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ALBANY — Cleanup of hard-hit areas in New York from Tropical Storm Irene is expected to take months because roads and bridges have to be rebuilt, farms restored and infrastructure reconstructed.
While experts say the flooding was impossible to prevent, the storm that ravaged upstate wasn't initially expected because most of the original focus was on New York City and its suburbs, which ultimately didn't get hit as badly as rural areas.
The number of food stamp recipients is likely to hit a new high of 46 million when the Department of Agriculture releases its latest report on the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP) -- that's over 18 percent of American households. This should drive conservatives through the roof.
Distinguished Senior Fellow Bob Herbert took to MSNBC yesterday evening to talk about the unemployment crisis and discuss what the President needs to do to enable job creation.
By most accounts, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has done an excellent job in response to Hurricane Irene, even drawing praise from Bob McDonnell, chairman of the Republican Governors Association, and Chris Christie.
Hurricane Irene may not have lived up to all the media hype, but it still did billions of dollars in damage. Some analysts say cleaning up the mess will boost Gross Domestic Product for the second half of 2011. These estimates are surely correct – and remind us why GDP is such a perverse way to measure economic progress.
A Silverton think tank said Tuesday that Oregon's middle class faces big issues in coming years.
The Oregon Center for Public Policy, in a report called The Fraying of Oregon's Middle Class, contends that well-paying jobs are in short supply as the cost of maintaining a family continues to increase. The center compiled the report with New York-based researcher Demos.
The biggest domestic policy failure has been the refusal of top officials in the White House and in Congress to recognize the severity of the employment crisis that has settled like a plague over American workers.
NEW YORK- As Labor Day approaches - and with President Obama's much anticipated jobs plan to be announced shortly - the national policy center Demos is illuminating America's severe jobs crisis with "America Can Work Better" week, which begins with a post from Demos Distinguished Senior Fellow Bob Herbert. Through a package of info-graphics and commentary, "America Can Work Better" will clarify the root causes of America's jobs crisis; analyze chronic unemployment among American youth; dispel myths about "job-killing regulation and taxation;" and offer some real-