Free Republic

By one dismal measure, America is joining the likes of Third World countries. The number of U.S. residents who are struggling to survive on just $2 a day has more than doubled since 1996, placing 1.5 million households and 3 million children in this desperate economic situation. That's according to "$2.00 a Day: Living on Almost Nothing in America," a book from publisher Houghton Mifflin Harcourt that will be released on Sept. 1. The measure of poverty isn't arbitrary -- it's the threshold the World Bank uses to measure global poverty in the developed world. While it may be the...

The number of Americans who approve of President Obama's handling of the economy has slid seven points since June to 35 percent, according to a new poll from Gallup. During the same period, the number of Americans who approve of Mr. Obama's handling of taxes and the budget deficit dropped five points to 36 and 26 percent, respectively. The president' overall job approval rating dropped 3 points to 44 percent. The drop comes after weeks of focus on the economy by the president, who has traveled around the country touting his efforts to jump start growth in the housing and...

this is the typical response all my John Huntsman lovin' , Obama votin' friends have whenever talking up the economy. what say you?

Meager 18,000 increase in June heightens worries over economyWASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — A disappointing U.S. jobs report has stunned Wall Street and triggered a fresh round of political recriminations as to who and what’s to blame. The economy added a meager 18,000 jobs in June, stoking worries the U.S. economy is slumping again. See story on June jobs data. Here is a sample of reaction on Wall Street and in Washington. • “Today’s report is more evidence that the misguided ‘stimulus’ spending binge, excessive regulations, and an overwhelming national debt continue to hold back private-sector job creation in our country.” —...

Debbie Wasserman Schultz: ‘We own the economy’ By: Molly Ball June 15, 2011 11:35 AM EDT Democrats are ready to take responsibility for the state of the economy and they deserve credit for putting it on the right track, the party’s chairwoman, Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, said on Wednesday. “We own the economy. We own the beginning of the turnaround and we want to make sure that we continue that pace of recovery, not go back to the policies of the past under the Bush administration that put us in the ditch in the first place,” Wasserman Schultz told Mike...

(CNSNews.com) - Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin, the former governor of coal-producing West Virginia, is blasting the Obama administration for using the Environmental Protection Agency to regulate coal-fueled power plants out of business.On Thursday, American Electric Power company announced that to comply with a series of EPA regulations, it will close five coal-fired plants -- three in West Virginia and one each in Ohio and Virginia -- at a net cost of 600 jobs.American Electric Power is one of the largest electric utilities in the United States, delivering electricity to more than 5 million customers in 11 states."We have worked for...

In the clearest sign that the administration's economic policies have failed, the White House announced Monday night that Austan Goolsbee, Obama's economic recovery guru, is leaving the administration for a teaching job the University of Chicago says the LATimes. "Goolsbee, one of the White House's primary spokesmen on the economy, will return to his position as an economics professor at the University of Chicago's Booth School of Business, the White House said in an announcement Monday night," writes the Times. "In a prepared statement, Obama said: 'Since I first ran for the U.S. Senate, Austan has been a close friend and one of my most...

Dollar Loses More Ground. NEW YORK—The dollar dropped after economic indicators pointed to a dismal employment picture and slowing economic growth. The dollar has been hammered recently, losing out on interest-rate differentials and regularly hitting multiyear lows against other major currencies. Losses were especially bad Wednesday after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke indicated the central bank is far from tightening monetary policy as economic growth remains slow and unemployment remains high.

FORTUNE -- With nearly 14 million unemployed workers in America, many have gotten sodesperate that they're willing to work for free. While some businesses are wary of the legal risks and supervision such an arrangement might require, companies that have used free workers say it can pay off when done right. "People who work for free are far hungrier than anybody who has a salary, so they're going to outperform, they're going to try to please, they're going to be creative," says Kelly Fallis, chief executive of Remote Stylist, a Toronto and New York-based startup that provides Web-based interior design...

New home sales plunge to record low in February REUTERS — 6 MINUTES AGO WASHINGTON (Reuters) - New single-family home sales unexpectedly fell in February to hit a record low and prices were the lowest since December 2003, a government report showed on Wednesday, suggesting the housing market slide was deepening. The Commerce Department said sales dropped 16.9 percent to a seasonally adjusted 250,000 unit annual rate, the lowest since records began in 1963, after an upwardly revised 301,000-unit pace in January. Sales plunged to all-time lows in three of the four regions last month. Economists polled by Reuters had...

~ EXCERPT ~ WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — Sales of new single-family homes collapsed in February, the Commerce Department reported Wednesday, as a combination of high unemployment, tumbling prices and a glut of cheaper alternatives brought activity to a near-standstill. New-home sales fell 16.9% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 250,000 in February, though January’s figures were revised higher to 301,000 from 284,000. Compared to February 2010, sales collapsed by 28%. Every region but the West saw record lows, and in the Northeast, sales dropped by 50% compared to year-earlier levels.

(Reuters) - Oil jumped by more than $2 on Monday, sending Brent to $116 after western forces launched a military campaign against Libya, raising the stakes in a civil war that has nearly paralyzed crude exports from the north African nation. Brent crude for May rose as much as $2.26 to $116.19 a barrel and was up almost 1.7 percent at $115.82 by 0026 GMT. U.S. crude for April rose as much as $2.12 to $103.19 and was up $1.93 at $103. President Barack Obama has ordered U.S. forces into the biggest military intervention in the Arab world since the...

On the January 23 World News Sunday, ABC News Senior Washington Editor Rick Klein used President Obama’s euphemism for spending as "investments" as he and anchor Dan Harris discussed how Republicans will likely respond to Tuesday’s State of the Union Address. Although the setup piece by correspondent David Kerley did allude to Obama’s word choice to call his plan "cut and invest" as having significance, noting that it "worries Republicans," after the piece had ended, Klein used the term "investments" as if it were straight, nonpartisan terminology. Klein: But when you get down to the policy, the President talking about

Underemployment at 18.9%, compared with 19.0% at the end of Decemberby Dennis Jacobe, Chief Economist PRINCETON, NJ -- Unemployment, as measured by Gallup without seasonal adjustment, increased to 9.8% at the end of January -- up from 9.6% at the end of December, but down from 10.9% a year ago.

The regulars down at Sparky’s Diner were at a loss for words, and to be frank, so was I. This past week marked the one-year anniversary of being let go from my place of employment for the past ten years. The gang at Sparky’s never thought my unemployment would last this long. I figured it might take a few months, given my history over the past quarter century. To use a good Texas phrase: this ain’t my first rodeo. I dropped out of the job market in the mid ‘80s to finish my college education when it became painfully apparent...

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The national unemployment rate may have only ticked up slightly in August, but on a state-by-state basis, the jobs picture continues to look a lot more grim in places like Nevada, Michigan and California. A total of 27 states reported higher unemployment rates in August, nearly double the 14 that saw increases in July, the Labor Department said in its monthly report on state unemployment Tuesday. While the rate remained at 9.6% for the country as a whole, Nevada, Michigan and California have consistently racked up rates above 12%. Nevada had the worst rate for the...

43.6 Million Americans Living In Poverty Is The Highest Number Ever Recorded Joe Weisenthal Sep. 16, 2010, 10:31 AM This was expected, but it still hits you in the gut. Poverty in America has hit the highest level the Census has ever recorded, according to a new report out today. Image: Census[snip]

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The nation's top automakers reported disappointing sales Wednesday, resulting in the worst August for industrywide auto sales in 27 years. According to sales tracker Autodata, U.S. new vehicle sales fell just short of 1 million vehicles, a drop of 21% from a year ago, which included Cash for Clunkers. That federal program created a sugar rush of sales by dangling an incentive of up to $4,500 in cash for buyers who traded in older gas guzzlers for more efficient models.

A city does not die when its last resident moves away. Death happens when municipalities lose the industries and vital populations that made them important cities. The economy has evolved so much since the middle of the 20th Century that many cities that were among the largest and most vibrant in America have collapsed. Some have lost more than half of their residents. Others have lost the businesses that made them important centers of finance, manufacturing, and commerce. Most of America’s Ten Dead Cities were once major manufacturing hubs and others were important ports or financial services centers. The downfall...

San Diego-based MDA DataQuick said Tuesday that the drop from about 24,100 homes in June 2009 to around 19,000 homes last month came as federal tax credits that had been fueling sales expired. The firm says last month was the slowest July since 2007, when just under 18,000 homes sold. Last month's sales were also down about 21 percent from around 23,900 in June.