the proposed amendment, no-shows and abstentions would count as “no” votes (that is, votes against unionization; if anyone can explain the intellectual justification behind such a policy, we’re all ears). But not only does the bill face a possible presidential veto; there’s also doubt as to whether House leadership even has the votes to pass it. We’ll keep you posted as to how this plays out after tomorrow’s vote.
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink

28 Mar 2011 22:59

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Politics: Indiana Democrats to pay the price for skipping town

  • $3,150 fine incurred by IN Dems for fleeing source
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
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