Category: Economy

Poll: Growing Number of Americans Oppose Repealing Health Insurance Reform Law

Posted on by TL

A new 60 Minutes/Vanity Fair poll asks a random sample of 855 adults nationwide, interviewed by telephone May 6-9, 2010, whether any parts of the health insurance reform law should be repealed. Results show that a plurality of Americans said they would prefer Republicans to leave the new healthcare law alone and not repeal any parts of it.

As you may know, many Republicans have vowed to repeal President Obama’s health-care-reform law. Which part, if any, WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE THEM GET RID OF?

  ALL REP. DEM. IND.
Requiring all Americans to buy health insurance 30% 45% 13% 32%
Stopping insurance companies from denying coverage 8 6 6 11
Letting children stay
insured until age 26		 8 10 8 7
Expanding prescription
coverage for seniors		 2 3 1 1
None; I’d keep them all 42 18 68 38

Tip of the hat to The Wonk Room at Think Progress for this.

Job Market Thaws Slightly for 2010 Grads

Posted on by TL
graduates

This year’s graduates may find a few more jobs than last year’s grads..

No, this is not the news we had been waiting for. The economy is still in recovery mode, but some indicators are looking better.

From the Sun-Times:

The National Association of Colleges and Employers spring job outlook survey revealed employers plan to increase college hiring by 5.3 percent this year from 2009. A separate NACE student survey found 24.4 percent of responding graduating college seniors who applied for jobs said they had jobs waiting this year. That is up from 19.7 percent who said so a year earlier, but still no major turnaround.

Staff at local universities said they have not yet completed their surveys of students’ job search results. But job postings are up at some. Still others have seen dropoffs in employer interest as the shaky economy continues to make it tough for graduates to launch their careers.

Still, the numbers are all over the place in Chicago:

The University of Chicago has seen a 36 percent increase in job postings this year compared to last, and the number of recruiters on campus rose 23 percent, said Marthe Druska, senior associate director, Career Advising & Planning Services.

At DePaul University, April job postings — the most recent data available — were up 37 percent. Still, that was 40 percent below April 2008, notes Carol Montgomery, associate vice president of career and money management at DePaul. The university meanwhile saw an 11 percent drop in the 2009-10 year in the number of employers attending job fairs this year compared to last, she said.

Job postings and internships at the University of Illinois at Chicago fell 10 percent, and employers attending job fairs declined 33 percent, said Katherine Battee-Freeman, assistant director for recruitment.

Graduating seniors here expected a tough time in their job search. Among them was DePaul business student Jacqueline Scharf, who majored in operations management.

To the grads, remember, any job "in the meantime" is better than sitting on mom and dad’s couch. So suck it up, get over yourself, and get out there. Work fast food or drive a cab, whatever it takes. Stay active and show employers you want to work and can do so dependably.

BP: The Only People Qualified to Stop the Oil Spilling into the Gulf, and They Haven’t Got a Clue

Posted on by TL

Gulf Oil spill video

From the live feed courteously provided by BP, May 31, 2010, ca. 10:45 CST.

We need to face it: “They” have no idea what they’re doing.

“They.” You know who “they” are. “They” are the ones who are supposed to know these things. “They” are the ones who say all those neat thing, you know, as in, “They say.”

In this case, “they” are BP, British Petroleum, those responsible for what is now the greatest ecological disaster the United States has ever known.

And, yes, we can blame the government of the good ol’ US of A.

First, allow me to add my voice to the chorus of voices thanking President George W. Bush for working so hard to create such an affable relationship between the oil industry execs and those in our government responsible for regulating them. Thanks so much to President George W. Bush putting the oil industry first, over and above the health and welfare of the citizens of the United States. Thanks so much to President George W. Bush for trusting the oil industry to essentially police itself.

That is well-deserved, my friends.

I don’t know yet if President Barack Obama should have reacted more quickly, if President Obama dropped the ball in working to regulate the oil industry.

I do know that if President Obama had reacted more quickly, perhaps sent the U.S. Navy to the Gulf of Mexico to plug the leak, I doubt we would be any better off. Please, no offense at all to our men and women who serve, but the United States Armed Forces don’t train for oil recovery or oil well disaster management.

That’s supposed to be what British Petroleum and all those other wonderful oil companies do.

And get this, British Petroleum is using dispersants that are banned in the United Kingdom, and using them in quantities greater than dispersants have ever been used in the history of U.S. oil spills.

This time, the great “They” are British Petroleum, the great BP, and they haven’t got a clue what to do about this oil leak.

The latest is that BP is trying once again to use a dome to funnel some of the leaking crude to a tanker on the surface. The New York Times gives us the good news:

If successful — and after the string of failures so far, there is no guarantee it will be — the containment dome may be able to capture most of the oil, but it would not plug the leak. Its failure would mean continued environmental and economic damage to the gulf region, as well as greater public pressure on BP and the Obama administration, with few options remaining for trying to contain the spill any time soon.

If unsuccessful, that will leave the Gulf with gushing oil at least through August, which is the earliest engineers will be able to engineers “complete the drilling of a relief well, which would allow them to plug the leaking well with cement,” the NYTimes reports.

They haven’t got a clue.

Watch.

Red Tape Chronicles Uncovers Business-Killer Credit Card Swipe Fees

Posted on by TL

Bob Sullivan covers Internet scams and consumer fraud for MSNBC.com. He is the winner of multiple journalism awards for his coverage of online crime and author of Gotcha Capitalism:
How Hidden Fees Rip You Off Every Day and What You Can Do About It. and Your Evil Twin:
Behind the Identity Theft Epidemic.

Bob was recently in Pittsburgh, where he spent some time with a small business getting taken to the bank with credit card swipe fees.

From Bob’s blog, The Red Tape Chronicles:

You probably swipe a credit or debit card through a magnetic stripe reader dozens of times each month. It’s a simple act, but it’s it at the core of a battle between titans with billions of dollars at stake. On one side are big banks, which take a cut every time a card is swiped. On the other are retailers like Mike McArdle, who are tired of paying Visa, MasterCard and their member banks $1 or $2 every time a customer makes a purchase.

McArdle runs McArdle’s Pub on Pittsburgh’s South Side, the very definition of a family business. It opened in 1939, and the sign above the front door doesn’t look like it’s been changed since. It once held a prime spot near two of the Steel City’s largest steel plants. Both of them have long since been converted to shopping malls, but McArdle’s plugs away, thanks to its position just off the main entertainment strip in Pittsburgh’s hippest neighborhood.

For years, banks have held the upper hand in the fight with the McArdles of the world, but no more. Last week, the U.S. Senate approved legislation that could drastically change the way banks are compensated for card swipes, and that could impact what happens every time you pull out your wallet. In fact, the legislation could provide incentives — that means money — for Americans to leave the plastic in their wallet and pull out old-fashioned cash instead.

As part of its omnibus financial reform bill, Congress is taking on what are called interchange fees — the price that merchants pay for banks to process their credit card transactions. Formulas vary, but generally stores pay a flat 50 cents or $1 per transaction fee, plus 1 to 2 percent of the purchase price.  Retailers have screamed for years that the fees are too high and that the card associations impose anti-competitive restrictions on them – given the limited choices among standards like Visa, MasterCard, American Express, and Discover.

Read more here.

Jewel-Osco: Where Have All the People Gone?

Posted on by TL

I ran to Jewel-Osco this morning before mass for dish detergent, and left with everything but.

After forgetting the item I really needed, I debated on waiting for a cashier, or trying to negotiate one of the so-called “self-checkout” lanes. Been there before, and the self-checkouts can be quick. More often than not, they’re simply annoying as the simple recorded voice reminds you to “place your item on the belt,” or “in a bag.”

I opted for the human being, telling her the self-checkout lanes cost real people jobs, and I prefer to work with people.

“Really? I hadn’t heard that side before,” she replied. “It takes three people to run those.”

There are seven self-checkout lanes at this particular store in Olympia Fields. Even using conservative figures for staffing of one cashier and three baggers for those seven lanes, that still means seven human beings are out of work.

Do the math with all Jewel-Osco stores in the Chicagoland area and beyond, and, well, you get the picture. They have 185 stores nationwide.  Multiply that  by the two to three shifts of people who are not working because of these shopping ports, and we’re suddenly talking real people without real jobs, or health care, etc. etc. etc.

Jewel-Osco: great savings every week, at a price.

Todd Stroger Thinks Cook County is His Corporation

Posted on by TL

Todd Stroger was happy to open the checkbook wider for one of his aides, and cash-strapped Cook County tax payers will have to pay more.

From the Southtown Star:

Jaye Morgan Williams, the county’s chief financial officer, sent letters to all 17 county commissioners Friday, explaining why Stroger boosted her pay from $176,156 to $230,000 for this year.

In the two-page letter, Williams, appointed by Stroger in August, noted that she helped deliver the county’s 2010 budget within 90 days of her start date, finished a "woefully stalled" 2008 audit just 90 days into her tenure and was earning less than two of her fellow CFOs on the county payroll.

She said she’s also taken on extra duties despite a 60-hour work week and at one point this year asked for "compensation consideration."

"As a professional with a long career in the industry, I do not want to get caught up in the current maelstrom and only ask that I be treated fairly," she wrote in a letter to the commissioners that was obtained by the Chicago Sun-Times.

A defensive Stroger echoed those sentiments Friday during a radio interview, saying Williams’ salary is a "lot of money, but she actually is a chief financial officer of a $3 billion corporation."

And there’s the rub: Cook County is not a corporation. Cook County is not a business.

Are you counting the days until the November election?

I am.

Free Rides May Finally End for Illinois Seniors

Posted on by TL

First, Illinois’ senior citizens must realize that Rod Blagojevich was practicing cheap politics when he railroaded free rides for seniors through the legislature. The state of Illinois simply can’t afford this for every senior in the state.

For those of you tuning in from other states, this has meant free rides on the CTA, Metra and Pace. Public transportation.

Generally, it’s easier to get something past the House of any legislature. Senates, state and the big one in D.C., can be more temperamental.

Well, today, the Illinois Senate took a vote:

The days of all Illinois seniors riding free on the CTA, Metra and Pace could be numbered. On Wednesday, the state Senate voted to limit those free rides to seniors who need them most. CBS 2’s Mike Parker reports it’s all about money.

Transit agencies have been complaining that the free ride program is costing them millions in lost revenue every year.

Some estimates have gone as high as $60 million a year in lost fare money. Those losses have affected the CTA, Metra and the RTA. Now the Senate has voted to limit free transit for seniors.

Single people over 65 who make more than about $41,000 a year could no longer ride for free. In a two-person household, the income limit would be about $55,000.

CBS 2 Chicago reminds us, " The free rides were inserted into legislation two years ago by then-governor Rod Blagojevich, who used it as a bargaining chip in a budget battle with the legislature."

It was a ploy — and a bad idea — from the start.

I recall a conversation with one Chicago legislator after Rod pushed this through the legislature. At the time, there was no know way to pay for the free rides. But the bill passed.

Thank you to the Illinois senators for working to plug the gap.

Governor Quinn, sign the bill.

For Honest Government, Oak Forest Must Keep Village Manager

Posted on by TL

Oak Forest is insane for considering the elimination of the position of Village Manager. Steger has apparently already gone off the deep end, voting to eliminate the position of Village Administrator.

This is wrong – and dangerous – on so many levels.

Here’s the danger: Blagojevich, Blagojevich, Blagojevich. And I’ll throw in the name Ryan, too.

It’s not that elected officials are inherently evil or unethical. It’s that elected officials and hired staff are human. As such, they are, we all are, susceptible to temptation. Thus, I believe, the genius of that line in the Lord’s Prayer Christians pray, "…lead us not into temptation." Why is that such an important and beautiful prayer for human beings?

Because human beings are easily tempted.

The position of Village Manager isolates elected officials on the local level from power — and that is a good thing. That is a necessary thing. The Council-Manager form of government is one of the smartest ideas on the planet.

  • Elected officials set policy.
  • The Village Manager and staff implement policy, and handle the day-to-day operations of village government.

What’s this all about?

From the Southtown Star:

Oak Forest Mayor Hank Kuspa came up with a surprising suggestion Thursday night to help the city save money: Eliminate the city administrator job.

Kuspa painted a grim financial picture for the city at a meeting of the city council’s finance committee and called for creative ways to help resolve its budget crisis.

Then he came up with one – abolishing the key post of city administrator, held now by John Marquart at a salary of $155,000.

In a prepared statement to aldermen, Kuspa called cutting the position, which oversees the daily operation of city government, "perhaps the hardest decision of all." He did not say how city operations would be managed if the position were eliminated.

First, Oak Forest will be losing much, much more than they will gain by eliminating a $155,000 salary. Oak Forest’s elected officials will be putting themselves one step closer to the temptation of running Oak Forest the way Todd Stroger has run Cook County: government-by-patronage. And patronage is a horribly expensive way to run government.

Tax payers of Oak Forest, do you really want your elected officials dolling out jobs, giving jobs to friends, creating jobs for friends and family? You need to think long-term. 20 years from now, in the absence of a Great Recession, what will your elected officials be up to? What power will they have that they do not have now? How many of their relatives will they have hired for positions that do not now exist?

Mayor Hank Kuspa and the board are putting Oak Forest on a suicide course. Village Managers — and Village Administrators — are essential to keeping elected officials focused on policy as opposed to patronage.

The temptation is too great. Elected officials — present and future — need to isolate themselves from temptation.

Or they, and Oak Forest, won’t have a prayer.

Health Insurance Industry Agrees To Fix Kids Coverage Gap

Posted on by TL

The threat from the health insurance industry came Monday on an apparent loophole which apparently gave insurers wiggle room to deny coverage to children with preexisting conditions.

From the Associated Press:

The fine print of the law appears to have been less than completely clear on whether kids with health problems are guaranteed coverage starting this year. If there’s a problem, some parents and their children may have to wait a long time: The legislation’s broad ban on denying coverage to any person on account of a health condition doesn’t take effect until 2014.

The sticking point is that the immediate benefit for children may not be as sweeping as Obama has claimed in extolling the legislation.

That’s because the law can also be read to mean that if an insurance company accepts a particular child, it cannot write a policy for a child that excludes coverage for a given condition. For example, if the child has asthma, the insurer cannot exclude inhalers and respiratory care from coverage, as sometimes happens now.

But the company could still turn down the child altogether.

Now, that will not happen. Again from the AP:

The insurance industry says it won’t fight President Barack Obama over fixing a coverage gap for kids in the new health care law.

In a letter Monday to Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, the industry’s top lobbyist says insurers will accept new regulations to dispel uncertainty over a much publicized guarantee that children with pre-existing medical problems can get coverage starting this year.

The president of America’s Health Insurance Plans said the industry will "fully comply" with the regulations, expected within weeks.

Onward to what’s next…