April 4, 2014

QUOTE OF THE DAY

Sand

ABC: More Jobs but US Unemployment Rate Stays at 6.7%

The jobs market was slightly stronger than expected during the first three months of this year. Employers added 192,000 jobs last month, and the numbers for January and February were revised higher by 37,000, the U.S. Labor Department said today.

The official unemployment rate was unchanged at 6.7 percent. But a half-million Americans started looking for work last month, and most of them found jobs. The increase in job-seekers is a sign that they are more optimistic about their prospects.

“Nearly every industry is adding to payrolls,” says Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Analytics. “We are seeing job growth in all business size classes: big companies and small companies.”

Read more…


Chicago Tribune: Madigan politics and the millionaire tax

Asserting that he wants to raise more money for public schools, House Speaker Michael Madigan is pursuing a state constitutional amendment that would impose an extra tax on Illinois millionaires. He admits that “in a good year” he might be one of them.

Madigan has proposed a tax surcharge of 3 percent on any personal income above $1 million. That’s on top of the state’s flat 5 percent rate that still would apply to everything less than $1 million. His plan would affect 13,675 Illinois taxpayers who earn more than $1 million a year, according to the Illinois Department of Revenue. The tax would generate $550 more per student statewide, Madigan says.

“Within our society, and within our state, those that earn over a million dollars a year are better equipped than others to support education,” Madigan said last month.

It’s for the children, after all. What Illinois tax grab isn’t?

Read more…


Chicago Sun Times: Durkin to Rahm: Dump property-tax language from pension bill

The top Illinois House Republican Thursday said he’s willing to help Mayor Rahm Emanuel jump-start stalled pension relief for Chicago but suggested GOP support hinges on taking discussion of property-tax increases out of the legislative dialogue entirely.

“I’m prepared and willing to work with the Democratic majority to help Chicago get out of this financial tidal wave here. Clearly, the way this bill was drafted was not received well in the chamber,” House Minority Leader Jim Durkin told Early & Often, the Chicago Sun-Times’ political portal.

Sponsored by House Speaker Michael Madigan, D-Chicago, the legislation to reel in pension benefits for Chicago’s City Municipal and Laborers pension funds cleared a House committee Wednesday. The plan would fill about half of the city’s $20 billion unfunded pension liability.

Read more…


CBS: Amazing Graphic Shows Chicago’s Middle Class Disappear Before Your Eyes

The graphic that you are about to see is sobering, perhaps depressing, and you can’t take your eyes off it.

We have the exhaustive work of Daniel Kay Hertz, a masters student at the University Of Chicago’s Harris School of Public Policy, to thank for that.

At the risk of sounding like an old carnival barker, step right up and watch the middle class of Chicago vanish before your eyes.

Read more…


Chicago Tribune: Emanuel’s pension plan hits speed bump in Springfield

Mayor Rahm Emanuel, House Speaker Michael Madigan and Senate President John Cullerton on Wednesday tried to quickly push through a sweeping plan to raise Chicago property taxes and cut city worker retirement benefits, but hit the brakes when they ran into resistance.

The rapid rollout strategy was aimed at giving legislators little time to get cold feet and blunting labor union lobbying against the changes. But several Chicago lawmakers raised concerns, Democrats blamed Republicans for not getting on board, and the blitzkrieg approach failed — at least for a day.

The reprieve gives unions a chance to rally opposition while legislative leaders and the mayor regroup at a Capitol where rank-and-file lawmakers are still tender from taking a tough vote in December to repair the state’s government worker pension system over the strenuous objections of organized labor.

Read more…


CNN: 260,000 graduates in minimum wage jobs

If you thought paying tens of thousands of dollars for a college education guaranteed a high-paying job, think again.

About 260,000 people who had a college or professional degree made at or below the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour last year, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Things may be looking up a little, though — it’s the smallest number since 2008. The worst year was 2010, when the number skyrocketed to 327,000.

Despite the recent improvement, the number of workers with college degrees is still more than double what it was in 2005, prior to the Great Recession.

Read more…


WSJ: A Catastrophe Like No Other

Put aside the numbers for a moment, and the daily argument.

“Seven point one million people have signed up!”

“But six million people lost their coverage and were forced onto the exchanges! That’s no triumph, it’s a manipulation. And how many of the 7.1 million have paid?”

“We can’t say, but 7.1 million is a big number and redeems the program.”

“Is it a real number?”

“Your lack of trust betrays a dark and conspiratorial right-wing mindset.”

Read more…

CARTOON OF THE DAY

obamacare