What Recovery? | Washington Free Beacon
The labor force participation rate—63.9 percent in February—remains at a near-historic low.
Individuals who have stopped looking for work do not count toward the unemployment rate, masking the true extent of the jobs crisis.
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke told members of Congress last month that the current unemployment rate as calculated by the administration “no doubt understates the weakness in the labor market in some broad sense.”
Monday, March 12, 2012
Sunday, March 11, 2012
Detroit Nears Bankruptcy
Detroit Nears Bankruptcy | Via Meadia
For decades, Detroit has been the poster child for urban decline in America.
Now things have reached an even newer low:
The city is projected to run out of money by next month and seems to have no credible plans to make up this shortfall.
For decades, Detroit has been the poster child for urban decline in America.
Now things have reached an even newer low:
The city is projected to run out of money by next month and seems to have no credible plans to make up this shortfall.
Unplugged? $100,000 Fisker Karma electric plug-in breaks down during testing
Unplugged? $100,000 Fisker Karma electric plug-in breaks down during testing | MLive.com
The magazine reportedly buys about 80 cars a year for testing and the California-based automaker’s plug-in electric hybrid, which has technology similar to the Chevrolet Volt, is “the first time in memory" that a vehicle was undriveable before it had finished the magazine's check-in process.
The breakdown is the most recent tidbit of bad news along a long road of disappointments regarding the start-up company that received a $528.7 million conditional loan from the U.S.Department of Energy's $25 billion Advanced Technologies Vehicle Manufacturing Loan Program
The magazine reportedly buys about 80 cars a year for testing and the California-based automaker’s plug-in electric hybrid, which has technology similar to the Chevrolet Volt, is “the first time in memory" that a vehicle was undriveable before it had finished the magazine's check-in process.
The breakdown is the most recent tidbit of bad news along a long road of disappointments regarding the start-up company that received a $528.7 million conditional loan from the U.S.Department of Energy's $25 billion Advanced Technologies Vehicle Manufacturing Loan Program
The Racist Ravings of Derrick Bell
The Racist Ravings of Derrick Bell | FrontPage Magazine
Derrick Bell is best known as the founding father of Critical Race Theory, an academic discipline which maintains that society is divided along racial lines into (white) oppressors and (black) victims, similar to the way Marxism frames the oppressor/victim dichotomy along class lines.
Critical Race Theory contends that America is permanently racist to its core, and that consequently its legal structures are, by definition, racist and invalid.
A logical derivative of this premise, according to Critical Race Theory, is that the members of “oppressed” racial groups are entitled—in fact obligated—to determine for themselves which laws and traditions have merit and are worth observing.
Such a perspective’s implications for the ability of civil society to function at all, are nothing short of monumental.
Derrick Bell is best known as the founding father of Critical Race Theory, an academic discipline which maintains that society is divided along racial lines into (white) oppressors and (black) victims, similar to the way Marxism frames the oppressor/victim dichotomy along class lines.
Critical Race Theory contends that America is permanently racist to its core, and that consequently its legal structures are, by definition, racist and invalid.
A logical derivative of this premise, according to Critical Race Theory, is that the members of “oppressed” racial groups are entitled—in fact obligated—to determine for themselves which laws and traditions have merit and are worth observing.
Such a perspective’s implications for the ability of civil society to function at all, are nothing short of monumental.
Saturday, March 10, 2012
Miss Fluke goes to Washington
Miss Fluke goes to Washington | fluke, sex, right - Opinion - The Orange County Registe
She's had the courage to stand up in public and demand that someone else (and this is where one is obliged to tiptoe cautiously, lest offense is given to gallant defenders of the good name of American maidenhood such as the many prestigious soon-to-be-former sponsors of this column who've booked Bill Maher for their corporate retreat with his amusing "Sarah Palin is a c***" routine ...)
She's had the courage to stand up in public and demand that someone else (and this is where one is obliged to tiptoe cautiously, lest offense is given to gallant defenders of the good name of American maidenhood such as the many prestigious soon-to-be-former sponsors of this column who've booked Bill Maher for their corporate retreat with his amusing "Sarah Palin is a c***" routine ...)
Muskegon County sheriff says he took golf trips with bail bondsman
Muskegon County sheriff says he took golf trips with bail bondsman | MLive.com
The sheriff’s office runs the Muskegon County Jail. Bail bondsmen, for a fee, post bail for criminal defendants to get them out of jail.
If the defendants later fail to appear for court, bond agencies have bounty hunters try to find them and bring them in.
“I’ve got nothing to hide,” Roesler said of the golf trips.
”I realize now, stepping back, that it looks a little shady… But the other point, the sheriff doesn’t set the bonds or benefit from the bonds.
We’re just the pass-through agency.”
The sheriff’s office runs the Muskegon County Jail. Bail bondsmen, for a fee, post bail for criminal defendants to get them out of jail.
If the defendants later fail to appear for court, bond agencies have bounty hunters try to find them and bring them in.
“I’ve got nothing to hide,” Roesler said of the golf trips.
”I realize now, stepping back, that it looks a little shady… But the other point, the sheriff doesn’t set the bonds or benefit from the bonds.
We’re just the pass-through agency.”
Stop the madness!
Rob and Pat Haynes of Michigan’s Macomb Township have adult children, but will never be “empty nesters.” Around the clock, in their home, and probably for life, they care for their children Melissa and Kevin, who suffer from cerebral palsy.
Medicaid was meant to help people like the Hayneses, who face heavy health care burdens through no fault of their own. But the Hayneses’ decision to accept Medicaid and care for their children means state government now considers them “government employees” subject to “union dues” — a violation of their rights and a corruption of public assistance that will persist for them and 57,000 other home health care providers if the Michigan Senate continues to shun its responsibilities.
The Hayneses calculate that over several years, the union has taken around $2,000 in dues from them: about half the cost of a new wheelchair.
How did the Hayneses become “union members”? The improbable answer begins with the Granholm administration, which in 2004 helped create a governmental entity known as the Michigan Quality Community Care Council.
The “MQC3” was ostensibly constituted to develop a home health registry and conduct training, but later, the Service Employees International Union approached the Michigan Employment Relations Commission with two novel claims: first, that Michigan’s home health providers are “government employees” because they receive Medicaid payments through their patients, and second, that the MQC3 “employs” them.
The argument was bizarre — if nothing else, only the Michigan Legislature can constitutionally designate new classes of public employees.
Unfortunately, MERC ignored the law, ran a statewide mail-in union election and “certified” the “union” with only 20 percent of the home health care providers voting. Completing the charade, the Granholm administration began withholding “union dues” from the providers’ Medicaid payments and sending the money to an SEIU affiliate.
For the Hayneses, this isn’t funny.
Melissa and Kevin, though adults, are effectively toddlers.
Rob and Pat work constantly — feeding, bathing, dressing, pushing wheelchairs.
The SEIU, however, cannot negotiate them a raise, overtime, a pension or vacation time, since the union bargains only with the MQC3, which is powerless to grant these. The SEIU nevertheless receives monthly union “dues” of about $15 from each child’s Medicaid check.
The $30 monthly deductions may seem small, but the Hayneses calculate that over several years, the union has taken around $2,000 in dues from them: about half the cost of a new wheelchair.
Statewide, home health care providers — many of them relatives tending to family members — have been forced to pay an estimated $28 million in so-called “dues.”
Rob Haynes has no objection to unions: He was a unionized police officer in Detroit for 30 years.
He argues the SEIU is out of place here, however.
“I feel like I’m not getting any union representation,” he says.
“They are not benefiting me in any way.
They are taking money away that we could be using for our kids.”
Nor do the Hayneses recall receiving a ballot for a union election.
Perhaps they mistook it for junk mail.
Says Pat, “I would have seen it and thought, SEIU? … I’m not in a union.”
Last year, unimpressed by the arrangement, the Michigan Legislature stopped funding the MQC3.
State government continues to withhold the so-called “dues,” however, so in June, the Michigan House passed a bill affirming that people don’t become government employees simply through indirect receipt of public subsidies.
This stipulation removes the grounds on which home health providers were “unionized.”
This approach is correct.
Home health providers who receive payment through Medicaid recipients are no more “public employees” than grocers who accept food stamps.
And coercive unionization on the thinnest of pretexts is unconstitutional; it capriciously violates people’s First Amendment right of free association.
Sadly, the Michigan Senate has not acted.
State senators appear to hope Gov. Rick Snyder will order the DCH to end the “dues” withdrawals, since he stopped a similar scheme involving home-based day care providers last year.
But it’s irresponsible to expect lightning to strike twice.
MERC and the DCH are executive agencies, and reining them in means ceding executive power — something executives are loath to do.
Moreover, this duty falls squarely on the Legislature.
The Legislature is responsible for Medicaid appropriations, and the Legislature is the only branch constitutionally responsible for defining public employment.
State Senators have no excuse to duck this job.
If they find it difficult, they should reflect on their luck.
Their work isn’t as hard as the Hayneses’.
#####
Anne Schieber and Tom Shull are senior investigative analyst and senior editor, respectively, at the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, a research and educational institute headquartered in Midland, Mich. Permission to reprint in whole or in part is hereby granted, provided that the author and the Center are properly cited.Bail bondsman, fired assistant prosecutors tell their side of golf trip controversy
Bail bondsman, fired assistant prosecutors tell their side of golf trip controversy | MLive.com
Marc E. Curtis, the senior assistant Muskegon County prosecutor fired Friday for taking a Las Vegas golfing trip paid for by a Muskegon bail bondsman, says he may someday run against the man who fired him.
Kathryn Norton, the entry-level assistant prosecutor also fired for going along on the couples trip to Vegas, spoke tearfully of the events that led to it. She said the couples’ relationship with the bondsman was purely social, and it never occurred to her there might be ethical issues.
Marc E. Curtis, the senior assistant Muskegon County prosecutor fired Friday for taking a Las Vegas golfing trip paid for by a Muskegon bail bondsman, says he may someday run against the man who fired him.
Kathryn Norton, the entry-level assistant prosecutor also fired for going along on the couples trip to Vegas, spoke tearfully of the events that led to it. She said the couples’ relationship with the bondsman was purely social, and it never occurred to her there might be ethical issues.
Big Ten Conference Men's Basketball Tournament
Big Ten Conference Men's Basketball Tournament - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Tournament history for hoops junkies
Go Green!
Tournament history for hoops junkies
Go Green!
Friday, March 09, 2012
Muskegon County buys iPads for commissioners, projects savings with going paperless
Muskegon County buys iPads for commissioners, projects savings with going paperless | MLive.com
The proposal to purchase laptops or tablets for county commissioners became controversial since it was first brought up last year.
The County Board of Commissioners originally defeated the proposed plan on a 6-5 vote, then reconsidered the concept and approved it by an 8-3 vote.
The proposal to purchase laptops or tablets for county commissioners became controversial since it was first brought up last year.
The County Board of Commissioners originally defeated the proposed plan on a 6-5 vote, then reconsidered the concept and approved it by an 8-3 vote.
Muskegon County sheriff says he took golf trips with bail bondsman
Muskegon County sheriff says he took golf trips with bail bondsman | MLive.com
Muskegon County Sheriff Dean Roesler says his office is the other county department involved in a Las Vegas golf trip paid for by a Muskegon bail bondsman – the gift now the subject of an internal investigation by the Muskegon County Prosecutor’s Office because two assistant prosecutors also went along.
Muskegon County Sheriff Dean Roesler says his office is the other county department involved in a Las Vegas golf trip paid for by a Muskegon bail bondsman – the gift now the subject of an internal investigation by the Muskegon County Prosecutor’s Office because two assistant prosecutors also went along.
UNESCO panel does not remove Syria from human rights committee
UNESCO panel does not remove Syria from human rights committee - latimes.com
The U.S. "is profoundly disappointed that this resolution does not call for outright removal" of Syria from the committee, Ambassador David Killion said, according to the Associated Press.
The U.S. "is profoundly disappointed that this resolution does not call for outright removal" of Syria from the committee, Ambassador David Killion said, according to the Associated Press.
Government-subsidized green light bulb carries costly price tag
Government-subsidized green light bulb carries costly price tag - The Washington Post
The U.S. government last year announced a $10 million award, dubbed the “L Prize,” for any manufacturer that could create a “green” but affordable light bulb.
Energy Secretary Steven Chu said the prize would spur industry to offer the costly bulbs, known as LEDs, at prices “affordable for American families.”
There was also a “Buy America” component. Portions of the bulb would have to be made in the United States.
The price is $50.
The U.S. government last year announced a $10 million award, dubbed the “L Prize,” for any manufacturer that could create a “green” but affordable light bulb.
Energy Secretary Steven Chu said the prize would spur industry to offer the costly bulbs, known as LEDs, at prices “affordable for American families.”
There was also a “Buy America” component. Portions of the bulb would have to be made in the United States.
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