By Laura Smith – University of New Mexico/Talk Radio News Service

President of the American Enterprise Institute, Arthur Brooks, said Monday that entrepreneurship, hard work and merit will help guide the U.S. out of the recession.

“Those are the tools to get out of this recession or any other recession,” Brooks said during a discussion hosted by AEI and the the National Chamber Foundation on job creation.

According to the U.S. Department of Labor, the unemployment rate hit 10.2 percent in October, with California, Michigan, Florida and Illinois being the hardest hit.

Nick Schultz, editor-in-chief of American.com, quoted Wall Street Journal journalist Alan Blinder, saying, “It’s no wonder people have three things on their minds: jobs, jobs and jobs.”

However, Brooks says he thinks Americans care about different things.

“I think Americans care about three things that are actually more fundamental than jobs, jobs and more jobs, which is freedom, individual opportunity and a culture of entrepreneurship.”

By Meagan Wiseley – University of New Mexico/Talk Radio News Service

Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee Barney Frank (D-Mass.) said Friday that on the economic front, America received good news and bad news today following the Labor Department’s announcement of a 10.2% unemployment rate.

“Although 190,000 more American’s lost their jobs…that is substantially less than the pace at which they were losing jobs until fairly recently,” Frank said during remarks at a conference sponsored by NoLimits.org, a progressive on-line organization founded by Frank’s sister.

Frank said the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, or the stimulus bill, had a positive impact in deterring unemployment, explaining that unemployment rates would be higher if the stimulus bill hadn’t passed.

Frank also said that the lack of regulation in the financial sector, which he contributed to Alan Greenspan, the former Chairman of the Federal Reserve, led to the AIG crisis and the following recession. He praised the current Chairman of the Federal Reserve Ben Bernanke for his willingness to collaborate with Congress over new financial regulatory reforms.

Frank remained positive about the economic outlook.

“We are making progress … things are getting better virtually on every front [and] I am confident that when we are through with financial regulations…the kind of things that got us in trouble in the past won’t get us in trouble in the future,” Frank added.

Rep. Bob Latta (R-Ohio) tells reporters during a conference call on Friday that when he went home during the August recess, his constituents told him that they want Congress to focus on creating jobs before anything else. Latta says that one person told him that he doesn’t care about having access to healthcare if he doesn’t have the means of providing for his family. (:35)

 

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By Leah Valencia, University of New Mexico- Talk Radio News Service

Unemployment increased to 10.2 percent in October, the highest rate since 1983, leaving Americans with 190,000 less jobs, Bureau of Labor and Statistics Commission Keith Hall told Congress in a Joint Economic Committee hearing Friday.

“The declines are much smaller and less widespread than they were last Fall and Winter,” Hall said. “Nevertheless, some industries are still experiencing notable employment decline.”

Hall told the committee that in October the heavy construction, manufacturing and retail industries have had a particularly significant decline in employment losing a combined total of 163,000 jobs.

However, he added that some industries have seen an increase in employment. Health care and help services are among the few that have added jobs, with a much smaller figure of 63,000 combined jobs.

Hall said since the recession began the number of unemployed has more than doubled to 15.7 million.

“The number of long-term unemployed remained high in October,” Hall said. “5.6 million workers have been jobless for 27 weeks or more.”

He said the increasing number of people who have become discouraged in looking for work and therefore remained unemployed have added to the problem. In October there was a reported 808,000 discouraged workers, a figure up from 484,000 last year.

“These are individuals are not currently looking for work because they believe no jobs are available for them,” Hall said.

Committee members on both side of the aisle agreed that in terms of job creation, the economy is not where it needs to be. Chairwoman Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.) said she believes the nation is on track to recovery, while Republicans argued that the Obama administration has not done enough to facilitate employment growth.

Rep. Bob Latta (R-Ohio) says the people who need to be concerned with the proposed health care reform bills are senior citizens since costs will be covered by making cuts to Medicare. Additionally, Latta says if Medicare funds can be paid for by waste fraud and abuse, the people currently in charge of waste fraud and abuse should lose their jobs.
(0:21)

 

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Man On The Street: Lynn, of South Carolina, responds to the DOW jump, saying that she would like to see more jobs and a better economy. Lynn adds that she doesn’t see where more jobs are going to come from because there’s no manufacturing base in America anymore and that more manufacturing jobs are in China. (0:14)

 

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FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski said 75 percent of Fortune 500 companies only post job listings online, and if anyone wants a job with a Fortune 500 company that they would need broadband. (0:32)

 

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Travis Martinez, University of New Mexico – Talk Radio News Service

Rep. Mike Pence (R-Ind.) and Rep. David Camp (R-Mich.) claimed Tuesday that during the numerous town hall meetings held throughout the August recess, the focus was not just on health care reform. The top question being asked was: “Where are the jobs?”

Camp noted during a pen and pad session with reporters that only three counties in his district do not have a double digit unemployment rate, with one county nearing 16%.

The Congressmen touched upon health care reform, both reiterating their opposition to the public option.

“The American people don’t want another health care speech. They want another health care plan,” said Pence.

Camp added, “The public option is not the only concern,” but is “the most offensive part of the bill, because it will lead to many losing health insurance they already have.”

When asked how will President Obama’s joint address to Congress Wednesday will be received, Pence responded “The Republicans will welcome the President back into the Congress respectfully.”

By Mariko Lamb, Talk Radio News Service

Keith Hall, Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, released data to the Congressional Joint Economic Committee Friday that indicated a moderation in unemployment, a “good sign” for economic improvement, he said.

According to the Bureau’s statistics, the unemployment rate remained relatively consistent at 9.4% in July. Job losses in wholesale trade, transportation and warehousing and financial activities industries continued, while losses in the hardest hit sectors, construction and manufacturing, increased. Employment in leisure and hospitality remained steady and health care employment increased, growing in line with the 2009 trend thus far.

Additional findings in the report show that minorities and the uneducated continue to suffer the most job losses, a trend that parallels unemployment statistics prior to the recession. “The trend is pretty much the same,” Hall said, “so when the overall unemployment rate goes up, it goes up by more for the minorities.”

Despite continued job loss, Hall said that the moderation in the past three months is a “good sign.” “While I would say we’re not in recovery yet, this is the path that we have to go through to get to recovery. We expect to see moderation first before we start actually getting improvement in the labor market,” he said.

At 9.40 am the President signed into law the extension of the Cash for Clunkers legislation that the Senate approved yesterday.

Jobs Numbers
Gibbs said the numbers are more evidence that we have pulled back from the edge and brink of a depression. If you look at the averaging of the numbers over a period of time, the pace of job loss is declining, which is positive. However, last month, a quarter of a million people lost their jobs. The President is very focused on putting the economy back on track. It is still expected that the unemployment rate will reach 10% this year.

There will be good days and bad days. There is a long way to go. The Recovery Act has made a difference. Two thirds of the benefit has yet to make a difference. The focus is on implementing the recovery plan. Without seeing genuine, positive, sustained job growth, we will see the rate continue to 10%. We are pleased, though not satisfied, that the rate of that job loss is declining. Before recovery, there has to be stabilization.

Gibbs stated that he was informed of the jobs numbers at the same time as the markets. He said it is unclear if the numbers today are a trend. Asked if the numbers would go back up again, he said it was in all likelihood very possible. However, the rate of job loss has declined.

Death of Taliban Leader
Gibbs was asked if the leader of the Taliban in Pakistan, Baitullah Mehsud, has been killed. Gibbs said they cannot confirm it, though there is a growing consensus among credible observers. Mehsud is a murderous thug. He has planned and helped carry out some of the most heinous acts of terrorism and violence in Pakistan. He has killed scores of innocent men, women and children, and is supposed to have plotted the assassination of Benazir Bhutto. If he is dead, the people of Pakistan will be safer as a result.

The US is working very closely with the government of Pakistan to prevent the Taliban, al Qaeda and other affiliated terrorist organizations from killing innocent people. The US is very pleased with the level of cooperation and working together, and want to do everything to help Pakistan defeat terrorism. The President is regularly updated on this situation.

Closing of Guantanamo
Gibbs was asked whether there would be a delay in the closure of Guantanamo, based on something an administration official said yesterday. He said, no, he had looked at the transcript. He quoted the transcript which appeared to state that Guantanamo would close on time.

Violence at Town Halls
Gibbs was asked whether, with the increase of violence at town halls and a death threat, he would recommend that members of Congress do not hold town halls. He said no, that people that go to have their voices heard, that they have some respect for everybody else’s ability to be heard and participate in a town hall.