First-time filings for unemployment insurance fell by 34,000 to 262,000 in the week ended April 25, the lowest since April 15, 2000, a Labor Department report showed Thursday in Washington. The figure was smaller than the lowest projection in a Bloomberg survey of economists.
With job openings at a 14-year high and prospects for stronger growth after the first-quarter setback, companies are intent on maintaining headcounts. The level of firings is consistent the Federal Reserve’s view of sustained progress in the job market.
“Claims have been quite steady, remaining below this key level of 300,000,” Thomas Costerg, an economist at Standard Chartered Bank in New York, said before the report. “The U.S. labor market is in good shape and has been quite resilient.”
The median forecast of 50 economists surveyed by Bloomberg called for 290,000, with estimates ranging from 275,000 to 300,000. Claims in the prior week were revised to 296,000 from an initially reported 295,000.
Freddie Gray died on April 19th after being in police custody where it was eventually determined that his spine somehow became 80% severed. After his death, the word from police indicated that on Friday, May 1st, there will be answers on what exactly happened to Freddie Gray. But now, just two days before that information is supposed to be released, Baltimore City police Capt. Eric Kowalczyk said that report will not be made public.
“What we are going to do, which is unique, is turn over all of our findings, all of our investigative efforts to the State’s Attorney’s Office,” Kowalczyk said. “We have an obligation to be accountable to the people of Baltimore in this investigation. We know that there are a lot of people who want answers who have concerns they want addressed and we have an obligation to do our best to be accountable.”
However, Kowalczyk said because the integrity of the investigation has to be protected, “We cannot release all the information from the investigation to the public.” He said in being held accountable with the state’s attorney, the Police Department would be accountable to the public.”
While discussing the decay of society because of gay people getting married, a Texas House Republican lawmaker dropped this little nugget on Wednesday while talking to Tony Perkins of the very conservative Family Research Council…
But before I expose the nugget, a little background. The fight going on at the Supreme Court these days is whether gays or LGBT people should have the right to marry each other. No question where Perkins stand on this issue as he flatly chalks up much of the problems in today’s society to the breakdown of traditional marriage and families.
“A lot of these problems are created by the breakdown of the family, which the redefinition of would only accelerate,” Perkins said.
That’s when the Texas Republican lawmaker, Bill Flores, offered his two cents.
“You’re exactly right, Tony,” Flores said. “Let’s talk about poverty for instance… The single best indicator of whether or not a child is going to be in poverty or not is whether or not they were raised by a two-parent household or a single-parent household. And so the breakdown of the family has contributed to poverty.”
He continued;
“You look at what’s going on in Baltimore today, you know, you see issues that are raised there. And healthy marriages are the ones between a man and a woman because they can have a healthy family and they can raise children in the way that’s best for their future, not only socially but psychologically, economically, from a health perspective.”
“There’s just nothing like traditional marriage that does that.”
Once again, those in the Republican party are on the wrong side of the issue. Especially those who call themselves “Christian Conservatives.” It is no news to anyone that today’s Republicans strongly reject equal pay for women. They have actually gone on record crying foul at the president for his support of equal pay. And now, even the Pope is siding with the President, and calling for equal pay for equal work for women.
Pope Francis on Wednesday made an impassioned plea for an end to the salary gap between men and women, calling it “a scandal” that Christians should decisively reject.
“Why is it taken for granted that women must earn less than men? No! They have the same rights. The discrepancy is a pure scandal,” he told tens of thousands of people at his general audience in St. Peter’s Square.
Raising his voice for emphasis as he made some of his most forceful remarks on the subject to date, he said Christians should “decisively support the right to equal pay for equal work.”
Women in the European Union were paid 16.4 percent less than men on average in 2013, according to statistics agency Eurostat. United States Census Bureau data indicate women earn 77 cents for every dollar a man earns, based on annual median salaries.
Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt. listens to testimony. Over two hundred member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars attended a joint meeting of the House and Senate Veterans Affairs Committee on Tuesday, March 4, 2008 on Capitol Hill in Washington. (Lauren Victoria Burke/WDCPIX.COM)
Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt. (Lauren Victoria Burke/WDCPIX.COM)
Politico is reporting that Bernie Sanders will announce a presidential bid on Thursday, a source close to the second-term senator confirmed.
The Vermont independent, a self-described democratic socialist, will run as a Democrat in a field that includes frontrunner Hillary Clinton. The launch will likely be a low-key announcement — no big rally or high-budget video. The senator is expected to have a larger campaign kickoff in a few weeks, most likely in Vermont, before heading to early presidential nominating states such as Iowa and New Hampshire.
Sanders, 73, has been openly considering a presidential bid for months, and in recent days has begun to focus his attention on staffing. Tad Devine, an informal adviser and longtime friend to the senator, has said that a Sanders campaign would focus heavily on three major issues — campaign finance reform, climate change and income inequality.
According to a new poll by Quinnipiac University, 58% of Americans stand with the president on the new Iran nuclear plan.
According to the new poll released earlier this week, a majority of Americans believe the new plan should get the approval of Congress, with 33% rejecting the plan altogether.
But 77% say they want to plan to succeed instead of a military intervention, as proposed by Congressional Republicans.
“Americans are worried about Iran, but not enough to send in the troops,” said Tim Malloy of Quinnipiac.
The poll was taken between April 16 and 21 and surveyed 1,353 registered voters.
Twenty four hours after Baltimore began burning due to riot activities related to the police killing of 25-year-old Freddie Gray, the President was asked about the incident today in a joint press conference with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. Mr. Obama stressed that the problems of blacks and minorities being killed by police is not just a police problem or a community problem, but a problem the nation must face and correct.
“I think we as a country have to do some soul searching,” the President said. “This is not new. It’s been going on for decades.”
This is the police video showing the aftermath of another police beating of a black man named Floyd Dent.
The beating left Mr. Dent suffering from multiple head injuries and broken ribs, but those injuries were not serious enough for the officers involved to request medical attention for the man they are sworn to “serve and protect.” Instead, the guardians of the law are seen at the Precinct cleaning themselves of Floyd’s blood, fist bumping each other and laughing, while Mr. Dent sits off to the side.
Things are getting a bit complicated in New Jersey for Governor Christie, and that’s having a major effect on when (and it will be when) he announces his bid for the presidency. Yes, he is waiting for the economy to improve and the George Washington Bridge scandal to go away, but now he’s added what could be a signature accomplishment for him to run on: another public employee pension reform bill. This time, however, he won’t have as many Democrats to help him.
Christie has been traveling the state telling some marvelous half-truths and outright lies about the history of governmental pension neglect since the 1990s. He’s even saying that the legislature is blocking pension funding when it’s actually the good governor who took out the full funding from the 2015 budget with a line-item veto. When the legislature then passed a bill to have the state pay quarterly payments, he vetoed it and the Republicans who supported it the first time around would not vote to override. At a legislative dinner in March, State Senator Joe Pennacchio (District 26) was asked why that happened. His answer: “Christie is going to run for president. We didn’t want to embarrass him.”
But even if Christie doesn’t win the nomination, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, who is now attracting gobs of Koch Brother money for his campaign, would be an even worse choice. He’s been able to do what Christie has not when it comes to public employees, and that is to strip them of their collective bargaining rights. Imagine the nightmare scenario of a President Walker with a Republican Congress slashing taxes for the wealthy and slashing public programs and benefits for the middle class. Never mind that the number of working people who qualify for public assistance has increased in the last 10 years. The GOP loves to blame those lazy burger-flipping door-greeters (because many have two jobs) for their own problems while catering to the upper crust.
Blaming public workers and the working poor for America’s fiscal problems has worked well for the GOP. It’s time to fight back.
With the swag of a second term president, President Obama starred in the no holds barred event that was this year’s Correspondents’ Dinner. The president jabbed at just about every issue in today’s news, from immigration, to climate change, to CNN, MSNBC and Fox News, and he even poked fun and Virginia and the discrimination law singed by Virginia’s Republican Governor, Mike Pence.
In the beginning of the President’s remarks, Mr. Obama spoke about his “Bucket List,” only he masterfully implied the need to substitute the word ‘Bucket’ with another word sounding like ‘bucket.’
I am determined to make the most of every moment I have left. After the midterm elections, my advisors asked me, “Mr. President, do you have a bucket list?” And I said, “Well, I have something that rhymes with bucket list.’”
Take executive action on immigration? Bucket! New climate regulations? Bucket! It’s the right thing to do.
The usual suspects got their hits too. President Obama joked about the 2016 Republican presidential contenders and even those on the Democratic side. And he equated a Bernie Sanders presidency a third term for Obama.
And Bernie Sanders might run. I like Bernie. Bernie is an interesting guy. Apparently some folks really want to see a pot-smoking socialist in the White House. We could get a third Obama term after all. It could happen.
Francis Pusok, the 30-year-old man seen on video falling off a horse only to get his head kicked in by San Bernardino police, will receive $650,000.00 from the county to settle all future lawsuits Pusok may bring.
A statement from Pusok’s lawyers said, “the Pusok family is happy to put this awful chapter of their lives behind them and begin the emotional and physical healing that must take place.”
The settlement does not negate any criminal charges for the 10 officers involved in the beating and future charges are still possible.
In a separate with statement, Supervisor Curt Hagman said the settlement resolves what could have been an expensive situation for the county.
“With situation behind us, we can move forward with protecting our residents and ensuring that local enforcement is responsive, effective and restrained,” Hagman said.
In a video recorded by a news crew, Pusok is seen riding a horse trying to outrun police. He falls off the horse and immediately lays facedown on the ground, arms and legs outstretched. He is then tased by an officer, then kicked in the head and groin multiple times while other officers piled on. Ten officers were placed on paid leave pending an ongoing investigation.
U.S. President Barack Obama delivers remarks at an Organizing for Action summit in Washington April 23, 2015. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst
U.S. President Barack Obama delivers remarks at an Organizing for Action summit in Washington April 23, 2015. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst
President Obama has come out swing against not only Republicans, but against members of his own party who are criticizing his newest and most ambitious trade deal, the TPP or The Trans Pacific Partnership. Once his friends, the people now playing the role of his foes include the likes of Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, Trade Unions and Environmental groups.
“When people say that this trade deal is bad for working families, they don’t know what they’re talking about,” Obama told a group of about 200 volunteers and donors with Organizing for Action, an advocacy group formed by his former campaign team. “I take that personally. My entire presidency has been about helping working families.
“The Chamber of Commerce didn’t elect me twice – working folks did,” he said.
Obama argued it would be illogical for him to sign a trade deal that would hurt middle-class jobs given his efforts to expand health care insurance, bail out the auto industry and overhaul Wall Street regulations.
“I spent a lot of time and a lot of political capital to save the auto industry,” Obama said, banging the lectern with a pointed finger for emphasis. “Why would I pass a deal that would be bad for U.S. auto workers?”
Obama is seeking fast-track authority from Congress to finalize the TPP deal, which would link a dozen economies and cover a third of global trade.
The Senate could vote on the fast-track legislation next week, but it may face a tough ride in the House of Representatives, where many Democrats oppose it.
Democratic opponents say the deal would cause a repeat of the factory closures and job losses seen after the North American Free Trade Agreement between the United States, Canada and Mexico was approved in 1993.
Obama said he understands the fears, but said the criticism was out of date, arguing the new deal will include strong protections for labor and the environment, and warning that a failure to pass it would cede economic power to China.
“You need to tell me what’s wrong with this trade agreement, not one that was passed 25 years ago,” he said, urging his supporters to spread the word.
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