Recently in Economy Category

On this, the anniversary of MLK's "I have a dream" speech, I would like to suggest that we take a moment to reflect on what we have accomplished since 1963, and the work that we still need to do. We are still not at the point where "content of character" means more than anything else, so I would say we still have much to strive for.I would also like to talk about a dream of...

Merchants have no country. The mere spot they stand on does not constitute so strong an attachment as that from which they draw their gains. ~Thomas JeffersonCases in point:"Some of the country's best-known multi-national corporations closely guard a number they don't want anyone to know: the breakdown between their jobs here and abroad.So secretive are these companies that they hand the figure over to government statisticians on the condition that officials will release only an...

The good Americans you see in the picture above were protesting today outside the Houston office of Republican U.S.  Senator John Cornyn.These loyal Americans were demanding tax increases for the most wealthy, good jobs, and a federal budget that invests in America. They were out protesting because they know that the work of freedom is up to each of us.Our Tea Party/Republican Party foes never rest in helping the rich get richer, and in making...

Harry Reid has announced his three choices for the joint committee in charge of focusing on the wrong problem: "In the first of what will be a closely watched selection process for a powerful new deficit panel, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid announced he will appoint Democratic Sens. Patty Murray (Wash.), Max Baucus (Mont.) and John Kerry (Mass.) as his three choices for a super committee charged with finding more than $1 trillion in spending...

Terrorism- the use of violence and threats to intimidate or coerce,especially for political purposes. -- dictionary.comI could make a lot of pithy comments about some of the folks walking the halls of Congress. Sometimes sarcasm is the best defense when events bring us to the brink. However, I tend more on the philosophical in these times. A wise man once said that one man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter. Certainly, we can get caught up in the merit of one's argument and ignore the thuggish methods used...

Everything old is new again. It looks to be another rough day on Wall Street, the Asian markets were down about 4% overnight. The jobs report is due out this morning. Bloomberg estimates an increase of 85,000, not enough to lower the 9.2% unemployment rate. But even if the jobs number is positive, take it with a grain of salt. Recent history has been that it will be revised downward at some point in the...

Yep, that "deal" was just what the doctor ordered: "The stock market fell sharply Thursday on intensifying investor fears about a slowdown in global economic growth and worries about Europe's ongoing debt crisis, which is centered now on Italy and Spain. By afternoon, the Standard & Poor's 500-stock index was down 35.08, or 2.78 percent. The Dow was off 312.35, or 3.63 percent, to 11,584.09, and the Nasdaq was down 76.30 points, or 2.83 percent....

Congress did not pass a bill funding the FAA before leaving Washington for their paid summer vacation.  Republicans are trying to cut a program that subsidizes small, rural airports.  This cut would save American taxpayers $16 million per year.  Congress was unable to agree on cutting this program before they left for vacation, so now the FAA is shut down.  Here are the numbers:FAA employees working without pay or out of a job:    4,000FAA construction...

The headline in the New York Times wrongly says now that the debt deal is signed, the battle is over:"The Senate voted Tuesday to raise the government's debt ceiling and cut trillions of dollars from its spending, concluding a long and fractious partisan battle just hours before the government's borrowing authority was set to run out." Dream on. Nothing has been concluded, the next phase is just around the corner:"On Capitol Hill on Tuesday, the...

As we've heard so many times during the debt ceiling circus, nothing is agreed to until everything is agreed to, but reports are emerging of a tentative deal. ABC has this:* A debt ceiling increase of up to $2.1 to $2.4 trillion (depending on the size of the spending cuts agreed to in the final deal).* They have now agreed to spending cuts of roughly $1.2 trillion over 10 years.* The formation of a special...