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The jobs situation seems to continue to be getting better, with Friday’s announcement that unemployment fell two-tenths of a percent in January, to 8.3 percent. 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…
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This past week, President Obama delivered his annual State of the Union address on the same day that marked the 1,000th day since the United States Senate has last passed a budget. I was hopeful that the President would put forth serious solutions to address the debt and jobs crisis that has come from years…
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The black-white debate on energy production between Republicans and Democrats generally speaking comes down to the merits of oil production vs. clean energy. It doesn’t have to be an either-or proposition, though. “We need to use every domestic source that we have. But I think we ought to be preparing for a long-term shift toward…
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Tim Kaine didn’t run for governor in 2005 promising to cut the state budget to the bone, but that’s pretty much what he had to do as the state faced down the recession a year into his term. The key lesson that he learned: You can’t do across-the-board cuts. “Everything isn’t worth everything else,” said…
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Tim Kaine has been taking some heat from political rival George Allen over his support for the economic-stimulus package that President Barack Obama championed as a cornerstone to an economic recovery. Funny thing, to the Democrat Kaine – the stimulus package that the Republican Allen has criticized played a key role in the decision of…
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The recent December unemployment report provides welcome news that more jobs were created last month at a time when so many are struggling. And while signifying a step in the right direction nationally, the simple fact remains that there are still too many in Central and Southside Virginia out of work, and there is still…
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Remember when Waynesboro was the economic engine of this part of the Valley? Your first instinct might be to say that it still is. Look at the West End. Every chain retail store and restaurant known to American man has set up shop out there. Which is great – really, it is. It’s just that…
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Fifth District Congressman Robert Hurt joined a pair of Virginia state legislators Thursday in an effort to paint Democratic Senate candidate Tim Kaine as a loyal Barack Obama ally. “The president’s health-care law has produced devastating effects for Fifth District Virginians and all Americans since passage. It has expanded the size of the federal government,…
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With voting in the Republican primaries around the corner and with unemployment still high, it has become evident that 2012 will be a big year for small-business owners. Both as a voting block and as the economic engine of America, small businesses will have a lot to say and a lot of power in the…
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Despite reaching the highest level ever for a Thanksgiving holiday weekend (averaging $3.31), gas prices continue their decline that began in mid-October and will likely continue in the week ahead, if not through the remainder of the year. Thenational average for regular grade gasoline dropped 2 cents this week to $3.29 Friday. Prices are 14…
