China to literally own U.S. I'm not even exaggerating

China Wants to Build a 50 Square Mile City in the US

Original Post: EU Times

Thanks to the trillions of dollars that the Chinese have made flooding our shores with cheap products, China is now in a position of tremendous economic power. So what is China going to do with all of that money? One thing that they have decided to do is to buy up pieces of the United States and set up “special economic zones” inside our country from which they can continue to extend their economic domination. One of these “special economic zones” would be just south of Boise, Idaho and the Idaho government is eager to give it to them. China National Machinery Industry Corporation (Sinomach for short) plans to construct a “technology zone” south of Boise Airport which would ultimately be up to 50 square miles in size. The Chinese Communist Party is the majority owner of Sinomach, so the 10,000 to 30,000 acre “self-sustaining city” that is being planned would essentially belong to the Chinese government. The planned “self-sustaining city” in Idaho would include manufacturing facilities, warehouses, retail centers and large numbers of homes for Chinese workers. Basically it would be a slice of communist China dropped right into the middle of the United States.

According to the Idaho Statesman, the idea would be to build a self-contained city with all services included. It would be modeled after the “special economic zones” that currently exist in China.

Perhaps the most famous of these “special economic zones” is Shenzhen. Back in the 1970s, Shenzhen was just a very small fishing village. Today it is a sprawling metropolis of over 14 million people.

If the Chinese have their way, we will soon be seeing these “special economic zones” pop up all over the United States.

So exactly who is “Sinomach”?

The following description of the company comes directly from the website of Sinomach:

With approval of the State Council, China National Machinery Industry Corporation (SINOMACH) was established in January 1997. SINO-MACH is a large scale, state-owned enterprise group under the supervision of the State Assets Supervision and Administration Commission.

As you can see, Sinomach is basically an arm of the Chinese government.

The borrower is always the servant of the lender, and now China is buying up America.

The reality is that Sinomach is not looking only at Idaho. Sinomach is in discussions to develop “special economic zones” all over the United States.

Sinomach has recently dispatched delegations to Ohio, Michigan and Pennsylvania to explore the possibility of establishing “special economic zones” in those states.

Will such “self-contained communities” soon start appearing from coast to coast?

According to Dr. Jerome Corsi, the U.S. government has already set up 257 “foreign trade zones” across America. These “foreign trade zones” will apparently be given “special U.S. customs treatment” and will be used to promote global free trade:

“The FTZs tend to be located near airports, with easy access into the continental NAFTA and WTO multi-modal transportation systems being created to move free-trade goods cheaply, quickly and efficiently throughout the continent of North America.”

So what do our politicians think about all of this?

Most of them are greatly in favor of it.

“Idaho’s the last state that should say we don’t want to do business with Asia,” Idaho Lt. Gov. Brad Little said last year. “Asia’s where the money is.”

So will all of this “foreign investment” really bring jobs back to the American people?

Perhaps a few, but the truth is that these “special economic zones” that the Chinese are setting up are designed to be self-contained communist Chinese communities. Some Americans will likely be employed in these areas, but not nearly as many as our politicians would have you to believe.

In addition, these “special economic zones” represent a massive national security threat. The communist Chinese could potentially be able to bring in and store massive amounts of military equipment virtually undetected.

In the days of the Cold War, we would have never dreamed of giving the Russians a 50 square mile city in the middle of Idaho.

But today we have become convinced that the communist Chinese want to be our great friends.

The following quote originally appeared in the Idaho Statesman, but has since apparently been taken down:

“The Chinese are looking for a beachhead in the United States,” said Idaho Commerce Secretary Don Dietrich. “Idaho is ready to give them one.”

Indeed.

If relations between the U.S. and China go south someday, we will deeply regret giving China so many open doors.

The truth is that you can never fully trust the communist Chinese. Their top military officers talk about a coming conflict with the United States all the time. China is extremely interested in North America. In fact, the Chinese and the Mexicans have even been holding talks on military cooperation.

But even if you don’t consider the communist Chinese to be a military threat, you should be deeply concerned about the economic implications of what is happening.

Today, tens of millions of Americans are wondering why the economy is so bad.

Well, there are a lot of reasons, but the fact that we have sent China thousands of our factories, millions of our jobs and trillions of dollars of our national wealth is a major contributing factor.

If you do not know the truth about how badly the Chinese economy is wiping the floor with the Americen economy then you need to read this article: “40 Signs The Chinese Economy Is Beating The Living Daylights Out Of The U.S. Economy“.

Beautiful new infrastructure is going up all over China today, and meanwhile many of our once great manufacturing cities are turning into rotted-out war zones.

China would not be what they are today if we had insisted that they abandon the communist system and respect basic human rights before we ever opened up trade with them.

But that did not happen. Instead we enthusiastically welcomed China into the WTO and we let the predatory Chinese system run wild.

In 2010, China had a “current account balance” of over 272 billion dollars, which was the largest in the world.

In 2010, the United States had a “current account balance” of negative 561 billion dollars. According to the CIA world factbook, that put us in last place in the entire world. In fact, our negative current account balance was more than 9 times larger than anyone else in the world. If you go check out this chart it will give you a really good idea of how nightmarish our trade situation has become.

The world is changing and nothing is ever going to be the same again.

Just ask the residents of Boise, Idaho – they are about to have a 50 square mile self-contained communist Chinese city plopped right into their backyard.

China to U.S. "Bitch, stop spending all that damn money!"

Original Post: Yahoo

World leaders to confer on debt crises this weekend

By Paul Taylor and Melanie Lee

PARIS/SHANGHAI (Reuters) - Global leaders on Saturday arranged a round of emergency calls to discuss the twin debt crises in Europe and the United States that are causing turmoil in financial markets.

The European Central Bank's policy-setting council will hold a rare Sunday conference call to talk about the euro zone problems, ECB sources said.

Markets are anxiously looking for the central bank to start buying Italian and Spanish debt on Monday to stabilize prices, a move that has split the ECB governing council.

But more pressure on the bonds of the two countries after last week's steep sell-off could undermine an already damaged European banking system and lock Italy, the world's eighth largest economy, out of the market.

Worsening the outlook was the Standard and Poor's downgrade of the U.S. sovereign credit rating late on Friday on concerns about its budget deficits and growing debt burden.

While not totally unexpected, the loss of top-tier AAA status by the world's economic superpower drew fierce criticism from China, a huge holder of U.S. debt, and promised more anxiety for global financial markets.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who heads the G20 group of the world's leading economies, will discuss the financial situation in light of the U.S. downgrade with British Prime Minister David Cameron on Saturday evening, his office said.

Finance ministers and central bankers of the G7 group of major industrialized nations will confer by telephone on Saturday or Sunday, a senior European diplomatic source said.

Their deputies from the broader G20 were due to hold a call on Saturday evening, a Brazilian finance ministry source said.

GRIDLOCK IN WASHINGTON

China bluntly criticized the United States after the S&P ratings cut to AA-plus, saying Washington had only itself to blame and calling for a new stable global reserve currency.

"The U.S. government has to come to terms with the painful fact that the good old days when it could just borrow its way out of messes of its own making are finally gone," China's official Xinhua news agency said in a commentary.

After a week which saw $2.5 trillion wiped off global markets, the S&P move deepened fears of an impending recession in the United States as euro zone countries struggle with a debt crisis of their own.

S&P blamed the downgrade in part on gridlock in Washington, saying politics was preventing steps to address the debt and deficit problems. Amid a vitriolic fight between Democrats and Republicans, U.S. lawmakers reached a last-minute debt deal last week to avoid an unprecedented default by the government.

President Barack Obama urged lawmakers to set aside partisan politics, saying they must work to put the nation's fiscal house in order and stimulate the stagnant economy. He called on Congress to give tax relief to the middle class, extend jobless benefits and pass long-delayed trade pacts.

The European source said the U.S. downgrade, added to the situation in Europe, raised the need for international policy coordination.

"The G7 will confer by telephone. It's not yet confirmed whether it will be in one stage or in two stages, tonight and tomorrow," the source said.

French Finance Minister Francois Baroin, who would chair any meeting under France's G7 and G20 presidency, said it was too soon to say whether there would be an early G7 gathering.

Dutch Finance Minister Jan Kees de Jager said: "I am in constant contact with colleagues in other countries and am following the development of the financial markets closely."

China and Japan have called for coordinated action to avert a new worldwide financial crisis. India's Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee told reporters: "There is no need to unnecessarily press the panic button."

"DEBT ADDICTION"

Recrimination flew thick and fast among U.S. politicians, with each side seeking to blame the other for the downgrade and the impasse over how to solve the fiscal crisis.

Senator Jim Demint, a Republican, said Obama should demand the resignation of Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner.

White House spokesman Jay Carney said Obama believes "it is important that our elected leaders come together to strengthen our economy and put our nation on a stronger fiscal footing."

Xinhua scorned the United States for a "debt addiction" and "short sighted" political wrangling. China, it said, "has every right now to demand the United States address its structural debt problems and ensure the safety of China's dollar assets."

"International supervision over the issue of U.S. dollars should be introduced and a new, stable and secured global reserve currency may also be an option to avert a catastrophe caused by any single country," Xinhua said.

In contrast, France's Baroin said France had faith in the United States to get out of this "difficult period." Friday's U.S. unemployment numbers were better than expected and so things were heading in the right direction, he said.

"One should not dramatize, one needs to remain cool-headed, one should look at the fundamentals," he told France's iTele.

"There is no need for panic," Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said. "We will see in August, and maybe more intensively in September what the effects for the world economy will be."

Because the S&P move was expected, the impact on markets may be modest when they reopen on Monday. But the ratings cut may have a long-term impact for U.S. standing in the world, the dollar's status and the global financial system.

"The consequence will be far reaching," said Ciaran O'Hagan, fixed income strategist at Societe Generale in Paris.

"It will weigh on secure assets. The bigger reaction will be on risky assets, including equities and on agencies (Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae) and states backed directly by the federal government."

But he added: "U.S. Treasuries will remain a benchmark. This is a ship which takes a long time to turn around."

Norbert Barthle, a budget expert for German Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives, said the downgrade would certainly provoke further turbulence in markets.

"I'm not surprised about the U.S. rating downgrade, rather I am astonished that, for weeks, international rating agencies have focused their attention on the European debt situation but not the American one," he said.

"For a while, there have been clear worries about America's economic woes but also the fact the U.S. is heavily indebted."

NO EARLY ITALIAN ELECTION

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi on Saturday ruled out calling early elections to stem market panic that has pounded Italian assets and forced his government to bring forward austerity measures.

European policy makers are concerned that a debt emergency in the euro zone's third largest economy could completely overwhelm bailout mechanisms set up to help smaller troubled countries like Greece or Ireland.

Italy is due to go to the polls in 2013 but Berlusconi dismissed any suggestion of emulating Spain, where Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero has called an early election to tackle the crisis.

"This has absolutely not been talked about," Berlusconi told reporters. "This has never been an option."

The European Union's top economic official praised Italy's decision to accelerate budget-balancing measures and structural reforms and said swift implementation was now crucial.

"I strongly support this announcement and call on the authorities to quickly translate it into concrete measures," European Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Olli Rehn told Reuters in a telephone interview.

The ECB sources said the central bank remains divided over whether to buy Italian government bonds but that even some of those who favor the move say Italy should do more to front-load austerity measures.

Wisconsin’s New Jobs Account for More than Half of Nation’s Net Gain for June

Original Post: Macinver Institute

Madison, Wisc…] Earlier this month, analysts were dismayed by the nation’s anemic job creation numbers. On Thursday, state officials were pleased as they released data that showed more than half of the net new jobs added in the US in June came from Wisconsin.

“We have made difficult decisions in our state, but they are beginning to payoff,” said Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker (R). “The national job figures remind us that we can not rest after one month of good news; while there will be ups and downs along the way, we must help lead the nation to recovery.”

Using seasonally adjusted data, the 12,900 private-sector jobs created in June marks the largest one-month gain in Wisconsin since September 2003. The state’s net new job gain for June is 9,500 jobs, more than half of the nation’s net gain of 18,000 jobs for the same month.

Many in the past had given up looking for a job which removed them from the unemployment rolls – now they are back to looking for jobs. In June there were 118,800 total entrants to the labor force, up 15,100 from May. That boosted the overall unemployment rate .2 percent to 7.6. Wisconsin’s unemployment rate remains below the national rate of 9.2%.

“Wisconsin has added 39,300 private-sector jobs since Governor Walker declared Wisconsin open for business,” Department of Workforce Development Secretary Scott Baumbach said. “Jobseekers and employers alike are reaping the economic benefits of the business-friendly environment that Governor Walker is advancing, and we encourage jobseekers to keep pursuing these new employment opportunities.”

State officials note that in the first six months of 2011, Wisconsin’s total private sector job growth of 1.7% has been almost twice the national rate of 0.9%; and in the manufacturing sector job growth has been more than twice the national rate, 3.2% compared to 1.2%.

Wisconsin total nonfarm job growth (1.4%) has been more that twice the national rate (0.6%).

Governor Walker has made job creation a focus of his platform, vowing to help Wisconsin’s private sector create a quarter of million new jobs by the end of his term. Administration officials were quick to tout the new numbers Thursday, with Walker holding a noon press conference in Milwaukee and Lieutenant Governor Rebecca Kleefisch and Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation CEO Paul Jadin holding another in Green Bay two hours later.

Since January, Wisconsin has added 39,300 new jobs, with 14,100 of those in the ever-important manufacturing sector. Eight hundred new manufacturing jobs were created in the state in June.

Compared to a year ago, private sector jobs increased by 42,400 (seasonally adjusted).

Democrat business owner calls Obama out

Wisconsin State budget wipes away structural deficit ... and lowers taxes

Original Post: Lakeland Times

Richard Moore
Investigative Reporter


The new biennial budget approved by the Legislature and sent to Gov. Scott Walker last week doesn't raise taxes, doesn't raid segregated funds, and doesn't rely on one-time stimulus dollars but will still wipe away virtually all of the state's structural deficit.

Wisconsin has run multi-billion dollar structural deficits - the difference between expenditures needed to run state government and possible revenues under the tax structure - since the mid-1990s, when the state massively increased spending on Medicaid, schools and corrections.

According to the state Legislative Fiscal Bureau, Wisconsin will even have a little money left in the bank at the end of the two-year budget cycle, about $306 million if revenue estimates hold up.

That's the bottom line of the $66 billion budget. Not that the state won't end up spending more money. It will: State and federal spending will creep upward by $1.1 billion, or 1.8 percent, compared to the final budget under the administration of former Gov. Jim Doyle.

The Walker administration had factored in a 1-percent increase in the budget; another $154 million is due to higher estimated enrollments in Medicaid.

Nonetheless, the increase in spending is far less than the increase under Doyle's last budget, which saw spending jump by 6.2 percent. Doyle and the Legislature eventually raised taxes and fees by more than $2 billion and spent $3.4 billion more in federal stimulus money to cover a $6.6 billion shortfall.

Because of increased revenue projections, the Legislature this year is also repaying $235 million owed to the medical malpractice fund.

Gov. Scott Walker said this week he would make use of his veto-pen by "a fair amount" but he did not specify what provisions of the budget he might veto. His line-item veto makes the Wisconsin governor one of the nation's most powerful.



Savings and tax cuts

Walker and the GOP's bid to balance the budget without raising taxes is not a hat trick. The budget makes significant cuts in spending and borrowing to achieve the goal.

For instance, the Department of Health Services will trim Medicaid by a approximately $466 million over the next two years, while state aid to local school districts will decline by approximately $800 million. Officials say school districts will be able to make up the difference because of new contributions by teachers to pension and health benefit payments.

School districts with contracts in place will be bound by those contracts until they expire, however.

The state will borrow significantly less money than in the past, about $2 billion less overall. Among other things, the budget cuts bonding authority for the state stewardship program from $86 million a year to $60 million.

In addition, the budget imposes a true property tax freeze on school districts and local governments. Counties and municipalities will have to live with current levy amounts for two years - they can raise taxes only by the amount of net new construction, but that has been negligible - and after that can only raise taxes by 1.5 percent or the amount of net new construction, whichever is greater.

The budget does not raise sales or income taxes and actually reduces taxes by $24 million.

On the tax side, the budget would reduce income tax credits by $56 million for lower-income families with two or more children. Republicans say the benefit had become too generous to sustain. The Legislature would also freeze eligible income levels for qualifying for a homestead tax credit.

For businesses, a new capital gains tax deferral for investments in Wisconsin-based companies will cost $36 million over two years, while manufacturers and agricultural firms would gain a tax credit of approximately $129 million a year.

The GOP did not remove combined reporting requirements from the state tax code, but it did liberalize the tax treatment, amounting to a tax reduction of about $46 million over two years. The budget would also establish a sales tax exemption for advertising and promotional direct mail starting in 2013.

.

Nonfiscal policy provisions

While the budget helps to reshape the character of government spending, the character of the budget process itself remained unchanged, loaded with late-night votes, closed caucus meetings and nonfiscal budget items tucked here and there in the bill.

For example, the Wisconsin Credit Union League is asking Walker to veto provisions that would allow direct conversions of member-owned credit unions to shareholder-owned banks.

"The direct-conversion provisions subvert the interests of a credit union's full membership to that of a few who intend to own and profit form a stockholder-owned - and not member-owned - business structure," said Brett Thompson, president and CEO of the league.

Thompson said the provisions would allow for the direct charter conversion of a credit union to stock-bank with little meaningful notice requirements, no protections of members' voting rights and no requirement that any equity in the converted institution be returned to members.

Membership and deposits are increasing at credit unions both in the state and the country, and many say the trend is being driven not only by greater eligibility for credit union membership but by ever-larger banking fees.

However, banking officials counter that credit unions are non-profit and thus can offer more competitive rates and lower fees because they don't have to pay income taxes.

In any event, Thompson said, the provision was slipped into the budget without any consultation of credit unions and without any public debate or input by regulators.

Then too, this week, a bipartisan group of lawmakers is calling for Walker to veto a provision preventing brewers, distributors and any retail outlet that sells beer from owning a license to operate in more than one of those business categories. The state craft breweries say that will cripple their ability to expand and grow because they could no longer have a brewer's license and a distribution license.

The provisions were also inserted into the budget without public hearing.

A rare coalition of conservative Republicans such as Glenn Grothman (R-West Bend) and Pam Galloway (R-Wausau) and liberal Democrats such as Rep. Brett Hulsey (D-Madison) urged Walker to veto the measure.

"Wisconsin is known for its breweries, and allowing small craft brewers to own their own taverns will highlight their product," Grothman said. "This is the type of provision that should have been dealt with in a separate bill. It was complicated and the thriving craft brew industry did not participate in drafting this provision."

Hulsey said it was the wrong move at the wrong time.

"I am concerned that at this time of economic uncertainty we are sending the wrong message to these small growing businesses," Hulsey said.

Other measures inserted in the budget would weaken notice requirements to tenants living in buildings subject to foreclosure, and would loosen recent requirements on payday lenders.

Finally, the budget allows for limited expansion of the state's school voucher program to certain cities under specific conditions. Second-class cities (those between 39,000 and 149,999 population) that have 50 percent or more of their students eligible for free or reduced lunch could qualify for vouchers.

Obama Blames ATMs for Unemployment, Rather than Himself

Original Post: Associated Content

Casting around for someone or something to blame other than himself for long-term unemployment, President Barack Obama told NBC News that one culprit is automated telling machines (ATMs), which are taking jobs from bank tellers, according to Fox Nation.

"There are some structural issues with our economy where a lot of businesses have learned to become much more efficient with a lot fewer workers. You see it when you go to a bank and you use an ATM, you don't go to a bank teller, or you go to the airport and you're using a kiosk instead of checking in at the gate."

People have been blaming technology for taking away people's jobs ever since the luddites attacked mechanized looms in early 19th century England. The notion is fallacious now as it was then. By promoting efficiency and expanding consumer choice, technology like ATMs spur economic growth and thus job creation.

Jonah Goldberg, writing in National Review, makes this very point about ATMs and bank tellers:

"I'm not sure how you can possibly blame ATMs. Aside from the myriad ways in which ATMs boost efficiency, liquidity, consumer spending (and don't forget all of the jobs created for technicians and manufacturers of ATM machines), I'm not sure you can even blame a drop in bank teller jobs on bank machines. This is just a quick take, but just think about it for two seconds. The number of bank branches has soared in recent years. Those branches need human tellers (and bank machines). That's why the BLS predicted that teller jobs would grow about 6% from 2008 to 2018 (it predicted other banking jobs would grow as well)."

Goldberg also notes that both the number of ATMs and bank tellers has grown between 1985 and 2002, thus invalidating President Obama's point.

Obama was obviously making an attempt to shift blame from himself to the growth of automation. However, the disquieting thought occurs that perhaps the president will take this theme to heart and enact regulations restricting the use of automation in favor of human workers.

One would almost laugh at the idea, but it is no more absurd than the stimulus bill, health care reform, or cash for clunkers. Trying to inhibit automation by government fiat is just the sort of social engineering that the president and his people love to engage in.

One suspects that the president, should he run with this, will pretty up the proposal by calling it something like "American Jobs through Technological Restraint." Democrats in Congress will certainly grasp at this as a way to give jobs to angry constituents and thus quiet their unhappiness, making them want to vote for Democrats.

People who point out, as Goldberg does, that automation actually creates jobs in the long run will be accused of being cold and heartless and no doubt in the pay of robotics manufacturers. The unions, who will surely want to organize these retro workers, will certainly be all for the proposal as well.

All kidding aside, President Obama will almost certainly get a pass for this inanity, unlike what would have happened if it had come out of Sarah Palin's mouth. He is, after all, smart and, as his wife suggested, better prepared than the people who brief him on a daily basis. Thus, to paraphrase Orwell, stupidity is intelligence.

The Lookout Struggling single mom sells Obama letter

Original Post: Yahoo

Destiny Mathis, a young woman in Indiana, reached out to President Obama for a sign of hope in tough economic times, and was initially thrilled to receive a handwritten reply from the president. Now, however, the same economic hardships that prompted her to write to Obama last November have prompted her to put up the letter for sale on an auction website--marking the ninth such sale of an Obama letter that the online auction service has handled.

Mathis, a single mother of three from Indiana, wrote to the president that even though she graduated at the top of her college class and worked for years as a surgical technologist, she had lost her job in January after complications with her pregnancy. "I am so afraid this dreaded economy is going to have my family homeless," she wrote, according to NBC5, the Chicago network affiliate. Mathis is now weeks away from being evicted from her home.

The president wrote back a handwritten note on White House stationery. "Please know that things will get better for you and your family," he said. You can watch the NBC5 report on the letter's sale above.

The 26-year-old is now selling the note to Gary Zimet, who has sold eight other letters from the president so far for up to $20,000 on his site, Moments in Time. He's asking for $11,000.

A Michigan woman sold a letter from Obama in October for $7,000 to help pay for her cancer treatment and for a downpayment on a house. "Thanks for the very kind and inspiring letter," Obama wrote to Jennifer Cline, after she told him in a letter that she was struggling to make ends meet and had lost her health insurance. "I know times are tough, but knowing there are folks out there like you and your husband gives me confidence that things will keep getting better!"

Chronic unemployment worse than Great Depression

Original Post: CBS

There is an unfortunate adage for the unemployed: The longer folks are out of a job, the longer it takes them to find a new one.

CBS News correspondent Ben Tracy reports that the chronically unemployed face the hardest road back to recovery, and that while the jobs picture may be improving statistically on a national level, it is not for them.

Tinong Nwachan, for example, has far too much time on his hands. When CBS News met the former truck driver he had been out of work for two years.

"I don't really tell too many people this but I'm not ashamed or nothing, I'm homeless," Nwachan said.

Summer job bummer: Teen unemployment 24 percent
Nearly 14 million Americans are looking for work

His day job is looking for work at a jobs center in Hollywood. He has plenty of company, including Fabian Lambrecht, who wonders when the economy's improvement will affect them.

"They're saying there are more jobs. I'm just wondering where those jobs are," Lambrecht said.

About 6.2 million Americans, 45.1 percent of all unemployed workers in this country, have been jobless for more than six months - a higher percentage than during the Great Depression.

The bigger the gap on someone's resume, the more questions employers have.

"(Employers) think: 'Oh, well, there must be something really wrong with them because they haven't gotten a job in 6 months, a year, 2 years.' But that's not necessarily the case," said Marjorie Gardner-Cruse with the Hollywood Worksource Center.

The problem of course is the economy, but some industries, especially certain manufacturing jobs, are not ever expected to come back. Experts say unemployed workers need to be prepared to change careers.

"That person has to realize that, discover what field they want to work in, become trained and find a job in that field," said Jerry Nickelsburg, Sr., an economist at UCLA.

Here's another problem: more than 1 million of the long-term unemployed have run out of unemployment benefits, leaving them without the money to get new training, buy new clothes, or even get to job interviews.

"If you have been unemployed for 6 months or more, it takes a much deeper toll - not just on your personal finances and your career prospects - but on your emotional well-being," said Paul Taylor, an executive vice president with the Pew Research Center.

Tinong Nwachan said no matter how hard it's been, he isn't giving up on his search.

"I'm taking everything one day at a time. Eventually I know I'm gonna find something," Nwachan said.

All he says he's hoping for is a job that will take more of his time, and take him off the streets.

The President says there's no such thing as shovel ready projects

Original Post: CBS

My Comments: ... I have a question for Mr. President... THEN WHAT THE HELL DID WE SPEND OVER A TRILLION DOLLARS ON?

I'm not sure if any of you have seen the movie Brewster's Millions. The plot of the movie is Brewster gets 30 Million dollars that he has to spend in 30 days with nothing to show for it. In the movie he has a hard time and almost doesn't do it.

Well, he should have just called up Barack Obama. He can spend over a trillion dollars in largely the same time and not have anything to show for it. I couldn't do that. I doubt I could spend a trillion dollars in my entire life and have nothing to show for it.

Oh, and he also has the ability to blame the Republicans for this boondoggle. Which is a neat trick since they changed the locks so the Republicans couldn't get in while they were debating it and when the Republicans asked to be allowed input he said, "I won, I'm the President".



Anyway here's the rest of the original story.

With unemployment hovering near 10 percent nearly two years after President Obama signed his economic stimulus package, Mr. Obama is acknowledging that, despite his campaign promises, "there's no such thing as shovel-ready projects."

The president gave that remark in an hour-long interview with the New York Times.

Mr. Obama also told the Times that he should have "let the Republicans insist on the tax cuts" in the stimulus, rather than including them himself, so the package would have seemed more like a compromise. The stimulus package, which the Congressional Budget Office said this year will cost $862 billion, included $236 billion in tax cuts. Nevertheless, the president said in the interview that he comes across as "the same old tax-and-spend Democrat."

When the president campaigned for the stimulus package at the start of his presidency, he and others in his administration repeatedly insisted the investments would go to "shovel-ready" projects -- projects that would put people to work right away. As recently as August, however, local governments were still facing delays spending the money they were allocated from the stimulus, CBS News Correspondent Nancy Cordes reported.

While Republicans have cast the stimulus, and most of Mr. Obama's other policies, as failed initiatives, the president told the Times he expects more cooperation from Republicans after the midterms.

"It may be that regardless of what happens after this election, they feel more responsible, either because they didn't do as well as they anticipated, and so the strategy of just saying no to everything and sitting on the sidelines and throwing bombs didn't work for them," he said. "Or they did reasonably well, in which case the American people are going to be looking to them to offer serious proposals and work with me in a serious way."

And whether or not Republicans take over Congress, the president said he expects less legislative action in the next two years of his administration.

"Even if I had the exact same Congress, even if we don't lose a seat in the Senate and we don't lose a seat in the House, I think the rhythms of the next two years would inevitably be different from the rhythms of the first two years," he said. "There's going to be a lot of work in this administration just doing things right and making sure that new laws are stood up in the ways they're intended."

Harry Reid saved the ENTIRE world from a depression

Milwaukee now fourth poorest city in nation

Original Post: JS Online

City's poverty rate in 2009 rises to 27%, Census says

By Bill Glauber and Ben Poston of the Journal Sentinel

Milwaukee emerged as America's fourth-most impoverished big city in 2009, as the Great Recession rippled across the city and state, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures released Tuesday.

Milwaukee's poverty rate reached 27%, up from 23.4% in the previous year. Only Detroit (36.4%), Cleveland (35%) and Buffalo (28.8%) had higher poverty rates among cities with populations greater than 250,000. Milwaukee was ranked 11th in 2008.

An estimated 158,245 Milwaukeeans lived in poverty last year. For a family of four with two adults and two children, the poverty threshold was an annual income of $21,954.

What's more, nearly 4 in 10 children in Milwaukee were considered poor, meaning an estimated 62,432 children lived in poverty last year, up from 49,952 in 2008.

Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, a Democrat who is running for governor, said the poverty numbers "are unacceptable and should be of concern to everyone in the community and the state."

"They obviously are in part a result of the global economic downturn which has disproportionately affected lower incomes," he said. "But it has also sent lower middle-class people into poverty as well. It explains why we're looking so aggressive to create more jobs, tackle the issues of education, workforce development and transportation."

Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker, the Republican candidate for governor, said the "anti-business" policies of Democrats Barrett and sitting governor Jim Doyle have directly affected "the poverty levels in Milwaukee and cities across our state."

"As governor, I'll work to get government out of the way so we can help struggling families and bring 250,000 jobs to Wisconsin," Walker said in a statement.

Barrett disputed Walker's assertion and said, "I have never seen any signs that he is interested in addressing the poverty issues in our community, period."

He said that jobs provide the best remedy for alleviating poverty and added that he would prefer the issue not be politicized. "I wish this is one (issue) we could reach across the aisle and work together," Barrett said.

Michael Bonds, president of the Milwaukee School Board, said he was not surprised by the newest poverty figures.

"I think we're at a critical point when we're starting to see some of the broader things in the community impacting students," he said.

"Not only do schools have to deal with traditional education, but now they also have to provide supports that were traditionally provided by other agencies, because those institutions are also facing financial challenges," he added.

Bonds said he doesn't see any quick-fix to bring children out of poverty in Milwaukee.

"Some areas of the city, you see African-American unemployment reaching 60% to 70%," he said.

Marc Levine, executive director of the Center for Economic Development at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, said the latest census data reflect the city's lack of job growth.

"Our analysis of employment data shows that Milwaukee has had among the worst job creation records of any big city in the U.S. for over a decade, so it is not surprising that poverty numbers have worsened, especially during the worst recession since the Great Depression," Levine said.

Hard times didn't hit just in Milwaukee.

Real median household income in the state declined between 2008 and 2009 - decreasing by 3.8% from $51,942 to $49,993.

Poverty also surged statewide from 10.4% to 12.4% in 2009. There were an estimated 570,583 people in poverty in the state in 2008 and 683,408 people in poverty in 2009. Nationally, poverty increased from 38.3 million people in 2008 to 42.8 million in 2009.

Ken Taylor, executive director of the Wisconsin Council on Children and Families, labeled the poverty numbers as "brutal" and said they "confirm our worst fears about the reality of the recession on kids."

"The idea that what happens in Milwaukee doesn't influence Ozaukee County is a fallacy," he said. "We're all affected across the state by the challenges in Milwaukee."

In the suburbs outside Milwaukee, the poverty rates were much lower, led by Waukesha County (4.8%) while Ozaukee (5.3%) and Washington (5.4%) counties were not much higher. The poverty rates in those counties all increased at least 1 percentage point.

The results come from the American Community Survey, which provides a snapshot of the nation's socioeconomic, housing and demographic characteristics.

Later this year, the Census Bureau will release the first results from the 2010 Census, the complete count of every person in the country.

Erin Richards of the Journal Sentinel staff contributed to this report.

Unemployment aid won't be enough to boost recovery (or Nancy Pelosi is a dolt)

Original Post: Yahoo News

By CHRISTOPHER S. RUGABER, AP Economics Writer Christopher S. Rugaber, Ap Economics Writer – Tue Jul 20, 9:29 pm ET

WASHINGTON – For jobless Americans struggling to pay their bills and keep their homes, the restoration of unemployment benefits could keep their crisis from getting worse.

The same might be said of the broader economy.

The Senate is expected to vote Wednesday to keep providing unemployment benefits for up to 99 weeks to more than 5 million long-term unemployed. The injection of an estimated $33 billion into a $14.6 trillion economy over the next five months won't be enough to energize the recovery. But economists say it could at least help sustain it.

The vote comes as evidence mounts that growth is slowing. Consumers, facing lower home values and high unemployment, are saving more and spending cautiously. The housing market is slumping again after a tax credit expired in April. And the impact of last year's $787 billion stimulus package has begun to fade.

By extending the unemployment aid, Congress will remove one potential drag on the economy, analysts say.

"It reduces the likelihood of a double-dip recession," said Gus Faucher, an economist at Moody's Analytics.

During the recession, Congress provided up to 73 extra weeks of unemployment aid, paid for by the federal government. They came on top of the 26 weeks customarily provided by the states.

But the extra benefits expired in early June. They had been routinely extended during the worst parts of the recession. But Congress reached an impasse last month. Republicans demanded that the extension be paid for with leftover stimulus money. Democrats countered that unemployment benefits are normally considered an emergency need and paid for by adding to the deficit.

About 2.5 million people ran out of jobless aid during the political battle. They will now have the aid restored retroactively. That could create chaos if state unemployment offices are flooded with people seeking to reapply.

An additional 3 million people were still receiving aid under the extended benefits program. They will be able to keep doing so.

The legislation Congress is expected to approve will inject $33 billion into the economy by renewing the extra benefits through the end of November. That money will likely be spent quickly and generate extra economic activity, economists say. Jobless aid is widely seen as providing more "bang for the buck" than many other stimulus programs.

"It recycles very quickly into the economy," said David Wyss, chief economist at Standard & Poor's. "If that's your only source of money, you're going to spend it."

Moody's Analytics estimates that every dollar of unemployment aid generates $1.61 in economic activity. Still, that translates into a boost of only $54 billion — less than one-half of 1 percent of the overall economy.

"It's not going to make or break" the recovery, Faucher said.

Weekly unemployment checks average about $309, though they vary widely by state. Benefit levels also depend on how much a recipient earned while working. The checks are financed through a tax on employers.

Many of those out of work don't receive unemployment benefits. Only those who have lost jobs through no fault of their own are eligible. Applicants must also have earned certain minimum pay, set by the states.

Partly because of the extensions, about two-thirds of the nearly 15 million unemployed are receiving unemployment aid. That's a greater proportion than in previous downturns. The Obama administration's stimulus package encouraged many states to expand eligibility to part-time workers and other groups.

In recessions, Congress usually adds extra weeks as unemployment rises and hiring slows. The federal government also pays for the extensions to lessen the burden on states, which are required to balance their budgets. Many experts argue that the program, begun in the 1930s, is ill-equipped to handle extended downturns. One result is that the program has been extended in almost every recession and often gets tangled in political fights.

The current benefit extensions are the longest on record.

Of the 2.5 million people whose benefits will be restored, nearly 430,000 are in California, nearly 200,000 are in New York, 175,000 are in Florida and 174,000 are in Pennsylvania, the Labor Department estimates. Georgia, Illinois, Michigan, Ohio and Texas also have more than 100,000 recipients who were cut off.

Unlike with some previous extensions, Congress isn't adding extra weeks. It's just keeping the extended program going.

For those who have exhausted all their 99 weeks, the Senate's vote Tuesday provides little hope. They face the prospect of looking for work even as hiring remains slow, with the unemployment rate at 9.5 percent.

"There's a lot more people than jobs out there right now," Wyss said.

Obama is a historic president

Record food stamp users.
Record mortgage foreclosures.
Record bankruptcies.
Record unemployment benefits.
Bloodiest day in Afghanistan.
Bloodiest day in Iraq.

Yup, a historic president breaking all the records.

UPDATED: 94,341 jobs 'not really created or saved' by the stimulus (and counting)

Original Post: washington examiner
By: David Freddoso and Mark Hemingway

12/22/09

With the revelation that CalTrans dramatically over-reported the number of jobs created or saved with stimulus money, we've added hundreds more to our job count.

12/15/09

We've added hundreds more jobs that weren't really created or saved from new media reports and further analysis of Recovery.gov data.

12/1/09 UPDATE:

Roughly 2,000 new imaginary stimulus jobs have been added to the map, including hundreds of reported Head Start jobs that were actually just pay raises.

11/26/09 UPDATE:

We've added more than 100 jobs that were "created or saved" with impossibly small amounts of money.

11/24/09 UPDATE:

California's stimulus audit has found a massive overcount of more than 13,000 corrections jobs supposedly "saved."

11/19 UPDATE:

We've added thousands more jobs in several dozen cities to our not really "created or saved" stimulus jobs map. The total number of jobs we have found to be "not really created or saved" now approaches 80,000. Several new states and the Territory of Guam have new entries. We will continue updating the map in the coming weeks.

Most of the new pins on our interactive map represent such un-started, un-funded contracts, according to data taken from Recovery.gov. Because the Obama administration has been using its inflated claim of 640,000 jobs "created or saved" to make projections for future stimulus job creation, these un-started, un-funded projects really should not be part of the total. Moreover, the administration itself has asked contractors not to make "projections" but to report jobs as they are "created or saved," according to news reports.

More than ten percent of the jobs the Obama administration has claimed were "created or saved" by the $787 billion stimulus package are doubtful or imaginary, according to reports compiled from eleven major newspapers and the Associated Press.

Based only on our analysis of stimulus media coverage in the last two weeks, The Examiner has created this interactive map to document exaggerated stimulus claims. The map, which will be updated as new revelations appear, currently reflects an exaggeration by the Obama administration of about 75,000 jobs, out of the 640,000 jobs supposedly "created or saved."

The map reflects reports from The Wall Street Journal, The Boston Globe, the Sacramento Bee, The New York Times, USA Today, the Las Vegas Sun, the Detroit Free Press, the New York Post, the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, the Associated Press, the Chicago Tribune, and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. It remains a work in progress because relatively few newspapers have scrutinized stimulus spending so far.

The Obama administration has claimed that the $787 billion economic stimulus package "saved or created" some 650,000 jobs. But almost as soon as the White House trotted out this figure, news organizations found huge exaggerations in the reported data. Many of the jobs reportedly created do not exist or cannot be accounted for.

UPDATE: Today's report from ABC News tells us that prior to releasing its jobs report, the administration cut out 60,000 additional jobs from unreliable reports, none of which appear to overlap with the ones we've highlighted here. Had those jobs been included in the original count, the number of jobs "created or saved" by the stimulus would have exceeded 700,000, and the number of imaginary or doubtful jobs would have approached 20 percent.