-
Subscribe
Subscribed
Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan said Friday that teachers have been “beaten down for too long” and endorsed “doubling’’ their salaries. “We need to elevate teachers,’’ Duncan told a gathering of officials and educators in the fresco-ceiling library of Carl Schurz High School. “I think we need to double salaries for teachers. We need to … Continue reading
President Barack Obama’s promise Thursday that everything in his jobs plan will be paid for rests on highly iffy propositions. It will only be paid for if a committee he can’t control does his bidding, if Congress puts that into law and if leaders in the future — the ones who will feel the fiscal … Continue reading
The Obama administration is seeking to broaden access to a two-year-old refinancing program that has helped far fewer homeowners take advantage of low interest rates than initially expected. President Obama announced the effort Thursday night as part of his package of measures to spur job creation, saying it would help “responsible homeowners” by reducing their … Continue reading
Louisiana Republican Sen. David Vitter’s plans to host a football-watching party have been ruined by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. On Wednesday, Vitter told Fox News that he would host the party in his home state rather than watch the president’s speech on the economy to a rare joint session of Congress. The New Orleans … Continue reading
While men lost more jobs in the recession than women, women have been slower to recover, losing nearly 300,000 jobs since the economic “recovery” began in 2009. Some women’s organizations were concerned that President Obama’s jobs plan was going to focus on boosting male-dominated industries, such as construction and manufacturing, to the exclusion of the … Continue reading
NEW YORK — Security worker Eric Martinez wore a pin depicting the twin towers on his lapel as he headed to work in lower Manhattan on Friday, unfazed by a report of a credible but unconfirmed terror threat before the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks. He worked downtown then and lived through it. … Continue reading
South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley (R) wants the jobless to pass a drug test before they can receive benefits, but she seems to have an exaggerated sense of drug use among the unemployed. “I so want drug testing. I so want it,” Haley said during a Thursday question-and-answer session at the Lexington Rotary Club. She … Continue reading
President Barack Obama on Thursday urged Congress to quickly enact a package of tax cuts, infrastructure projects and other spending programs that he characterized as bipartisan. In an address to a joint session of Congress, Obama unveiled his $447 billion jobs plan, which also includes new spending for teachers’ pay, school construction and tax reform. … Continue reading
The full-throated sparring between Mitt Romney and Rick Perry during the Republican debate on Wednesday night provided an early glimpse of the very different strategies that will propel their presidential campaigns forward in the next several months. Mr. Perry, the governor of Texas, made clear in his first national appearance that he would campaign as … Continue reading
President Obama’s speech to Congress hewed closely to the details that had already been leaked, save for the dollar amounts, which were considerably larger. Even so, the $450 billion price tag is somewhat misleading in that much of that is not new spending or new tax breaks but rather an extension of breaks and unemployment … Continue reading
Federal authorities have come across what they believe may be a credible threat to the U.S. homeland surrounding the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, several sources tell Fox News. The threat, said to involve potential car bombs, would target New York City or Washington, D.C., sources said. Authorities have obtained what they … Continue reading
Twenty minutes into last night’s Republican presidential debate, Texas Gov. Rick Perry attacked the Massachusetts health care law signed by then-Gov. Mitt Romney. Perry said the program showed “what will not work, and that is an individual mandate in this country.” People “don’t want a health care plan like what Governor Romney put in place … Continue reading
During Wednesday night’s Republican debate, Rep. Michele Bachmann (Minn.) stood at a podium flanked by seven men. She articulated her plan to repeal “Obamacare” and to slash gasoline prices when the moderator addressed her, but she generally faded into the background as Rick Perry and Mitt Romney pulled ahead of the pack. Notably, she failed … Continue reading
Most of the post-debate media chatter centered on the sparks that flew between top-tier candidates Mitt Romney and Rick Perry. That’s to be expected, of course — that’s precisely the way the media framed the debate going in to last night. And for the most part, that’s the story today, with the addition of some … Continue reading
The United States Postal Service has long lived on the financial edge, but it has never been as close to the precipice as it is today: the agency is so low on cash that it will not be able to make a $5.5 billion payment due this month and may have to shut down entirely … Continue reading
On a bright spring day in a wisteria-bedecked courtyard full of earnest, if half-drunk, conference attendees, we were commiserating with a fellow journalist about all the jobs we knew of that were going unfilled, being absorbed or handled “on the side.” It was tough for all concerned, but necessary—you know, doing more with less. “Ah,” he … Continue reading
She didn’t get a lot of camera time in [Wednesday] night’s Republican presidential debate, but Rep. Michele Bachmann may be in the spotlight Thursday night, following President Obama’s jobs speech in front of Congress. The three-term congresswoman from Minnesota and GOP White House hopeful announced Thursday morning that she will hold a news conference on … Continue reading
The Department of Justice is reviewing, and has the power to reject a controversial new law passed in South Carolina that requires a registered voter to present a government -issued photo ID before his or her vote is counted. Gov. Nikki Haley signed the bill into law in May and she’s not alone. Four other … Continue reading
President Barack Obama will address both chambers of Congress Thursday to unveil his plan to create jobs, but not everyone plans to attend. Despite buzz that Congress might ring in a new era of bipartisanship by choosing “prom night” seating for the speech — crossing aisle to sit with members of the other party — … Continue reading
When President Obama addresses a joint session of Congress about jobs Thursday night, one Illinois congressman won’t be there. Freshman Tea Party Republican Joe Walsh (8th) is making good on promises not to show up for the speech. Instead Walsh will hold a “small business job forum” in his Illinois district “with the people who … Continue reading
Workers across Illinois will find out Thursday whether they’ll lose their jobs. Gov. Quinn said earlier this week thousands of state workers will be out of work because of a budget shortfall that doesn’t leave enough money to pay them. He also plans to make cuts to services, which could include closing a prison, a … Continue reading
CHEVY CHASE, Md. — Gov. Martin O’Malley, Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown and Attorney General Doug Gansler on Wednesday braced supporters of gay marriage rights in Maryland for a long battle and urged them to work hard throughout the state to persuade voters to support equal rights under the law for same-sex couples. O’Malley, a Democrat … Continue reading
On Saturday, not-yet-a-presidential-candidate Sarah Palin previewed an enticing line of attack against Texas Governor Rick Perry: “crony capitalism.” Although she didn’t mention the latest Republican frontrunner by name, Palin warned Iowa tea partiers that when candidates accept million-dollar donations, you should expect a few strings to be attached. On that front, the numbers seemingly speak for themselves. A full 20 percent … Continue reading
Rep. Michele Bachmann still hasn’t won over any converts among her presidential rivals with her pledge to get gas prices below $2 a gallon. At Wednesday’s POLITICO/NBC Republican presidential debate, former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman splashed the biggest bucket of cold water on the idea. “Of course not,” Huntsman said when asked if Bachmann’s plan … Continue reading
Incumbent Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass.) holds an early 9-point lead over possible Democratic challenger Elizabeth Warren in the 2012 race for the Massachusetts Senate seat. According to a WBUR poll released Tuesday, 44 percent of likely voters said they would choose Brown over Warren in a hypothetical matchup between the two. Thirty-five percent of likely … Continue reading
The Brandt Standard 