The Political Bridge

A Must Read New Book from Barbara Ehrenreich: "Bright-sided: How the Relentless Promotion of Positive Thinking Has Undermined America"

(Barbara Ehrenreich is one of America's foremost writers on economic justice and social justice, DrTed)

From Campus Progress

Inklings of Barbara Ehrenreich’s latest book, Bright-sided: How the Relentless Promotion of Positive Thinking Has Undermined America, are seen in Bait and Switch, a 2005 text where the author went undercover and discovered various corporate gurus dedicated to teaching a philosophy of über optimism to employees. In her most recent book, she expands upon the theme, extending her analysis to the financial meltdown and beyond.

 

Fact Checking the House Cap-and-Trade Energy Bill: Jobs Will Be Lost

From Fact Check.Com

According to projections by the Energy Information Administration and the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, the net effect of the House cap-and-trade bill will likely be to slow future job growth. Using 11 different possible future scenarios, EIA projects that future job growth might be constrained by something between 388,000 (under the most optimistic assumptions) and 2.3 million (assuming everything goes badly) 20 years from now. CBO also says employment would likely be lower than it would without the legislation – but only "a little."

To Read More Click Fack Check

The ABC News/Washington Post: Most Americans Do Not Believe that the Recession is Over

 The latest ABC News/Washington Post poll: “Many economists say that using the standards they apply, the recession probably is over. Thinking about your own experience of economic conditions, would you say that from your point of view the recession is over, or not over?” Result: Not over, 82 percent.

Seventy-four percent in this poll are worried about the direction of the nation’s economy over the next few years.  Sixty percent remain worried about their own family’s financial prospects.  

 

To Read More Download 1095a5Recession

The Cook Report: The Jobs Nightmare

The Cook Report is one of the most prestigious political and social journals in the United States

The ISI Group, a Wall Street economic and policy analysis firm that Institutional Investor magazine consistently rates at the top, forecasts unemployment to peak at 10 percent in the current fourth quarter and fall slightly to 9.5 percent by next year's fourth quarter, during the 2010 midterm election. It sees unemployment coming down only a bit more by the fourth quarter of 2011.

The Blue Chip survey projects that unemployment will average 10 percent for the next three quarters and improve only modestly in the second half of next year. Finally, the NABE survey forecasts that unemployment will rise to 10 percent in the first quarter of next year and edge down to 9.5 percent by the end of 2010.

To read the political and social implications of this jobs' nightmare click The Cook Report

Expected a Backward Revision in the Reported Unemployment Numbers: Truth or Political Maneuvering?

(After the Vietnam War, Watergate, the Reagan Era of Perpetual Greed, and the Iraq War, I am a bit skeptical of data revisions coming from Washington, DrTed)

 

From Minanyville.Com

 

What really caught my eye, though, is the expected backward revision coming February 2010.
 

"The Labor Department today also published its preliminary estimate for the annual benchmark revisions to payrolls that will be issued in February. They showed the economy may have lost an additional 824,000 jobs in the 12 months ended March 2009. The data currently show a 4.8 million drop in employment during that time.

"The projected decrease was three times larger than the historical average, the Labor Department said.

 

Read More: Downward Revision

Breaking News from the Washington Post: GM to Shut Down Saturn After Penske Walks Away

DETROIT -- General Motors Co. said Wednesday it would shut down its Saturn brand after an agreement with Penske Automotive Group Inc. to acquire it fell apart.

Penske, citing concerns of whether it could continue to supply vehicles after a manufacturing contract with GM ran out, ended talks with GM Wednesday to acquire the brand.

GM CEO Fritz Henderson said in statement that Saturn and its dealership network will be phased out.

Read More:Saturn Motors

Washington Post: Census Bureau Data Show Grim Effects of the Recession on Poverty, Income, and Health Insurance

A new comprehensive economic survey shows that the recession has plunged 2.6 million more Americans into poverty, wiped out the household income gains of an entire decade and pushed the number of people without health insurance up to 46.3 million.

 The grim economic statistics unveiled Thursday in the Census Bureau's annual report on income, poverty and health insurance are destined to grow bleaker. Since the data were collected in the spring, millions of people have lost their jobs.

 

Read More: Grim Data