Economy Losing Jobs

[Rohirrim]

22,000 in January. Now 63,000 in February.
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/03/07/business/07cndecon.php

[ak1971]

Woo Hoo! Let them eat cake!

[Spider]

thankful I have a trade .......

[ak1971]

thankful I have a trade .......

gimme drugs spider!

[Spider]

gimme drugs spider!

yo need to work off the debt you owe for for the last batch ....... need you on the corner peddaling your boy pussy .......

[Stormontheplains]

All we need to fix the economy is pull out of iraq, raise taxes, increase government jobs. I can't wait until the democrats are running the country.

[Spider]

All we need to fix the economy is pull out of iraq, raise taxes, increase government jobs. I can't wait until the democrats are running the country.

and whats working now ?

[Dukes]

How exactly does raising taxes help the economy?

[Spider]

How exactly does raising taxes help the economy?

Depends on who you raise them on and give tax breaks to .......... Personaly I think Wal Mart should pay their fair share , as well as other multi billion dollar corp ....... Meanwhile give the working class a bit of a break , besides they will spend the money ........Why is it yo uguys on the right think the mega wealth ydeserve tax breaks and the guy living from pay check to pay check dont ? I will never understand that line of thinking from you odd people

[Dukes]

Depends on who you raise them on and give tax breaks to .......... Personaly I think Wal Mart should pay their fair share , as well as other multi billion dollar corp ....... Meanwhile give the working class a bit of a break , besides they will spend the money ........Why is it yo uguys on the right think the mega wealth ydeserve tax breaks and the guy living from pay check to pay check dont ? I will never understand that line of thinking from you odd people

I think everyone who pays taxes deserves a tax break. What I don't believe in doing is taxing the hell out of the wealthy and just giving it to the "poor".

I know this is way out in left field, buy why is it that public and private university costs have risen like Bush's disaproval ratings? All you hear about is politicians talking about sob stories from people with student loans they'll likely never be able to pay off. But what you don't hear is anyone talking about how much the colleges are charging. They've gone completely unchecked.

[Spider]

I think everyone who pays taxes deserves a tax break. What I don't believe in doing is taxing the hell out of the wealthy and just giving it to the "poor". LOL the mega companies are not paying for their load , go look at corporate welfare compared to private sector welfare ......

I know this is way out in left field, buy why is it that public and private university costs have risen like Bush's disaproval ratings? All you hear about is politicians talking about sob stories from people with student loans they'll likely never be able to pay off. But what you don't hear is anyone talking about how much the colleges are charging. They've gone completely unchecked.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/08/education/08education.html
Despite strong criticism from the Bush administration, the House overwhelmingly approved legislation on Thursday that would establish a federal list of the nation’s most expensive colleges and crack down on the way student loan companies try to curry favor with college officials and gain access to their students.

The bill, approved on a bipartisan vote of 354 to 58, broadly seeks to hold down costs at colleges by dissuading them from raising tuition. It would require the federal Education Department to publish a list of the most expensive colleges, and it would cut down on states’ eligibility for new federal grants if the states reduced financing for public colleges.

The administration has opposed many provisions in the measure, including one that would limit the Education Department’s authority to regulate colleges through accreditation. But the White House has stopped short of a veto threat. Similar legislation has passed the Senate.

Lawmakers from both sides of the aisle spoke strongly in favor of fighting rising college costs.

[Dukes]

LOL the mega companies are not paying for their load , go look at corporate welfare compared to private sector welfare ...... .

I agree, but I'm specifically reffering to private citizens, not corporations.



http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/08/education/08education.html
Despite strong criticism from the Bush administration, the House overwhelmingly approved legislation on Thursday that would establish a federal list of the nation’s most expensive colleges and crack down on the way student loan companies try to curry favor with college officials and gain access to their students.

The bill, approved on a bipartisan vote of 354 to 58, broadly seeks to hold down costs at colleges by dissuading them from raising tuition. It would require the federal Education Department to publish a list of the most expensive colleges, and it would cut down on states’ eligibility for new federal grants if the states reduced financing for public colleges.

The administration has opposed many provisions in the measure, including one that would limit the Education Department’s authority to regulate colleges through accreditation. But the White House has stopped short of a veto threat. Similar legislation has passed the Senate.

Lawmakers from both sides of the aisle spoke strongly in favor of fighting rising college costs.

Thanks for posting

[Spider]

I agree, but I'm specifically reffering to private citizens, not corporations.





Thanks for posting

the tax cut went right to the corporations , no matter the size of a company or how many people on the board of directors , corporations still are considered to be a person idenity ...........

[Spider]

Dukes it all boils down to what you believe in , some believe that corporations need extra money for R&D , hiring etc ....... trickle down economics in a nutshell , whileothers believe that small business and the working class are what moves america and they should get direct tax cuts and help

[Spider]

Let me use my situation as an example , me and my brother are small time truckers , we have 3 trucks 4 trailers and a pot to piss in , we have to charge more per mile then the big outfits . The big outfits can operate by volume , me and my brother charge 1.75 per mile , while J.B.hunt can charge .60 cents a mile for an example , I am not saying to regulate JB Hunt or regulate the price of Frieght , what I am saying is J.b.Hunt needs to pay the same taxes me and my brother do .......

[L.A. BRONCOS FAN]

Dangerous cracks appearing in job market

<!-- BEGIN STORY BODY --> By JEANNINE AVERSA, AP Economics Writer 1 hour, 2 minutes ago

<!-- end storyhdr -->

WASHINGTON - Dangerous cracks in the nation's job market are deepening. Employers slashed jobs by the largest amount in five years and hundreds of thousands of people dropped out of the labor force — ominous signs that the country is falling toward a recession or has already toppled into one.

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For the second straight month, nervous employers got rid of jobs nationwide. In February, they sliced payrolls by 63,000, even deeper than the 22,000 cut in January, the Labor Department reported Friday.
The grim snapshot of the country's employment climate underscored the heavy toll the housing and credit debacles are taking on companies, jobseekers and the economy as a whole.


"It sounds like the recession bell is ringing for the U.S. economy, although it is still faint," said Stuart Hoffman, chief economist at PNC Financial Services Group.


On Wall Street, stocks tumbled. The Dow Jones lost 146.70 points, a little more than 1 percent to close at 11,893.69. The Dow was down 370 for the last two days of the week.


The worsening situation will prompt the Federal Reserve to cut a key interest rate deeply — perhaps by as much as three-quarters of a percentage point — at its next meeting March 18, or possibly sooner, to help brace the teetering economy, analysts predicted. The shower of pink slips was widespread. Factories, construction companies, mortgage brokers, real-estate firms, retailers, temporary-help firms, child day-care providers, hotels, educational services, accounting firms and computer designers were among those shedding jobs. All those cuts swamped job gains at hospitals and other health care sites, bars and restaurants, legal services and the government.


"Losing a job is painful, and I know Americans are concerned about our economy; so am I," said President Bush. "It's clear our economy has slowed."


The big question: Just how much? The weak employment report pushed an increasing number of private economists into believing the economy is probably shrinking now. Under one rough rule, the economy would have to contract for six months for the country to be considered in a recession.
The unemployment rate actually dipped slightly from 4.9 percent to 4.8 percent, as 450,000 people left the labor force for any number of reasons. Economists thought many people probably gave up looking for work.
"It stands to reason that a large share of the people left because they didn't feel like anything was there for them — that the market was too weak to be searching for a job at this point," said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Economy.com.


To relieve persistent credit problems, the Federal Reserve announced Friday that it will increase the amount of loans it plans to make available to banks this month to $100 billion. The Fed already has provided a total of $160 billion in short-term loans to cash-strapped banks since December. The Fed, in another step, said it will make $100 billion available to a broad range of financial players through a series of separate transactions.


Crumbling employment conditions are feeding fears the economy will fall victim to all the stresses. Until recently, the positive forces of job and wage growth have helped to offset the negative forces hitting people from the housing and credit crises. Now people and businesses alike are more cautious, spelling more trouble for the economy.


"The debate should no longer be about whether there is or is not a recession, only about how deep it will be," said Nigel Gault, chief economist at Global Insight.


The elimination of 63,000 jobs in February was the most since March 2003 and marked the second month in a row of job losses. The last time the economy suffered two consecutive months of job losses was in May and June 2003, when the labor market was still struggling to recover from the blows of the 2001 recession.


"Businesses got cold feet, and when that happens the easiest thing to do is to put hiring on hold and wait until the dust clears," said Ken Mayland, economist at ClearView Economics.


Economic growth slowed to a near standstill of just a 0.6 percent pace in the final quarter of last year. Before Friday's employment report, many thought growth would weaken further — around a 0.4 percent pace. Now, however, a growing number think the economy is contracting.


Bush's top economic adviser, Edward Lazear, acknowledged Friday that the economy may dip into negative territory in the current quarter. Lazear's comment was the most pessimistic assessment heard out of the White House. He would not discuss whether the White House believes the economy will actually fall into a recession.


The Bush administration was hoping the government's speedily enacted economic stimulus package — including tax rebates for people and tax breaks for businesses — will help bolster the economy in the second half of this year.


"I know this is a difficult time for our economy, but we recognized the problem early and provided the economy with a booster shot," Bush said. "We will begin to see the impact over the coming months," the president predicted.


Democrats, however, said more relief is needed now.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., spoke of charting a "new direction for our economy." Rep. Barney Frank of Massachusetts, chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, called for action to stem record-high home foreclosures.
The Democratic presidential contenders, Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York and Barack Obama of Illinois, blamed the job losses on what they believe are failed Bush policies. "The news should put to rest any doubts that our economy is in deep trouble," Clinton said. Obama said the employment news meant "more heartache and struggle" for Americans.
On the employment front, workers with jobs saw modest wage gains.
Average hourly earnings for jobholders rose to $17.80 in February, a 0.3 percent increase from the previous month. Over the last 12 months, wages were up 3.7 percent. With lofty energy and food prices, though, workers may feel like their paychecks are shrinking.


Spreading fallout from the housing and credit troubles are the main factors behind the economic slowdown. People and businesses alike are feeling the strains and have turned cautious. Adding to the stresses on pocketbooks, budgets and the economy: skyrocketing energy prices. Oil prices, which have set a string of record highs in recent days, now top $105 a barrel. Gasoline prices have marched higher, too.


All those problems are putting consumers in a gloomy state of mind.
Consumer confidence sank to a new low of 33.1 in early March, according to the RBC Cash Index. That was the worst since the index began in 2002.
To help shore up the economy, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke signaled last week that the central bank is prepared to lower interest rates again. Economists are now predicting a deep rate reduction by the Fed on or before its regularly scheduled meeting March 18. The Fed, which has been slicing the rate since September, recently turned more forceful. It slashed the rate by 1.25 percentage points during just eight days in January — the biggest one-month reduction in a quarter-century.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080308/ap_on_bi_go_ec_fi/economy

[L.A. BRONCOS FAN]

A Grand Old Problem for the GOP

<!--/HEADLINE--> <!--DECK--> Can the White House boost the economy by Election Day? <!--/DECK-->

By Jane Sasseen

<!-- user code here --> <!-- user code here --> <script type="text/javascript"> <!-- if (!window.OAS_sitepage) { var BW_site = 'businessweek.com'; // use for new ad site var BW_page = '/'; var OAS_listpos; // use to restrict the number of available page positions document.write('<scr' + 'ipt type="text/javascript" src="http://www.businessweek.com/common_scripts/oas_logic_mjx.js"><\/scr' + 'ipt>'); } //--> </script> <script type="text/javascript"> <!-- OAS_AD('Middle1'); var printPos ='Middle1,(300x200), bw_general_Middle1.htm'; var checkAd = (!adcheck)?false:debug(); //--> </script> <noscript> http://oascentral.businessweek.com/RealMedia/ads/adstream_nx.ads/businessweek.com/@Middle1" alt="" bord (http://oascentral.businessweek.com/RealMedia/ads/click_nx.ads/businessweek.com/@Middle1)</noscript>The axiom is as well-known as it is harsh: When the economy sinks, voters oust the incumbent party.


That reality poses a tough challenge for Republican policymakers and campaign strategists alike. Even as economists on Wall Street and elsewhere are clamoring for more aggressive policies to reverse the slide in the housing and credit markets, the Bush Administration has largely rejected those calls. Yet if the White House fails to bolster the economy and alleviate the worst of the foreclosure crisis, the electoral prospects for Arizona Senator John McCain and other Republican candidates could grow dimmer by the day. "This is a giant dilemma for the Administration," says Republican consultant David Carney.


Officials in the White House and the Treasury Dept. argue that the recently enacted stimulus program, along with the Federal Reserve's moves to cut rates and boost liquidity, need time to work. They believe many of the proposals promoted by Congress or the Democratic Presidential candidates—like allowing bankruptcy judges to renegotiate mortgage terms—will only make things worse. Fears about the moral hazard of helping out troubled lenders, investors, or homeowners also holds big sway over GOP policy. "We are focused on making sure that we don't do more harm than good," says Robert Steele, Treasury's Under Secretary for domestic finance. "A lot of proposals now out there are the equivalent of bailouts for Wall Street banks and investors."


Then there are the dynamics of the Presidential race. Many Republicans aren't convinced that spending tax revenues to bail out homeowners will be a winner politically. A December poll by Harris Interactive (HPOL (http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/snapshot/snapshot.asp?symbol=HPOL)) asked a sample of 2,082 voters whether the government should provide financial help for those who can no longer afford their mortgages. The largest share—42%—said it should not, while only 25% backed such aid. "There are a lot of people who did the right thing, saved for years for a downpayment, and now they'll have to pay for the mistakes of people who bought bigger houses than they could afford," says Carney. "Many voters don't have a lot of sympathy for that."


For now, McCain's position on bolstering housing and the economy mirrors the Administration's. "The question is when does it become imperative for the broader health of economy to do something [more]? That's clearly something we're monitoring," says the McCain campaign's chief economic adviser, Douglas Holtz-Eakin. But he dismisses the idea that economic woes will dent McCain's prospects.


Kim N. Wallace, chief political analyst for Lehman Brothers (LEH (http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/snapshot/snapshot.asp?symbol=LEH)), believes the Administration will continue to resist the political pressure to do more to right the economy. By the third quarter it should be clear whether fiscal stimulus and Fed policy have done enough. If not, says Wallace, the Republicans will still have a window in September when they can step up the action before Americans vote. The question is whether that will be too late to keep the White House in GOP hands.

http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/08_12/b4076046793012.htm