http://www.workingamerica.org/blog Working America's Blog Thu, 02 Jul 2009 18:45:03 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en CNN: There was a net loss of 467,000 jobs in June, compared with a revised loss of 322,000 jobs in May. This was the first time in four months that the number of jobs lost rose from the prior month. --snip-- The unemployment rate rose for the ninth straight month, climbing to ... http://www.workingamerica.org/blog/2009/07/02/weekly-jobless-numbers%e2%80%94no-green-shoots-this-week/ I suppose it doesn't get more personal than this one. I went to the Doctor the other day. After the $30 copay, 3 new prescriptions and a Dr's request that I head to Radiology and for blood work for two new tests, I decided that maybe I needed to re-think health ... http://www.workingamerica.org/blog/2009/07/01/theres-something-wrong-with-this-picture/ Michigan’s Monroe on a Budget blog covers the Unemployment Lifeline. Teamsters President James P. Hoffa takes on the idea of taxing health care benefits, which: would destroy employer-sponsored health insurance. Adding a tax onto an already crushing expense for employers and employees would create a huge disincentive to buy employer-sponsored health insurance. It would ... http://www.workingamerica.org/blog/2009/06/30/interesting-things-around-the-internet-10/ On Thursday, Working America staff joined thousands of other union members and health care activists to rally for real health care reform. You can read about the rally here or here or here or here. And here are a few pictures from the Working America angle: (That's Edie Falco of Nurse Jackie ... http://www.workingamerica.org/blog/2009/06/30/working-america-rallies-for-health-care/ We had a great week organizing customers and employees of the Sandusky, OH Wal-Mart around education reform. We heard the same thing we've been hearing all around the community: schools in towns like Sandusky are hurting badly, with recently announced layoffs the latest piece of evidence. Of course, at Wal-Mart, we heard ... http://www.workingamerica.org/blog/2009/06/29/scenes-from-ohio-education-reform-at-wal-mart/ In The Great Risk Shift, Jacob Hacker lays out the deterioration of retirement benefits: Twenty-five years ago, 83 percent of medium and large firms offered traditional "defined-benefit" pensions that provided a predetermined monthly benefit for the remainder of a worker's life. Today, the share is below a third....Between 1989 and ... http://www.workingamerica.org/blog/2009/06/27/chipping-away-at-retirement-security/ What if you could tell people were uninsured just by looking at them? You’d know how widespread the problem is, that’s for sure. Paul Starr points to some dangers that have to be avoided in designing a public health insurance plan. Washington Post: Recovery’s Missing Ingredient: New Jobs. As ... http://www.workingamerica.org/blog/2009/06/26/interesting-things-around-the-internet-9/ I'm a single mom. And I've got lots on my mind, yeah, like many of you. I seem to always be worrying about the future. You know like: How do I make the mortgage this month? Do I have to by generic or can I go for the brand name cereal? Oh, no, ... http://www.workingamerica.org/blog/2009/06/26/hey-pass-the-tums/ Oh, look. Another story about bailed-out financial corporations planning to give raises or extra bonuses to employees. For some Citigroup investment bankers and traders, the changes could mean salary increases of as much as 50 percent, depending on their position. Legal and risk management employees, as well as those ... http://www.workingamerica.org/blog/2009/06/25/raises-for-wall-street/ Daily Kos diarist Dem Beans points to an appalling newsletter from Missouri State Rep. Cynthia Davis. Objecting to an expansion of a summer lunch program, Davis wrote that “hunger can be a positive motivator. What is wrong with the idea of getting a job so you can get better meals?” ... http://www.workingamerica.org/blog/2009/06/25/%e2%80%9chunger-can-be-a-positive-motivator%e2%80%9d/ Thursday as in tomorrow. Join thousands of union leaders, union members, Working America members and allies in our nation's capital to demand real health care reform that works for real people. Tomorrow's mobilization comes at a historic time in our fight to turn around America. This summer, Congress will craft the ... http://www.workingamerica.org/blog/2009/06/24/health-care-reform-rally-thursday/ Organizing for America is posting health care stories “told by hundreds of thousands of ordinary Americans who have watched their premiums rise faster than wages, and spiraling costs shackle American businesses.” Read other people’s stories or share your own. Student loans make it possible for people to go to college ... http://www.workingamerica.org/blog/2009/06/24/interesting-things-around-the-internet-8/ The situation in Michigan, where unemployment hit 14.1% in May. Despite billions of federal dollars being poured into Michigan's unemployment benefits program, the safety net for jobless workers doesn't stretch far or wide enough for a growing number of residents as the state jobless rate hits its highest mark in a ... http://www.workingamerica.org/blog/2009/06/23/unemployment-eligibility-falling-short-in-michigan/ Paul Krugman points out that the talk about the cost of health care reform leaves out the fact that the Bush tax cuts (which went overwhelmingly to the wealthiest Americans) cost more. For that matter, so did the Iraq war. At Daily Kos, DemfromCT runs through a mass of polling ... http://www.workingamerica.org/blog/2009/06/22/health-care-round-up-4/ by Tommy Todd—Minnesota The other night, I was speaking with an older woman and her grandson. They had indicated that education was their top priority. I told them all the wonderful things Working America was fighting for in education, and before I even got a chance to mention dues, her ... http://www.workingamerica.org/blog/2009/06/22/spider-man-approved/