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this op-ed was published in the November 12, 2010 edition of the Conway Daily Sun newspaper.
The state of the economy and the recent mid-term elections got me thinking about the Reagan years, and what life was like for the average Josephine in Carroll County around 1989. There were few jobs available. Few employers provided health insurance. Housing costs were high, though toward the end of the Reagan years they decreased, and became more realistic. Looking at the help wanted ads provoked a revelation - the wage scale in this area hasn't changed since then.
The Republicans are yelling they are better for the economy, but the facts don't support their argument. We should make sure everyone knows: The GOP is worse for jobs and worse for the deficit.
...if Republicans were in charge from January 2009 onward-and if they were now given carte blanche to enact the proposals they want to-the projected 2010-2020 deficits would be larger than they are under Obama, and fewer people would probably be employed.
How about those Bush tax cuts that will 'kill job creation' if allowed to expire?
...economist William G. Gale of the Brookings Institution has noted,...that "of 11 potential stimulus policies the CBO recently examined, an extension of all of the Bush tax cuts ties for lowest bang for the buck." In fact, he continues, "letting the high-income tax cuts expire and using the money for aid to the states, extensions of unemployment insurance benefits, [or] tax credits favoring job creation ... would have about three times the impact ... as continuing the Bush tax cuts."
We have all heard over and over how the government doesn't create jobs from our NH Republicans. Well, the NH Business Review has an article about the current crop of candidates and what sort of jobs they have had before their current endeavors to be employed by we the people.
As I pick up the pace of work again, coming into the midterms, I have to get some stories cleared off the desk in order to make room for some others, and that's what we're about today.
We'll be talking about saving more than 300,000 of this country's most important jobs, and paying for it in a way that is not only good policy, but is a real problem for Republicans who are yelling "no new taxes!" once again while pretending they care about actually paying for actual spending and actually want to cut actual unemployment.
We have a bit of work to do today, but we want to keep it somewhat short...so let's get going.
I clicked on this diary on Daily Kos this morning, surfing the web and drinking my coffee, looking forward to week of vacation, even if spent catching up, visiting Social Security about my coming retirement and celebrating the birthday of my sightless and autistic brother who is lucky enough to live in MA, where our family has been supported by decent, if not elaborate, services for him.
Since I had been sharing info on local food on Facebook just before that, I started to think about agriculture, and what if's.
The Bloomberg poll(pdf warning) released yesterday was interesting in that it highlighted where the advantage is for Democrats this election cycle. The economy is painfully slow in recovering and people feel it.
71% of respondents believe we're still in a recession and by almost a 3-1 margin (70-28), respondents believe it is more important to reduce unemployment than to reduce the deficit. Dems would do themselves a big favor by not running scared from the deficit hawks. There's also interesting results on SS. Don't mess with SS, raise the cap on FICA.
The economy stinks, people are out of work, and someone will pay. Probably Dems - but I'd like to see a coordinated effort to hammer the Republicans on this. Unless people feel that their concerns are being addressed, they will be punishing pols in November.
A group called "America Speak" is having a forum today about Our Budget, Our Economy?" I submitted an op-ed to the Foster's which ran today. It has one factual error: I said the venue was the Portsmouth Public Library at 11am today: it is in fact the Portsmouth High School. The high school's address is 45 Andrew Jarvis Drive, which is a little street off the very northernmost portion of Lafayette Road, just north of the funky ramps and the strip mall with the Margarita's and the bowling alley. It's where we had the near-riot a year ago when Obama was had in town.
The event is supposed to run till 6pm. I have two previous engagements (World Cup soccer & Danica Patrick's Nationwide Series race) so I will probably be leaving a few hours early.
Earlier this morning, after a great pancake breakfast with more than 200 supporters, I officially filled out the paperwork to become a Democratic candidate for the US Senate.
I want to thank those of you who joined me this morning at the Statehouse. Not only was it a truly humbling show of support for Peggo and me, but it was also a great sign of things to come as we get close to November 2.
Latest Economic News Is Proof Policies of President Obama and Democrats in Congress are Improving Economy
Concord - Today, the Labor Department released its April jobs report, showing that 290,000 jobs were created last month - more than 100,000 new jobs than analysts had expected and the largest monthly jobs gain in four years. In response to this news, New Hampshire Democratic Party Chair Ray Buckley released the following statement:
"The new jobs report is great news for the people of New Hampshire and the nation. The country is adding jobs at a record pace and it's clear we've turned a corner."
"The remarkable turnaround in the economy was accomplished without any help from Republicans. At every opportunity, they stood in the way of progress - hoping that the economy would languish and they would gain politically."
"Their crass focus on political gain over the well-being of our state and county must end today. It is undeniable that Democratic policies are responsible for cleaning up the mess created by 8 years of failed right wing economic policy. Republicans drove our economy into a ditch, but President Obama and the Democrats in Congress have pulled it out and got us back on track."
"In light of the incredible progress we've made in just over a year, even the staunchest right wing partisan can no longer deny this simple fact."
"It's important to remember that just one year ago, the country was losing nearly 800,000 jobs every month. President Obama and New Hampshire's congressional delegation - Senator Jeanne Shaheen, Congresswoman Shea-Porter, and Congressman Paul Hodes - have been working tirelessly in Washington to undo the mess created by Republicans."
"With this latest report, our country has added jobs in five out of the last six months. In addition to the 290,000 jobs added in April, job creation in March was even better than originally projected. 232,000 jobs were added in March - 70,000 more jobs than the 162,000 originally projected."
"Here in New Hampshire, Governor Lynch and Democrats in the House and the Senate have also been working hard to implement New Hampshire Working - a program designed to protect Granite Staters who currently have jobs, help those without jobs find work, and ensure that the New Hampshire workforce has the training and skills necessary to compete for the best jobs available."
Below is a graph of job growth and loss from the Obama and Bush administrations.
(Posted by Harrell Kirstein, deputy press secretary for the New Hampshire Democratic Party.)
This is post #3 on immigration reform on the eve of the Immigrants Rights Rally. This rally is a yearly event organized by the NH Alliance for Immigrants and Refugees. As Eva Castillo, the NH AIR director, said today, this year it has a special urgency due to the horrible bill against immigrants in Arizona. We will stand up against the hate and stand for immigration reform. Click here for post #2 and here for post #1.
So many new developments abound on immigration reform in recent days, it's definitely been hard to keep up with them all. So, for the sake of brevity and for your own research purposes, I'm going to post links to a variety of news for you to choose on your own. Less editorializing from me = more deductions and information-gathering by you? That's my hope.
NH STATE SENATE & OUR PRESS CONFERENCE
Our organization - Reform Immigration FOR America - held a press conference yesterday. The Speakers were former Ambassador George Bruno, former NH GOP Party chair Fergus Cullen, Eva Castillo, Sarah Chaisson Warner of NH Citizens Alliance, John Young of the National Agriculture Council for Immigration Reform, and Carlos Cardona, a school board member from Franklin. Fergus has a very compelling story:
Cullen told the story of his own parents, who immigrated to America from Ireland. Cullen's parents came to America in the 1960s so his father could do a medical residency at a Boston hospital. At the time, foreign doctors were eligible for the draft, and Cullen's father served for a year in Vietnam rather than return to Ireland. In the 1970s, Cullen's parents became citizens.
Cullen said that in the last presidential primary, the Republican candidates with the most extreme views on immigration were largely ignored.
"There is support for comprehensive immigration reform, and it's not something we should put off for another election," Cullen said.
Many immigrants seek U.S. citizenship by time served in service with our military. President Obama first spoke out about Arizona's actions during a swearing in ceremony for new citizens who served in our military, risking their lives for a country that was yet to accept them as a member.
Also yesterday, HCR22 - a pro-comprehensive immigration reform resolution - passed the NH State Senate Judiciary Committee and moves on to the full State Senate. If it passes, that means that both bodies of the NH General Court calls on Congress and the President to pass Comprehensive Immigration Reform. And that's awesome. So look for that on Wednesday.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg
Today Mayor Bloomberg said that our nation is "committing national suicide" if we don't pass immigration reform. He understands what this means to our economy and to our families. He gets it!
"We have to get real about the 12 million undocumented here," the mayor said. "We're not going to deport them. Give them permanent status. Don't make them citizens unless they can qualify, but give them permanent status and let's get on with this."
.....
He called on President Obama to lead the fight to overhaul the nation's immigration rules. "I will be there behind him supporting him 100%," he said.
Bloomberg long has been a supporter of immigration reform, saying current law deters international companies from sending employees through border hassles to work in the U.S. - and freezes out the highly skilled immigrants America needs.
Yeah, Mayor Bloomberg! You are welcome to the Granite State at any time!
So, Arizona's Governor signed that crazy "show your papers" bill into law, underscoring the need for comprehensive immigration reform. Without federal action, the President and the Congress should expect a whole lot more of these misguided and extreme state based laws. The federal government needs to stand up and lead and fulfill their responsibility to lead on immigration. We don't need anymore band-aid fixes for our broken immigration system - NH urgently needs comprehensive immigration reform this year.
Think that can't happen in NH? Folks have actually already tried. Remember what happened in New Ipswich? Or in Hudson? Did you know that there was even a similar resolution by Reps Ulery and Renzullo, but it was turned on it's head by State Rep. Kris Roberts earlier this year? Despite still having the anti-immigrant State Representatives names on it, the resolution is now
headed for the State Senate's Judiciary Committee this week. Spare one small segment, our group supports this resolution, as it now urges comprehensive immigration reform.
Comprehensive immigration reform is a much better fix for America, as it gives a pathway to citizenship to undocumented immigrants (that isn't an amnesty), accounts for a future flow of immigrants, eliminates bureaucratic backlog of visas and citizenship applications, and accounts for enforcement.
...that's what might be next in Arizona, if the Governor signs legislation into law. According to Media Matters, this means that anyone who doesn't carry the proper paperwork could be arrested. Moreover, the Arizona approach is not only misguided, it's expensive. Plus in these days of extra concern over government spending, no doubt comprehensive immigration reform is the better option.
But why talk about Arizona on Blue Hampshire? Think that can't happen here, too?
NH's own Union Leader editorial page supports Arizona's steps towards a police state, according to an editorial last Friday. This editorial makes a few erroneous claims, such as equating immigration reform with amnesty (which it is not) and assuming that our businesses and economy have no dependence on immigrants (they do.)
Though the video is rather optimistic about the effect this jobs bill will have, the point remains: Kelly Ayotte is opposed to legislation to put people back to work and support small business.
Business tax cuts create or maintain jobs, and only indirectly, when businesses with ready access to capital, i.e., large publically-traded companies, are confident of increasing demand.
In this economy, most businesses share the same "crisis of confidence" as consumers, so are unwilling take speculative risks by increasing their costs until demand is obvious and demonstrable.
Small businesses in today's economy are effectively barred from access to fresh capital, so they have no discretionary money to hire people and/or purchase equipment, even if they have a productive, recession-proof business model in place. A six-percent reduction in payroll taxes, or accelerated depreciation on equipment is useless if there's little to no capital or financing available.
Especially in the North Country, small business is the primary engine of permanent job creation (as opposed to the temporary jobs created by infrastructure projects).
As written, the 'jobs' bill making its way through Congress will do little to help small businesses create jobs and grow community prosperity.
The attached news brief from Reuters says it all - one in 7+ Americans is receiving food stamps. The USDA expects an average enrollment in 2010 of 40.5 million people.
http://www.forexyard.com/en/ne...
The BLS is reporting the U6 unemployment rate at 16.5% - more than 25 million Americans unemployed or underemployed.
When viewed through the lens of tightening credit markets and skyrocketing health insurance premiums, it's hard to see where job growth occurs. To be polite, the president's $5K tax credit for job creation is grossly inadequate for creating any meaningful employment. There's simply no demand.
On the day after Veterans Day, it might be easy to skip over another blog about saying "Thank You" to those that have served. I'll admit, my eyes glaze over at times. Knowing that much is sincere, it is difficult to figure out when sometimes folks are just saying what must be said, when it needs to be said.
However, there is no arguing the sincerity of the doers, those that deliver.
Congressman Paul Hodes Encourages Businesses to Hire Veterans, Launches New Small Business Web Page
With many veterans returning home from Iraq and Afghanistan to a difficult economy, Congressman Hodes is reminding businesses that this tax credit lowers taxes for businesses that employ a veteran. To help small businesses take advantage of tax credits and other available assistance, Congressman Hodes has also launched a new section of his website at www.hodes.house.gov/smallbusiness.
"Granite State veterans have served our country with honor overseas, only to return home to have trouble finding a job in this difficult economy," said Congressman Paul Hodes. "This tax credit is good for New Hampshire's small businesses, and will encourage small business owners to hire veterans and provide good jobs for working families. We must do all that we can to ensure that veterans have job opportunities when they return home to our communities."
The House Committee on Appropriations has released a summary of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Bill that includes new details about federal funding for dozens of projects designed to create new green jobs and stimulate economic growth. The bill is one version of the economic stimulus package being negotiated by members of the incoming Obama administration and lawmakers in Congress. Last week President-Elect Barack Obama said that he wants to create around half a million new green jobs nationwide.
According to the summary, the House version of the stimulus package includes:
Reliable, Efficient Electricity Grid: $11 billion for research and development, pilot projects, and federal matching funds for the Smart Grid Investment Program to modernize the electricity grid making it more efficient, secure, and reliable and build new power lines to transmit clean, renewable energy from sources throughout the nation.
Renewable Energy Loan Guarantees: $8 billion for loans for renewable energy power generation and transmission projects.
GSA Federal Buildings: $6.7 billion for renovations and repairs to federal buildings including at least $6 billion focused on increasing energy efficiency and conservation.
Local Government Energy Efficiency Block Grants: $6.9 billion to help state and local governments make investments that make them more energy efficient and reduce carbon emissions.
Energy Efficiency Housing Retrofits: $2.5 billion for a new program to upgrade HUD sponsored low-income housing to increase energy efficiency, including new insulation, windows, and furnaces.
Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Research: $2 billion for energy efficiency and renewable energy research, development, demonstration, and deployment activities to foster energy independence, reduce carbon emissions, and cut utility bills.
Advanced Battery Loans and Grants: $2 billion for the Advanced Battery Loan Guarantee and Grants Program, to support U.S. manufacturers of advanced vehicle batteries and battery systems.
Energy Efficiency Grants and Loans for Institutions: $1.5 billion for energy sustainability and efficiency grants and loans to help school districts, institutes of higher education, local governments, and municipal utilities implement projects that will make them more energy efficient.
Home Weatherization: $6.2 billion to help low-income families reduce their energy costs by weatherizing their homes and make our country more energy efficient.
Smart Appliances: $300 million to provide consumers with rebates for buying energy efficient Energy Star products to replace old appliances, which will lower energy bills.
GSA Federal Fleet: $600 million to replace older vehicles owned by the federal government with alternative fuel automobiles that will save on fuel costs and reduce carbon emissions.
Electric Transportation: $200 million for a new grant program to encourage electric vehicle technologies.
Cleaning Fossil Energy: $2.4 billion for carbon capture and sequestration technology demonstration projects. This funding will provide valuable information necessary to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide emitted into the atmosphere from industrial facilities and fossil fuel power plants.
Department of Defense Research: $350 million for research into using renewable energy to power weapons systems and military bases.
Alternative Buses and Trucks: $400 million to help state and local governments purchase efficient alternative fuel vehicles to reduce fuel costs and carbon emissions.
Industrial Energy Efficiency: $500 million for energy efficient manufacturing demonstration projects.
Diesel Emissions Reduction: $300 million for grants and loans to state and local governments for projects that reduce diesel emissions, benefiting public health and reducing global warming.
Department of Energy: $400 million for the Advanced Research Project Agency - Energy to support high-risk, high- payoff research into energy sources and energy efficiency.
NASA: $400 million to put more scientists to work doing climate change research.
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Satellites and Sensors: $600 million for satellite development and acquisitions, including climate sensors and climate modeling.
New Construction of Commuter & Light Rail Systems: $1 billion for Capital Investment Grants for new commuter rail or other light rail systems to increase public use of mass transit and to speed projects already in construction.
Upgrades and Repair to Public Transit Systems: $2 billion to modernize existing transit systems, including renovations to stations, security systems, computers, equipment, structures, signals, and communications.
Transit Capital Assistance: $6 billion to purchase buses and equipment needed to increase public transportation and improve intermodal and transit facilities.
Amtrak and Intercity Passenger Rail Construction Grants: $1.1 billion to improve the speed and capacity of intercity passenger rail service. The Department of Transportation's Inspector General estimates the North East Corridor alone has a backlog of over $10 billion.
Veterans Medical Facilities: $950 million for veterans' medical facilities. The Department has identified a $5 billion backlog in needed repairs, including energy efficiency projects, at its 153 medical facilities.
Construction on Public Lands and Parks: $3.1 billion for infrastructure projects on federal lands including improvements to visitor facilities, road and trail restoration, preservation of buildings of cultural and historic importance, rehabilitation of abandoned mines and oil fields, and environmental cleanup projects. This includes $1.8 billion for the National Park Service, $325 million for the Bureau of Land Management, $300 million for the National Wildlife Refuges and National Fish Hatcheries, and $650 million for the Forest Service.
Clean Water State Revolving Fund: $6 billion for loans to help communities upgrade wastewater treatment systems.
Drinking Water State Revolving Fund: $2 billion for loans for drinking water infrastructure.
Rural Water and Waste Disposal: $1.5 billion to support $3.8 billion in grants and loans to help communities fund drinking water and wastewater treatment systems.
Superfund Hazardous Waste Cleanup: $800 million to clean up hazardous and toxic waste sites that threaten health and the environment.
Leaking Underground Storage Tanks: $200 million for enforcement and cleanup of petroleum leaks from underground storage tanks at approximately 1,600 additional sites.
Nuclear Waste Cleanup: $500 million for nuclear waste cleanup at sites contaminated as a result of the nation's past nuclear activities.
Closed Military Bases: $300 million for cleanup activities at closed military installations allowing local communities to redevelop these properties for productive use.
NOAA Habitat Restoration: $400 million for ready-to-go habitat restoration projects.
Brownfields: $100 million for competitive grants for evaluation and cleanup of former industrial and commercial sites - turning them from problem properties to productive community use.
School Construction: $20 billion, including $14 billion for K-12 and $6 billion for higher education, for renovation and modernization, including technology upgrades and energy efficiency improvements.
Training and Employment Services: $4 billion for job training including formula grants for adult, dislocated worker, and youth services (including $1.2 billion to create up to one million summer jobs for youth). The needs of workers also will be met through dislocated worker national emergency grants, new competitive grants for worker training in high growth and emerging industry sectors (with priority consideration to "green" jobs and healthcare), and increased funds for the YouthBuild program. Green jobs training will include preparing workers for activities supported by other economic recovery funds, such as retrofitting of buildings, green construction, and the production of renewable electric power.
Public Housing Capital Fund: $5 billion for building repair and modernization, including critical safety repairs. $4 billion of the funds will be distributed to public housing authorities through the existing formula and $1 billion will be awarded through a competitive process for projects that improve energy efficiency.
HOME Investment Partnerships: $1.5 billion to help local communities build and rehabilitate low- income housing using green technologies.
Native American Housing Block Grants: $500 million to rehabilitate and improve energy efficiency at some of the over 42,000 housing units maintained by Native American housing programs.
Self-Help and Assisted Homeownership Program: $10 million for rural, high-need areas to undertake projects using sustainable and energy-efficient building and rehabilitation practices.
Lead Paint: $100 million for competitive grants to local governments and nonprofit organizations to remove lead-based paint hazards in low-income housing.
Although the bill is still far from becoming law, it contains many projects designed to create new green jobs and stimulate economic growth. You can help make sure that the final version of the economic stimulus package contains funding for green jobs by contacting your representatives in Congress.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics came out with November unemployment data today. According to them, NH is doing pretty good compared to the rest of the country. We have the sixth lowest unemployment rate of all the states at 4.3%, well below the national 6.7% rate. No other state in New England or the entire Northeast is close to us.
(Manchester, NH) - Yesterday, Senator John E. Sununu visited the North Country, expressing concern about job layoffs and the recent announcement by Fraser Paper that it will be closing two paper machines at its Cascade paper mill. The company cites rising energy costs, which have skyrocketed while during Sununu's time in office, as the reason for closing the machines. Sununu told community members - who are enduring repeated job layoffs and a sharply deteriorating economy as a result of the Bush-Sununu economic agenda - that they face "real challenges." What Sununu left out was that he cast the two deciding votes on legislation - the energy bill and the economic stimulus bill - that would have created green collar jobs for the North Country and provided essential unemployment benefits to laid off workers.
"Sununu's visit to the North Country offers a stark contrast between his rhetoric and his record," said Bill Lofy, director of the Stop Sununu campaign of the New Hampshire Democratic Party. "He talks about the challenges facing his North Country constituents, but he recently cast the deciding vote against extending unemployment benefits to laid off workers. He talks about the opportunities facing the region, but was the deciding vote in December against an energy bill that would have created green collar jobs and grown a green economy."
"This is classic John E. Sununu: stand up for the special interests, stick it to the working class, and then run from his record," concluded Lofy. "If Sununu really cared about the future of the North Country economy, he would have voted for the energy bill and voted for including unemployment benefits in the economic stimulus bill. When it comes to the priorities of the North Country, John E. Sununu's rhetoric once again doesn't match his record."
