MikeElk

As the example of Tea Party Republicans turning against K Street Republicans like Daniel Webster shows the only people who support cuts to Social Security are DC elites in the beds of Wall Street and out of touch with the overwhelming majority on the left and right.

Unionized bank workers from Brazil, England, Chile, Germany, and Uruguay are encouraging American workers to undertake an unprecedented campaign against a common enemy: Grupo Santander,

This week, Democrats find themselves trying for the third time to pass a 30 day extension to unemployment benefits. And each time they try to pass an extension, Republicans find someone like Tom Coburn, Jon Kyl, or Jim Bunning to shutdown the Senate to delay its passage.

With the Local Jobs for America Act putting the possibility of direct government hiring back on the table, we must make sure any hiring programs actually reach the communities that need help most. In this recession, there are four distinct groups of people that have been hit the hardest:

This week marks the 75th anniversary of the Work Progress Administration, the New Deal centerpiece that helped end the Great Depression by directly creating 3.3 million jobs. As we have just experienced the steepest job losses since then, let’s take a moment to remind ourselves the economic lessons we learned from that historic program.

Despite Treasury’s decision to postpone a report that could have branded China a currency manipulator, the economic damage being done by the Chinese government is not ending anytime soon. When we talk about China currency manipulation, we often talk about the role it has played  in the loss of 2.4 million manufacturing jobs since 2000 to China. We talk about how Chinese currency manipulation makes Chinese goods 20-40% cheaper than they would be if China priced its currency like everyone else in the world.

However, what Chinese currency manipulation is really about is freedom. It’s about freedom from the power of elite to negatively affect both Chinese and Americans workers in order to fuel their own greed.

During last month’s State of the Union, President Obama unveiled a bold new push to double exports. The plan is indeed bold and could create up to 2 million jobs if implemented in the right circumstances. It’s estimated that it could double export sales pushing them over $3 trillion annually.

However the plan has run into a big barrier – the economy. As the Washington Post points out:

Monday a bipartisan group of 130 members of Congress, ranging from Dennis Kucinich on the left to Joe Wilson on the right, wrote to President Obama asking him to stop Chinese currency manipulation. The Congressmen wrote:

The numbers are outrageous, sickening even. How can anyone stand to look at them?

Since 2000, the U.S. has lost 5.5 million manufacturing jobs, with 2.1 million of those jobs being lost in the last two years alone. Since 2001, over 42,400 factories have closed in the U.S., and another 90,000 are considered at severe risk of closing. The last time so few were employed in manufacturing was in 1941, before World War II spending pulled that sector out of its Great Depression slump.

Numbers like these make me want to cry.

So President Obama has come up with a big and bold solution to deal with problem. He’s going to shut down the federal office that counts how many jobs are being shipped overseas.

Earlier today, I learned from trusted sources on the Hill that Senator Harry Reid will propose only a 15 day unemployment and COBRA extension.

Such a move is absolutely pathetic and unacceptable. 1.2 Americans are expected to lose their unemployment benefits at the end of the month. While a 15 day extension will allow people to continue receiving aid, states will have already begun notifying hundreds of thousands will still receive notices saying that they will stop receiving aid.