Pittsburgh-The newly released national June jobs report showed 200,000 people joined the unemployment lines last month. In Pennsylvania, where the annual unemployment rate is the highest it has been in nearly three decades and state tuition/student debt is on the rise, the state's low- and middle-income families are in danger of disappearing.
A new report, "Under Attack: Pennsylvania's Middle Class and the Job Crisis," outlines these growing challenges facing millions of Pennsylvanians.
"College graduates are less likely to get a job," said Anna Pycior, a spokeswoman for Demos. "If you do manage to get a job, it is getting less and less likely you will be provided with health benefits and you will face the increasingly bleak prospect of a retirement plan.
"All of it while trying to address your $27,000 on average in student debt."
The American Dream used to mean that if you put in a hard day's work, you could expect good wages, benefits, and a better life for your kids. But the kinds of jobs that can provide a solid middle-class life in return for hard work are in short supply in Michigan—the state’s unemployment rate is one of the nation’s highest, earnings have dropped below the national median, and hard-won health and retirement benefits are being lost. The future of the middle class, which has been the backbone of Michigan’s economy for more than half a century, is at risk.
The American Dream used to mean that if you put in a hard day's work, you could expect good wages, benefits, and a better life for your kids. Today, the kinds of jobs that can provide a solid middle-class life in return for hard work are in short supply-unemployment is up, earnings are flat, and hard-won benefits are being lost. The future of Florida's middle class, which has been the backbone of Florida's economy for more than half a century, is at risk.
A preliminary analysis of the United States Election Assistance Commission’s (EAC) biennial report to Congress on the NVRA shows the dramatic impact that stepped-up oversight and enforcement of voter registration mandates at state agencies can have in reversing the long decline in registration among low-income and working class Americans. Individual states clearly show the impact of enforcement activity although the data in the recent EAC Report also show that many states continue to ignore their responsibilities.
TOP FACTS:
New York-A newly released review of a June 27 report by the U.S. Election Assistance Commission (EAC) shows that voter registration application rates at state public assistance agencies have risen sharply following National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) enforcement actions by advocacy groups Demos, Project Vote, the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, and others. In contrast, the overwhelming majority of states not targeted have continued to see a long decline in registration of lower-income residents.
House Members To Call on DOJ to Investigate Voter ID Measures in States; Voting Rights Group Applauds Effort
7/13 Press Conference Hosted by Rep. Fudge to Discuss
The Devastating Impact Of This Right-Leaning, Ideological Court May Only Get Worse
Last week, an HBO film crew was in my Manhattan neighborhood shooting a movie about legendary record producer Phil Spector, now serving nineteen years to life for the 2003 shooting death of actress Lana Clarkson.
Conservatives are a house divided these days on many issues. But on the core issue likely to determine the 2012 election, the economy, there’s not a millimeter of space between them. Government is the problem and reducing the burdens of taxes and regulation on America’s job creators stands at the top of nearly every Republican presidential candidate’s agenda. That’s the only way to get the economy humming again, fuel new job creation, and bring unemployment down, they contend.
Why a Massachusetts Partnership Bank will generate new revenue for Massachusetts, save local governments money, and make our small businesses, farms and consumers less vulnerable to cutbacks in lending in our state.
Why is it important for civil rights and good government groups to to be granted status as intervenor defendants in a lawsuit about counting prisoners in redistricting?
Because the legislative commission charged with drawing the lines, LATFOR, hasn't exactly been vigorous in defending itself in a lawsuit filed about the issue, they say.
Political scientists like to argue that politics is about who gets what and that self-interest tends to drive policy preferences. But the real world doesn't always work this way -- certainly not when it comes to government benefits. Some of the same states where residents rely most heavily on public programs routinely elect politicians who are determined to slash these very same programs.
Not a day goes by without a conservative leader or media outlet arguing that the stimulus has been a failure and that uncontrolled government spending is only making the recession worse. Of course, this is nonsense. Worse, it is one of the most damaging lies that conservatives are now telling about the economy.
Everyone in both political parties says they want to bring down unemployment, and that sense of urgency is sure to grow after today's dismal job numbers, which show unemployment creeping up to 9.2 percent.
Thank you Scott Walker for the reminder that when it rains, it pours. The Journal Times of Wisconsin reported a few weeks ago that, just as the Governor's collective bargaining changes became law, some Wisconsin inmates were given "the opportunity to help Wisconsin by landscaping, painting, and shoveling sidewalks in the winter." But these opportunities are really nothing more then the carnivorous result of union-busting: pitting at-risk populations against middle class union employees.
Purely from a policy standpoint, today was a terrible day to be "against" Medicaid. For the first time, reported The New York Times, a large-scale study of the impact of Medicaid found that
When poor people are given medical insurance, they not only find regular doctors and see doctors more often but they also feel better, are less depressed and are better able to maintain financial stability. . . .
After the sudden demise of the News of the World today, tabloid editors will surely think twice before drawing on illegally obtained information. But other unethical practices – used by a range of print, broadcast, and online media businesses – will continue, like paying sources for dubious information (“cash for trash”) or fabricating juicy stories outright to boost circulation or ratings.
