The usual suspects always make the structural argument because they just don’t believe in fiscal policy and the normal means of stimulating investment and consumption. And I think it’s important to understand the fate to which that consigns 15 million unemployed Americans.
The unemployed are far more likely to go without health insurance, especially now that the COBRA subsidy has lapsed, making it harder for unemployed workers to maintain their old employer-based health coverage. Being uninsured puts people at far greater risk for unnecessary deaths. The unemployed have less money to spend on basic necessities. A new paper from the National Bureau of Economic Research shows that unemployed workers frequently cut back on healthy foods like fruits and vegetables, leading to poorer diets and, eventually, bigger health problems. Recent studies show a linkage between unemployment and suicide; during this past recession, calls to suicide hotlines have jumped along with the unemployment rate.
Not everything pulls in this direction; recessions correlate with fewer car accidents, presumably because there are less cars on the road at peak drive-time hours; and higher wages can result in greater consumption of cigarettes, which makes sense, as cigarettes have become taxed so heavily that they practically have become a luxury good. But in a general sense, the impoverished lifestyle is a more dangerous lifestyle. They call it the safety net for a reason, because with unemployment comes far less safety.
So the folks claiming that unemployment is structural and we just have to wait for the business cycle to turn around are essentially allowing millions of people to get sicker, more suicidal and in general more at risk. That’s inexcusable when something can be done to ameliorate the situation. Yet that’s where we are.
UPDATE: Bob Herbert always has good thoughts related to this issue, and he does again today.
Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), a longtime advocate of Internet freedom, said she’s undaunted by the Federal Communications Commission’s decision to adopt net neutrality rules. Instead, she thinks the FCC’s action will be a catalyst for renewed commitment on the issue in the 112th Congress.
“What we will do is first use this as a way to show how we’re going to keep that Pledge to America,” she said yesterday at The Heritage Foundation. “We said in the Pledge that any rule or regulation that had more than $100 million impact on our nation’s economy would be subject to review. … This is an area where we can keep that Pledge. We can go ahead and start congressional review and move forward on getting this off the books.”
Blackburn was speaking at The Bloggers Briefing as the FCC debated the net neutrality rules. When the 112th Congress convenes on Jan. 5, Blackburn said she will reintroduce her bill to block the FCC from implementing the regulations and force the issue back to Congress.
“We’ve had bipartisan agreement on this, that the FCC should not take this action, that we, as members of Congress, should be the ones that are there to take that action or any action that should be done,” she said.
Of course, in this case, that “action” might be no action at all. After all, discontent with Internet service providers has not exactly been widespread. On the contrary, Blackburn said: Most people have been pleased with the access they’ve received from providers like AT&T, Verizon and Comcast.
“Our action is to make sure that the Internet remains unencumbered and does not have the FCC with a chokehold on it,” she said. “We are moving from an industrial, manufacturing, technology-based economy to a creative economy … and the creative economy depends on an unencumbered Internet.”
FCC intrusion would mean just the opposite — an Internet of interference and obstacles.
“What the FCC would do today is to implement the Fairness Doctrine for the Internet and force people to come to them,” Blackburn said. “They would have the determination of what could be innovated. They would have the determination of what should be the priority and value assigned to all the content that is traveling. So, we’re watching it very closely. We’re going to continue to do so as they go through the rule-making process and, then, come Jan. 5, you’re going to see us vigorously opposing this.”
That vigorous opposition will include a lack of funding if necessary, Blackburn said.
“That goes without saying,” she said. “We’re going to have numerous amendments to defund plenty of things in the House to keep money from going where they would like for money to be going, whether it is health care, whether it is the FCC, whether it is the EPA implementing cap-and-trade under the Clean Air Act. You’re going to see a series of amendments that would defund those activities that we view as being harmful to free enterprise and the American people.”
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bench craft company scam
Cable <b>News</b> Ratings 2010: Top 30 Programs Of The Year (PHOTOS)
2010 is almost done, and the cable news ratings for the entire year are in. As always, Fox News came out on top, thoroughly dominating the competition and taking the top 12 slots on the ratings list.
How Online <b>News</b> Evolved in 2010
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bench craft company scam
Cable <b>News</b> Ratings 2010: Top 30 Programs Of The Year (PHOTOS)
2010 is almost done, and the cable news ratings for the entire year are in. As always, Fox News came out on top, thoroughly dominating the competition and taking the top 12 slots on the ratings list.
How Online <b>News</b> Evolved in 2010
News is changing – quickly. The way it's researched, the way it's reported and the way we access it are all evolving rapidly. 2010 could well be remembered as a key year in the history of online news. Here are the key reasons why. ...
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A former Oregon bank manager who fled after she was accused of stealing up to $1.2 million from customers has surrendered in California, the FBI said. The FBI had been seeking 37-year-old Shawna Leimomi Moore-Saia since Oct. 27, ...
bench craft company scam
Cable <b>News</b> Ratings 2010: Top 30 Programs Of The Year (PHOTOS)
2010 is almost done, and the cable news ratings for the entire year are in. As always, Fox News came out on top, thoroughly dominating the competition and taking the top 12 slots on the ratings list.
How Online <b>News</b> Evolved in 2010
News is changing – quickly. The way it's researched, the way it's reported and the way we access it are all evolving rapidly. 2010 could well be remembered as a key year in the history of online news. Here are the key reasons why. ...
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A former Oregon bank manager who fled after she was accused of stealing up to $1.2 million from customers has surrendered in California, the FBI said. The FBI had been seeking 37-year-old Shawna Leimomi Moore-Saia since Oct. 27, ...
bench craft company scam
Cable <b>News</b> Ratings 2010: Top 30 Programs Of The Year (PHOTOS)
2010 is almost done, and the cable news ratings for the entire year are in. As always, Fox News came out on top, thoroughly dominating the competition and taking the top 12 slots on the ratings list.
How Online <b>News</b> Evolved in 2010
News is changing – quickly. The way it's researched, the way it's reported and the way we access it are all evolving rapidly. 2010 could well be remembered as a key year in the history of online news. Here are the key reasons why. ...
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A former Oregon bank manager who fled after she was accused of stealing up to $1.2 million from customers has surrendered in California, the FBI said. The FBI had been seeking 37-year-old Shawna Leimomi Moore-Saia since Oct. 27, ...
bench craft company scam
Cable <b>News</b> Ratings 2010: Top 30 Programs Of The Year (PHOTOS)
2010 is almost done, and the cable news ratings for the entire year are in. As always, Fox News came out on top, thoroughly dominating the competition and taking the top 12 slots on the ratings list.
How Online <b>News</b> Evolved in 2010
News is changing – quickly. The way it's researched, the way it's reported and the way we access it are all evolving rapidly. 2010 could well be remembered as a key year in the history of online news. Here are the key reasons why. ...
Fugitive Banker Surrenders in $1.2 Million Fraud Case - AOL <b>News</b>
A former Oregon bank manager who fled after she was accused of stealing up to $1.2 million from customers has surrendered in California, the FBI said. The FBI had been seeking 37-year-old Shawna Leimomi Moore-Saia since Oct. 27, ...
bench craft company scam
Cable <b>News</b> Ratings 2010: Top 30 Programs Of The Year (PHOTOS)
2010 is almost done, and the cable news ratings for the entire year are in. As always, Fox News came out on top, thoroughly dominating the competition and taking the top 12 slots on the ratings list.
How Online <b>News</b> Evolved in 2010
News is changing – quickly. The way it's researched, the way it's reported and the way we access it are all evolving rapidly. 2010 could well be remembered as a key year in the history of online news. Here are the key reasons why. ...
Fugitive Banker Surrenders in $1.2 Million Fraud Case - AOL <b>News</b>
A former Oregon bank manager who fled after she was accused of stealing up to $1.2 million from customers has surrendered in California, the FBI said. The FBI had been seeking 37-year-old Shawna Leimomi Moore-Saia since Oct. 27, ...
bench craft company scam
Cable <b>News</b> Ratings 2010: Top 30 Programs Of The Year (PHOTOS)
2010 is almost done, and the cable news ratings for the entire year are in. As always, Fox News came out on top, thoroughly dominating the competition and taking the top 12 slots on the ratings list.
How Online <b>News</b> Evolved in 2010
News is changing – quickly. The way it's researched, the way it's reported and the way we access it are all evolving rapidly. 2010 could well be remembered as a key year in the history of online news. Here are the key reasons why. ...
Fugitive Banker Surrenders in $1.2 Million Fraud Case - AOL <b>News</b>
A former Oregon bank manager who fled after she was accused of stealing up to $1.2 million from customers has surrendered in California, the FBI said. The FBI had been seeking 37-year-old Shawna Leimomi Moore-Saia since Oct. 27, ...
bench craft company scam
Cable <b>News</b> Ratings 2010: Top 30 Programs Of The Year (PHOTOS)
2010 is almost done, and the cable news ratings for the entire year are in. As always, Fox News came out on top, thoroughly dominating the competition and taking the top 12 slots on the ratings list.
How Online <b>News</b> Evolved in 2010
News is changing – quickly. The way it's researched, the way it's reported and the way we access it are all evolving rapidly. 2010 could well be remembered as a key year in the history of online news. Here are the key reasons why. ...
Fugitive Banker Surrenders in $1.2 Million Fraud Case - AOL <b>News</b>
A former Oregon bank manager who fled after she was accused of stealing up to $1.2 million from customers has surrendered in California, the FBI said. The FBI had been seeking 37-year-old Shawna Leimomi Moore-Saia since Oct. 27, ...
bench craft company scam
Cable <b>News</b> Ratings 2010: Top 30 Programs Of The Year (PHOTOS)
2010 is almost done, and the cable news ratings for the entire year are in. As always, Fox News came out on top, thoroughly dominating the competition and taking the top 12 slots on the ratings list.
How Online <b>News</b> Evolved in 2010
News is changing – quickly. The way it's researched, the way it's reported and the way we access it are all evolving rapidly. 2010 could well be remembered as a key year in the history of online news. Here are the key reasons why. ...
Fugitive Banker Surrenders in $1.2 Million Fraud Case - AOL <b>News</b>
A former Oregon bank manager who fled after she was accused of stealing up to $1.2 million from customers has surrendered in California, the FBI said. The FBI had been seeking 37-year-old Shawna Leimomi Moore-Saia since Oct. 27, ...
bench craft company scam
Cable <b>News</b> Ratings 2010: Top 30 Programs Of The Year (PHOTOS)
2010 is almost done, and the cable news ratings for the entire year are in. As always, Fox News came out on top, thoroughly dominating the competition and taking the top 12 slots on the ratings list.
How Online <b>News</b> Evolved in 2010
News is changing – quickly. The way it's researched, the way it's reported and the way we access it are all evolving rapidly. 2010 could well be remembered as a key year in the history of online news. Here are the key reasons why. ...
Fugitive Banker Surrenders in $1.2 Million Fraud Case - AOL <b>News</b>
A former Oregon bank manager who fled after she was accused of stealing up to $1.2 million from customers has surrendered in California, the FBI said. The FBI had been seeking 37-year-old Shawna Leimomi Moore-Saia since Oct. 27, ...
bench craft company scam
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