On Medicare in 2009: “Converting Medicare into defined contribution sort of voucher system.”
Paul Ryan to Chamber in 2010: Vocherize Medicaid
Tag Archives: republicans
7.8%
Good News on Jobs
Today is the first Friday of the month, which means it’s the day the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) releases monthly figures on jobs and unemployment. Today’s news was unexpectedly good, with the unemployment rate dropping sharply from 8.1 percent to 7.8 percent. Just to put that into perspective, the unemployment rate during the president’s first full month in office, February 2009, was 8.3% and it’s been above 8 percent ever since.
ThinkProgress’ Pat Garofalo breaks down today’s news:
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today that payrolls expanded by 114,000 last month, dropping the unemployment rate to 7.8 percent. 873,000 Americans reported having found jobs in September (in the so-called household survey), the most since 1983.
This adds to the total number of jobs created over President Obama’s term; revisions released last week by the BLS showed that Obama is net positivefor jobs since January 2009. Here are some other highlights from the report:
– Labor force grows. The labor force grew by 418,000 people, so the drop in the unemployment rate was not due to people giving up on looking for work.
– Revisions shows stronger summer job growth. The number of jobs created in both July and August were revised up, adding a total of 86,000 jobs.
– Public sector finally stopped shedding jobs. State, local, and federal government finally ended a long period of job contraction, adding 10,000 jobs. Revisions show that the public sector created jobs in both July and August.
– Average hourly earnings rise. Earnings rose 7 cents to $23.58. Average hourly earnings have risen by 1.8 percent over the last year.
Of course, one month’s report does not make for a good economy, but the three-month average for job growth hit 145,000, a sign of a recovering labor market (albeit, one that is recovering slowly). Overall, the economy has added 1.3 million jobs this year.
The unemployment rate would be under 7 percent without public sector jobs cuts, while the American Jobs Act that Republicans filibustered in Congress would have added millions of jobs, according to economists.
Conservatives, in the apparent belief that good news for the American economy means bad news for their prospects in next month’s elections, immediately seized on the news to allege a vast conspiracy of data-rigging at the BLS — a scrupulously non-political entity. This dovetails with the recent right-wing conspiracy theory that America’s pollsters are working in collusion the media to rig the polls in President Obama’s favor in order to depress GOP turnout.
Check out this post by ThinkProgress’ Aviva Shen to see which conservatives are peddling their newest conspiracy theory.
BOTTOM LINE: We have more to do, but today’s jobs news shows that we are on the road to recovery and can’t afford to go back to the same policies that crashed the economy in the first place.
Evening Brief: Important Stories That You Might’ve Missed
The women who were invisible at the presidential debate.
Mendacious Mitt’s week: 50 lies and counting.
How Romney’s tax plan could still mean big tax increases for the middle class.
Big Bird showed up at a Romney rally today.
How Obamacare’s birth control mandate will lead to fewer abortions.
Romney’s ridiculous and belated attempt to distance himself from his 47% comments.
Justice Scalia says ruling against abortion rights and LGBT rights are no-brainers for him.
Romney’s sick joke.
Romney’s real Big Bird problem: moms votes.
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Pennsylvania Voters Don’t Need ID to Go to the Polls – For Now
- by Jessica Pieklo
- Care2 make a difference
In a highly anticipated ruling, Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court Judge Robert E. Simpson Jr. ruled the state cannot enforce its restrictive voter ID requirement until after the November presidential election.
The ruling is a qualified win for voting rights advocates. The ruling strikes two provisions of the law that would have required voters without sufficient identification to show their IDs within six days of voting or appear before the county board of elections. State poll workers will still be allowed to asked voters for photo identification, but voters who are unable to produce ID that matches the bill’s requirements will still be allowed to cast a ballot, and the state will still be allowed to educate voters about the new ID requirement.
The ruling applies only to the election this November. A trial on the merits of the law will be scheduled later in the year, said Simpson.
The next great task will be for civil rights groups to educate poll workers and citizens to prevent possible harassment at the polls and make sure the law is not wrongly enforced at the expense of voting rights.
This was Simpson’s second look at the law. He had previously refused to block the voter ID law despite his “sympathy” for those “burdened by the voter ID requirement.” Pennsylvania’s Supreme Court overturned that ruling and ordered Simpson to issue an injunction blocking the law from going into effect unless the state could prove it was providing “liberal access” to photo identification and that there would “be no voter disenfranchisement” on Election Day.
This latest ruling makes Pennsylvania the eleventh state to have either a state or federal court block a voter suppression law passed by Republicans since the 2010 election. It’s a sign our system of checks and balances is working and that the courts are doing their job to protect fundamental rights from legislative interference. But given the veracity with which Republicans have pushed these laws, and given the number of states with measures on the ballot in November, a victory like the one in Pennsylvania should simply give us a second to catch our breath and re-group, because the battle to secure voting rights for everyone is far from finished.
Related Stories:
Pennsylvania Supreme Court Throws Voters A Bone
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Voter Suppression
Judge: Turzai comments “disturbing, tendentious”
Published by Tim McNulty on Wednesday, 15 August 2012 2:09 pm.
In his decision allowing Pa’s voter ID bill to go forward — in which he praised state agencies and throttled expert testimony brought by the ACLU — Commonwealth Court Judge Robert Simpson had some rough words for Mike Turzai’s comments on the bill. See page 60:
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The Road Travelled …
I am writing to you not knowing what side of the political table you sit at hoping some of you will be voting for Barack Obama for a 2nd term. If not, so be it. I want you to know that I am fundraising for the Democratic Party . We have at least six weeks to go before Nov.6 there are fellow Americans participating in early voting as we speak. In some parts of the Country, Voter Suppression is rearing its ugly head. As a woman, mom, business owner and person of colour, I am beyond disheartened at what has transpired. I do not usually ask for money but given what Mr. Romney and Paul Ryan are offering. I have to step up and at least try to find people to stand up speak out and give Barack Obama a second term. I hope some of you feel this way as well. So, I am formally asking for a Contribution to help the Democratic Party continue what we aspired and started in 2008 and was ignored by the Republican party who met the same night Barack was sworn in. Some in the Republican Party stated compromise was a dirty word while others turned toward race and fear in 2010; it was the turning point. The extreme right gained control and exacted out record numbers of filibustering as well as obstructing major legislation that would have shortened our recession.
If, you are so inclined to donate and vote for Barack Obama to fight against the unlimited money taking over politics today click on the link below:
I support Obama because he represents the bold and drastic changes we need NOW action not the lip service we received from the last administration. The President of the United States knows and understands we need to pay attention to our debt deficit, our environment, that we need to narrow the gap between the haves and have none and we all know we need better health-care.
Last, our future is our children and that means better educational opportunities…
Thank you for your time
Be a Seed for Change 
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