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via Ron Nixon, The New York Times Faced with billions of dollars in losses, the Postal Service announced on Wednesday that it would seek to stop Saturday delivery of letters, a sweeping change in mail delivery that immediately drew criticism from postal unions, some businesses and lawmakers. The post office said a five-day mail delivery … Continue reading
via Kim Bhasin, Business Insider U.S. holiday sales growth was just 0.7 percent this year, missing expectations, according to MasterCard Advisors SpendingPulse. There was a drop in consumer confidence and it was primarily due to the media, said SpendingPulse. SpendingPulse VP Michael McNamara said that it’s the media coverage of the fiscal cliff — that is, not … Continue reading
via New Jersey Area News Group Things were so bad for Speaker John Boehner Thursday night, support for his Plan B tax bill so diminished, the limits of his power with his own party laid bare, that he stood in front of the House Republican Conference and recited the Serenity Prayer. “God grant me the … Continue reading
via Vicki Needham, The Hill The economy added 146,000 jobs in November while the unemployment rate fell to 7.7 percent. It’s the lowest the jobless rate has been since December 2008, and the report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics was higher than estimates that had predicted Hurricane Sandy would hold total job growth down. … Continue reading
via Chris Good, ABC News As Congress wrangles over the fiscal cliff, one tiny document will loom large over the negotiations. Known in Republican circles simply as “The Pledge,” the Americans for Tax Reform (ATR) Taxpayer Protection Pledge has steered GOP tax policy for decades, applying pressure to any candidate, lawmaker, or president who would … Continue reading
via Lucia Mutikani, Reuters The U.S. unemployment rate dropped to a near four-year low of 7.8 percent in September, a potential boost to President Barack Obama’s re-election bid. The Labor Department said on Friday the unemployment rate, a key focus in the race for the White House, dropped by 0.3 percentage point to its lowest … Continue reading
via Rick Hampson, USA Today Protesters will mark the anniversary of the Occupy Wall Street movement today with rallies in more than 30 cities around the world, including a march on the New York Stock Exchange, not far from the park where the movement was born. But as the last of its urban encampments close … Continue reading
via Steve Peoples, The Boston Globe Mitt Romney is promising to reduce taxes on middle-income Americans. But how does he define ‘‘middle-income”? The Republican presidential nominee defined it Friday as income of $200,000 to $250,000 a year and less. The definition of ‘‘middle income’’ or the ‘‘middle class’’ is politically charged as Romney and President … Continue reading
via Congressman Mike Honda (D-CA), Politix This election year Americans are faced with a difficult decision on how to best move our country forward. Among the proposals to address our economic challenges and federal deficit is one filled with extreme, regressive, and deeply cynical policy choices: that of congressman and vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan. … Continue reading
via The Economist Not since 1933 had an American president taken the oath of office in an economic climate as grim as it was when Barack Obama put his left hand on the Bible in January 2009. The banking system was near collapse, two big car manufacturers were sliding towards bankruptcy; and employment, the housing … Continue reading
via Alexandra Jaffe, The Hill’s Ballot Box A new poll of women nationwide shows just how steep Mitt Romney will have to climb to get out of the crater he’s in with respect to women’s vote, but indicates he could have an opening if he can win the one issue he’s been banking on all … Continue reading
via Jeremy Herb, The Hill’s Ballot Box The tight presidential race has all but ensured that Congress will not pass a bill before the election that would halt sequestration cuts to the military. President Obama and presumptive GOP nominee Mitt Romney have traded barbs over sequestration as the issue has amplified on the campaign trail … Continue reading
via Philip Elliot and Alan Fram, The Huffington Post Republicans emphatically approved a toughly worded party platform at their national convention Tuesday that would ban all abortions and gay marriages, reshape Medicare into a voucher-like program and cut taxes to energize the economy and create jobs. The document opens by warning that while the American … Continue reading
via David Lawder, Reuters Massive U.S. government spending cuts and tax hikes due next year will cause even worse economic damage than previously thought if Washington fails to come up with a solution, the Congressional Budget Office warned on Wednesday. Without action by Congress to avoid a “fiscal cliff,” Americans should expect a “significant recession” … Continue reading
via Frank Holmes, Forbes A surprising wealth of information about the world’s most prosperous people can be discovered in two new reports. The Chinese Millionaire Wealth Report 2012, put together by GroupM and the Hurun Report, found that there are now a million millionaires in China. On average, a Chinese millionaire is 39 years old, … Continue reading
via Jeff Zeleny, The New York Times Four years ago, John Brooks cast his ballot for Barack Obama, becoming one of the voters won over by his promise for changing Washington. This time, he had been undecided, but he said Mitt Romney made his decision easier by placing Representative Paul D. Ryan on the Republican … Continue reading
via James Arkin, New York Daily News A study by the city’s tourism agency, NYC & Company, and the City Clerk’s office estimates $259 million in overall economic impact came from same-sex marriages. “Marriage equality has made our City more open, inclusive and free — and has also helped to create jobs and support our … Continue reading
via Izhar Harpaz, Dateline, MSNBC The small communities that dot the picturesque mountain landscape outside Boulder, Colorado conjure up an image from long before the great recession. Here the manicured lawns and expensive cars are a testament to the achievements of a fiercely independent and educated middle class; a 21st century version of suburban bliss. … Continue reading
via Don Lee, Chicago Tribune The Great Recession took such a heavy toll on the economy that the typical American family lost nearly 40% of its wealth from 2007 to 2010, shaving the median net worth to a level not seen since the early 1990s. The Federal Reserve said in a new report Monday that median family net … Continue reading
via David Brooks, The New York Times As a young man, Peter Thiel competed to get into Stanford. Then he competed to get into Stanford Law School. Then he competed to become a clerk for a federal judge. Thiel won all those competitions. But then he competed to get a Supreme Court clerkship. Thiel lost … Continue reading
via Matt Krantz, USA TODAY Facebook shares jumped 13% to $43 as the stock opened in the frenzied first minutes of trading Friday, but just as quckly the price slid, tas investors stormed Wall Street to trade shares of the world’s leading social networking company. The stock rose $5 from its initial price of $38 … Continue reading
via Paige Lavender, The Huffington Post Mitt Romney said the protesters rallying against Bank of America in Charlotte this week are too young “to really understand how the economy works.” “Unfortunately, a lot of young folks haven’t had the opportunity to really understand how the economy works, and what it takes to put people to … Continue reading
via Lucia Graves, The Huffington Post The federal government could save as much $13.7 billion annually if it were to legalize marijuana, according to a paper by Harvard economist Jeffrey Miron. More than half of the savings, $7.7 billion, would come from not having to enforce the current prohibitions against the drug, while an additional … Continue reading
via Reuters, The Huffington Post Days after being rebuked by shareholders, Citigroup Inc Chief Executive Vikram Pandit and the bank’s directors have been sued for allegedly awarding outsized pay to top executives. The complaint filed Thursday in Manhattan federal court accuses directors of breaching their fiduciary duties by awarding more than $54 million of compensation … Continue reading
via Editorial Board, Chicago Tribune When the U.S. was in recession three decades ago, middle-aged industrial workers were the biggest losers. The most recent recession and hesitant recovery, though, has hammered the young, as the government’s disappointing monthly employment report showed again last week. For many of America’s younger workers, opportunity is scarce and financial … Continue reading
The Brandt Standard 