US jobless hits 5 million, sets record high

Not exactly the news that encourages confidence in an already damaged market.

The number of laid-off workers receiving unemployment benefits has jumped to an all-time high near 5 million while new jobless claims remain well above 600,000. Both figures were worse than expected and new projections from the Federal Reserve show unemployment rising for the rest of this year.

The Labor Department reported Thursday that the number of people receiving regular unemployment benefits rose 170,000 to 4.99 million for the week ending Feb. 7, marking the fourth straight week those receiving benefits have been at a record level on data going back to 1967.

The continuing claims figure also was significantly above the year-ago level of 2.77 million and underscored the difficulty people are having in this recession finding another job once they are laid off.

An additional 1.5 million people are receiving benefits under an extended unemployment compensation program approved by Congress last year, bringing the total number of people receiving unemployment benefits to 6.54 million for the week ending Feb. 7.

In other economic news, wholesale inflation surged unexpectedly in January, according to the Labor Department. Wholesale prices jumped 0.8 percent last month, the biggest gain since July and well above the 0.2 percent increase that economists expected.

The acceleration was led by a 3.7 percent surge in energy prices with gasoline prices jumping 15 percent, the biggest gain in 14 months. Even outside the volatile food and energy sectors, wholesale prices showed a bigger-than-expected increase, rising by 0.4 percent.

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It's the wealth loss, stupid

Republicans have fumed over even the suggestion of blame for the economic crisis, often suggesting the economic problems are not that serious. The response to the recession is that yeah, it's bad, but it's been much worse before. During the Carter-Reagan recession, unemployment was much higher and the recession much deeper. There is some truth to their claim but they are also ignoring the massive loss of wealth from this crisis. As this article says, many more retired Americans (and working towards retirement) Americans are susceptible to fluctuations in the market. A few generations ago, a failing stock market was painful but it would not negatively impact Americans directly the way it does today.

Ask any middle class retired person how they're doing and one of the first things you will hear is how much they have lost in retirement money. For them, the last thing they want to hear is about recovering those losses "in time" because the losses could take decades to recover. Americans who have tried to be cautious and stuffed away money into 401K plans are now realizing that they will have to work longer to recoup those losses. Maybe there is a plan being developed now but Obama is going to need to find a way to help Americans recover from the Wall Street gambling that has taken everyone down. This over-reliance on the stock market for retirement is going to cause significant problems and needs a fresh look. The US needs savings but also better options for retirement plans.

Stabilizing the economy is the first step, but delivering a plan for wealth creation for average Americans and not just the elite has to come soon. Very soon. Read More......

Even MORE problems for Burris

Time for you to go.

The names of lobbying clients that Sen. Roland W. Burris declared to a state legislative panel do not match those on records he filed over the last decade with Illinois and Chicago agencies, a CQ analysis of the records has found.

The discovery comes as Burris, an Illinois Democrat, is fending off calls for his resignation for failing to fully explain his dealings with impeached former Gov. Rod Blagojevich, who appointed him to succeed President Obama. The Senate Ethics Committee also is looking into discrepancies in his statements to the Illinois House Impeachment Committee.

Majority Whip Richard J. Durbin , a fellow Illinois Democrat, suggested that the Ethics Committee should also probe Burris’ lobbying activities.

“Every day there are more and more revelations about contacts with Blagojevich advisors, efforts at fundraising and omissions from his list of lobbying clients,” Durbin said in a statement from Turkey, where he is on a congressional trip. “These news reports and the public statements by Roland Burris himself are troubling and raise serious questions which need to be looked at very carefully.”

That was Durbin's way of saying "see ya!"

Something in my gut screamed "crony appointment" when Burris accepted the job. As I wrote at the time, what kind of decent, ethical human being would accept an appointment from someone like Blagojevich? Now, it seems, we may have the answer.

And let me add a "told you so" to the Dems and to the administration, who suddenly went from anti-Burris to Burris-loving, all in the matter of a week. Had the Democrats held their ground, they'd now be able to hold their heads high. Read More......

Power struggle in the White House

Not political power, real power:

At least two power surges caused lights to flicker and shut down several computers Thursday afternoon in the West Wing of the White House.

“This is twice that I’ve had to reboot!” a White House aide snapped as The Mouth inquired about the power surges.

If it can happen there, it can happen anywhere. Read More......

Finally, a Labor Secretary who supports workers: What a concept.

For the last eight years, America's workers have had the crap kicked out of them by the Bush administration and Republicans on the Hill. We had an anti-labor Secretary of Labor, Elaine Chao, who is married to the vehemently anti-labor GOP Senate Leader, Mitch McConnell. Those two are worth millions (she was on 13 corporate boards before becoming Labor Secretary) so you can imagine they didn't have much in common with people who actually work for a living. Chao and McConnell were a potent (and very wealthy) combo determined to undermine the safety and job security of America's workers:

When it comes to workplace-related issues such as mine safety, the McConnell-Chao marriage presents an intriguing target for industry donors. At the Labor Department, Chao has taken what some reports say is a relaxed attitude toward the regulation of coal mines and an approach that labor unions perceive as hostile.

Sometimes Chao achieves what her husband cannot in the Senate, such as a wage freeze her department instituted on certain farmworkers.

Chao attends her husband's fund-raisers, chats with his donors and seeds her agency with his former aides.

Those days are so over. On Tuesday, the full Senate is expected to confirm Hilda Solis as the new Secretary of Labor. She was confirmed by the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee late last week. The Republicans have been doing their best to prevent this nomination. Their tactics and arguments have been ridiculous. Wonkette captured the absurdity of the GOP's position in a post titled, "She's no Elaine Chao: Labor Nomination Held Up Due To Nominee’s Support Of Labor."

The GOP Senators didn't want Solis to have any involvement with the Employee Free Choice Act, which Elaine Chao was lobbying against right up til the end of the Bush administration. If the Republicans had their way, Solis probably wouldn't be able to get involved with the key responsibilities of the Department of Labor like job creation, unemployment benefits, mine safety, job retraining, worker safety and fair wages.

But, Solis is going to be the Labor Secretary despite the GOP. SEIU put together a video of her in action. What a difference an election makes:



It should give great comfort to America's working men and women. They'll have a champion in the Cabinet. This will be another in what will hopefully be a string of victories for Americans. Read More......

GOP investigated Jack Valenti's sexual orientation

This story, from the Washington Post, is about how J. Edgar Hoover apparently had the FBI check out whether longtime motion picture lobbyist, and former Johnson administration official, Jack Valenti was gay. But as an aside, the article mentions that the Republican party also hired a former FBI agent to investigate Valenti's orientation. We always knew Hoover was a creep, but that the Republican party was, well, bedfellows with J. Edgar Hoover is interesting. Though perhaps not surprising.

As an aside, Nixon named the then-new FBI headquarters after Hoover. Tell me again why that name isn't finally being changed? Read More......

Elderly Michigan man who froze to death had recent history of late payments

Well of course. What part of "93 years old and payment problems after years of being fine" was the city missing? Having assisted an elderly friend with similar daily living issues, it doesn't seem unusual to imagine there was a problem. Our friend was slipping into dementia and it became impossible for him to remember what he ate ten minutes ago, let alone making timely payments. In the case of Marvin Schur, someone now seems intent on pushing the blame back over to the old man who did try and make payments (he had the money) but he obviously became frustrated with the process.

It's sickening to read that someone out there wants to make this death the fault of the the man who died. Whoever it is that's promoting this ought to just leave it alone or accept that they could have done more to help someone in need.

Marvin Schur may have been worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, but the World War II veteran was chronically late in paying his utility bills during the two years before he froze to death last month at age 93 in his home in Bay City, Michigan, after his power was cut off.

A review of records by city workers reveals Schur, at one point, went to his own bank to make back payments, but was unable to do so because that bank was not an approved pay station for the city.

"Maybe he had dementia. I don't know that. We may never know," City Manager Robert Belleman told CNN.

Schur's body was found in his bedroom. Authorities said the temperature inside his home was 32 degrees. A limiter installed a few days earlier had shut off power because of unpaid bills.

City officials have said Schur may not have known he could reset the power switch to keep on his gas heat.

"It was not an issue of his ability to pay, it was something else, " Belleman added.

Our elderly friend was still scuba diving at 75 years old and yet by 78, he could not remember his travel days (and he was obsessive about it after years in logistics) and by 80 could not recall what he said minutes before. Bay City, Michigan needs to quit kicking a dead man and face their own failings. Read More......

The one about the gay dad going to the airport...

Max Mutchnik, who created "Will & Grace," explains what it's like, and what it takes, for two gay dads to take their daughters to the airport. It includes bringing along their birth certificates so that no one thinks you're Roman Polanski. I will say, the end of the story, involving the airport TSA guard, actually sounds to me like the guard was being a genuinely good guy. See what you think. Read More......

Bush improves: Now only seventh-worst president ever

There's nowhere to go but up when you've destroyed the economy, the military, and our credibility.

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Moved

You may, or may not, have noticed that I was offline a lot Monday and Tuesday. On Tuesday, I finally moved into my new, and first, condo. Dear Lord, it's a nerve-fraying experience. From picking paint colors (I seriously don't have that gene) to telling every legitimate business on the planet that your address has changed, it's a non-stop whirlwind of to-dos. Then there's moving day itself. Gotta love movers. Around noon, two hours into my move, El Jefe of the movers pulls me aside. Our conversation went a lot like this:

Jefe (pointing to the $500 "not to exceed" bid I got from him boss): It's noon.
Me: Yes.
Jefe: The bid says we expected the job to take 3 hours.
Me: Yes.
Jefe: It's already two hours, and moving the rest of your stuff to the truck will take another hour and a half.
Me: Yessssssssss.
Jefe: So that means we'll go over the estimate of 3 hours.
Me: Yes.
Jefe: (silence)
Me (growing increasingly annoyed since I know where this is heading): What's your point?
Jefe: Well, we're going over the estmate.
Me (making no more pretenses of courtesy): What is your point?
Jefe: Well, to keep it in the estimate, maybe we just leave that corner of the room here and not move that stuff.
Me: Uh, no. That's not an estimate, it's your boss' bid. You don't get to change it because it's taking too long.
Jefe: Yeah, but it's taking longer than 3 hours - see? - so we'll just charge you more?
Me: Do you understand how your own company works?

To the day he dies, Jefe will have no idea how close he came to death, or at least castration, that day. He then proceeded to explain to me that his guys had to move my clothes to the wardrobe boxes, and that's why they should charge me extra (yeah, except this moving company moves your clothes into the boxes for you, that's part of the deal they explained to me). You get the picture. Anyway, five hours, and a scratched dining table, broken small table, and chipped Alaskan memento later, we were done.

Moving is hell. And don't even get me started on the trials of living in a new home. I've spent 28 years living in rented apartments and homes. You put your money into the washer and dryer and they work. Now I have choices. And they confuse me. Take the dishwasher. How it dries the dishes is beyond me. All I know is that when it beeps and the "clean" button comes on at the end of the cycle, it's lying. Whatever you do, do not open the dishwasher when it says it's done, or you'll get a blast of moist heat that, according to my sister, who I dutifully called right after, is the stuff that somehow magically dries your dishes - an hour later, and only if you don't open it. Then why, you might ask, did it beep and tell me it was done if it really wasn't done for another hour and I'm not supposed to open it? Ah the mysteries of home ownership. Read More......

Roy Blunt is running for Senate in Missouri to bring back the glory of Tom DeLay, George Bush and Jack Abramoff

Rep. Roy Blunt was the key ally for President George Bush, Majority Leader Tom DeLay and the notorious Jack Abramoff. He helped destroy the American economy, led the GOP's "culture of corruption," and aided the rush to war. Now, he wants to be a Senator.

Fired Up! Missouri has been covering Blunt for years. That will be a go-to blog for this race -- and, they've already begun the fun. (I remember hearing from a reliable source that Blunt had his congressional staffers assigned to read that blog first thing every morning to see what was being written about him. There was a lot.)

One of the first post's on Blunt's Senate candidacy at Fired Up! Missouri led me to this USA Today headline from 2006, Blunt, DeLay shared connections to lobbyist Abramoff with this as an intro:

Rep. Roy Blunt and the man he wants to succeed as House majority leader, Tom DeLay, shared similar connections to convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff and to corporate lobbyists.

DeLay, Abramoff, Bush: Missouri is always a battleground state but I have to think Missourians aren't going to be clamoring for a return to the days when DeLay and Abramoff controlled Congress.

Blunt may still get a primary opponent, Sarah Steelman.

The incumbent Secretary of State, Robin Carnahan is running on the Democratic side. Looks like she won't have a primary. Missouri is always a tough state. We'll be doing what we can to help Robin. We've set up an ActBlue page to help raise money. I know it's early and economic times are tough, but every dollar matters, especially the early ones. ActBlue lets donors set up monthly payments, which is what I'm doing with a couple candidates -- giving a small amount each month. If you want to get a sense of Robin, check out these videos: An ad from the 2004 Sec. of State campaign (one of my favorites) and her announcement video. Read More......

Thursday Morning Open Thread

Good morning.

There's still one pundit (some would say the most important pundit of all) who believes that bipartisanship is the holy grail and Obama must pursue it with every fiber of his being. Guess who? Yes, David Broder. Bipartisanship courses through his veins apparently. Broder really wants us all to believe in a world that doesn't exist anymore. But, he really has no idea just how the modern day Republicans operate. They want Obama to fail. Broder just can't get his head around that.

Is it still February? This month seems endless. I think it's because the weather has been so erratic. Really warm one day. Snow the next. I'm really ready for spring even though that means allergy season.

Okay...let's get started. Read More......

Americans increasingly stressed about economy

The only people not stressed are perhaps those who have millions or billions hidden in their mattresses, though those people are probably worried about the bed bugs eating their cash. For everyone else, there's stress. Wouldn't it be a positive surprise if political leaders - both left and right - actually thought about people other than the ultra-rich? This commentator at The Independent raises some good points about (Blair's) New Labour that equally apply to the Democrats from the Clinton era.

Credit is not a long term plan to replace increasing standard of living or wage improvements, but don't tell that to Washington.

Nearly half of those questioned, 47 percent, worry at least somewhat about losing a job, up from 28 percent in February 2008. Nearly three-fourths, or 71 percent, say they know someone — a friend or relative — who has lost a job in the past six months because of the economy.

Fear of being thrown out of work is so widespread that equal percentages of higher- and lower-income workers, 47 percent, worry about losing their jobs. Last year, only 20 percent of those earning $50,000 annually or more worried about joblessness, as did 35 percent of those earning less than that amount.

Nearly two-thirds of people, 65 percent, are at least somewhat worried about paying their bills, up from 46 percent last year.

More than two-thirds, 69 percent, worry that the value of their stocks and retirement investments will drop, up from 59 percent a year ago.

More than half, 53 percent, aren’t confident they’ll have enough money to live comfortably in retirement, up from 34 percent in February 2005.

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Taiwan GDP drops 8.36% in Q4

Another very bad surprise for the markets to digest today. Surprises are never good but shockingly bad surprises are even worse.

As the Taiwanese economy officially enters a recession for the first time since 2001, analysts are predicting the contraction this year may run much deeper than the one eight years ago.

Taiwan's gross domestic product declined by a record 8.36% in the last quarter of 2008 from the year-earlier period, according to provisional figures released Wednesday.

The steep, higher-than-expected decline, which came on the heels of a 1.05% contraction in the third quarter, pared Taiwan's full-year economic growth to a mere 0.12%, after it rose as much as 5.7% in 2007.

The Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics also forecast Taiwan's economy will shrink 2.97% in 2009, more than the 2.17% drop in 2001. But analysts see a much bigger contraction.

In a report released Thursday, UBS Research economist Sean Yokota slashed his 2009 GDP forecast for Taiwan to 6.1% from an earlier estimate of a 1.6% decline.

HSBC Global Research economists also cut their 2009 GDP estimate to a negative 5.2%, from minus 0.7% predicted earlier.

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Could you go without a fridge?

Joelle and I removed our room heaters a few years ago, mostly because the building is heated in the winter to around 59F and we get enough heat from below that it stays around 71/72F throughout the winter. Sometimes it's too hot so we crack a window and always sleep with the windows open. Our TV died a few years ago and we ditched it despite having free TV access through the internet. When we want to watch something, we watch it on our laptop but the TV was too annoying to keep around and it sucked energy. We also used to use a dryer - which is not as common in France as it is in the US - but when that died, we went back to hanging clothes on a drying rack. Sure it's bulky but it's never much of an issue except for a few days here and there. The best part about it (besides it being free to dry) is that is helps add moisture to the otherwise dry air in the flat.

But a fridge? Now that would be a struggle. Possible, yes, but a major hassle. We don't own a car or drive very often and the grocery store is either across the street or a second is a few blocks away. Shopping is done with backpacks and by foot which is easy enough. Shopping every day or juggling food between freezer and cold storage or not being able to store leftovers would be a problem. More power to those who can do this, but when my current fridge dies, I will definitely replace it.

For the last two years, Rachel Muston, a 32-year-old IT worker for the Canadian government in Ottawa, has been taking steps to reduce her carbon footprint - composting, line-drying clothes, installing an efficient furnace in her three-storey house.

About a year ago, though, she decided to "go big" in her effort to be more environmentally responsible. After mulling the idea over for several weeks, she and her husband, Scott Young, did something many would find unthinkable: they unplugged their fridge. For good. "It's been a while, and we're pretty happy," Muston says. "We're surprised at how easy it's been."

As drastic as the move might seem, a small segment of the green movement has come to regard the refrigerator as an unacceptable drain on energy, and is choosing to live without it. Muston estimates that her own fridge, which was in the house when they bought it five years ago and probably dates back much longer, used 1,300kWh per year, or produced roughly 2,000lbs of CO2 - the same amount from burning 105 gallons of petrol. And even a newer, more efficient model would have used too much energy, she says, "because I'm getting along fine without one".

Muston now uses a small freezer in the basement in tandem with a cool box upstairs; the cool box is kept cold by two-litre soft drink bottles full of frozen water, which are rotated to the freezer when they melt. (The fridge, meanwhile, sits empty in the kitchen.)

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