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unemployment 
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Tue May 17, 2011 at 16:26:06 PM MST
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(This post was written by Margaret Gomez of 9 to 5 Colorado) Nearly 100,000 workers in the city of Denver do not have access to paid sick days. Every day these people prepare our food, watch our children at day care, and give treatments and medicine to our elders through in home care. This creates obvious public health concerns. There is also a human rights concern. People who work hard and play by the rules should not lose their jobs because they get sick or have to care for a sick family member. These concerns have led to the Campaign for a Healthy Denver, an effort to pass a paid sick day initiative within the city of Denver. According to recent polls 65% of voters in Denver strongly support paid sick days for workers because they want to protect public health and the vulnerable middle class. Right now, families simply cannot afford to lose a day's worth of wages or risk losing a job after catching the common cold. The Campaign for a Healthy Denver comes at a critical time for the city as people struggle to regain economic security as the state unemployment rate stalls at an outrageous 9.2%. Guaranteeing paid sick time for workers saves local businesses money, $10.45 per week per worker to be exact. These savings come from reduced turnover, increased productivity, and a healthier workforce. A formal investment in our Denver workforce that positively impacts the families in our communities only strengthens our local economy. A paid sick days ordinance would not only improve the bottom line for businesses, but also increase family prosperity. The Campaign for a Healthy Denver is a common sense public health measure that will enhance the way we all do business. (For more information, see Paid Sick Days Initiative)
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Wed Jan 12, 2011 at 07:14:35 AM MST
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There is an argument raging on the blogs and elsewhere as to what caused Jared Loughner's murderous rampage. It is starting to settle down to the an argument about political speech, the Left pointing to the legion of violent and eliminationist statements form the Right and the Right throwing anything they can up to prove that Loughner was really a Lefty who flipped out.
The problem with this, as with all arguments with those on the Right is it becomes a pie fight with simple answers offered to a complex problem. You get idiocy like that from David Frum who insists this whole thing hinges on Loughner being a pot head. Which gets traction even though the usual stereotype of stoners is they can't get off the couch, let alone plan to assassinate a sitting Representative.
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Wed Aug 25, 2010 at 06:02:34 AM MST
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Those who read my posts (and there are a lot more of you than I ever thought there would be) know that I am not really a fan of divisive politics. This comes from the teachings of my Mom, who spent her political career reaching out to Republicans to get things done in Washtenaw County. Her argument was always that while you might hammer your opponents in today's fight, you're probably going to need them to get tomorrows work done. It is generally good advice, but it is predicated on the premise that your opponents want to get things done and really are working for the best solution for everyone.
Sadly Mom's good advice can not be used right now. There has been too big a shift in power in the nation for us to look at the Republicans as any kind of honest partner in anything. The efforts of the folks like the ultra-wealthy Koch brothers have shifted our discourse so far to the right that things which would have had politicians thinking about spending more time with their families in the past can be said with a straight face and taken as serious.
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Tue Aug 24, 2010 at 06:26:11 AM MST
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Minority Lead McConnell, can we talk a minute? You are an educated man, so it is probably pretty hard to say some of things you say when defending the tax policies of the Bush Administration and arguing for their continuation. Perhaps your time in Washington has taught you the skill of being able to say any kind of nonsense but really, Senator, you have to know in the back of your mind that enacting legislation to extend the tax cuts for the ultra-wealthy (that 2% of the nation who makes more than $250,000 a year) is going to bring our nation to its knees.
I don't know you Senator, but I have to think that you don't really want to face what 3.2 trillion dollars in additional debt will do to our nation. You would have to cut or end social safety net programs like Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. While that might appeal in an ideological sense, the reality of starving elderly baby boomers, indigent children wearing rags in the streets of our nation is one that even you will not want to see on a daily basis.
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Mon Aug 09, 2010 at 23:53:46 PM MST
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As I pick up the pace of work again, coming into the midterms, I have to get some stories cleared off the desk in order to make room for some others, and that's what we're about today.
We'll be talking about saving more than 300,000 of this country's most important jobs, and paying for it in a way that is not only good policy, but is a real problem for Republicans who are yelling "no new taxes!" once again while pretending they care about actually paying for actual spending and actually want to cut actual unemployment.
We have a bit of work to do today, but we want to keep it somewhat short...so let's get going.
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Tue Jul 20, 2010 at 09:43:21 AM MST
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(I really like the visualization of "shooting old people into space" to fix social security. - promoted by Fong)
Cross-posted from http://spoonfighter.com
If you're one of those poor bastards whose unemployment benefits are running out, you're about to get a reprieve. The late Sen. Byrd's replacement will be sworn in today, and unless one of the Democrats steps in front of a motorcade, gets locked in the Senate bathroom, or has an intern-related heart attack, they should have the 60 votes they need to overcome the Republican filibuster and extend unemployment benefits. (more)
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Thu Jul 01, 2010 at 06:22:23 AM MST
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Since the Republicans have managed to stand tall on their instance that up to 2 million unemployed Americans should lose their meager benefits, perhaps it is time to start introducing them to some of the unemployed. We have heard the Dickensian pronouncements on the Senate floor that the unemployed are lazy, that the benefits they receive are keeping them from looking for work, that it is more important in a financial crisis to cut spending (and thus cut the over all recovery off at the knees) than it is to help our fellow Americans who, through no fault of their own, are now paying the price for financial deregulation.
As long as this debate is kept in abstract terms it is easy for those Republicans who have a conscience (all three of them) to talk about how we should be burdening our children and grandchildren with debt. It is time to use the very effective method of hearings to bring the real face of the long term unemployed right into the face of the heartless and petty Republican majority.
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Fri Jun 25, 2010 at 06:26:06 AM MST
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I don't really have a lot of use for conventional wisdom. In the first place it is not really very wise, more like moderately informed. Second relying on it makes one intellectually lazy. When you have this back log of antidotal evidence which shows a patter, you tend to rely on that pattern. This leaves you open to making a prediction that misses the new variables and then being surprised by the result. The 2002 elections where a little like that. That CW (admittedly supported by 100 years of history) was that the Republicans would lose some seats in first midterm of the Bush 41 presidency.
We all know that the results not even close. The combination of the 9/11 attacks and the Republican continued fear mongering and, frankly, some pretty shrewd political maneuvers led them to re-take the Senate and widen their majority in the House. If you look at the indicators, the CW says that Republicans should be able to win many seats in both the House and Senate this year.
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Tue Jun 01, 2010 at 15:07:21 PM MST
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( - promoted by Fong)
Speaker Pelosi pulled a brilliant move at the end of the last weeks legislative session.
House Democrats are home for a long Memorial Day break with a gift-wrapped wedge issue delivered just in time for district campaigning. One of their final actions before adjourning late Friday was passing a measure that would strip tax breaks for companies that ship jobs overseas by a 215-204 vote.
talkingpointsmemo.com
The Grand Outsourcing Party. Expect Dems to run on this come election time.
More brilliance below the fold.
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