Charlotte, NC – In a speech Thursday marking the 90th anniversary of women being granted the right to vote, U.S. Senate candidate Elaine Marshall called on Alan Simpson to resign as co-chair of President Obama’s fiscal commission following derisive comments the former Wyoming Senator made about Social Security recipients. "Alan Simpson’s remarks were disrespectful to women and to social security recipients. He should resign or the President should fire him,” Marshall said, speaking at the Levine Museum of the New South in Charlotte. “The fact that he thinks this way shows that he can’t do his job with an open mind. We should be doing everything in our power to strengthen and protect Social Security, not attacking the recipients who depend on it.”Full Story, Permalink »
The professors were asked to provide their collective opinion on whether the series met universally accepted standards of journalism and whether they would have accepted the segments for broadcast. The request originated with Tom Howe, director and general manager of UNC-TV. However, Mr. Howe later informed the professors that he wanted to postpone the review of the series. As a result, the draft memorandum was never issued. However, given the unfounded and damaging claims about Alcoa contained in the UNC-TV report, we believe it is important that the entire report be made public. The attached draft memorandum was provided by UNC to Alcoa’s attorney in response to a public records request. Alcoa is solely responsible for the decision to distribute the draft memorandum further.Full Story, Permalink »
Hey, it's still summer — enjoy it. Meanwhile, some reads for you.
• PPP looks at the trends in NC politics
• Martha Minnow, who succeeded Justice Kagan at Harvard Law, sets a few things straight.
• Gigantic Center for American Progress report on what Merkins want from their Guvmit
• Conway on Rand Paul: A Waffling Pessimist Who Wants To Be The Prince Of Cable TV
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Welcome to the recovery — not In the latest monthly report, Orange County saw a half percent jump in unemployment in June, rising from 6 percent to 6.5 percent. For the freshly unemployed, there is little comfort in knowing that we remain one of the counties with the lowest rates of unemployment in the state. Statewide, we jumped one-tenth of a percent to 10.1 percent. Anyone looking for work in this climate knows finding any job is tough and finding one in a field you’re interested in or located nearby is even tougher. So it’s infuriating on so many levels to hear the bash-the-unemployed rhetoric pouring out of the recent congressional debate over benefit extensions and jobs programs. The idea that there is a vast couch-potato conspiracy is totally divorced from reality. Perhaps some among that 10.1 percent here in the Old North State are satisfied being on the dole, but most would be happy to have their jobs back. Then there is the equally phony outrage that consumers are not spending enough to gin up the economy. We learned in the droughts over the past decade that once people change habits and showerheads, they don’t suddenly become water wasters when it starts raining again. So if you’re waiting on the great American consumer to come through, think again. Wages are stagnant, spending reflects that and, wisely, more and more people are coming to understand that the equity in their home is not a piggy bank. In a recent New York Times op-ed, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner applauded the new frugality. But his essay on the so-called recovery offered little else to anyone outside of the boardrooms. Yes, balance sheets and profits are up and it’s wonderful, we suppose, that very large investment banks are doing so well that they’re repaying their bailout faster than thought. But foreclosures and bankruptcies are also on the rise. And just how should the unemployed, underemployed and newly destitute decode the secretary’s history lesson about how recoveries take time? As many have pointed out, massive unemployment is growing acceptable among the people calling the shots. Whether the result of being cowed by critics or not, the administration and Congress’ timidity in pursuing any new efforts to put people back to work prior to the fall election sends the message that 10 percent unemployment is somehow all right for now. It seems that rather than putting their energies into solutions, policymakers, pundits and politicians of all stripes are trying to convince themselves that widespread, chronic joblessness is part of some new reality. They pursue that thinking at their own peril and, unfortunately, ours.Full Story, Permalink »
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