Light at the End of the Unemployment Line? (July 30th)
According to Economic Policy Institute economist Josh Bivens, after a contraction of the Gross Domestic Product, the measure of all economic activity, over the past two quarters of an annualized rate of negative six percent, the GDP for this past quarter will come in at about negative 1.5 percent. Without the President's economic recovery act, the number would have been three times higher, he reports.
Climate Bill Provides Real Cost Relief for Consumers
While most people understand the urgency of climate change, one of the top concerns many working families have with a cap-and-trade system is added costs for energy.
Economic Recovery: Take Two
The legacy of the Bush Administration has been a perfect storm of economic devastation – in finance, housing and jobs. The challenge of fixing this economic mess is enormous – and urgent. Creating good jobs that cannot be outsourced is central to the solution.
Four Years Post-Katrina, Levee Protection Still Elusive
Four years after Hurricane Katrina, there have been some significant improvements to the levees of New Orleans. However, even with improvements scheduled to be completed in 2011, advocates say the U.S. government has left the standard of protection at dangerously low levels.
The Reality of Vick's Return
While in prison, Vick met with the president of the Humane Society of the United States. He also will be working with groups aimed at steering young people away from dogfighting. By all accounts, Vick is profoundly remorseful. And if you had to declare bankruptcy and spend two years in Leavenworth, you would also be feeling a share of regret.
The Mystery of the Cost of Healthcare
A New Yorker magazine investigative report about why McAllen, Texas, a city located in Hidalgo county – which has the lowest per capita income in the country – has one of the highest medical costs per person in the United States (surpassed only by Miami, Florida), has stirred an unusual controversy over the rarely discussed contradictions that affect the quality and coverage of health services in that country.
Foreclosed and Evicted in Oakland
At eight in the morning on Monday, ten Alameda County Sheriffs arrived in their patrol cars in front of the tan house on the corner of Tenth and Willow in west Oakland, the oldest African American neighborhood in the city, and one of the oldest on the west coast. The renovated home is surrounded by an iron fence, and the sheriffs poured through its open gate and up the stairs.
Business Interests Splitting Over Honduras Coup?
A group of apparel makers with business interests in Honduras, in a July 27th letter to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, endorsed the administration's call for restoration of democracy and basic civil rights and liberties in that country.
Without Reform, Millions Could Lose Health Care
If nothing is done about health reform, as Republicans have indicated is their top priority in order to 'break' President Obama, a typical family can expect to pay about 71 percent more for health insurance premiums within the next 10 years, says a new memo from the Center for American Progress Action Fund. According to the memo, the average family premium will total more than $22,000, if no health reform is enacted this year.
Green Life Lessons for Youngsters
With environmental awareness so widespread among younger people in our society, most kids have learned more about being green from their school teachers and camp counselors than we adults might have gleaned in a lifetime.
