Help The 99ers

You're going the wrong way!

2012-02-15T10:14:00.000-05:00

In addition, the two sides reached a tentative plan to reform unemployment benefits, reducing the maximum time frame to benefit from the jobless insurance program to 73 weeks in the states with the hardest-hit economies.

Dammit, Congress - why are you so willing to throw the unemployed overboard?

"We are systematically destroying our customer base in this country by undercutting the middle class"

2012-02-11T08:36:00.000-05:00

Henry Blodget at The Daily Ticker interviewed Nick Hanauer, an entrepreneur who's making a business case for higher taxes on the rich.

A second notable quote from the interview:

"Corporate profits are at a 50-year high, while unemployment is also at a 50-year high. If it was true that the rich and business were the job creators, we'd be drowning in jobs today."

The Long Term Unemployed Aren't Lazy, There Just Aren't Any Jobs

2012-02-09T22:07:00.000-05:00

Heidi Shierholz, writing in US News' Economic Intelligence blog:

…it is not that millions of workers now lack the necessary skills, or have become unproductive, or would rather be on unemployment insurance benefits.
The finding that the increase in unemployment duration is predominantly due to weak demand for workers means that it is not the unemployed workers' fault that they can't find jobs, employers simply do not have work for people to do.

And with that, the updated JOLTS ratio (source: FRED). Before the Great Recession, you can see that we averaged about two workers for every job opening nationwide. Today, that number is twice as high:

F**KED: The United States of Unemployment / The Roller Coaster

2012-02-08T20:49:00.001-05:00

CT News: AARP grants $200K to WorkPlace for older 99ers program

2012-02-08T20:33:00.001-05:00

Rob Varnon, writing in the Financial Mines blog:

The WorkPlace Inc.'s Platform to Employment program to help long-term unemployed over the age of 50 find new careers received a $200,000 boost in funding from the AARP.
The WorkPlace, a nonprofit that handles the job placement and training for the state, started its P2E program last year inviting 100 people who had exhausted 99 weeks of unemployment to participate. The people, dubbed 99ers, were given classes and employment subsidized through private sector grants. The WorkPlace said so far, 50 of the first participants have been placed in jobs.
The AARP grant will support intensive core skills as well as occupational training for the program.
"The current economic uncertainty has left many older Americans concerned about making ends meet," said Phyllis L. Kim, AARP Foundation senior vice president, Office of Grants Administration. "AARP Foundation is already in communities across the country helping vulnerable Americans with direct services, but we believe strongly that we must also invest in long-term solutions. We look forward to working with our innovative grantees who share our goals so that together, we can seed hope for older Americans who are struggling."
"Platform to Employment is the only project of its kind in the nation and it is already has shown promising results in placing participants in jobs," said Joe Carbone, President & CEO of The WorkPlace. "We have seen a number of socially responsive employers, good corporate citizens, step forward and consider hiring local workers through P2E."

Quote of the Day: Long-term Unemployment

2012-02-05T23:14:00.001-05:00

"(And) we should never forget that the persistence of high unemployment inflicts enormous, continuing damage on our economy and our society, even if the unemployment rate is gradually declining. Bear in mind, in particular, the fact that long-term unemployment — the percentage of workers who have been out of work for six months or more — remains at levels not seen since the Great Depression. And each month that this goes on means more Americans permanently alienated from the work force, more families exhausting their savings, and, not least, more of our fellow citizens losing hope."

Paul Krugman, NY Times op-ed, Feb. 5

Graph of the Day: U3, U4 and U6

2012-02-05T11:51:00.000-05:00

Update: Rich Yeselson at the Washington Monthly and writers at the Christian Science Monitor have both looked at this issue before we got there.

We post these numbers in each monthly update of the Stat Pack page, but it's helpful to focus in on them. January's jobs report surpassed expectations, and that put the GOP on the defensive. One of the arguments put forth was "Sure, but the reason unemployment dropped was because people stopped looking for work."

The BLS monthly report counts those people, too, by looking at discouraged workers and marginally-attached workers. This entry from AmosWeb helps illustrate the difference:

"Peter Pankovic and his twin sister Paula provide examples of marginally-attached workers. Both were once employed at the HyFy Electronics Company (a leading record-player manufacturer). But when HyFy Electronics Company went bankrupt, Paula and Peter both lost their jobs. Each actively sought employment for several months, without success.
Peter took this lack of employment success as a sign that employers actively discriminated against people named Peter, concluding that further efforts to seek employment would be futile. So he simply gave up. Peter has resigned himself to sleeping on his sister's sofa and eating left over pizza crust. This makes Peter a discouraged worker.
Paula, in contrast, considered her lack of success in finding employment as an opportunity. She converted her life savings into travellers checks and begin hitchhiking across the country, taking notes for a novel. During the course of her travels, Paula is actually able to work, she is willing to work, and if someone offers her a job, she will take it, but she never actually seeks employment. Paula is not officially considered a discouraged worker, but she remains marginally-attached to the labor force.

Today's graph (from FRED) looks at three measures of unemployment: the official rate, also known as the U3 rate, plus U4 (unemployed plus discouraged workers) and U6 (U4 plus marginally-attached workers). Look at the trend before, during and after the Great Recession: each of them is improving.

As seen on TV

2012-02-03T22:26:00.001-05:00

@HELPTHE99ERS: #edshow The January job numbers are great, but we can't forget: there are almost 2 million #99ers out there whose lifeline is gone.

Rep. Barbara Lee: Conference Committee Must Extend Emergency Unemployment Benefits

2012-02-02T23:11:00.000-05:00

Congresswoman Barbara Lee, writing in The Huffington Post:

"We must immediately extend the expiring emergency unemployment benefits to the maximum authorized levels, and we should also immediately add an additional 14 weeks of tier-I unemployment benefits for the millions of Americans who have completely exhausted their benefits while struggling to find work. My bill with Congressman Bobby Scott, H.R. 589, does just that. While the bill languishes in committee, it is my hope that this conference committee will consider this legislation for inclusion in any final legislative agreement.
Far too many Americans have exhausted all of their unemployment benefits and are still unable to find work. Abandoning these job seekers will only further depress the economy as the long-term unemployed fall into poverty and begin to be eligible for other needs-based federal benefits. These individuals would then become part of the "99ers," the nickname for the jobless population that has exhausted all eligibility for both regular and extended benefits. The number of 99ers already stands at around 2 million."

2. F**KED: The United States of Unemployment / BREAKING SILENCE

2012-02-02T14:37:00.000-05:00

F**KED: The United States of Unemployment / ISO of a Movement

2012-01-26T21:16:00.001-05:00

Quote of the Day

2012-01-21T17:48:00.000-05:00

"At a time when nearly 1 in 6 Americans live in poverty, charities and the free market alone can't address the urgent needs of our most vulnerable neighbors. And while jobseekers outnumber job openings 4-to-1, suggesting that the unemployed would rather collect benefits than work is misleading and insulting."

Taken from an open letter to Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum, written and signed by more than 40 Catholic leaders.

Charts of the Day: A rising tide...

2012-01-18T18:56:00.000-05:00

…lifts all the boats.

The expression has been part of our political vocabulary since the JFK Administration, and it makes intuitive sense: as the economy grows, everyone benefits.

It was true in JFK's day, and through the 1950s, 60s and 70s, but it's not at all accurate now. This 2008 chart from Lane Kenworthy (via Paul Krugman):

The gross domestic product - the wealth our nation produces - has grown relatively steadily. The median income per family - the compensation for creating that wealth - has not kept track. If it had, median family income would look like this:

It is entirely reasonable to ask why this has happened, why the rising tide seems to have benefited some more than others - and how it can be readjusted. "Median family income" is the middle of the middle class - these charts show how far behind we're falling.

Thank you, Rep. Holcomb - updated with bonus twist of fate

2012-01-15T21:30:00.000-05:00

Arthur Delaney, in the Huffington Post, reporting on Democratic efforts to push back against the GOP's attempts to require the unemployed to submit to drug testing in order to qualify for their insurance benefits:

The past year has seen an unprecedented wave of Republican bills to drug test the poor and jobless. It also saw a smaller wave of Democratic bills that said in response, "No, you pee in the cup."
One of the most recent retorts comes from Georgia, where last month Democratic state Rep. Scott Holcomb introduced a bill requiring members of the local legislature to prove they're not Legislating Under the Influence. Holcomb told HuffPost he came up with the idea because he was struck by a bill from his Republican colleagues to drug test welfare applicants.
"I was really struck by how awful it was," he said. "I wanted to bring some attention to it."

Update: one of the Republican state representatives who originally sponsored the bill that Rep. Holcomb wanted to bring attention to, has been arrested for driving under the influence:

A Georgia Republican who wants all welfare recipients subject to drug tests failed one himself after he ran a red light on Friday morning. The Atlanta Journal Constitution has the story on State Rep. Kip Smith (R)
Republican state Rep. Kip Smith was arrested early Friday morning in Buckhead and charged with DUI, according to an Atlanta police report obtained by Channel 2 Action News.
Smith, a 29-year-old lawmaker from Columbus, was pulled over after leaving Hal's restaurant on Old Ivy Road and allegedly running a red light while traveling southbound on Peachtree Road, the police report said.
… "I observed the odor of an alcoholic beverage coming from Mr. Smith’s breath," Kramer said in his report. "He advised me he was a state representative and gave the name 'Kip Smith.'"
…The officer said Smith finally agreed to blow into the device. The report stated that Smith blew a .091., which is above the legal limit of .08.
…He was given two more breath tests, and Smith blew a .099 and then a .100, "well over the legal limit," the report said.
Smith was charged with three offenses - two DUI charges, and the third, failure to obey a traffic control device. He was released on bond

So, thank you, Rep. Smith, for bringing attention to your bill, and Rep. Holcomb's, in a way that not too many people would have seen coming.

AP: SC Makes It Harder to Get Unemployment Benefits

2012-01-15T13:05:00.000-05:00

The AP reports on how South Carolina is dealing with their state's unemployed workers:

"A state with chronically high unemployment is making it tougher for the jobless to draw benefits by trying to force people to take lower-wage jobs and making it easier for laid-off workers to be declared ineligible.
"New policies at South Carolina's Department of Employment and Workforce require people to accept job offers that pay incrementally less than their previous wages - eventually leading to minimum wage - and reducing the number of weeks someone let go for misconduct can receive benefits.
…
"'We're trying to prohibit that person drawing unemployment from sitting back and not aggressively going after the jobs,' said Turner, who took the agency's helm in September. 'The jobs are there.'"

That might be a defensible argument, if indeed the jobs were there, but they aren't.

Job Openings by Region, Nov. 2011
Region	Level
Northeast	631,000
South	1,251,000
Midwest	742,000
West	637,000

Unemployment by State, South Region, Nov. 2011
State	Unemployed
AL	187,720
AR	108,544
DE	32,505
DC	35,462
FL	925,789
GA	467,722
KY	196,809
LA	140,690
MD	206,839
MS	142,048
NC	451,413
OK	106,491
SC	213,456
TN	282,802
TX	997,162
VA	264,517
WV	61,535
total, South region	4,821,504

Source: BLS JOLTS report, BLS via Google Public Data

4.8 million unemployed, and 1.2 million job openings. That's four unemployed people for every job opening, and that ratio is twice as high as the pre-recession average. The jobs are most definitely not there.

One thing not mentioned in the article: employers don't want to hire the unemployed, and they don't want to hire the overqualified - how will these policies provide businesses with the incentive to do so?

Orange Country Register: 600,000 California 99ers lose jobless benefits

2012-01-14T12:30:00.000-05:00

Mary Ann Milbourn, reporting in the Orange County Register:

"The number of jobless workers in California who have exhausted their 99 weeks of unemployment benefits is approaching 600,000, the state Employment Development Department reports.
"By EDD’s latest count, more than 599,000 had been booted off the unemployment rolls as of Jan. 10. That’s equivalent to three cities with a population the size of Irvine.
"It is not known what has happened to all of those people. EDD reports there were 246,100 more people working in November 2011 than in November the previous year. So it is likely some found jobs, although not necessarily at the same pay or skill level.
"And they aren’t all necessarily working part time. The number of Californians working part time who want full-time jobs fell by 57,000 from November 2010 to November 2011.
"Some have gone back to school and others are moving back in with parents or family members.
"A recent school of thought is that more workers simply are taking early retirement at age 62, which accounts for the declining size of the U.S. workforce. Social Security statistics about early retirements for 2011 are not yet available.
"Meanwhile, the so-called 99ers who have exhausted their benefits can’t look to Congress for help.
"Over the last two years, members of Congress repeatedly have clashed over continuing the current 99 weeks of extended benefits.
"Supporters of additional benefits cite the continued high unemployment rate — 11.3% in California in November — and the fact there are four workers looking for every job advertised nationwide.
"Opponents argue that nearly two years of unemployment benefits should be enough for someone to find a job and that continued aid just encourages people not to look.
"Although Congressional leaders relented in December to a two-month extension of the current 99 weeks of benefits, there has been virtually no support for providing additional help to those who have exhausted their aid."

Salon: F**KED: The United States of Unemployment

2012-01-14T10:53:00.000-05:00

"F**KED: The United States of Unemployment is a new Salon.com video documentary series by filmmaker Immy Humes. It's about a particular group of NYC-area 99ers - long term unemployed - who are trying to not only survive but also fight back. Plus it features digressions into other realms, such as the Armies of the Unemployed in the 19th C."

Chart of the Day: The Shrinking Middle Class

2012-01-12T19:52:00.000-05:00

source: The Rise and Consequences of Inequality in the United States, Alan B. Kreuger (PDF link)

Speaker Boehner, where are the jobs?

2011-12-28T17:23:00.001-05:00

The GOP won an overwhelming majority in the 112th Congress because of the power of one simple question: "Where are the jobs?" So, how has Congress done this year?

Quoting from Ezra Klein's Wonkbook:

…So though there's a lot of talk about the deficit, there's not actually a lot of economic pressure to do anything about it. But the same can't be said for another neglected category of policymaking: jobs.
There has been less done for the jobless than for the deficit. After all, the debt-ceiling deal did lead to $900 billion in cuts to domestic discretionary spending, and to the spending trigger that threatens to make a trillion more in cuts starting in 2012. But the jobless? Save for a two-month extension of the payroll tax cut and unemployment insurance benefits, they got nothing.
And unlike the deficit, which isn't yet causing problems in the American economy, joblessness is an ongoing crisis. The unemployment rate is 8.6 percent. If millions of discouraged workers hadn't left the labor force, it would likely be in the double digits. That's led to immense suffering for the unemployed and their families, and also less consumer spending, more foreclosures, and a general prolonging of the economic crisis.
…
There are things Congress could do that would help the jobless. Infrastructure investment, for instance. A bigger payroll tax cut. A massive effort to refinance the mortgages of creditworthy borrowers. Burying sacks of cash out in the Nevada desert. But Congress isn't doing any of them. And unlike with deficit reduction, it didn't even spend the year obsessing over how to do any of them. It wasn't until September, when President Obama proposed the American Jobs Act, that the political system even began talking about job-creation proposals again.
This has been a key theme of 2011: For reasons that defy any of the signals we're seeing in the actual economy, Congress -- and, for much of the year, the president -- has been obsessed with finding a deal on deficit reduction and relatively resigned on policies to create jobs. In part, that's simply because the Republicans in Congress were (and are) staunchly opposed to further stimulus but seemed willing to work with Democrats on the deficit, and the political system prefers to focus on things it can do rather than things it can't. In part, it's because, for most of the year, Democrats were willing to go along with Republicans who wanted to talk about the deficit rather than job creation measures -- note that they didn't, for example, demand, as part of the debt-ceiling deal, that the supercommittee also come up with jobs proposals.
But the end result has been very weird, like watching the doctors of a patient with acute pneumonia spend a year discussing the best way for the patient to lose weight.

A Blessed Christmas To All

2011-12-25T00:00:00.000-05:00

Instant Repudiation

2011-12-18T18:29:00.001-05:00

These two stories were on the front page at TPM today.

In less time than it takes to scan a page, Mitt Romney is proven wrong (again), in this case, by the House GOP and their Speaker, John Boehner.

To review: President Obama threatened a veto if the GOP attached the Keystone XL pipeline to an extension of the payroll tax cut and unemployment insurance benefit. The GOP, naturally, attached the pipeline. Senators Reid and McConnell were able to work out a deal that the Senate approved by a vote of 89 to 10 - an example of overwhelming, bipartisan support. And today, the Speaker says that the House will not approve the bill the Senate passed.

Who's the divider again?

Quotes of the Year

2011-12-18T13:38:00.000-05:00

NEW HAVEN, Conn. (AP) — A Yale University librarian says the slogan "We are the 99 percent" by Occupy Wall Street protesters is the year's most notable quote.

Fred Shapiro has released his sixth annual list of the most memorable quotations of the year.

Shapiro picks quotes that are famous, important or revealing of the spirit of the times. The quotes aren't necessarily the most eloquent or admirable.

The "99 percent" slogan stems from a movement against economic disparity and perceived corporate greed. Protests began with Occupy Wall Street in Manhattan in September and spread around the country.

Billionaire investor Warren Buffett made the list for his complaint that he and his rich "have been coddled long enough" by Congress.

Politicians, including former Rep. Anthony Weiner, made their usual strong showing as well.

The list:

"We are the 99 percent." — slogan of Occupy movement.
"There is nobody in this country who got rich on his own. Nobody. You built a factory out there — good for you! But I want to be clear. You moved your goods to market on the roads the rest of us paid for. You hired workers the rest of us paid to educate. You were safe in your factory because of police forces and fire forces that the rest of us paid for." — U.S. Sen. candidate Elizabeth Warren, speaking in Andover, Mass., in August.
"My friends and I have been coddled long enough by a billionaire-friendly Congress." — Billionaire Warren Buffett, in a New York Times op-ed on Aug. 15.
"I believe in evolution and trust scientists on global warming. Call me crazy." — Presidential candidate Jon Huntsman in an Aug. 18 tweet.
"Oops." — Presidential candidate Rick Perry after unsuccessfully attempting to remember the third federal agency he would eliminate during a Nov. 9 debate.
"When they ask me, 'Who is the president of Ubeki-beki-beki-beki-stan-stan?' I'm going to say, 'You know, I don't know. Do you know?'" — Then-presidential candidate Herman Cain in an interview by Christian Broadcasting Network on Oct. 7.
"I am on a drug. It's called 'Charlie Sheen.' It's not available because if you try it once, you will die. Your face will melt off and your children will weep over your exploded body." — Actor Charlie Sheen in a February interview with ABC News.
"Oh wow. Oh wow. Oh wow." — Apple co-founder Steve Jobs' last words on Oct. 5, as reported by his sister Mona Simpson in her eulogy.
"I can't say with certitude." — Then-U.S. Rep. Anthony Weiner on June 1 when he was asked whether a lewd photograph was in fact him.
"Instead of receiving the help that she had hoped for, Mr. Cain instead decided to provide her with his idea of a stimulus package." — Lawyer Gloria Allred on Nov. 7 discussing Herman Cain's alleged sexual harassment of her client.

Numbers of the Day: 2.019 and 10.036

2011-12-17T22:09:00.000-05:00

According to the latest BLS numbers, 2.019 million men and women have been out of work (and still looking) for 99 weeks or more.
According to the latest JOLTS report, if you filled every available job opening in the US, you would still have 10.036 million unemployed.

Our Stat Pack has the updated figures.

Chart of the Day: People Receiving Unemployment Insurance Work Harder to Find Jobs

2011-12-16T18:49:00.000-05:00

Source: ThinkProgress Economy

A new study from Congress' Joint Economic Committee (JEC) debunks the prevailing conservative notion that Unemployment Insurance (UI) dissuades people from looking for a job. "On the contrary," the report finds, "beneficiaries of federal UI benefits have spent more time searching for work than those who were ineligible for UI benefits." "In fact, since Congress enacted federal unemployment benefits, time spent looking for a job has tripled among the long‐term unemployed who are out of work as a result of job loss," the report adds.

Number of the Day: 3,347,942

2011-12-14T20:35:00.000-05:00

Number of the Day: 877,000

2011-12-13T22:23:00.003-05:00

The JOLTS Report for November was released today, which means we'll be updating our Stat Pack shortly.

What's more important is that the House passed HR 3630, the "Middle Class Tax Relief & Job Creation Act of 2011"

From the GOP's legislative digest page, HR 3630:

"would use a two-step process to gradually reduce the current maximum amount of time total benefits could be distributed in states with high unemployment from 99 weeks to 59 weeks by mid-2012."

From the House Ways and Means Committee's one-page summary (PDF link), subtitled "Helping those Struggling in the Obama Economy & Protecting Taxpayers By Reforming and Reducing the Overexpansion of Unemployment Insurance":

"The Middle Class Tax Relief & Job Creation Act bill permanently reforms unemployment insurance (UI) and reduces the current maximum weeks of benefits from 99 to 59 weeks by ending expansions signed into law by President Obama."

…

"The legislation reduces the maximum benefits from 99 weeks to 59 weeks by mid-2012. This level reflects more 'normal' levels – up to 52 or 59 total weeks of UI have often been paid after recessions since the 1970s.

There's one huge problem with those 'normal' levels, though: we're not coming out of a 'normal' recession, as this chart from Calculated Risk makes perfectly clear:

We've been tracking how many people are out of work, and for how long. As of November's unemployment report, 877,000 men and women have been out of work for between 60 and 98 weeks. That's not counting over 2 million 99ers.

That's 877,000 people who are about to lose a financial lifeline. The House just voted to cut that lifeline short by five months today, and five more months in mid-2012. Perhaps Ways and Means Chairman Camp can explain how cutting UI for 877,000 men and women and their dependents is "helping those struggling."

Charts of the Day: "F" is for Fox, and also for Fail

2011-12-12T22:42:00.000-05:00

from Media Matters, by way of Steve Benen:

Based on the chart, unemployment has not changed at all for the past two months, even though it was 9.0% in October and 8.6% in November.

This chart's not as bad as some of the others, but it definitely deserves a place in the pantheon, starting with the infamous 120%:

And continuing with our personal favorite, the supersized pie chart:

Update (12/15/2011) - A new addition to the gallery, courtesy Andrew Sullivan, et al:

Job Fair - Bridgeport, CT - December 16

2011-12-11T19:57:00.000-05:00

Seeking non-profit organizations willing to hiring 99ers at Dec 16 Platform to Employment Job Fair

Are you looking to hire qualified candidates for your company? We can help you!
The Platform to Employment Job Fair is seeking non-profit organizations willing to hiring 99ers. These people have the job skills that can benefit you. They are waiting for a chance to speak with your representatives about open positions at your company. Many are highly skilled, experienced and well-educated individuals who are eager to work for you!
Let us help you identify and recruit the skilled workers your business needs!
Friday, December 16, 2011
1:00 pm - 3:00 pm
350 Fairfield Avenue, 3rd Floor, Bridgeport, CT 06604
This is a free event - reserve your table today by completing the registration form.
Platform to Employment is a WorkPlace Opportunity. The job fair is sponsored by The WorkPlace, Career Resources, Inc. and the Connecticut Department of Labor.

Chart of the Day: Working Americans Get Smaller Slice of Pie

2011-12-11T10:27:00.001-05:00

from CNBC:

"Working Americans are now getting the smallest slice of the income pie on record — which, combined with high unemployment, could be behind the slow speed of the economic recovery.
"The decline is not a new trend, but it shows up again in last week's release of third-quarter productivity and costs. The labor share — the amount paid to workers instead of businesses and other income-earning entities — was reported to have fallen to 57.1 cents on the dollar for the business sector, its lowest level since it was first reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics in 1947.
"J.P. Morgan economist Michael Feroli highlighted the decline in a recent note. He said the pre-2000 average for labor share was 63.9 cents, and if it were still at that level household income would be $780 billion higher, a helpful boost in a period of high unemployment. Even at more recent levels, income would have been $400 billion higher, he says."

One reason for the decline?

"Prior to 1983, a rise in the unemployment rate was accompanied by a counter trend rise in labor share. But that has reversed and now as unemployment worsens, the labor share falls, reflecting a change in corporate behavior. Companies may have previously more been bound by union contracts or discouraged by hiring and firing costs in the past. "

The data is pretty clear: as union membership has dropped, so has middle-class income:

Even on Wall Street, the Unemployed Need Not Apply

2011-12-10T15:37:00.001-05:00

Even the 1% can feel what it's like to be one of the 99%:

"It's the job seeker’s proverbial 'Catch-22.' Many financial firms say they'll only hire you if you are currently employed. That means if you're unemployed, don't even apply. At least that's what employers are telling the recruiters working for them." (source)

This type of discrimination isn't new, and it's been widely reported on.

President Obama's American Jobs Act and Rep. Rosa DeLauro's Fair Employment Opportunity Act would address discrimination like this. Congress, pass these bills. Stop worrying about non-existent "farm dust".

Chart of the Day: Totally Wrecked

2011-12-10T14:27:00.001-05:00

linked from Jesse's Café Américain - Categorizing the Unemployed by the Impact of the Recession

From the Rutgers University working paper: (PDF link)

"The full four surveys of the unemployed released earlier chronicle in full how workers have tried to cope with the recession and the economic, social, and psychological costs they have incurred along the way. We’ve picked seven items to profile the typology groups. ... For example, two-thirds of the devastated report having borrowedmoney from family or friends to stay afloat, as did half of those who have been downsized and a quarter of those who are recovering. Two-thirds of the devastated, 41% of the downsized, and 18% of the recovering report having sold possessions to help make ends meet. Roughly similar numbers — 60% of the devastated, 46% of the downsized, and 23% of the recovering — have cut back on medical visits or treatment. Two-thirds of the devastated and half of the downsized have reduced their spending on food so much that it has affected their daily lives. Almost three quarters of the devastated report feeling embarrassed or ashamed, as do more than half of the downsized and even 43% of the recovering."

Remember, please, that the GOP wants to make things worse, by proposing to cut the number of weeks that the unemployed can receive insurance benefits.

House GOP: you're doing it wrong

2011-12-10T10:04:00.001-05:00

From The Hill's reporting on the House GOP's proposal (which includes an extension of the payroll tax cut):

The bill extends for one year the 4.2 percent rate for the payroll tax enacted in 2010, down from its typical 6.2 percent. It extends unemployment insurance benefits while gradually reducing the length of time they can be claimed from 99 weeks to 59 weeks in a two-step process.

The measure also requires beneficiaries to continually search for work and participate in re-employment services. And it allows states to require drug testing as a condition of receiving unemployment benefits.

One question before we go point-by-point: when did the GOP decide that keeping a tax cut in place was a bad idea? What makes this tax cut different than the others they propose?

First: by reducing the number of weeks, you're making the problem worse, not better. As of October, there are about 983,000 people who have been out of work for 60-98 weeks, and another 1.9 million who have been out for 99 weeks or longer. The 99ers have already exhausted insurance benefits - and now the GOP wants to pull that lifeline away from another million people?

Second: people who receive unemployment insurance benefits already have to be actively searching for work:

"An individual who files for unemployment insurance (UI) benefits must meet specific eligibility requirements before benefits can be paid. Individuals must:
Have received enough wages during the base period to establish a claim.
Be totally or partially unemployed.
Be unemployed through no fault of his/her own.
Be physically able to work.
Be available for work which means to be ready and willing to immediately accept work.
Be actively looking for work.
Meet eligibility requirements each week benefits are claimed.
Be approved for training before training benefits can be paid.

Third: drug-testing? Why is it that the GOP is so hell-bent on kicking people when they're down?

"Several studies, including a 1996 report from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, have found that there is no significant difference in the rate of illegal-drug use by welfare applicants and other people. Another study found that 70% of illegal-drug users between the age of 18 and 49 are employed full time.
"Drug-testing laws are often touted as a way of saving tax dollars, but the facts are once again not quite as presented. Idaho recently commissioned a study of the likely financial impact of drug testing its welfare applicants. The study found that the costs were likely to exceed any money saved." (source)

The House GOP's bill demonstrates their tax-cutting for the rich hypocrisy, attempts to legislate their "punish the poor" morality, and tries to hold the middle class (who benefits most from the payroll tax cuts) hostage to the interests of the rich.

Lee Demands Relief for Long-Term Unemployed

2011-12-04T10:29:00.001-05:00

November 30, 2011
Contact: Kristal DeKleer (202) 225-1882

Washington, D.C. – Today, Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-CA) issued the following statement at a press conference with unemployed workers, labor activists, Labor Secretary Solis, and members of the House and Senate to call for a renewal of federal unemployment insurance programs, scheduled to expire at the end of the year:

"Thank you to Ranking Member Levin, Congressman Doggett, Whip Hoyer, Assistant Leader Clyburn, Senator Harkin, Senator Reed, Senator Whitehouse, and all the other leaders that are working so hard for the millions of Americans struggling to find a job during this holiday season. I would also like to thank Secretary Solis for her leadership and commitment to getting America’s work force back to work.
"As this jobless recovery continues, more and more Americans are long-term unemployed and now the jobs crisis has left so many people out of work for so long that most of America’s unemployed are no longer receiving unemployment benefits.
"2 million Americans have exhausted a full 99 weeks of unemployment and still cannot find a job.
"It is critical that we extend the expiring emergency unemployment insurance benefits before the end of the year, but that extension will not help the millions of Americans who have run out of time, the so-called 99ers. H.R. 589 is my bill to extend unemployment compensation for an additional fourteen weeks for the 99ers – and this bill must be included in an unemployment extension package going forward.
"The AP reports that early last year, 75 percent (of the unemployed) were receiving checks. The figure is now 48 percent — a shift that points to a growing crisis of long-term unemployment. Nearly one-third of America's 14 million unemployed have had no job for a year or more.
"Providing support for America’s long-term unemployed will not only boost our stalled economy, but it will keep millions of families out of poverty which is the morally right thing to do. We need to reignite the American Dream and work to provide ladders of opportunity for all. We need UI extension and we need it now. Not just for the millions about to run out, but for the millions who ran out a long time ago."

###

Follow Barbara Lee on Twitter @RepBarbaraLee

Businessweek - Raise Taxes on Rich to Reward True Job Creators: Nick Hanauer

2011-12-01T19:22:00.001-05:00

Nick Hanauer is a founder of Second Avenue Partners, a venture capital company in Seattle specializing in early state startups and emerging technology. He has helped launch more than 20 companies, including aQuantive Inc. and Amazon.com. He's written an op-ed in BusinessWeek that's required reading for anyone who wants to understand why demand is the key to solving the economic crisis we're in:

"I'm a very rich person. As an entrepreneur and venture capitalist, I've started or helped get off the ground dozens of companies in industries including manufacturing, retail, medical services, the Internet and software. I founded the Internet media company aQuantive Inc., which was acquired by Microsoft Corp. in 2007 for $6.4 billion. I was also the first non-family investor in Amazon.com Inc.
"Even so, I’ve never been a 'job creator.' I can start a business based on a great idea, and initially hire dozens or hundreds of people. But if no one can afford to buy what I have to sell, my business will soon fail and all those jobs will evaporate.
"That's why I can say with confidence that rich people don't create jobs, nor do businesses, large or small. What does lead to more employment is the feedback loop between customers and businesses. And only consumers can set in motion a virtuous cycle that allows companies to survive and thrive and business owners to hire. An ordinary middle-class consumer is far more of a job creator than I ever have been or ever will be."

It's that same virtuous cycle we're aiming for with regards to helping the 99ers - the only way the economy will recover is when more people can put more money into circulation by buying goods and services.

Remember that roughly 71% of our gross domestic product comes from consumer spending:

It's clear that if we want a healthy, growing economy, we want more people spending, not fewer.

Look at it from a different perspective: think of the difference between one billionaire and 1,000 millionaires. They both have the same amount of wealth, but the 1,000 can purchase much, much more than the one.

Now imagine that it's 4,000 people with a quarter million dollars each. Or 10,000 people with 100,000 dollars each. Or 20,000 people with 50,000 dollars each.

More consumers means more demand for goods and services. More demand means more sales, more work, more jobs... a growing, healthy economy.

Chart of the Day: Corporate profits up, wages and salaries down

2011-11-28T19:33:00.000-05:00

click to enlarge

The purple line on the chart tracks corporate profits after taxes as a percent of GDP, compared to the series' average. The green line does the same, but for wages and salaries disbursed.

When the line crosses above zero, the figure is above its historic average. Below zero is below average.

Corporate profits after taxes have been above average since the fourth quarter of 2003, with the notable exception of the second quarter of 2008 (aka, the financial crisis). By contrast, wages and salaries disbursed have been below their historic averages continuously since the second quarter of 2001.

Update: I've reworked the chart, focusing on the data since the year 2000:

click to enlarge

sources:

Dialogue with the Fed: Understanding the Unemployment Picture

2011-11-28T15:01:00.001-05:00

from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis:

The final event of the St. Louis Fed's fall evening series was held Nov, 21, 2011 and featured Christopher Waller, senior vice president and director of research for the St. Louis Fed. Waller spoke on "Understanding the Unemployment Picture, (PDF link)" and video of the program will be posted (on the St. Louis Fed website) shortly.

Recommended.

What he said

2011-11-27T18:06:00.001-05:00

Quoting, in full, a recent post from Mark Thoma:

The Demand for Jobs
Businesses won't hire workers because there is not enough demand to support them, and the public can't supply the needed demand because too many people don't have jobs.
That's what's so frustrating. If the unemployed had jobs, the demand would be there to support them. But the demand has to come first, and workers won't be hired until the demand is there.
I wonder who could provide the missing demand needed to overcome this problem?

It's not the first time we've seen this argument:

"We're caught in a vicious cycle: Businesses aren't hiring because their chief concern is poor sales, and people aren't buying because they've lost their jobs."

Back then, we were presenting an "elevator pitch" for the Americans Want to Work Act. The logic, and the argument, is just as sound today.

Chart of the Day: Out of Balance

2011-11-23T16:49:00.001-05:00

from Mother Jones magazine:

"A Harvard business prof and a behavioral economist recently asked more than 5,000 Americans how they thought wealth is distributed in the United States. Most thought that it’s more balanced than it actually is. Asked to choose their ideal distribution of wealth, 92% picked one that was even more equitable."

source: One Wealth Quintile at a Time - Building a Better America (PDF link)

Chuck Collins - Taxing the Wealthy

2011-11-22T19:17:00.001-05:00

A TED^x Talk given by Chuck Collins, who directs IPS's Program on Inequality and the Common Good:

Fox News: "I award you no points..."

2011-11-22T18:12:00.001-05:00

From a recent press release:

"According to the latest results from Fairleigh Dickinson University’s PublicMind Poll, some news sources make us less likely to know what’s going on in the world. In the most recent study, the poll asked New Jerseyans about current events at home and abroad, and from what sources – if any – they get their information. The conclusion: Sunday morning news shows do the most to help people learn about current events, while some outlets, especially Fox News, lead people to be even less informed than those who say they don’t watch any news at all."

Fox News: worse than nothing at all.

Negotiation

2011-11-22T14:51:00.000-05:00

"Negotiation" by Clay Bennett

Update: this was originally posted on November 30, 2010, but it seems just as timely today in the wake of the breakdown of the supercommittee process.

Chart of the Day: Long-Term Unemployment Becomes More Permanent

2011-11-21T12:39:00.001-05:00

Click image to read associated article

Michael Hirsh, writing in the National Journal:

Along the way, 'long-term unemployed' has increasingly become a synonym for 'unwanted.' As industries die, skills atrophy, and ambition fades, especially among older workers. In a new era of jobless growth, fiscal austerity, and the relentless drive for productivity, employers get pickier about whom they hire. Workers who don't retrain quickly at a high enough level or those who are stuck with an underwater mortgage and can't move right away for a job opportunity quickly become long-term unemployed.
U.S. companies have grown so brazen about avoiding the long-term unemployed that many place ads for only 'currently employed' applicants. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., and Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., have introduced bills seeking to bar the practice as illegal discrimination.
In recent months, Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernanke and President Obama have sounded increasingly urgent alarms about the staggering number of long-term unemployed. And they are right to do so: 42.4 percent of the nation's 13.9 million unemployed workers have been out of a job for more than six months. That's by far the highest share of long-term unemployed since the government started keeping records a half-century ago. Expert after expert now warns that the longer a person goes jobless, the greater the atrophy in skills and ambition, and the more likely that person is to drop out of the workforce entirely.
What Bernanke and others rarely mention, though, is that this trend has been building for at least three decades. The share of left-behinds has generally ratcheted up with every economic downturn since the early 1980s. And today, even two years after the Great Recession technically ended in June 2009, the number of long-term jobless has continued to climb to record levels. It shot up from 29.3 percent of total unemployed workers in June 2009 and peaked at 44.6 percent as recently as September.
Washington, dominated by a free-market consensus ever since President Reagan's era, has ignored that 30-year pattern. Partly as a result, reams of data show that America's middle class has been shrinking. Among the few who has long second-guessed the Washington mind-set is Frank Levy, an economist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who coauthored a much-cited 2007 paper concluding that labor began losing the fight to capital in the late 1970s.

The Colors of Democracy

2011-11-20T11:41:00.001-05:00

Purple: the color of the ink used in Iraq's elections after the overthrow of Saddam. White: the color of both the pepper spray and the neutralizing agent in Portland and Seattle. Orange: the color of the pepper spray used on student Occupiers at the quad at UC Davis.

Recall for thee, but not for me

2011-11-19T17:52:00.001-05:00

Scott Walker, Governor, is against recalling office-holders.
Scott Walker, candidate for Governor, was all for recalling office-holders.

John Nichols, writing in The Nation:

Walker was elected Milwaukee County Executive in a 2002 recall election.
In 2010, when he was running for governor, he hailed the process as democracy in action.
"You know the folks that were angry about this started a recall and they were told they needed to collect 73,000 signatures in sixty days," said Walker. "Well, not hundreds, not thousands, but tens of thousands of ordinary people did an extraordinary thing. They stood up and took their government back. In less than thirty days they collected more than 150,000 signatures. It was at that moment I realized the real emotion on display in my county wasn't just about anger. You see, if it had been about anger, it would have been about people checking out and moving out or giving up. But instead what happened was really amazing. You saw people standing up shoulder to shoulder, neighbor to neighbor and saying we want our government back. And in doing so the real emotion on display was about hope. Today I see a lot of the same emotions on display here in Wisconsin and all across our great country. Obviously, there are a lot of reasons to be angry."
Once again, not hundreds, not thousands but tens of thousands of ordinary people are doing an extraordinary thing in Wisconsin. They are standing up and trying to take their government back.

Target: Occupy Wall Street

2011-11-19T09:30:00.001-05:00

Chris Hayes airs an exclusive story on a memo detailing lobbyist's plans to target the Occupy Wall Street movement:

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Congresswoman Barbara Lee Speaks Out for the Extension of Unemployment Benefits

2011-11-18T13:00:00.001-05:00

Occupy the Remuneration Committee

2011-11-18T11:08:00.001-05:00

(chart from Barry Ritholtz)

(click image to read source)

As their employees' average earnings have gone down from $31,991 (in 1964) to $28,305 (in 2005), corporate executives have seen their median compensation go up from $822,000 to $4.9 million.

What have the executives done to earn what they did? Increase stock prices? Drive sales? Add value to the corporation?

In many cases, they did nothing: their compensation was decided on by looking at what other executives were making:

As the board of Amgen convened at the company’s headquarters in March, chief executive Kevin W. Sharer seemed an unlikely candidate for a raise.
Shareholders at the company, one of the nation’s largest biotech firms, had lost 3 percent on their investment in 2010 and 7 percent over the past five years. The company had been forced to close or shrink plants, trimming the workforce from 20,100 to 17,400. And Sharer, a 63-year-old former Navy engineer, was already earning lots of money — about $15 million in the previous year, plus such perks as two corporate jets.
The board decided to give Sharer more. It boosted his compensation to $21 million annually, a 37 percent increase, according to the company reports.
Why?
The company board agreed to pay Sharer more than most chief executives in the industry — with a compensation "value closer to the 75th percentile of the peer group," according to a 2011 regulatory filing.
This is how it's done in corporate America. At Amgen and at the vast majority of large U.S. companies, boards aim to pay their executives at levels equal to or above the median for executives at similar companies.

This situation isn't new: the Washington Post article above links to a related piece from 2002.

Occupy the Boardroom is a good place to start, but Occupying executive remuneration committees would be better.

Professor R. Khurana, interview on The Irrational Quest for Charismatic CEOs
Executive pay on Wikipedia

The Occupy Wall Street Spotlight Signal

2011-11-18T10:45:00.001-05:00

Quote of the Day

2011-11-17T18:01:00.001-05:00

from a letter posted online by the Rt. Rev. Mark S. Sisk, Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of New York

"There can be little doubt that capitalism is a productive way to order economic life. But we need to remember, as the (Occupy Wall Street) protestors have reminded us, that that is all that it is – an economic system based on the entirely reasonable propositions that capital has value, and that supply and demand are the most efficient way to set prices. Capitalism is of no help at all in determining what is morally good – that is something that must instead be determined by the community’s wider values."

99% v 1%: the data behind the Occupy movement

2011-11-17T13:46:00.001-05:00

source: The Guardian DataBlog

Progressive Caucus Hearing on Job Creation Highlights Nov. 16, 2011

2011-11-16T19:14:00.001-05:00

Chart of the Day, November 16, 2011

2011-11-16T18:53:00.001-05:00

From the CBO's Director's Blog:

Policies that would reduce the marginal cost of adding employees or would be targeted toward people who would be most likely to spend the additional income would have the largest effects on output and employment. Those policies include reducing employers' payroll taxes and providing aid to the unemployed.
Policies that would give little incentive for firms to hire or invest—such as reducing business income taxes and reducing tax rates on repatriated foreign earnings - would have small effects.
Achieving both short-term stimulus and long-term sustainability would require a combination of policies: changes in taxes and spending that would widen the deficit now but reduce it later in the decade.

We leave determining which policy options are advocated by which political parties as an exercise for the reader.

2011-11-15T12:15:00.001-05:00

Brian Stelter, reporting in the New York Times (emphasis mine):

"Ms. Christ said that police officers took a New York Post reporter standing near her and 'threw him in a choke-hold.'
That reporter and two photographers with him declined to speak on the record because they are freelance workers and lack some of the job protections of full-time employees. But as they sipped coffee on Tuesday morning in Foley Square, where some of the protesters had regrouped, they expressed surprise at the extent of what they described as police suppression of the press.

There's certainly an argument to be made about freedom of the press here, and that's the main point of the article.

There's another argument to be made here, too, and I think it's even more important - about the erosion of rights and the relationship between employers and employees in general.

Stat Pack Updated

2011-11-14T18:51:00.001-05:00

The Stat Pack page has been updated to incorporate the latest (October) unemployment and job openings figures from the BLS.

Of note:

unemployment is demonstrably trending down
the number of 99ers has slipped back under the two million mark
over the past few months, job openings have been trending slightly upward

One additional update: the Bang for the Buck chart has been color-coded to compare the effects of Democratic and Republican policy efforts at economic growth. I think you'll find the differences telling.

Does government regulation really kill jobs?

2011-11-14T12:41:00.001-05:00

from Jia Lynn Yang, reporting in the Washington Post:

"In 2010, 0.3 percent of the people who lost their jobs in layoffs were let go because of 'government regulations/intervention.' By comparison, 25 percent were laid off because of a drop in business demand."

Robert Reich Debunks 6 Big GOP Lies About The Economy

2011-11-13T18:40:00.001-05:00

(h/t @marjorym7)

Occupy Together!

2011-11-11T11:54:00.001-05:00

Quote of the Day

2011-11-11T11:48:00.001-05:00

"If the problems in the U.S. economy came on the supply side – fear of regulation, inadequate workers, etc. – there would be no reason to expect production for exports to grow any more rapidly than any other component of GDP. But, exports have outperformed the economy – the key difference being demand for U.S. products abroad." (source)

How the 1% Crashed the Economy, and What the 99% Can Do About It

2011-11-11T11:38:00.001-05:00

Forbes: Memo to the "one-percenters"

2011-11-05T06:51:00.000-04:00

John Cassidy, writing in Forbes Magazine (emphasis mine):

Most Americans don't begrudge great riches to anybody who works hard, takes real risks, and creates things of value. As evidenced by the positive outpouring for Steve Jobs, great entrepreneurs are still celebrated. But there is an implicit social contract that links rewards to effort and accomplishment. If many people now believe that corporate America has violated that contract, is it surprising? At many big corporations, the senior managers have seemed more interested in stuffing their pockets than building for the long term. Gargantuan pay packages are only the start of it. Think boards of directors packed with patsies, books cooked to juice earnings, potential whistleblowers silenced, golden parachutes, and finally taxpayers obliged to save expensively tanned hides. The thing that is really surprising is that it has taken this long for public anger to well up.

Matt Taibbi, in Rolling Stone, made a very similar point earlier:

And we hate the rich? Come on. Success is the national religion, and almost everyone is a believer. Americans love winners. But that's just the problem. These guys on Wall Street are not winning – they're cheating. And as much as we love the self-made success story, we hate the cheater that much more.

In this country, we cheer for people who hit their own home runs – not shortcut-chasing juicers like Bonds and McGwire, Blankfein and Dimon.

Retweet This

2011-11-03T16:00:00.000-04:00

$222.7 Billion. 280 Corporations. Three Years.

2011-11-03T12:05:00.000-04:00

(h/t Andrew Leonhard, Salon Magazine)

“Most Americans can rightfully complain, ‘I pay more federal income taxes than General Electric, Boeing, DuPont, Wells Fargo, Verizon, etc., etc., all put together.’ That’s an unacceptable situation.”

For Immediate Release: November 3, 2011

Contact: Anne Singer, 202-299-1066, ext. 27, anne@ctj.org

Report: 280 Most Profitable U.S. Corporations Shelter Half Their Profits from Taxes; Thirty Companies Paid Less Than Zero in Taxes In The Last Three Years

Citizens for Tax Justice and the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy Release “Corporate Taxpayers and Corporate Tax Dodgers, 2008-2010”

Washington, DC – A comprehensive new study that profiles 280 of America’s most profitable companies finds that 78 of them paid no federal income tax in at least one of the last three years. Thirty companies enjoyed a negative income tax rate over the three year period, despite combined pre-tax profits of $160 billion. These are among the findings in “Corporate Taxpayers and Corporate Tax Dodgers, 2008-2010,” released today by Citizens for Tax Justice and the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy.

“These 280 corporations received a total of nearly $223 billion in tax subsidies,” said Robert McIntyre, Director at Citizens for Tax Justice and the report’s lead author. “This is wasted money that could have gone to protect Medicare, create jobs and cut the deficit.”

“Corporate Taxpayers and Corporate Tax Dodgers, 2008-2010” is the tenth comprehensive publication on corporate taxes from Citizens for Tax Justice (CTJ) and the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP). The two groups released their first major study on the federal income taxes that large, profitable American corporations pay on their U.S. pretax profits in 1984. The newest study, released today, is online at www.ctj.org/corporatetaxdodgers.

The study examines 280 corporations, all from the Fortune 500 list. All of the companies were profitable in each of the last three years and provided sufficient and reliable information in their financial reports about their pretax U.S. profits and their U.S. federal income taxes.

Corporations are lobbying for lower corporate rates and an exemption for profits they shift offshore. McIntyre, however, says “Our study provides proof that too many corporations are already being coddled by our tax system.” Findings in the report include:

The average effective tax rate for all 280 companies in the study over the three year period was 18.5 percent; for the period 2009-2010 it was 17.3 percent, less than half the statutory rate of 35 percent.
78 of the companies enjoyed at least one year in which their federal income tax was zero or less.
30 companies enjoyed a negative income tax rate over the entire three year period on their combined pre-tax profits of $160 billion.
Total tax subsidies given to all 280 profitable corporations amounted to $222.7 billion from 2008-2010.
Wells Fargo tops the list of 280 U.S. corporations receiving the most in tax subsidies, getting nearly $18 billion in tax breaks from the U.S. treasury in the last three years.
Pepco Holdings had the lowest effective tax rate of all the companies in the study, at negative 57.6 percent over the three year period.
Some companies within sectors fare worse than others. For example, the report finds that FedEx paid a 0.9 percent tax rate over the three year period while its competitor, UPS, paid a 24.1 percent rate.
While retailers and wholesalers in the study generally pay average effective tax rates of about 30 percent, Amazon.com paid a rate of only 7.9 percent on its $1.8 billion in profits from 2008-2010.
Financial services received the largest share (16.8 percent) of all federal tax subsidies over the last three years. More than half of federal corporate tax subsidies for companies in the study went to four industries: financial services, utilities, telecommunications, and oil, gas & pipelines.
The top ten defense contractors saw their combined tax rate decline from 19.3 percent in 2008 to a mere 10.6 percent rate in 2010.
U.S. corporations with significant (ten percent or more of their total worldwide profits) foreign profits paid tax rates to foreign countries that were almost a third higher than they paid to the IRS on their domestic profits.

Citizens for Tax Justice (CTJ), founded in 1979, is a 501 (c)(4) public interest research and advocacy organization focusing on federal, state and local tax policies and their impact upon our nation (www.ctj.org).

Founded in 1980, the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) is a 501 (c)(3) non-profit, non-partisan research organization, based in Washington, DC, that focuses on federal and state tax policy. ITEP's mission is to inform policymakers and the public of the effects of current and proposed tax policies on tax fairness, government budgets, and sound economic policy (www.itepnet.org).

The Great Divergence In Pictures: A Visual Guide To Income Inequality

2011-10-30T13:33:00.000-04:00

In September 2010, Slate Magazine published "The United States of Inequality," a 10-part article written by Timothy Noah.

The article is still available in Slate's archives, but an infographic slideshow that accompanied the article is not. Thankfully, The Wayback Machine has a copy, and one of the slides in particular resonates just as strongly today:

A second slide illustrates one of the reasons this second Gilded Age has come to be:

Update: This chart from the Economic Policy Institute illustrates what's happened:

One small step...

2011-10-30T12:57:00.001-04:00

As of this afternoon, this blog has received over 100,000 page views since the first post in August, 2010. It's a small step, but a noteworthy one.To our visitors, guest posters and commenters - thank you.

Spiegel Online: Has America Become an Oligarchy?

2011-10-28T17:58:00.000-04:00

(h/t Little Green Footballs)Spiegel Online offers a look at income inequity in the US from an outside perspective:

"Differences between rich and poor are tolerated as long as the rags-to-riches story of the dishwasher-turned-millionaire remains theoretically possible. But studies show that increasing inequality and political control concentrated in the hands of the wealthy elite have drastically reduced economic mobility and that the US has long since fallen far behind Europe on this issue. Indeed, only 4 percent of less-well-off Americans ever successfully make the leap into the upper-middle class."

More like this, please...

2011-10-27T17:31:00.000-04:00

GRAPHIC: A Timeline Of GOP Economic Sabotage

2011-10-26T14:16:00.000-04:00

GRAPHIC: A Timeline Of GOP Economic Sabotage

The 99ers meet the 99% at Occupy Wall Street

2011-10-26T10:43:00.001-04:00

Cookies

2011-10-16T02:09:00.000-04:00

An Occupy Wall Street demonstrator, a Tea Party activist
and the CEO of a Wall Street trading firm sit down at a table
that has a plate with a dozen cookies on it.
The CEO immediately takes 11 of the cookies,
then he turns to the Tea Partier and says,
‘Watch out for that Occupy Wall Street guy.
He wants a piece of your cookie.’

S. 1517 - A Bill to provide for the creation of jobs

2011-10-15T23:17:00.000-04:00

A staffer from Senator Frank Lautenberg's office was kind enough to contact me to point out a bill the Senator introduced last month.

S. 1517, the "21st Century WPA Act,"

"...would launch a modern version of FDR’s Works Progress Administration (WPA) to put people back to work. It would empower the federal government to hire America’s long-term unemployed to do the work our nation needs - building roads and bridges, schools and firehouses; improving our nation’s energy efficiency; and expanding the skills of our nation’s workforce."

From a previous post, this is what FDR said about unemployment back in 1934:

"...we must make it a national principle that we will not tolerate a large army of unemployed and that we will arrange our national economy to end our present unemployment as soon as we can and then to take wise measures against its return."

The WPA was one of the tools used to combat unemployment after the Great Depression, providing almost eight million jobs between 1935 and 1943. What worked then would work now. There is a great and growing need for infrastructure investment in our country. Bills like this, as well as President Obama's American Jobs Act, would put people back to work rebuilding our nation.

Ask your Senators:

if they support American jobs
if they've co-sponsored either or both of these bills
if they're willing to have a debate about these bills
if they're willing to vote to create American jobs by voting yes for these bills.

If they say no, ask them why. Ask them to show you their plan, and explain to you why it's better than these bills. Ask them how many jobs their bill will create, and how it will help the deficit.

Speaker Boehner: Where Are The Jobs?

2011-10-12T18:58:00.001-04:00

This is What #OccupyWallStreet Looks Like

2011-10-10T10:10:00.001-04:00

Zucotti Park, Sunday, October 9th

The 99ers: Struggling to Stay Afloat

2011-10-05T11:35:00.002-04:00

Sept. 30, 1934, Fireside Chat, President Franklin D. Roosevelt

2011-10-02T20:42:00.000-04:00

(h/t @muttmutt, @delong and Fred Clark)

"...we must make it a national principle that we will not tolerate a large army of unemployed and that we will arrange our national economy to end our present unemployment as soon as we can and then to take wise measures against its return."

Daily Kos: Yes, I am now a 99er

2011-10-02T20:22:00.000-04:00

"My unemployment ran out two weeks ago. I applied for food stamps this week. I am in the process of applying for Mass Health. We are probably going to have to move as we can no longer afford our current apartment. I am at the point where I literally have almost nothing left to lose, and I am angry.
"It is my understanding that the Occupy Wall Street movement had finally arrived in the Boston area. So I guess it's time for me to join in. I can hardly wait.

"Yeah, I am angry. Actually, in some ways, angry is an inadequate word. Angry does not begin to describe how I feel right now. Angry is to what I feel as 'damp' is to being at the bottom of the Atlantic."

Read the full diary entry at Daily Kos

Quote of the Day

2011-09-30T12:00:00.000-04:00

“This unemployment situation we have, the jobs situation, is really a national crisis. We’ve had close to 10 percent unemployment now for a number of years and, of the people who are unemployed, about 45 percent have been unemployed for six months or more. This is unheard of.”
- Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke (source)

President Obama: "It's Time to Build an Economy that Lasts"

2011-09-23T11:07:00.002-04:00

More Jobs Means Less Debt

2011-09-22T16:20:00.000-04:00

Guest Post: MyJobApps.com

2011-09-18T11:48:00.000-04:00

The following is a guest post written by Elizabeth C., on behalf of MyJobApps.com

MyJobApps.com is a job application site dedicated to job seekers that are looking for companies that are offering hourly positions. The sole purpose of this site is to help job seekers find hiring links, as well as downloadable job applications that can be downloaded directly to the computer in the form of a PDF file. Why go to the store when you can print the application in the comfort of your own home? We all know that gas prices are sky high and it’s highly unnecessary to drive store after store to find what you can online.

Focus On the Long-Term Unemployment Crisis

2011-09-18T11:29:00.000-04:00

The unemployment crisis, and especially the long-term unemployed, is becoming more of a concern in Washington: H.R. 589 has been on the table for some time, but now it's been joined by President Obama's American Jobs Act, S. 1549, and by Rep. Schakowsky's emergency jobs program, H.R. 2914.

One of the components of the American Jobs Act is the Reemployment NOW Program, whose goal is to facilitate the reemployment of EUC claimants and those who have exhausted benefit claims - the 99ers. One of the components of the Reemployment NOW program is the Bridge to Work program, which "would let businesses try out workers without having to pay them."

It's in everyone's interest to resolve the unemployment crisis. Bills like the ones above represent one approach, but not the only one. The WorkPlace, one of Connecticut's regional workforce development boards, has put together a program called Platform to Employment, which they describe as "a public-private partnership to prepare 99ers for jobs while creating a reliable way for businesses to hiring new workers without risk."

When government and the private sector are making efforts like these, it feels like we may, finally, be about to turn a corner.

Happy Constitution Day

2011-09-16T09:00:00.000-04:00

"We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America."

We need a one-two punch to solve the 99ers crisis

2011-09-15T23:08:00.000-04:00

As seen on the Storify transcript of today's White House Office Hours online chat:

On one hand, Mr. Furman is right - "a job" is the best answer.

But we know the numbers, all too well. 14 million unemployed; 3 million job openings. A job is not going to happen until those odds drastically improve.

We need the American Jobs Act passed... and we need H.R. 589 passed with it.

Barbara Lee, Congressional Progressive Caucus Present Plan to Rebuild American Dream

2011-09-15T09:00:00.000-04:00

September 14, 2011
Contact Kristal DeKleer (202) 225-1882
Washington, D.C. – Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-CA) issued the following statement at the Congressional Progressive Caucus press conference:
“While I am pleased that the President made a strong case for his bill last week, I certainly think that we need to go bigger and bolder. After touring the country and listening to the American people on this summer’s Speak Out for Good Jobs! Tour, the Congressional Progressive Caucus is determined to rebuild the American dream.
“Today, we present the Rebuild the American Dream Platform, a comprehensive effort to put Americans back to work. The six principles outlined in the platform address three key ideals: In America, every good worker deserves a good American job. America should work again for people who work for a living. Working Americans should use their strength in numbers to counter corporate dollars.
“We need to invest in workers, provide targeted relief to the most vulnerable struggling to get by, and give the economy the jolt it needs. Too many Americans have exhausted their 99 weeks of unemployment benefits we must provide another 14 weeks of benefits, not only providing an immediate injection into our economy, but increasing demand and creating jobs. Communities of color continue to carry the burden of higher unemployment rates than the national average of 9.1 percent. African Americans have an unemployment rate of 16.7 percent and Latinos have an unemployment rate of 11.3 percent. We need immediate and DIRECT investment for the communities hit hardest by high unemployment.

“While there is no one way to go about creating jobs and growing our economy, the Congressional Progressive Caucus will continue to lead the way on helping our most vulnerable who have been hit the hardest by the Great Recession. “
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Follow Barbara Lee on Twitter @RepBarbaraLee

The American Jobs Act and the 99ers

2011-09-13T23:14:00.000-04:00

Title III of President Obama's American Jobs Act (S. 1549) (Scribd link) focuses on providing assistance for the long-term unemployed – people who have been out of work for 27 weeks or longer.

One specific mention is made of the 99ers. Other highlighted provisions in the bill can also provide assistance to the 99ers community.

Title III is organized into four subtitles:

Subtitle A supports unemployed workers;
Subtitle B addresses long-term unemployed hiring practices;
Subtitle C establishes the Pathways Back to Work Fund;
Subtitle D prohibits discrimination on the basis of being unemployed.

Here's what you need to know:

Subtitle A, Part I, the "Supporting Unemployed Workers Act of 2011," does the following:

it extends the Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC) and Extended Benefits (EB) programs for one additional year;
it requires the States to provide reemployment services and eligibility assessment activities to benefit recipients, and it requires those recipients to participate;
it gives States the authority to conduct self-employment assistance programs that may pay up to 26 weeks of allowances to eligible individuals.

Subtitle A, Part II establishes the Reemployment NOW Program, to facilitate the reemployment of EUC claimants.

it allots $4 billion to the States based on two criteria: the number of total unemployed in the State, and the number of long-term unemployed in the State;
States may use these funds to establish and administer Bridge to Work programs, which allow employers to hire EUC claimants, whose salaries would be paid from the program;
States may provide a wage insurance program for EUC claimants who are at least 50 years old, making not more than $50,000 per year in wages from reemployment;
States may provide a program of enhanced reemployment services to EUC claimants;
States may use these funds to start up self-employment assistance programs;
States may use these funds for other programs for innovative activities. The 99ers are specifically mentioned here:

"A State may use funds allotted under this part to provide a program for innovative activities, which use a strategy that is different from the reemployment strategies described in sections 324-327 and which are designed to facilitate the reemployment of EUC claimants. In addition to the provision of activities to such claimants, the program may include the provision of activities to individuals who are unemployed and have exhausted their rights to emergency unemployment compensation under title IV of the Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2008"

Subtitle A, Part III considers the treatment, temporary financing, grants and assistance in implementing short-time compensation programs.

Subtitle B of the American Jobs Act establishes tax credits and simplified certification for businesses who hire the long-term unemployed.

Subtitle C, the "Pathways Back to Work Act of 2011," establishes a $5 billion fund to provide:

subsidized employment to unemployed, low-income adults;
summer and year-round employment opportunities to low-income youth;
grants to carry out activities to provide skills and assistance needed to obtain employment.

Subtitle D, the "Fair Employment Opportunity Act of 2011," prohibits "discrimination in employment on the basis of an individual's status as unemployed".

For 99ers and all the long-term unemployed, S. 1549 is a bill that achieves important goals. It's worth our efforts to add this bill to our legislative agenda, as a companion bill to H.R. 589. The two bills, passed together, would have a major beneficial impact on the 99er community.

Guest Post: Introducing Hour.ly

2011-09-09T22:02:00.000-04:00

The following is a guest post written by Bob Roth, Director of Community & Engagement for Hour.ly

Stop listening to talk about jobs… and start working.

Jobs. They’re the talk of the town, of the nation, and even in your local coffee shop and living room. President Obama recently toured the Mid-west to listen and talk about jobs. Political candidates are already stumping about jobs. Radio and TV shows are talking about how to create more jobs (or why we’re not creating jobs).

That’s a lot of talk, with no action.

There’s no doubt that this is a different world than the one our parents and grandparents worked in. When McDonald’s hired 60,000 persons in April earlier this year—backfilling a lot of full-time management positions with part-timers—it was the first time in most of our lives that 3 generations of Americans competed with each other to become cashiers and cooks. No longer is the gold watch given after years of loyal service; this is the part-time job economy of the golden arches.

In her 2009 Newsweek article, “The New American Job,” Linda Stern wrote, “In this economy, a job isn't just a job: It's a pastiche of part-time gigs, project contracts and fill-in freelance work.” More than 60% of jobs added last year were temporary or freelance, and more than half of employers expect that they will hire more part-time workers in the next 5 years.

Hourly was created to give you the advantage in this new job economy.

Before Hourly, wading through this “gig-economy” demanded hours of searching for jobs, managing multiple online accounts, sending personal information and 100s of resumes to anonymous employers… no more! Hourly efficiently matches candidates with local jobs (and employers with local candidates) for free, covering every industry, skill or task.

When you get paid by the hour, you can’t spend hours looking for work.

Success will be in the hands of those who take control of their time—their schedules, commutes and interests—to discover the right combination of jobs that not only pay the bills, but present great opportunities. We know what it’s like—we’ve worked part-time jobs and hired part-time employees in our pasts—so we’ve made it our mission to get you back to work one job at a time.

Build a personal Hourly profile in minutes (for free) and we’ll match you with work in your area immediately!

99ers: The Real Lives of the Long-Term Unemployed

2011-09-09T21:30:00.000-04:00

President Obama Introducing the American Jobs Act

2011-09-09T21:01:00.000-04:00

Tampa Bay Online: "Deadline looms for millions of unemployed Floridians"

2011-09-06T09:00:00.000-04:00

Kevin Wiatrowski reporting in the Tampa Tribune on the long-term unemployed and 99ers in Florida state:

Since August 2009, nearly 5 million Floridians have (lived on an unemployment check), seeking help from the three types of unemployment benefits now available: state unemployment benefits and federal emergency and extended benefits. As of July, 2.6 million of them had exhausted some or all those benefits, according to the Florida Agency for Workforce Innovation.
Thousands more Floridians could find themselves in the same boat by early 2012. That's when the last few federal unemployment checks will end if federal officials can't agree on another extension. The bulk of federal and state unemployment benefits run out between Christmas and New Year's, according to Workforce officials.
What remains – short-term state benefits – will be available for the newly laid-off. But the length of those benefits will drop to a maximum of 23 weeks in January and could go as low as 12 weeks as the statewide unemployment rate falls, according to legislation passed this year.
The result is likely to be an immediate drop in consumer spending and a greater burden on charities and government programs.

Grand Central Terminal, Saturday Afternoon, August 27, 2011.

2011-08-27T17:57:00.000-04:00

source: MTAPhotos on Flickr

Barbara Lee Calls on President to Help Jobless Workers and Their Families

2011-08-27T15:08:00.000-04:00

August 25, 2011

Contact Kristal DeKleer (202) 225-1882

Washington, D.C.– Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-CA) and Congressman Bobby Scott (D-VA) sent a letter to President Barack Obama urging him to address the needs of jobless workers in his forthcoming jobs plan. The letter urged the President to not only maintain the current extension of unemployment benefits to America’s jobless workers, but to also incorporate H.R. 589, The Emergency Unemployment Extension Act. Congresswoman Lee sponsored the bill to extend unemployment benefits by fourteen more weeks for all unemployed workers.

“Extending unemployment benefits for an additional fourteen weeks would serve as an immediate resuscitation for people who have reached the end of their 99 weeks of unemployment benefits,” said Congresswoman Lee. “Not only do jobless workers need assistance for food and shelter month to month, but unemployed workers immediately spend the assistance receive,which stimulates the economy and contributes to job growth.”

"The current Majority in the House has done nothing this year to help the millions of Americans who are chronically unemployed keep their heads above water,and any new jobs program should not leave them behind," said Congressman Scott. "These Americans are desperate for jobs but they need this lifeline now because our economy is simply not growing fast enough. I commend Congresswoman Lee for her tireless efforts supporting these forgotten Americans."

For every job opening, there are currently 4.4 unemployed workers. Of the 13.9 million people out of work, 6.2 million have been unemployed for nearly two years. Including H.R. 589 into a comprehensive and bold jobs plan is critical to providing jobless workers with the temporary assistance to meet basic needs while they focus on getting a job.

“Across the country people want and need jobs, and as we work together to create jobs we must work together to continue to support our nation’s jobless workers,” Lee continued. “Now more than ever, we must fight every effort to shred the safety net. We are in the middle of a jobs crisis and we must do all we can to address this national emergency.”

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Follow Barbara Lee on Twitter@RepBarbaraLee

The Daily Show: World of Class Warfare

2011-08-27T13:35:00.000-04:00

Out of Whack

2011-08-24T15:43:00.002-04:00

From @ediclick:

Sen. Bernie Sanders: We Must Deal With The Jobs Crisis

2011-08-20T22:39:00.000-04:00

Links: Part 2 - Part 3

Unemployed or Underemployed and Depressed?

2011-08-16T09:38:00.001-04:00

(via Help A Reporter Out)

Hey There, I'm looking to write a story on how long bouts with unemployment and underemployment brought on by our weak economy has impacted the mental health and well-being of people living in and around the Washington, DC area. I'm looking for 2 or 3 personal accounts of how unemployment or underemployment has affected individual's peace of mind and mental well being, and how they and their families are dealing with it.

To respond, send an email to this address: query-1fms@helpareporter.com

The deadline for responses is 7:00 PM EST - August 19

Can you see the miracle?

2011-08-15T22:31:00.000-04:00

h/t Democracy In America, The Economist

Much is being made of the "Texas Miracle" - an economy that weathered the recession relatively well.

Judging from the chart below, it's hard to argue that anything of the sort actually happened. The chart compares the unemployment rates of Texas, New York, Florida and Illinois.

(click image to enlarge)

Look at the numbers from a different perspective: the number of unemployed in each state:

So, where's the miracle?

If you want to create jobs, create jobs.

2011-08-15T11:30:00.000-04:00

Rep. Schakowsky on Countdown discussing her jobs bill:

The "Help Wanted" Project

2011-08-14T17:43:00.000-04:00

What does 9.2% unemployment mean? How can we understand a statistic like 14.2 million unemployed?

Maybe by remembering that each of these numbers represents a person.

“I am intelligent, experienced, professional, lead with integrity and have excellent references,” a reader wrote in response to a Post article asking the unemployed to write about their experiences. “How did my life come to this? I am exhausted, I need peace of mind and I need a job. I am scared and recently called a suicide hot line... God forgive me.”
“Every application not responded to is rejection – being told I am worthless, useless and unwanted,” another unemployed reader wrote. “Every job posting telling me I am not good enough, that all my life work is worth nothing, tells me I do not measure up. I feel like I have been told a 1,000 times to just die.”

The Washington Post has collected stories from six families who have been affected by unemployment. You can read their accounts at Help Wanted: Stories of Unemployment

TRMS: The Patience of Jobs

2011-08-12T16:25:00.000-04:00

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

"The Emergency Jobs to Restore the American Dream Act"

2011-08-11T17:47:00.002-04:00

Learn more about Congresswoman Schakowsky's bill on her website.

Eric Cantor Wants Your Resume

2011-08-07T21:00:00.000-04:00

h/t and inspiration from Joan McCarter

"Jim, the most important thing we can do for somebody who’s unemployed is to see if we can get them a job."

That was GOP Leader Eric Cantor speaking with Jim Cramer about the July labor numbers. The full quote (from Joan's article:)

CANTOR: Jim, the most important thing we can do for somebody who’s unemployed is to see if we can get them a job. I mean, that’s what needs to be the focus. For too long in Washington now we’ve been worried about pumping up the stimulus monies and pumping up unemployment benefits and to a certain extent you have states for which you can get unemployment for almost two years and I think those people on unemployment benefits would rather have a job. So that’s where our focus needs to be.

KRAMER: I just want to be very, very clear, on a day when we have a good unemployment number, that’s terrific, but not a great one and you confirmed not a great one, you are not in favor and will go against the president’s wishes to extend those unemployment benefits?

CANTOR: What I have said all along, Jim, is if we’re going to spend money in Washington, we better start to make choices and we’ve got to set priorities. If we’re going to spend money, we better cut it somewhere else.

Rep. Cantor is absolutely right about this: people on unemployment benefits (and those who have exhausted those benefits) would much rather have a job.

Rep. Cantor is wrong on the need to offset emergency unemployment spending, though - in the same way he was wrong about offsetting disaster relief spending.

I'd like to echo Joan's excellent idea:

...I recommend all unemployed people send their resume and a request for a job interview to Rep. Cantor, since he says the most important thing he, as part of government, can do is to get unemployed people jobs. Maybe he'll share his bootstraps with the rest of us.

Back in January, Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr. issued a call for resumes. He delivered some 9,000 of them to Congress and entered them into the Congressional Record:

Let's see if we can top that.