In 2011, American businesses created the most jobs in any year since 2005. In fact, the private sector has added nearly 3.2 million jobs in the last 22 months. These numbers are proof that we are steadily climbing out of the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression. But we can’t stop now. We must…
Author: TRP
Arizona Gov. Brewer Sticks Her Finger in the President’s Face
The two leaders could be seen engaged in an intense conversation at the base of Air Force One’s steps. Both could be seen smiling, but speaking at the same time. Asked moments later what the conversation was about, Brewer, a Republican, said: “He was a little disturbed about my book.” Brewer recently published a book,…
Majority Of Americans Think Ideology Will Affect High Court’s Ruling On Health Law
With the Supreme Court just two months away from hearing a historic legal challenge to the 2010 health law, nearly 60 percent of the public expects the justices to depend more on personal ideology than a legal analysis of the individual mandate, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation’s January health tracking poll. Just 28 percent of…
GOP played Keystone card, lost
If you missed the press conference after the State Department announcement that the Keystone XL pipeline had been canceled, you missed a heck of a show. House Speaker John Boehner was mad. And the Republican lawmakers behind him were furious. Over and over, Boehner and the gang asked angrily “What happened?” knowing full well that…
Five policies to watch from Obama’s State of the Union
Obama proposed much more policy, of course. You can see it all in Wonkblog’s policy-only edit of the speech. But the caveat to almost every idea he offered is the same: Most all of them require congressional cooperation. Cooperation the Obama administration is not likely to get. All tax bills, for instance, must originate in…
Some Employers Already Sending Workers To Exchanges to Buy Health Insurance
Fed up with the unpredictable cost of health insurance for his small business, Mike Sarafolean last year made a dramatic change: Instead of picking a plan to offer workers, he now sends them to a “private exchange” or marketplace where they compare and choose their own insurance. And the amount his company pays toward coverage…
More Americans Uninsured in 2011
The U.S. health insurance system is undergoing great upheaval, which combined with the troubled economy of the past several years is clearly affecting health insurance coverage in the country. The Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index data reveal that more Americans lack healthcare today than did four years ago. Groups that were already among the least likely to…
Tax rates of presidential candidates, in one chart
Late on Monday, Mitt Romney released his 2010 tax returns, showing that he paid 13.9 percent of his income in federal taxes. His rate is relatively low because most of his money comes from investment income, which is taxed at a lower rate than wages. But how does Romney stack up to previous presidential candidates?…
Your State of the Union Interview with President Obama
Tomorrow, President Obama will deliver his State of the Union address. He will lay out his vision for a nation where hard work and responsibility are rewarded, where everyone does their fair share, and where everyone is held accountable for their actions. Starting immediately after the speech, the White House will be using social media…
Florida Republicans’ Plan to Block Out the Sunshine
In their longstanding fight to privatize the state’s prison system—and a lot of other public services—Republican lawmakers in Florida are trying a new angle: doing it in secret. Proposed Committee Bill 7170, introduced Tuesday in the GOP-dominated state legislature, aims to prevent “information relating to the outsourcing or privatization of an agency function” from being reported…
What Obama’s Proposal to Move NOAA Means for Our Oceans
On January 13, President Barack Obama announced his plan to implement a sweeping reorganization of the Department of Commerce by consolidating six agencies involved in trade and economic competitiveness. One unintended consequence of this reshuffling is that by redesigning the Commerce Department, we now must find a home for the agency that comprised more than…
If the feds can shut down Megaupload, why do we need SOPA?
For more than a year, the Motion Picture Association of America and the Recording Industry Association of America have argued that existing laws were insufficient to deal with the problem of “rogue sites” hosted overseas. Theyve been pushing bills like the Stop Online Piracy Act SOPA and the PROTECT IP Act as essential weapons in…
Perrys standing diminished in Texas
Rick Perry had fallen so far by the end of his Presidential campaign that its not even clear he could have defeated Barack Obama in Texas. Our poll of the state last weekend found Perry leading Obama just 48-47, including a 51-44 deficit with independents. Perry had led Obama by 7 points on a September…
Muslim College Student Reports Sexual Harassment, Gets Reported To FBI For Terrorism And Expelled
In 2008, African-American Muslim student Balayla Ahmad enrolled in Connecticut’s University of Bridgeport with hopes of becoming a chiropractor. Instead, she became of a victim of sexual harassment. Distressed by the repeated sexual advances and “graphic offensive comments” of a male student, Ahmad reported the harassment and “fears for her safety” to multiple teachers, who…
Oil and Gas Jobs Increase by 75,000 Under Obama — 69,000 More Than Would Be Created By Keystone XL
Approximately 75,000 jobs were created in the oil and gas sector under the Obama Administration between 2009 to 2011, according to analysis of data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That’s roughly 69,000 more jobs than would be created by construction of the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline. The figures, reviewed by the Center for…
Dodd to Internet: You And Your Blackout Can Drop Dead
SOPA and PIPA are on the ropes, thanks in part to a recent flurry of Internet activism. Tomorrow, a number of sites, including Reddit and Wikipedia, plan to “blackout” their sites in protest—i.e., go inactive. And this isnt just some wily fringe movement: late on Tuesday, Google also got into the mix, announcing that it…
Mitt Romney’s Big Obama Jobs Lie
At the Fox News/Wall Street Journal debate Monday night in South Carolina, GOP presidential frontrunner Mitt Romney made a breathtakingly bogus claim about President Obama’s jobs record. “We have a president in office three years,” Romney claimed, “and he does not have a jobs plan yet.” Romney is either suffering from selective amnesia or is trying…
Romney’s Father Was Illegal Mexican Immigrant
Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney may be in the lead in the Palmetto state, but that doesn’t mean South Carolinians necessarily like him. During a Fox News debate at the Myrtle Beach Convention Center on Monday, the Republican audience booed loudly after being told that Romney’s father was born in Mexico. In a report last…
Georgia lawmaker who sponsored welfare drug testing bill busted for DUI
A Georgia Republican who co-sponsored legislation that would require random drug testing of welfare recipients was arrested on early Friday morning and charged with DUI, according to Channel 2 Action News. Rep. Kip Smith was pulled over after a police officer witnessed him run through a red light. The officer said he could smell the…
Fox Promotes Dubious Claim That 900 Deceased People Voted In SC
But Election Official Who Introduced The Statistic Reportedly Said Absentee Ballots Or Data Errors Could Be The Cause Palmetto Public Record: DMV Director Schwedo “Said Those 900 Voters Could Easily Have Voted Absentee Before Their Deaths.” From a January 12 Palmetto Public Record (SC) article: Supporters of the new Voter ID law are alleging fraud…