Free Republic

Democrats move to shore up faltering recoveryBy Lori Montgomery and Neil Irwin Tuesday, August 24, 2010; 11:17 PM A rapidly weakening economy threatens to undermine President Obama's assertion that he has set the nation on a path to prosperity and, with barely two months until congressional midterm elections, Democrats find themselves with few options for reviving the faltering recovery. The latest sign that the economy is losing steam: Home sales fell 27 percent in July, the steepest one-month drop since figures were first compiled in 1968, according to a report released Tuesday. Analysts had expected sales to decline following the...

The Obama Administration announced “Recovery Summer” in June to highlight the expected gains in jobs and economic strength resulting from Obama’s stimulus.. Well, maybe next summer. Initial estimates from the Department of Labor (DOL) suggest the economy shed a whopping 131,000 jobs in July while employment for the prior two months was revised down by 97,000 jobs. The unemployment rate held steady in August at 9.5 percent despite a drop in employment, because the number of people in the workforce also declined as workers appear to be giving up in the face of persistent high unemployment. To an important extent,...

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- A government report Thursday brought bad news for workers and the economy: The number of unemployed Americans seeking a financial lifeline has reached its highest level in nine months. Last week, the number of first-time filers for unemployment insurance rose for the third time in a row, to 500,000, according to a Labor Department report released Thursday. There were 488,000 claims filed the previous week. "This 500,000 level is very difficult, on both a psychological and semi-technical level," said Tim Quinlan, an economist at Wells Fargo. Initial claims had been hovering in the mid- to upper-400,000s...

The average temperature in July was 79 degrees, five degrees below normal, and the first eight days of this month also have been five to six degrees below normal, weather experts said That could put Southern California on track for a near-record-low summer, but it's still too early to say, according to weather experts. The Los Angeles area, in fact, has had below-normal temperatures every month since April. On Monday forecasters were monitoring a high-pressure system developing to the north that could swing over Southern California by Sunday and heat things into the mid-90s in some inland areas, she said....

... Ms. Jarrin is part of a hard-luck tribe of jobless whose members have taken to calling themselves “99ers,” because they have exhausted the maximum 99 weeks of unemployment insurance benefits that they can claim. For them, the resolution recently of the lengthy Senate scrum over extending jobless benefits was no balm. The measure renewed two federal programs that extended jobless benefits in this recession beyond the traditional 26 weeks to anywhere from 60 to 99 weeks, depending on the state’s unemployment rate. But many jobless have now exceeded those limits. They are adjusting to a new, harsh reality with...

Biden says Recovery Act is on trackPublished: July 30, 2010 at 2:35 PM WASHINGTON, July 30 (UPI) -- Vice President Joe Biden said Friday the 2009 Recovery Act had saved or created 750,000 jobs in the second quarter, the highest quarterly total to date. "This record number reflects the early impact of our surge in projects across the country as part of "Recovery Summer," Biden said in a statement. He said the 750,000 jobs were the result of $80 billion in federal spending, 17 percent of the $787 billion package. Biden said the reporting on the jobs was "not perfect...

The unusually cool summer continued in Southern California, where several new record-low temperatures were recorded on Wednesday. The 68-degree low at Los Angeles International Airport broke the old record low for the day, which was 70 degrees in 1991. Santa Barbara (68) and San Luis Obispo (69) broke records as well. The temperature at USC, 75, tied the record low set in 1999. UCLA also set a record, 56 degrees, according to the National Weather Service. While the region saw a heat wave a few weeks ago, temperatures have been gradually going down again as July comes to an end....

Through Thursday, the temperature at Philadelphia International Airport has averaged 81.8 degrees for the month, 4.4 degrees above normal. The way forecasts are shaping up, the city is headed for its third-hottest July on record, a shade behind 82.4 in 1872 and 82.1 in 1994. The last below-normal day in the city was July 2; there have been just six below-normal days in Philadelphia in the last two months.

WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama is taking his family back to Martha's Vineyard, Mass., for summer vacation next month. The White House announced the vacation plans on Friday, one day after disclosing that the Obamas would overnight somewhere along Florida's oil-threatened Gulf Coast on the weekend of Aug. 14.

Proving that there is no folly fallacious enough that it can't be written down, both in a book and in an oped in the Washington Post, Stan Cox, an agricultural scientist, has proposed to ban or greatly restrict air conditioning.

Britain's heatwave could have caused a sharp rise in deaths over the past two weeks, health officials warned today. The Health Protection Agency (HPA) said its analysis of government data on death rates in June or July over the past decade revealed there had been several hundred "excess deaths" in the past two weeks, which could be due to the heat. "Although these are very preliminary data, experts suggest that the hot weather may have been the cause for some of the increase," a HPA spokesman said.

In case you wondered where I’ve been since last week, I’ll tell you first what I haven’t been doing. I haven’t been at work; I haven’t been spending upwards of $100 a week for my public transportation; I also haven’t been spending 5 hours commuting to and from work each day. What I have been doing is spending time here: Red River Beach, in Harwich, MA.

As the last firecracker sizzled in the night, I heaved a sigh of relief. It is not that I do not enjoy a good firework display, but after all, when you have seen one firecracker they are all just about the same. The thing they all have in common is they cost money. That is my problem. Blowing up bushels of dollars in the air does not seem very exciting to me. But the Fourth of July celebration has a different meaning for me. Certainly, I revere and celebrate the patriotic significance of the Fourth of July and faithfully pray...

More children in the Dayton area and Ohio are relying on free summer meal programs. In 2009, schools and community groups in Montgomery County served 510,496 free summer meals, a 20 percent increase since 2007, according to the Ohio Department of Education. Statewide, schools and community groups last year served 3.56 million free summer meals, an increase of 10 percent from 2008 and 17 percent from 2007, according to federal data. Food service officials expect the numbers to be even higher this year. Money is tight in the home of Amanda Gyldholm, a 32-year-old single mother of four who is...

Arizona is under attack. Absurd left-wing hysterics are throwing violent, half-witted tantrums day-and-night over the state's "controversial" new law requiring people to endure the tragedy of identifying themselves.

Note: The following news brief is a quote: Last Update: 12/25 9:52 pm Memphis Man Arrested: Accused of Making Bomb Threats & Threatening to Start "Holy War" MEMPHIS, TN – Tonight, Mohamed Ibrahim is out after posting $100 bond. Earlier in the day, he was arrested after police say he walked into several Memphis businesses and threatened to blow them up. Court records show Ibrahim was also telling people he was Muslim, and wanted to start a jihad, or holy war, in Memphis. Police say when they arrested him, he had a butcher knife hidden in one of his jacket...

WASHINGTON (Sept. 27) -- Students beware: The summer vacation you just enjoyed could be sharply curtailed if President Barack Obama gets his way.

President Obama wants kids to spend more time in school. Students in the U.S. need more class time to remain competitive with students around the world, the President said. Obama advocates schools adding time to classes, extending hours into evenings and weekends, and shortening summer vacation. "Now, I know longer school days and school years are not wildly popular ideas, not with Malia and Sasha, not in my family, probably not in yours. But the challenges of a new century demand more time in the classroom," Obama said. Some schools that extended their hours have seen positive results. Early results...

WASHINGTON – Students beware: The summer vacation you just enjoyed could be sharply curtailed if President Barack Obama gets his way. Obama says American kids spend too little time in school, putting them at a disadvantage with other students around the globe. "Now, I know longer school days and school years are not wildly popular ideas," the president said earlier this year. "Not with Malia and Sasha, not in my family, and probably not in yours. But the challenges of a new century demand more time in the classroom." The president, who has a sixth-grader and a third-grader, wants schools...

WASHINGTON – Students beware: The summer vacation you just enjoyed could be sharply curtailed if President Barack Obama gets his way. Obama says American kids spend too little time in school, putting them at a disadvantage with other students around the globe. "Now, I know longer school days and school years are not wildly popular ideas," the president said earlier this year. "Not with Malia and Sasha, not in my family, and probably not in yours. But the challenges of a new century demand more time in the classroom." The president, who has a sixth-grader and a third-grader, wants schools...