But it’s not getting better fast enough, says Fifth District Republican Congressman Robert Hurt.

“A drop in the national unemployment average is always good news. However, the jobless rate remains above 8 percent now for the 36th consecutive month and we begin 2012 just as we left off in 2011 – with far too many out of work both in the Fifth District and across the country. Despite this drop nationally, many areas in the Fifth District still face double-digit unemployment rates due to years of failed big government policies,” Hurt said in a statement.

It’s politics season, certainly, and Democrats are working to sell the message that the jobs situation is, based on the improving employment numbers, indeed getting better.

“The good news is that the U.S. economy has added private sector jobs for 23 consecutive months and manufacturing remains a bright spot, but too many Americans are still struggling through the wake of the worst recession since the 1930s,’ U.S. Senate candidate Tim Kaine said. “In the coming weeks and months, it is imperative that our leaders in Washington set aside partisan games and find common ground to advance important measures that will encourage economic growth, like an extension of the payroll tax cut through the end of the year and hiring incentives for our returning veterans. I hope our leaders will also recognize that our long-term prosperity depends on their ability to responsibly reduce our deficit while still making the types of investments in education, workforce training and infrastructure that have helped pave the way for our recovery.

“The dangerous ‘all cuts’ approach that my opponents advocate would turn back the clock on the progress we’ve made. Instead of a return to the same failed economic policies that helped create this mess, I believe we need forward-looking investments that will help us emerge from this recession even stronger than before our economic collapse,” Kaine said.

Any celebrations of the news of the continued improvements in the jobs situation should “stay sober,” said Robert L. Borosage, co-director of the progressive Campaign for America’s Future.

“The U.S. economy is still slogging slowly against fierce headwinds,” Borosage said. “We are still 6 million jobs short of where we were when the Great Recession began.  There are still nearly 24 million people in need of full-time work.  There are still over 4 people lining up for every available job.

“Austerity continues to impede the recovery,” Borosage said. “Government employment was flat last month, but state and local governments project more cuts.  Austerity in Europe is driving the EU and the United Kingdom into recession.  U.S. exports will suffer accordingly, even without a Greek default or a financial calamity.  US government spending will be constricted by the budget deals.”

Republicans, for their part, are preaching that fiscal austerity in Washington will key continued economic recovery.

“The House has already sent over 30 bipartisan jobs bills to the Senate – yet these bills still remained stalled in that chamber,” Hurt said. “At a time when we are entering the fourth year of over trillion dollar deficits that are causing disastrous effects on American job creation, it is critically important that we enact these commonsense policies that will remove the government as a barrier to job creation, rein in reckless spending, and restore opportunities for businesses to create jobs both in Central and Southside Virginia and across this country.”

The rate has been trending downward since March 2010, when the rate reached a high of 7.3 percent. The unemployment rate in Virginia continues to trend a couple of points below the national rate, which stood at 9.0 percent in January.

“The number one priority of our Administration is getting the Commonwealth’s economy back on track. We are focused on putting in place the policies, tools and resources that will help the private sector create good jobs in every region of the state. Today’s news that the unemployment rate has fallen to a near-two year low demonstrates that this bipartisan effort is paying off,” Gov. Bob McDonnell and Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling said in a joint statement today.

With all the hype over burning Korans, building mosques, protesting Tea Partiers, not to mention the triumph of good over evil of the Redskins beating the Cowboys a week ago Sunday, you might have missed that point of some, if small, consolation.

So I’ll repeat: The monthly deficit is growing but at a slower rate. The Treasury Department reported a decrease in August of 12% with what it had been in August, 2009. July’s improvement was just over 8 percent, and in June the decrease was 27.3 percent from the year before. Individual and notably corporate income taxes are heartening. So while the deficit grows, at least it’s not growing at the rate it was.

There’s more news that might have gotten smothered.

Numbers of illegal immigrants in the United States decreased by a million or more by 2009, according to many reports, from 12 million to 11.1—and well below the 13 million that Congressman Goodlatte quoted on this page last week. In Virginia, the Washington Post reported, the numbers went down by 65,000 to 240,000 between 2008 and 2009.

After a terrible summer, the stock market has lately resumed its slow upward climb.

Many of those bailed-out companies have been repaying what the government provided, with interest. In retrospect, the move that started under President Bush was an investment that not only propped up (if not saved) the economy but also gave a good return to taxpayers. Turning a profit might not be the government’s job, but in this case, it sure beats the alternative.

Just before Labor Day, President Obama assembled leaders of the Middle East, notably of Israel and Palestine, for talks on bringing peace there. The talks were civil, productive, and may actually lead somewhere; and they have continued. This is huge, for reducing tensions and increasing stability would give less for radicals to protest and more for moderates to advance.

Let’s not forget that combat troops withdrew from Iraq (you probably heard that) and Iraq hasn’t yet collapsed. Though far from resolved, let’s recognize another step forward.

Many of the fears of a year or two ago have vanished. Remember how the new President was going to take away guns? Or that he would ban bullets, such that there was a run to stores to stockpile them? Didn’t happen.

Of course far too many Americans lack good jobs. Illegal immigrants number about a third more than a decade ago. Craziness still upsets relations between Israel and Palestine. War continues in Afghanistan. A monthly deficit adds to too-high levels. Our world is not nearly as perfect as we wish it were.

But the sky is not falling, either. Those who claim it is, notably for partisan gain, may be rushing around conveying their fears that they don’t look up to see if, just maybe, the sky is doing OK. Or maybe they don’t want to. Especially if they’ve based their lives or their political careers on breeding fear.

For all our troubles, the sky isn’t falling. The monthly deficit is. Those are both worth noting.
 
 

Column by David Cox. This column originally appeared in the Sept. 22 issue of The Rockbridge Weekly.

Edited by Chris Graham

Fifth District Congressman Tom Perriello today released a statement blasting the U.S. Senate for playing politics with unemployment benefits and Medicare payments to doctors.

“The elites in the Senate may have forgotten what it’s like on Main Street for families still struggling in this recession,” Perriello said in the statement. “Hardworking Virginians who have lost their jobs through no fault of their own have been subject to the game-playing and political posturing of the Senate for too long. People depend on these benefits to put food on the table and keep a roof over their head while they search for new work. It’s unconscionable that the Senate continues to play politics with unemployment benefits and Medicare payments while the American people need action.”

This week, thousands of unemployed Virginians will receive a notice from the Virginia Employment Commission indicating benefits are being cut off due to the Senate’s inaction. And Virginia doctors who see Medicare patients have been notified that their reimbursements will decrease by 21% because of the Senate’s failure to pass a long-term fix to the Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) formula.

Rep. Perriello has voted to extend unemployment benefits and to prevent the 21 percent cut in Medicare payments. For months, the Senate has passed a series of temporary extensions of unemployment benefits but only at the last minute when they expire and leave hundreds of thousands of Americans without any help. If the Senate continues to stall, 23,500 Virginians will lose their unemployment benefits.

The unemployment rate held at 9.7 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Employment fell in construction and information, while temporary help services added jobs.
  

Read more on AFPBusiness.com.

Don’t get too excited, but the nation’s unemploynent rate made a move in the right direction in January, falling to 9.7 percent from 10.0 percent in December.

“It is important not to read too much into any one monthly report, positive or negative. It is essential that we continue our efforts to move in the right direction and replace job losses with robust job gains,” said Christina Romer, the chair of President Obama’s Council of Economic Advisers, in a statement on the numbers released Friday.

There are still likely to be “bumps in the road ahead,” Romer warned, and the good news today itself came with some of the bumps, the most noticeable being the revised estimate that has the economy losing more than 1 million more jobs due to the recession than had previously been estimated.

But even slightly good news is good news in an economy that was in freefall for months since the start of the recession in December 2007. Today’s figures show employment in manufacturing in general and motor-vehicle manufacturing in particular on the increase for the first time since January 2007, and the unemployment rate that includes all persons marginally attached to the labor force and workers working part-time for economic reasons falling by a full percentage point.

As U.S. mayors gathered in Washington this week to meet with the Obama administration about unemployment and the economy, Virginia local government officials and community leaders are calling for the creation of a Community Jobs program.

The jobs program would provide funding to localities across the country to create 1 million temporary public and private sector jobs. Congressman Keith Ellison from Minnesota has introduced HR 4268, The Put America to Work Act of 2009, in the U.S. House of Representatives to authorize a Community Jobs Program. The bill has 52 co-sponsors. Community groups and local government officials are working with partners around the country to organize in support of this bill, and to ensure that it becomes law.

Advocates for the legislation stress the urgency in creating new jobs. Since December 2007, when the recession began, the economy has shed 7.2 million jobs. In December 2009, the national unemployment rate was at a staggering 10 percent.

The Community Jobs Program requires local officials to work in conjunction with local residents to identify critical community needs and to create jobs that will address those needs, such as restoring vital social services and improving community infrastructure such as schools, community centers and parks.

“I support a federally-funded, community-based jobs program in partnership with the city and small business. Let’s get the thinkers in the room and come up with a game plan to beat back this economic tsunami. We need to create local jobs and generate new revenue and not stand still and be road kill,” said Marty Jewell, Richmond City councilman.

The Jobs Program would implement a two stage approach to ensure immediate job creation and allow for a longer-term planning process that involves community input and a focus on education and career development. In order to put people to work right away, during the first six to nine months of the program, job creation would include rehabilitating schools, community centers, and libraries; cleaning up vacant and abandoned properties to alleviate blight; expanding emergency food programs; expanding staffing in Head Start, child care and other early childhood education programs; and renovating and maintaining parks, playgrounds and other public spaces. After the fast track, job creation initiatives will be selected through an open, competitive process that includes community participation and prioritizes projects that integrate education and job skills training.

“A community jobs program would reduce crippling unemployment and invest in local infrastructure,” said Charlottesville Vice Mayor Holly Edwards. “Investing in infrastructure means fixing roads, building affordable housing and rehabilitating schools. But investing in infrastructure also means strengthening local families. Putting people back to work would strengthen local families by giving every family the financial security they need. We know that creating jobs is the only way of moving people out of poverty. We have the to-do list, we just need the funds.”

Local government officials support a Community Jobs Program where everyone benefits -those who get jobs and those who use the facilities or services that will be improved through those jobs.

“It is incredibly important that we produce local jobs and get people in the community back to work. There are great possibilities to create local jobs on green energy or jobs supporting the light rail, but you need help to get the ball rolling. Local governments cannot do it all on their own,” said Hopewell Councilwoman Christina Luman-Bailey. “I would like to see a program that provides local jobs for local people, not just bringing in contractors from other places. This will help put people back to work and create a positive infrastructure for the future.”

For more information on the Community Jobs Program: www.jobs4americanow.org/wp-content/uploads/Community-Jobs-Proposal-Leave-Behind-12-17-2009.pdf.

Now let’s see if I’ve got this right. We are just into the new year and the sky has not yet fallen. Yes, I know, no one actually predicted that the clouds would fall. Nevertheless, there were those who kept saying that whatever keeps the human race on a solid footing – be it good manners or gravity – may have left us.

So they set the stage. While the sky did not fall – they said that everything else would. First, let’s go back to March 6 of last year. The pessimists, those who make a living predicting every year the return of the Great Depression, were looking pretty good. They predicted bad tidings, except for Christmas day when the markets are closed. Of course, the pessimists were wrong. On the last day of 2009 it was the bulls with the smiles. The bears? Well, you know what bears look like.

Another example on the economic front. Following World War II there were the same fears as today. Therefore Congress passed The Full Employment Act of 1946, cosponsored by my favorite Democrat, the happy warrior, Sen. Hubert Horatio Humphrey. In 1978 when the economy was again looking down and unemployment was an unacceptable 6.1 percent the goal was to reach full employment – defined as 4.0 percent unemployment – not zero!

So, let’s look at today’s jobs picture in terms of the law, Public Law 79-304 to be precise. The latest national unemployment rate is 10 percent. The pessimists love that high number. The White House simply tries to ignore it. However, Virginia’s current unemployment is 6.4 percent. Thus our Commonwealth cuts the bleak national picture by almost a third! As an optimist, I prefer the Virginia number. Or put it this way, our state’s unemployment is only 2.4 percent above full employment of 4 percent. Meanwhile, my pollyanna friend goes one step further. She likes to say that Virginia has a 97.6 percent employment rate. But if everyone had her optimistic view, Bob McDonnell would not be governor of Virginia. His jobs campaign would have crashed.

Who are these pessimists? Pessimists are fine folks. They just don’t understand what makes life tick. They look down. They can’t look up. While it is almost a certainty that something bad will happen during one’s lifetime, those odds are far less important than what one does after that bad break occurs. To a pessimist it is more important that on Christmas Day Northwest Flight 253 took off from Amsterdam with a terrorist aboard than the fact it landed safely in Detroit with no loss of life. How about you? Do you focus on the 29 (or more) terrorist plots which have been hatched inside our borders over the past eight years? Or do you only care that they all laid an egg?

Whatever your answer, it is very difficult to ignore that what has made this country great is optimism. With it you can light a candle; there is no need to cuss the darkness. Americans admire optimists. They are the folks who respond to our 911 emergency calls. They are our unsung heroes. Yet their names are not as well known as those of the victims we hear and read about everyday. Maybe that is why I turn to the sports section after skimming the front page. Sports are filled with heroes. Victims are never profiled. And there are only playing fields, no killing fields.

As you can gather, as an optimist, I have a problem with pessimists. But pessimists have their own problems. Two, in fact. One is that they may be wrong. And no one likes to be wrong. The other problem is that pessimists are sometimes right.

Now you can see why I decided to take off my dark glasses when I came to paradise to join your large unorganized local optimist club. If you are still not a member please join. There are no dues and no by-laws. Just a bunch of smiling folks who don’t believe the sky will fall tomorrow. Or at any time during 2010.

Nonetheless, this is a free country. Therefore we must allow pessimists their right to their own opinions. However, they are not entitled to their own facts.

I will make a deal with you. Make your predictions for 2010. Make it a long list. Then I will make mine. It will have but one item with the only thing I care about. Yet I will be 100 percent right, and you will be lucky to score a 50. My prediction: The sun will come up tomorrow. How do I know? I’ll be looking up.

Have a great year.

I want to update Virginians on some of the efforts I am undertaking in Congress to get our economy back on track.

You may recall in the Sept. 28 edition of this newsletter, I wrote that the U.S. House voted to extend unemployment benefits only in states where the unemployment rate is 8.5 percent or higher. Virginia, which has an unemployment rate of 6.5 percent, was not one of the states that would benefit from this bill, so I voted against it. At the same time, I continued to work for solutions for regions like Southside Virginia, which still face local unemployment rates that are unacceptably high. I lobbied congressional leaders and introduced legislation to extend unemployment benefits in all states, including Virginia.

On Nov. 5, 2009 the U.S. House passed a revised version of the bill that mirrors my legislation. Virginians’ unemployment benefits will now be extended for an additional 14 weeks. This is a major victory to get help to those who need it the most. I’m very pleased my legislation was adopted so that Virginia workers will get this lifeline to help them stay afloat while they seek new employment.

Also in that same bill was another provision I fought for to shore up our crippled housing market – extending the $8,000 first-time homebuyer tax credit. This measure was originally included as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, or stimulus bill, which I supported back in February. The program has a proven successful track record, as shown by rising home sales across the nation and right here in the 5th District. In fact, according to the most recent quarterly sales report from the Virginia Association of Realtors, total existing home sales in Virginia are up 5.3 percent in the third quarter of 2009 compared to the second quarter numbers, and have reached the highest quarterly total in 2009.

With the measure originally set to expire on November 30, 2009, I joined with a bipartisan group to call for its extension in a letter to congressional leaders. We succeeded in this most recent bill and now, the tax credit will be extended to first-time homebuyers with a binding contract before April 30, 2010, allowing 60 days to close.

The bill also expands the homebuyer tax credit to more families, phasing out for individuals with income above $125,000 and for joint filers with income about $225,000 (the current law credit phases out for individuals with income starting at $75,000 and for joint filers with income starting at $150,000). It also creates a $6,500 credit available to homebuyers who have been in their current residence for five or more consecutive years out of the last eight years.

Lastly, I met last week on Veterans Day with the 5th District Veterans Advisory Board, men and women from our area who advise me on legislation I should be pushing for as a member of the U.S. House Veterans Advisory Committee. We discussed a big legislative victory aimed at getting medical care to our veterans in a more timely and efficient matter. However, it’s clear from the stories I heard that we need to be doing better on this front. I will continue to listen and respond to veterans especially in our rural areas to make sure they have access to the care they have earned.

Please feel free to contact me to share your concerns and ideas. You may call 1-888-4-TOM4US (1-888-486-6487); write to 1520 Longworth House Office Building, Washington, DC 20515; or visit www.perriello.house.gov to sign up for my weekly e-newsletter.

Tom Perriello represents the Fifth District in the United States House of Representatives.

“Last week, the Administration announced that the unemployment rate hit 10.2 percent in October, the highest rate of unemployment in the past 26 years. We have felt the reality of this figure right here in our own communities with the closure of the Franklin International Paper mill. Not only are families personally feeling the impact of unemployment, but our local economies continue to feel the impact. One of the most important steps we can take to achieve economic recovery is to help families get back on their feet financially, creating a stop gap in the foreclosure crisis and allowing increased spending on goods and services,” said Forbes.

Unemployment insurance is temporary income for workers who are unemployed through no fault of their own. In general, unemployment compensation is based on a percentage of an individual’s earnings over a recent 52-week period – up to a maximum amount determined by the state. H.R. 3548 will provide families in all states with 14 weeks of additional federal unemployment benefits.

The bill will not raise unemployment insurance taxes on small businesses. Instead, the increase in unemployment benefits is paid for by delaying worldwide interest allocation for multinational corporations from 2010 to 2018, and by increasing the penalty for failure to file a partnership or S corporation return from $89 to $195.