Economy

http://andrewjacksondem.com

This post is about Ohio, the state of my birth. I believe it applies to North Carolina politics when one analyzes the job loss that both states have seen in the manufacturing section. How is it that people in government positions can be so careless about the people they vow to serve?

This blog posting is the work of some concerned citizens in the state of Ohio who have sent me information that is very disturbing. I can not take credit for this information, yet I want to thank my source as writting this blog gives me great pleasure.

As a Buckeye resident for nearly 26 years, I am appalled at the changes Ohio underwent and the response taken by leaders in both parties. As Ohio burnt, Republicans and Democrats alike danced in the streets of Columbus ignoring the plight of everyday Buckeye residents.

In case you haven't noticed, the world is going to hell in a handbasket right now. World War III is brewing in the Middle East. Climate change is accelerating toward a dangerous tipping point. And the global economy has been weakened beyond relief by US deficit spending.

The tragedy of war will be Bush's doing, pure and simple. He started the terrible ball rolling with his preemptive invasion in Iraq - and he is apparently too stupid or too stubborn to reconsider his error in judgment. Even worse, the Republicans from North Carolina, who are supposed to represent our interests in Congress, have become mindless lapdogs, Bushbots in the most dangerous sense, unwilling and unable to put common good ahead of partisanship.

Excuse me while I get this out of my system...

The Rethugs in DC are cheering themselves silly with the recent announcement from the Office of Management Budget that the projected national deficit for 2006 is $296 billion.

Huh. Last time I checked, $296 billion is a lot of money...and running a budget deficit of $296 billion is really shitty. As a matter of fact, if I ran my personal budget in a deficit, Bank of America would start slapping me with overdraft fees and over-the-limit fees and all sorts of other penalties designed to keep me motivated to run a balanced budget. Because, when you get right down to it, a deficit is the amount someone else has to cover your ass. In the case of our national deficit, China is Bank of America and the overdraft fee is a little something called Interest. But more about that later.

The minimum wage in this state might just be going up here soon. According to a post on the Capital Beat blog at the Greensboro News & Record, both the North Carolina Senate and House passed legislative measures containing an increase in the minimum wage to $6.15 an hour.

The House and the Senate both voted to raise the state’s minimum wage to $6.15 an hour today, but both in different ways.

This morning, Senators gave final approval to their version of the budget, which has a minimum wage increase tacked onto it.

The energy pimps in the national Republican party - and the Dems are just as bad - stooped to new lows with their pandering to the public on gas rebates and tax holidays. Even Joe Six Pack knows the jig is up on cheap gas, and no amount of publicity stunts in Congress will make a bit of difference. If you're looking for a good geo-political summary of why we're totally screwed - thank you Dear Leader - this article is one of the best I've seen. The bottom line is this: Don't get your hopes up.

As soon as I heard about the Bill Clinton-brokered agreement to keep sugar soft drinks out of schools, I knew we'd be hearing complaints from the free market crowd—even though the deal was worked out in the marketplace by market actors. Well, we didn't have to wait long. Witness this tantrum in response to a professor who thinks that the industry might have gone farther:

This is a fascinating piece, for those of you who are interested in the convergence of business and government. I daresay, it would provoke outrage over at the Puppetshow, if they ever bother to read anything that doesn't support what they already believe.

The specter of Anglo-American market capitalism dominated France's student unrest in March and April, and motivated popular rejection in France a year ago of the proposed new European Union constitution. The election that has just given Italy a fragile center- left coalition, and recent conflict in German industry, involved the same question: how to remodel national economies, or whether to remodel them at all.

(Cross-posted at the new Appalachian Voices blog)

Don't always agree with Governor Easley. Not always impressed with him. But he has been kicking ass on the environment, first with his opposition to the sale of the National Forests. Now this.

There is an offshore drilling moratorium for the Pacific and Atlantic Coasts that isn't set to expire until 2012. However, there are some special interests in Virginia that want to see that overturned much sooner. Like...now.

A number of North Carolina groups are starting a fair wage campaign today. Facing South has a post on these events here:

This week, a coalition of groups including ACORN, the NC Justice Center, and Institute for Southern Studies are launching a new coalition: North Carolinians for Fair Wages. The coalition's immediate goal is to pass an 85 cent increase in the state minimum wage in 2006, which has a very good chance of passing.

Among the events:

NEWS CONFERENCE

The General Assembly begins their even-year short session on May 9, and the right is helping us out a little bit with the pregame show. Here's the (John William Pope) Civitas Institute's agenda, as laid out in this piece in the North Carolina Conservative:

• Eliminate taxes that they call "temporary;"
• Enact the Taxpayer Protection Act (is this just TaBoR by another name?);
• Kill the Gas Tax (I think we've been over this already);