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no4gman - Tue 15 Jul 2008 10:46 PM CDT
evaroberts - Tue 15 Jul 2008 01:20 AM CDT
Sam Garchik - Mon 02 Jun 2008 10:10 AM CDT
atomburke - Fri 23 May 2008 03:49 PM CDT
salman - Fri 23 May 2008 06:28 AM CDT
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Friday, March 18
Iowa Jobs Fall; Jobless Rate Hits 5.1 Percent
by
Linda Thieman
on Fri 18 Mar 2005 04:01 AM CST
 Iowa Jobs Fall; Jobless Rate Hits 5.1 Percent
Iowa Policy Project
MOUNT VERNON, Iowa (March 17, 2005) – Iowa’s shaky economic
recovery took an employment dive in January, falling by 3,600 nonfarm
jobs as the unemployment rate rose to a nearly 17-year high of 5.1
percent.
The
unemployment rate, its highest level in Iowa since February, 1988, rose
from a revised 5 percent in December and 4.6 percent in January 2004.
The nonfarm job number was up by 10,600 over January 2004.
“That is
really slow job growth for a year, especially when compared with levels
before the 2001 recession and even the revised December figures. This
is a setback from what already was a slow pace in regaining jobs lost
during that recession,” said David Osterberg, executive director of the
nonpartisan Iowa Policy Project (IPP).
The
one-month 3,600-job decline for January compares with a revised 2004
average of about 1,300 per month – and keeps the state 15,800 jobs
behind the level from the March, 2001, start of the last recession. To
erase that job deficit in 2005, Iowa will need an average monthly gain
of more than 1,400 nonfarm jobs from February through December.
Osterberg
noted comments from Iowa Workforce Development Director Richard Running
that the economy’s performance “was still too weak to take up the slack
left over from the jobless recovery.”
“We
share the view that this has been a ‘jobless recovery,’” Osterberg
said. “Once again, here we are in March, anticipating the graduation of
new classes from college and high school, and wondering whether the
Iowa economy will offer these new graduates attractive job
opportunities. That is the policy issue that needs to be addressed in
the light of these numbers.”
The
largest single drop in January came in trade and transportation, down
1,900 for the month after three straight months of growth. Construction
jobs fell 1,300 in January after gains in November and December,
while government jobs, which have not shown an increase since August,
fell by 300.
Increases came in professional and business services, 500; financial activities, 400; and manufacturing, 300.
(Click here to read the full report.)
IPP reports about job and income trends are on the web at www.iowapolicyproject.org. The Iowa Policy Project is a nonprofit, nonpartisan research organization based in Mount Vernon.
Wednesday, March 16
Odds 'n' Ends
by
Chad Thompson
on Wed 16 Mar 2005 01:16 PM CST
 Odds 'n' Ends
There's so much stuff I wanted to write about that I couldn't really sort things out. So, here we go with "Odds 'n' Ends".
[Insert a FoxNews-style "Whoosh" Here.]
Yesterday in D.C., a "Sense of the Senate" amendment was added to a general Senate budget resolution. The purpose statement read as follows:
To
express the sense of the Senate that Congress should reject any Social
Security plan that requires deep benefit cuts or a massive increase in
debt.
"Sense
of the Senate" amendments are usually political freebies - they don't
really force anyone into uncomfortable positions and allow for a good
measure of pandering. One might think that this would be a
no-brainer, passing 100-0, saving arguments over "deep benefit cuts"
and "massive increase in debt" for another day.
Guess what? This amendment was defeated.
The roll call vote is here. Evidently, our own Chuck Grassley voted in favor of "deep benefit cuts or a massive increase in debt."
The Iowa
House Republicans show off their priorities again. Rather than
take up and debate important things that we call "the budget" - it was grandstanding time yesterday.
"We
didn't bring this fight on," said Michael Hartwig, vice president of
Marriage Matters of Iowa. "We feel like the institution of marriage is
being attacked through the judicial body."
No
matter where you fall on this issue, I can tell you that the failure of
this Legislature to take up serious legislation on the methamphetamine
epidemic in Iowa is a direct and real threat to both families and
marriages, not to mention the economic prospects of the next generation.
Instead, the House GOP just wastes everyone's time with this all-too-typical nonsense by using a full day to discuss this "important" issue.
In the
"places to visit" category, there is a rather active little community
posting on politics and other topics at a website called Iowa Underground. I've already pulled a few interesting items from various posters - you might enjoy it, too.
A
final requiem: I have been running a site for a little over
a year called the "Iowa Populist". My posting for Blog for Iowa
and the inevitable "real work" contributed to my not updating the blog
for some time. I took down the website and cancelled the hosting
service last week as my contract with a provider ended.
Thanks to all who read and commented there in the past - I hope you'll continue to read and comment here on "Blog for Iowa".
Thursday, March 10
At Least They're Honest...
by
Chad Thompson
on Thu 10 Mar 2005 12:22 PM CST
 At Least They're Honest...
Continuing on with the "stuff that makes you shake your head" series comes this little bit from Texas via Kevin Drum:
THE
YELLOW WOES OF TEXAS....If you want to understand the kind of vision
the modern Republican party has for America, the place to go is Texas,
home of George Bush, Karl Rove, Tom DeLay, and the true believers who
wrote their state's party platform. It is there that you see modern
Republicanism in its nakedest form, unfettered by the annoying need for
pretense or "compassion" that's still required to win on the national
stage.
What's Kevin writing about? Texas House Bill 3,
which is pretty striking in just how strident this bill is on giving
tax breaks to upper-income earners while shifting the burden to the
lower and middle classes.
Here's the chart with data from the Texas Legislative Budget Bureau:
Here's what the sponsor of the bill had to say:
Rep. Jim Keffer, R-Eastland, author of the tax bill, said he believes the tax impact analysis is accurate.
"Facts are facts. I don't dispute the LBB numbers," Keffer said.
So,
with all of this "Texas-ification" of policy, both nationally and here
in Iowa - we see where the road leads. This isn't about fiscal
responsiblity or values or morals - it's about open class warfare being
waged on the working people of this nation.
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