This and That Online Blog

David Jackson

President Obama proposed a $50 billion plan Monday to fix roads, rail lines and airport runways, part of an effort to deal with high unemployment less than two months before pivotal congressional elections.

“This will not only create jobs immediately, it’s also going to make our economy hum over the long haul,” Obama said in outlining the plan to union members at a Labor Day rally in Milwaukee. The announcement came less than a week after the U.S. Labor Department reported a slight uptick in the unemployment rate, now at 9.6%

ECONOMY: In Midwest and beyond, elections focus on jobs

KEY RACES: Jobs and the fight for Congress

The White House is planning several jobs initiatives leading into the Nov. 2 elections. On Wednesday in Cleveland, Obama is scheduled to propose an extension of tax credits for business owners who invest in research and development.

Questions about the economy also are likely to surface Friday, when Obama holds a news conference at the White House.

Republicans hope to win control of the U.S. House and Senate by blaming the poor economy on Obama’s policies, and they called Monday’s announcement more of the same.

House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, said the roads, rails and runways plan is a “doubling down” on the $862 billion White House stimulus plan that he dubbed a failure, given the high rate of joblessness. “We don’t need more government stimulus spending, we need to end Washington Democrats’ out-of-control spending spree,” Boehner said.

Obama spoke at length about the campaign Monday, mocking Boehner as “the man who thinks he’s going to be (House) speaker.” The president said GOP members have worked against his economic initiatives because “they just think it’s better to score political points before an election than to solve problems.”

The infrastructure plan will help the economy in long run by making it easier to transport goods, Obama said, while creating construction jobs in the near term. It calls for ambitious six-year goals, building or repairing 150,000 miles of roads, 4,000 miles of rail lines, and 150 miles of airplane runways.

The plan also includes a new air-traffic-control system designed to reduce flight delays, and an “infrastructure bank” that will help determine the worthiest projects.

The president did not mention costs, but a White House fact sheet cites an “up-front investment” of $50 billion. The White House did not release an estimate of how many jobs the proposal would create.

From USA Today, Sept7,2010
Yahoo! Buzz Mixx
ARTICLE VIA AARP BULLETIN

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More taking Social Security benefits early because of economic hardships
from: The Times-Tribune (Scranton, Pa.) | September 8, 2010

James Haggerty

Sep. 8, 2010 (McClatchy-Tribune Regional News delivered by Newstex) — After more than three years without full-time work, George G. Stoll filed for Social Security benefits this spring before reaching full retirement age.

“I felt I had no choice,” said Mr. Stoll, of Forest City, who turned 62 in April. “I’m still looking for a job. There’s absolutely nothing out there.”

Mr. Stoll joins the growing ranks of Americans who are forced to seek early Social Security benefits because of high unemployment and the weak economy.

“It is emblematic of the dislocation we’ve seen because of the recession,” said Gus Faucher, Ph.D., an economist at Moody’s Economy.com, a West Chester economic consulting and forecasting firm. “It’s a very difficult job market out there.”

More than 72 percent of the 2.74 million people who filed for Social Security benefits in 2009 opted in before reaching full retirement age, according to the Social Security Administration. The jump in new filers occurred as the full Social Security retirement age increased last year from 65 to 66.

Mr. Stoll was laid off from his job as a materials handler in February 2007, and he had exhausted his unemployment benefits before turning to Social Security.

He collects $829 a month in benefits, which is $229 less than he would have been eligible for if he waited until age 66 to apply. Social Security benefits permanently run about 25 percent less for people who file early.

“It’s not worth it waiting until 66,” Mr. Stoll said. “I probably filled out close to 1,000 (job) applications in places up and down the valley.”

Long-term unemployment reduces displaced workers’ options, taking some of the sting out of a reduction in Social Security payments for early filers, said Dr. Faucher, who follows labor trends.

“You are going to have a lot of people close to retirement age where it might make more sense to take the hit and get the benefits,” he said.

People in Mr. Stoll’s age range have a harder time finding work after a layoff than the overall population, according to AARP, an advocacy group for senior citizens.

About 53 percent of jobless people age 55 and older have been unemployed for more than six months, compared to about 45 percent off all workers, AARP reported.

With regional unemployment at 10.4 percent in July — the highest since September 1992 — older people have much more difficulty finding replacement work, financial adviser Lynn Evans said.

“The probability of your finding a job is significantly diminished in this market,” said Ms. Evans, president of Northeastern Financial Consultants Inc., in Clarks Summit. “A lot of people are looking at that and saying, ‘It’s my only saving grace now.’

“This seems to be the remedy of choice.”

Early Social Security beneficiaries can work within income limits, Ms. Evans said, and they may have fewer financial worries than their unemployed contemporaries who continue to struggle while seeking jobs.

“Is it better to be semiretired than unemployed?” she said. “When you are on Social Security, you are kind of in a safe zone.”

Contact the writer: jhaggerty@timesshamrock.com
ARTICLE VIA AARP Bulletin.

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By Lourdes Medrano, Staff writer / September 2, 2010
Tucson, Ariz.

The United States Justice Department is filing an “unprecedented” lawsuit against Joe Arpaio, the controversial sheriff of Arizona’s Maricopa County.
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In announcing the legal action Thursday, a Justice Department official said that Sheriff Arpaio is refusing to cooperate with a federal investigation into allegations of discrimination and illegal searches and seizures by the department.

The Justice Department said it has been seeking documents relating to its civil-rights probe for 15 months and turned to a lawsuit only as a last resort, adding that this was the first time in 30 years that a police department had not cooperated with a civil-rights investigation.

“The actions of the sheriff’s office are unprecedented,” said Thomas Perez, assistant attorney general for the civil-rights division, in a statement.

Arpaio told the Arizona Republic that he thought the lawsuit was “camouflage” for a federal attempt to curtail his anti-illegal immigration sweeps in mostly Latino communities. He also said he had begun cooperating with federal authorities and thought they were making headway toward a solution.

Arpaio and the Obama administration have repeatedly clashed over immigration policy.

A longtime lawman with a penchant for theatrics, Arpaio has been a central figure in the federal government’s practice of enlisting local and state police to enforce certain aspects of immigration law – a program called 287(g).

The program is seen as one of the inspirations for SB 1070, the controversial Arizona immigration law that was signed into law this year but which is now tied up in a court battle. As such, both 287(g) and Arpaio – its most zealous practitioner – have become lightning rods.

A $1 million bounty?

Arpaio’s crackdowns on illegal immigrants are well known on both sides of the US-Mexico border, to the point that his office says he has been sent a death threat by a Mexican drug cartel recently, although the origin of the $1 million bounty on the sheriff’s head is unconfirmed.

It isn’t the first time Arpaio is threatened. “He’s a controversial figure, he’s an outspoken person,” says sheriff’s spokeswoman Lisa Allen.

Some blame 287(g) for giving Arpaio and other local law enforcement agencies across the country the authority to go after illegal immigrants. The program, part of the Immigration and Nationality Act created in 1996, emerged from obscurity after the 9/11 attacks and later morphed into federal-local immigration enforcement whose goals prioritized the arrest and deportation of illegal immigrants charged with crimes.

More than 70 local law enforcement agencies in 26 states are part of 287(g), which has recorded about 118,500 deportations, according to Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Since 2007, 287(g) has allowed the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office to help identify and oust more than 26,000 people living in the United States illegally – the highest tally in the country. Second to Maricopa, Los Angeles County helped deport nearly 14,000 illegal immigrants.

Supporters of 287(g) say it is a flexible and mutually beneficial program for both the federal government and local authorities. “If you’re in Arizona, where you have a major problem with illegal immigration, then obviously you’re going to want to use that to every extent you can,” says Bryan Griffith, a spokesman with the conservative Center for Immigration Studies.

Using 287(g) as it was intended?

But civil rights groups say Arpaio and other law enforcement agencies have abused the program, using racial profiling to conduct 287(g) illegal-immigrant sweeps.

“The way it’s played out on the ground has been witnessed by the world in Maricopa County and so there’s clearly a dissonance between its stated intentions and its effect in communities,” says Chris Newman, legal counsel for the National Day Laborer Organizing Network.

The Government Accountability Office also has been critical of 287(g) and in March the Office of the Inspector General concluded local police operated outside limits and noted insufficient federal oversight and training. ICE officials have said they were trying to make improvements even before the finding were issued.

Last year, the Obama administration rescinded Arpaio’s right to conduct sweeps under 287(g), but Arpaio has continued his crackdowns, saying state laws give him all the authority he needs.

Jack Chin, a law professor at the University of Arizona, agrees. And he says Arpaio’s actions show the difficulty of bringing local law enforcement – sometimes with its own agenda – into a federal program. “287(g) is a federal program under federal supervision,” he says. “And the sheriff, like SB 1070, has a set of priorities that is different from those in the federal law.”

The Justice Department lawsuit does not deal with 287(g) explicitly, but is looking into the allegations that the sheriff’s office uses racial profiling during its sweeps to find and detain illegal immigrants.

Related stories………read more http://www.csmonitor.com

* Sheriff Joe Arpaio: I don’t take orders from anybody.
* Illegal immigrants netted by local police could be released
* Arizona immigration law has echoes of controversial federal act

from Christian Science Monitor

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Social Security, Medicare Healthier Than Expected

Annual trustees report says health care law may help ease deficit worries

by: Melissa Preddy | from: AARP Bulletin | August 5, 2010

Social Security will be able to pay full benefits through 2037, and thanks to health care reform, Medicare will sustain itself until 2029—12 years longer than forecast a year ago—according to the trustees report released Thursday.

Both programs will last another 75 years under current funding rules, though benefit cuts of up to 25 percent for Social Security and 23 percent for Medicare might be necessary a few decades from now.

But analysts and officials say more tweaks are needed to bolster both systems—and the four trust funds that support them—amid uncertainty over rising medical costs and an expected wave of new retirees.

The yearly report examines the short-term and long-term financial health of the Medicare and Social Security systems, based on forecasts of income and outgo.

The authors admit that the forecasts are unable to account for all possible variables in the economy, employment, health care costs and demographics, but analysts say the fiscal snapshots paint an encouraging picture overall.

Building up Medicare

Adjusting payments to providers, more taxes on high earners, and other aspects of health care reform will help stretch Medicare trust funds to 2029, the report says.

After that, the payouts to recipients—currently about 46 million—would be sustained on a pay-as-you-go basis from payroll taxes collected.

Boosting Medicare payroll taxes by 0.66 percent for all workers would make Medicare self-sustaining for the next 75 years, the report said.

However, it’s unclear whether the cuts to health provider payments truly are feasible, the report cautions.

The system faces a real crunch from 2020 to 2045, when a large number of Gen-Xers will join boomers in the program.

“The financial problems facing Medicare are the same problems facing private plans and younger people: rising health care costs,” said Pamela Herd, associate professor of public affairs and sociology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. “If anything, Medicare has been more efficient than the private sector in controlling costs.

“It’s clear we are going to have some savings. What’s unclear is how large they will be.”

As for Social Security …

“Social Security is not in that bad of shape,” said Herd. “And this has been consistent for a long time now.”

Social Security this year will pay its 52.5 million recipients some $41 billion more than it takes in via payroll taxes, which have been eroded by several years of high unemployment rates. The deficit is due in part to an accounting adjustment, but a $7 billion shortfall also is expected in 2011.

The fund that covers retiree and survivor benefits—which were paid to nearly 43 million people by the end of 2009—is running a surplus. But the disability pool, which provided benefits for 9.7 million recipients last year, is on track to exhaust its own assets by 2018. Disability payouts still can be fully covered through 2037, trustees said, if lawmakers allow the retirement and survivor trust funds to be tapped.
n 2018, when the new health care law calls for taxes on “Cadillac” insurance plans, employers are expected to reduce those high-cost health benefits in favor of paying higher wages. The anticipated payroll taxes on that extra income is expected to ease Social Security deficits.

Overall, the Social Security trust fund will continue to grow because of interest income, and payouts won’t begin whittling away at assets until 2025. Under current funding methods, 75 percent of benefits could be paid out through 2084.

Small changes would work

Herd, of the University of Wisconsin, says that a variety of proposed solutions could prevent benefit cuts, from hiking the retirement age to raising payroll taxes. According to the actuarial figures released today, for example, Social Security retirement, survivor and disability payments could be stabilized for 75 years by adding another 1.92 percent to the existing 12.4 percent payroll tax.

“You could easily pull it all together with a few very small changes,” said Herd. “They may be changes people don’t like, but they aren’t dramatic and they’d prevent a 25 percent cut in benefits after 2037.”

According to a Gallup poll released in July, 67 percent of Americans surveyed preferred that payroll taxes be applied to all income, instead of just the first $106,800 as it is now.

“The trustees confirm that Social Security can pay full benefits for decades, and approximately 75 percent into the future even if nothing is done,” said AARP Executive Vice President John Rother.

“However, that is not good enough. AARP renews its call to act in the coming few years to shore up the system’s long-term ability to pay promised benefits to retirees, survivors and those with disabilities.”

“Social Security plainly faces challenges in the future, but it remains a bedrock of economic security for tens of millions of Americans and we will ensure it remains that way for generations to come,” said Sander M. Levin, D-Mich., chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee.

Melissa Preddy is a Michigan-based freelance writer specializing in personal finance and consumer affairs. She formerly worked for the Detroit News.

via http://aarp.org

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By SANDY SHORE
via AARP

Aug. 31, 2010 (AP Online delivered by Newstex) — Wary investors turned to gold Tuesday, sending the price to its highest level in two months, despite slightly more optimistic economic news.

Gold for December delivery rose $11.10 to settle at $1,250.30 an ounce as it headed toward its record high settlement of $1,258.30 an ounce, which was set earlier this year.

Silver also gained as concerns lingered about the economy even after new reports showed improving consumer confidence and home sales. The December contract settled up 35.8 cents at $19.432 an ounce.

“Ultimately, the economy is still in somewhat of a fragile area and I think the market is very sensitive to news,” Lind-Waldock senior market strategist Rich Ilczyszyn said. “Right now, we’re seeing a trade into gold based on a little bit of fear.”

Most analysts believe commodities traders, like stock investors, are awaiting Friday’s monthly employment report to gain perspective about where the markets may be headed after Labor Day.

The Conference Board said its Consumer Confidence Index was 53.5 in August. The August number indicates consumer confidence hasn’t improved from a year ago.

The index measures how Americans feel about business conditions, the job market and the next six months.

Separately, the Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller 20-city home price index rose 1 percent in June from May and 4.2 percent from a year ago. A third report said the Midwest’s manufacturing activity declined, similar to decreases reported by other regional manufacturing indexes.

The housing and manufacturing reports contributed to a drop in copper prices, which settled down 5.95 cents to $3.3700 a pound.

Dave Meger, vice president of metals trading at Vision Financial Markets, said he also believes some traders were taking profits after copper prices jumped recently.

In other metals contracts, September palladium rose $2.50 to settle at $500.40 an ounce while October platinum lost $9.60 to $1,523.50 an ounce.

Energy prices also felt the impact of the economic uncertainty ahead of Labor Day weekend.

Benchmark crude for October delivery lost $2.78 to settle at $71.92 on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

In other Nymex trading in September contracts, heating oil slipped 3.08 cents to settle at $1.9944 a gallon and gasoline fell 4.47 cents to settle at $1.8894 a gallon. October natural gas rose 0.4 cent to settle at $3.816 per 1,000 cubic feet.

In grains trading, December corn dropped 2.25 cents to settle at $4.3925 a bushel after hitting $4.45 earlier in the day; December wheat retreated 18.75 cents to at $6.8575 a bushel while November soybeans fell 12.5 cents to $10.10 a bushel.

http://aarp.org

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Breaking News from Newsmax.com

GOP Charges Obama’s Economic Policies ‘Failing Miserably’
President Obama tried to reassure Americans Monday that he has “confidence in the American economy.” But Republicans say that Obama’s economic policies show little confidence in letting Americans decide how to spend their money. Like Japan in the 1990s, “We are buying our own lost decade,” says U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan.

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http://newsmax.com

Donations to Defend Ariz. Immigration Law Top $2M

Gov. Jan Brewer’s office says Arizona has received more than
$2 million in donations to help pay for the legal defense of the state’s controversial law targeting illegal immigration.

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Sheriff: Mexican Cartels Control Parts of Arizona
01 Sep 2010, Washington Post.

By: Jerry Seper and Matthew Cella

The federal government has posted signs along a major interstate highway in Arizona, more than 100 miles north of the U.S.-Mexico border, warning travelers the area is unsafe because of drug and alien smugglers, and a local sheriff says Mexican drug cartels now control some parts of the state.

The signs were posted by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) along a 60-mile stretch of Interstate 8 between Casa Grande and Gila Bend, a major east-west corridor linking Tucson and Phoenix with San Diego.

They warn travelers that they are entering an “active drug and human smuggling area” and they may encounter “armed criminals and smuggling vehicles traveling at high rates of speed.” Beginning less than 50 miles south of Phoenix, the signs encourage travelers to “use public lands north of Interstate 8″ and to call 911 if they “see suspicious activity.”

Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu, whose county lies at the center of major drug and alien smuggling routes to Phoenix and cities east and west, attests to the violence. He said his deputies are outmanned and outgunned by drug traffickers in the rough-hewn desert stretches of his own county.

“Mexican drug cartels literally do control parts of Arizona,” he said. “They literally have scouts on the high points in the mountains and in the hills and they literally control movement. They have radios, they have optics, they have night-vision goggles as good as anything law enforcement has.

“This is going on here in Arizona,” he said. “This is 70 to 80 miles from the border – 30 miles from the fifth-largest city in the United States.”

He said he asked the Obama administration for 3,000 National Guard soldiers to patrol the border, but what he got were 15 signs.

Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer condemned what she called the federal government’s “continued failure to secure our international border,” saying the lack of security has resulted in important natural recreational areas in her state being declared too dangerous to visit.

In a recent campaign video posted to YouTube, Mrs. Brewer – standing in front of one of the BLM signs – attacked the administration over the signs, calling them “an outrage” and telling President Obama to “Do your job. Secure our borders.”

BLM spokesman Dennis Godfrey in Arizona said agency officials were surprised by the reaction the signs generated when they were put up this summer.

“We were perhaps naive in setting the signs up,” he said. “The intention of the signs was to make the public aware that there is potential illegal activity here. But it was interpreted in a different light, and that was not the intent at all.”

He said there should be “no sense that we have ceded the land,” adding that no BLM ………………………read more

washingtonpost.com

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On
Friday, September 11th, 2010, an
American
flag should be displayed outside
every home,
apartment, office, and store in
the United States . Every
individual should make it their
duty to display an American
flag on this eighth anniversary
of one of our country’s
worst tragedies. We do this to
honor those who lost their
lives on 9/11, their families,
friends and loved ones who
continue to endure the pain, and
those who today are
fighting at home and abroad to
preserve our cherished
freedoms.

In the days, weeks and months
following 9/11, our country was
bathed in American flags as
citizens mourned the incredible
losses and stood
shoulder-to-shoulder against
terrorism. Sadly, those flags
have all but disappeared. Our
patriotism pulled us through
some tough times and it shouldn’t
take another attack to
galvanize us in solidarity. Our
American flag is the fabric
of our country and together we
can prevail over terrorism of
all kinds.

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