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Nursing mothers who need to express breast milk at work have more support under a new federal regulation. The U.S. Department of Labor recently clarified "the break time requirement for nursing mothers in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act" (better known as the health care reform law), which took effect in March.
Employers are required to provide "reasonable break time for an employee to express breast milk for her nursing child for 1 year after the child's birth each time such employee has need to express the milk." Employers are also required to provide "a place, other than a bathroom, that is shielded from view and free from intrusion from coworkers and the public, which may be used by an employee to express breast milk."
The regulation is broader than early reports suggested, according to Rachel Scott, who heads the Iowa Department of Human Rights' Commission on the Status of Women:
Scott says they initially thought the law only applied to employers with 50 or more employees, but the guidelines recently released say the law applies to all employers - and those with under 50 employees can apply for an "undue hardship" exception. Scott says those seeking an exception will have to prove that compliance would be a problem.
"My understanding is it's a difficult standard to prove, but it would be based upon the expense or difficulty of making an accommodation based on the nature and size of the business," Scott explained.
Supporting women who need to express milk at work benefits employers as well as mothers and babies in many ways. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has many resources available "to help employers provide worksite lactation support" and "to educate employers about the value of supporting breastfeeding employees in the workplace." The Iowa Breastfeeding Coalition is offering grants of up to $500 for eight businesses seeking to create or improve worksite lactation initiatives. Applications are due August 20; the coalition's website has more details about the grant and the selection process.
Earlier this year, the Iowa Senate approved a bill on workplace accommodation of breastfeeding, but the measure died in the Iowa House in the closing days of the shortened legislative session. That bill's provisions were similar to the requirements spelled out in the new federal regulation ("reasonable efforts to provide a place, other than a toilet stall, which is shielded from view and free from intrusion from coworkers and the public, that may be used by an employee to express breast milk in privacy"). The Department of Labor's new rule on workplace accommodation of breastfeeding "does not preempt State laws that provide greater protections to employees (for example, providing compensated break time, providing break time for exempt employees, or providing break time beyond 1 year after the child's birth)." I doubt Iowa legislators would approve additional protections beyond the new federal rule, however.
Yesterday the House of Representatives approved and President Barack Obama signed a $26.1 billion package to support state education and Medicaid budgets in the current fiscal year. The bill passed the House by a 247 to 161 vote. Iowa's House delegation split on party lines, as with the 2009 federal stimulus bill and previous legislation designed to support public sector jobs in the states. Iowa will receive about $96.5 million of the $10 billion in education funding, enough to save an estimated 1,800 teachers' jobs.
For the last several days, I have been searching for some comment on this legislation from Republican gubernatorial candidate Terry Branstad. I've found nothing in news clips, and his campaign has not issued a press release on the federal fiscal aid since the Senate approved the bill on August 4.
Branstad rails against "one-time sources" of funding to support the state budget, but he has nothing to say about $96.5 million for Iowa schools and $128 million for Iowans dependent on Medicaid services.
Perhaps Branstad lacks the courage to go beyond vague campaign rhetoric about excessive government spending. It's easy to talk abstractly about "one-time" funding, but risky to slam government support for education and Medicaid. CNN's latest nationwide poll, which was in the field from August 6 through August 10, asked respondents, "Do you favor or oppose a bill in which the federal government would provide 26 billion dollars to state governments to pay for Medicaid benefits and the salaries of public school teachers or other government workers?" 60 percent of respondents favored such a bill, while only 38 percent opposed it.
Speaking of conspicuous silence from Branstad, when will he tell us how he plans to keep his contradictory promises to cut state spending by 15 percent while having the state pay a larger share of mental health and school funding?
While Terry Branstad continues his so-called "truth in budgeting" tour around Iowa, he and his campaign staff deliberately spread false information about Governor Chet Culver's record. Last week Branstad's campaign released perhaps its most deceptive advertisement yet, and that's saying something.
When numerous specific claims in the ad were debunked, Branstad didn't apologize or pull down the ad in order to correct its mistakes. His conduct during the past week proves that he doesn't inadvertently misstate facts during his stump speeches or under the pressure of a debate. He appears to have made a political calculation: don't worry about the truth if lying helps him win an election. Culver's campaign did a good job identifying the latest ad's falsehoods here, but let's take a closer look at some of the problems with Branstad's campaign narrative.
Senate Democrats said the $26 billion bill would be paid in part by revenue raising changes in tax law. Senate Democrats said the modifications would curtail abuses of the U.S. foreign tax credit system. The bill would also end the Advanced Earned Income Tax Credit and would return in 2014 food stamp benefits to levels set before last year's federal stimulus plan.
I'm not happy about cutting future food stamp benefits, but there may be opportunities to restore that funding in other bills. This federal fiscal aid is urgently needed to prevent teacher layoffs in the school year that's about to begin.
3. Would Branstad reject federal education funding that is targeted for saving teachers' jobs in the upcoming academic year?
Share any relevant thoughts in this thread.
UPDATE: A statement from Senator Harkin's office says this bill would provide "at least $128 million in additional Medicaid funding" to Iowa in the current fiscal year. Harkin also said,
"This vote came down to one thing: priorities. Today, a majority of Senators proved that our priority is helping those who are the backbone of this country, America's teachers and our families, to weather the continuing effects of the great recession. And we provide this funding without adding one dime to the deficit.
"This is a crisis of the first order. Not since the Great Depression have our public schools faced the prospect of such massive layoffs. With this fund, we will preserve tens of thousands of education jobs that states can use for retaining or hiring employees at the pre-K and K-12 levels.
"Also with the funding, we provide critical assistance to states, whose budgets are already stretched to the limit, to protect Medicaid. This six month extension of federally-matched funding will allow states to continue health benefits for some of the nation's most needy."
A federal spending plan that advanced in Congress Wednesday would route $83.1 million in extra money to help Iowa pay for children's services and payments to hospitals and nursing homes.
But the Iowa Legislature banked on getting an $116 million in extra federal Medicaid money in the first six months of next year.
That means the state budget will be short $32.9 million - or short $116 million if the bill fails to pass Congress altogether, according to the non-partisan Legislative Services Agency. Medicaid is the government health insurance plan for the poor. [...]
The measure would give states $16 billion to help cover their Medicaid budgets, and $10 billion to extend programs enacted in last year's stimulus law to help preserve the jobs of teachers, police officers, firefighters and other public employees.
Iowa would get about $96.5 million in the jobs piece, which would protect about 1,500 jobs, said U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin, a Democrat.
Keep in mind that Iowa's budget for fiscal year 2011 has an ending balance of $182.6 million, providing a cushion in case some expected revenue doesn't materialize. Also, state revenues for the first month of the current fiscal year exceeded projections. Falling short $32.9 million in federal Medicaid assistance isn't ideal, but it is manageable and far better than falling $116 million short, as would happen if Grassley and other Republicans got their way.
THIRD UPDATE: The Senate gave final approval to this bill on August 5 by a 61-39 vote. Grassley voted no along with most of the Republican caucus.
EnVision Motor Company announced today that it will ship electric vehicles assembled at a facility in New York to a plant in Webster City. Workers in Webster City will finish the vehicles by installing the electric drive train. EnVision president and C.E.O. Thomas Gleisner says these electric vehicles can reach a top speed of about 85 miles an hour. [...]
These Electric Mobile Cars - EMC's - can go about 200 miles on a charge, depending on how fast you drive, how much weight the vehicle is carrying and how much the vehicle has to battle wind friction. [...]
Gleisner's company, EnVision, is the U.S. distributor of these European-designed vehicles. The completed vehicle will roll off the assembly line at Auto Manufacturing Systems in Webster City, an already-existing plant.
As production ramps up, this deal is expected to create at least 300 jobs in Webster City. The Des Moines Register reported that the assembly line will use "factory space now occupied by Eagle Manufacturing, an Electrolux subcontractor. [...] Eagle, a manufacturing company that now performs a variety of contract duties for Electrolux, is scheduled to lose that work by the end of next year." In October 2009, Electrolux announced plans to close plants in Webster City and Jefferson, eliminating about 850 jobs by early 2011.
"We at EnVision were born and raised in Iowa. We could have easily gone outside Iowa and the United States, but we wanted to add jobs to Iowa, our home," said EnVision CEO Thomas Gleisner. "We could not look past the ability of a community like Webster City to meet our needs. They have the experience and the workforce, and they have been involved in quality manufacturing for decades."
EnVision is a distributor of electric vehicles for the entire United States. Auto Manufacturing Systems of Webster City will run the plant. Its parent company is Electric Mobile Cars, an importer based in New York.
"There's bipartisan consensus that Congress should extend unemployment insurance, but there's no reason we can't extend benefits and pay for it. We've offered solutions, five separate times, on ways to pay, only to be rebuffed by the Democratic leadership.
"Iowans have told me time and time again that Congress must stop deficit spending, so I voted to extend unemployment insurance and pay for it."
Give me a break. When we had a Republican president, Grassley never hesitated to vote for tax cuts for the wealthy, Medicare part D, or war supplemental funding bills that added to the deficit. In fact, under President George W. Bush the Republican-controlled Congress passed unemployment extensions without making sure the additional spending was "paid for." Senator Tom Harkin got it right in his July 20 speech on the Senate floor:
"For far too long, the long-term unemployed have gone without the assistance they need because of political gamesmanship in the Senate. Critics argue that we cannot help some of the most desperate workers in America if it adds a dime to the deficit, but in the next breath, they argue in favor of extending hundreds of billions of tax breaks for the most fortunate and privileged Americans was necessary. Tell that to the working family in Iowa who, through no fault of their own, struggles with joblessness and cannot put food on the table.
"Some two and a half million unemployed Americans have seen their benefits terminated in recent weeks. They are among the nearly 6.8 million Americans who have been out of work for more than half a year. That's the highest number of long-term unemployed we've had since we started keeping track in 1948."
The House approved the unemployment benefits extension by a vote of 272 to 152 (roll call). Iowa Democrats Bruce Braley, Dave Loebsack and Leonard Boswell all voted for the bill. Ten Democrats (mostly representing conservative districts) crossed the aisle to vote against the bill, and 31 House Republicans voted for it. That's a surprisingly high number of Republicans going against their leadership. Iowa Republicans Tom Latham and Steve King stuck with the majority of their caucus. Not only do they lack compassion for some long-term unemployed Iowans whose benefits have run out, they apparently don't understand that unemployment benefits are among the most stimulative forms of government spending.
It's good news that benefits will be restored to millions of Americans in the coming weeks, but in other respects this bill falls short of what's needed to address our long-term unemployment problem. Although the number of Americans out of work for at least six months is at its highest level in six decades, Congress still hasn't done anything for people who have exhausted the full 99 weeks of eligibility for unemployment benefits. The House has approved more infrastructure spending and other measures that would create jobs, but for now the Senate seems unable to overcome GOP filibusters of further stimulus.
Last week I highlighted the half-truths and misleading arguments that underpin Iowa Senate minority leader Paul McKinley's case against Democratic governance in Iowa. I wasn't planning to revisit the Republican leader's fantasy world until I read the July 16 edition of his weekly e-mail blast. McKinley claims to offer five "big ideas" to "make Iowa again a state where jobs and prosperity can flourish."
President Barack Obama has nominated Jacob "Jack" Lew as his new director for the Office of Management and Budget. Peter Orszag recently announced plans to step down from that position. Lew served as OMB director during Bill Clinton's administration. Announcing his choice at a July 13 press conference, Obama said,
"Jack's challenge over the next few years is to use his extraordinary skill and experience to cut down that deficit and put our nation back on a fiscally responsible path. And I have the utmost faith in his ability to achieve this goal as a central member of our economic team,'' Obama said.
"At a time when so many families are tightening their belts, he's going to make sure the government continues to tighten its own," Obama said in announcing Lew's selection at the White House.
"He's going to do this while making government more efficient, more responsive to the people it serves," Obama continued.
How will the government become "more efficient"? We know the Pentagon won't be asked to make any sacrifices, since Obama can't bring himself to request even a slight reduction in our defense budget. On the contrary, he keeps going back to Congress for more supplemental war spending.
I hope Obama doesn't believe what he's saying, because aggressive policies to reduce unemployment are much more urgently needed than "belt-tightening" by the government. The Clinton economic boom turned deficits into surpluses not only (or mainly) because of spending cuts, but because unemployment dropped to historically low levels across the country.
If the president was speaking sincerely yesterday, then Lew's appointment likely means less spending on infrastructure, social benefits and other domestic programs. The trouble is, we're not going to significantly reduce the federal deficit if unemployment remains high. More federal spending may be needed to stave off a double-dip recession and ease the strain on state budgets. Bonddad decimated the argument for "austerity" here. Click over to view the numbers he posted, which show that the U.S. has had a structural deficit for the last decade.
Notice this started a long time ago. Yet suddenly everyone is up in arms about the deficit. Please.
Secondly, the complete denial about the important beneficial effects of government spending (especially infrastructure spending and unemployment benefits) is maddening. Regrettably, everyone now talks in sound bites instead of facts. So here's a few inconvenient facts.
1.) The US economy grew at a solid rate in the 1960s. Why? A big reason was the US government building the highway system. Now goods and services could move between cities in a far easier manner. If you think that wasn't a big deal then you obviously don't get out much.
2.) Since 1970, government spending has accounted for about 20% of all US GDP growth.
Bonddad further explained here why austerity hasn't created economic expansion in European countries that have gone down that road.
Instead of echoing Republican messaging, which suggests the deficit should be the government's top concern, Obama should be out there making the case for more spending on job creation and economic relief (such as unemployment benefits, which yield more stimulus "bang for the buck" than most forms of government spending). He should also demand more federal fiscal aid to the states, particularly through the Medicaid program. If Congress cuts off further support now, state budget cuts could cost this country nearly a million jobs, according to Nicholas Johnson of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities:
The [National Governors Association (NGA) and the National Association of State Budget Officers (NASBO)] report shows that federal Recovery Act [2009 stimulus bill] assistance has greatly helped states deal with their shortfalls in a responsible, balanced way. But that assistance will largely run out by the end of December, halfway through states' fiscal year and long before state budgets are expected to recover.
In the year ahead, state budget-closing actions could cost the economy up to 900,000 public- and private-sector jobs without more federal help. When states cut spending, they lay off teachers and police officers and cancel contracts with vendors. The impact then ripples through the wider economy as laid-off workers spend less at local stores, putting more jobs at risk.
If Obama stakes his presidency on bringing down the budget deficit in the short term, he may be looking for a new job in 2013.
Nearly the entire deficit for this year and those projected into the near and medium terms are the result of three things: the ongoing wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the Bush tax cuts and the recession. The solution to our fiscal situation is: end the wars, allow the tax cuts to expire and restore robust growth. Our long-term structural deficits will require us to control healthcare inflation the way countries with single-payer systems do.
But right now we face a joblessness crisis that threatens to pitch us into a long, ugly period of low growth, the kind of lost decade that will cause tremendous misery, degrade the nation's human capital, undermine an entire cohort of young workers for years and blow a hole in the government's bank sheet. The best chance we have to stave off this scenario is more government spending to nurse the economy back to health. The economy may be alive, but that doesn't mean it's healthy. There's a reason you keep taking antibiotics even after you start to feel better.
And yet: the drumbeat of deficit hysterics thumping in self-righteous panic grows louder by the day.
In terrible news for central Iowa, Wells Fargo announced on July 7 that it is "eliminating Des Moines-based Wells Fargo Financial and 3,800 positions nationwide." From the Des Moines Register report:
Wells Fargo Financial will eliminate 2,800 positions in the next six months. The majority of those will come with the closing of 638 Wells Fargo Financial stores around the country, including 12 in Iowa. Only 14 of the initial layoffs will be in the Des Moines headquarters.
Wells Fargo also will eliminate an additional 1,000 positions in the next 12 months, most of those positions in Des Moines, said David Kvamme, president of Wells Fargo Financial. [...]
Currently, Wells Fargo Financial has approximately 14,000 team members throughout the country, and 3,500 in Des Moines. The remaining 10,600 jobs will transition to other Wells Fargo units, including mortgage and community banking.
Laid off employees will receive 60 days' working notice and a severance package.
Affected Wells Fargo employees also are encouraged to apply for other jobs throughout the company. Wells Fargo currently has more than 400 open positions in the Des Moines area, Kvamme said.
Wells Fargo is Iowa's largest bank in terms of deposits and Central Iowa's largest private employer with about 12,900 employees in the Des Moines area.
Here's some good news from the past week: the Iowa Utilities Board adopted "rules to encourage the development of more small wind generation systems across Iowa," the Newton Independent reported.
One prominent Iowan got a new (unpaid) position this week, as President Obama appointed Vermeer Corporation president and CEO Mary Andringa to his 18-member export advisory council. Heavy-hitter Iowa Republicans tried to recruit Andringa to run for governor last year, and she is a chair of Terry Branstad's campaign.
The celebrity job story of the week was of course LeBron James abandoning the Cleveland Cavaliers for the Miami Heat. I haven't watched an NBA game in years, but I think James should have stayed in Cleveland, or at least not humiliated his hometown on nationwide television. A couple of good takes on the unprecedented dumping via tv special: Bill Simmons for ESPN and Matt Taibbi for Rolling Stone.
This thread is for anything on your mind this weekend.
UPDATE: Who else watched the World Cup final? I was rooting for the Netherlands, but at least it wasn't decided by penalty kicks. Spain scored a goal in the final minutes of extra time to post its fourth straight 1-0 victory. (Paul the psychic German octopus was right.) I'm happy for Spain, because they looked like the better team for most of the game, but it's incredible to think that they are the World Cup champions after scoring eight goals in seven games.
The Senate version of a bill designed to create jobs, support state budgets and extend various tax credits and benefit programs failed to overcome a Republican filibuster yesterday. Tom Harkin was among 56 members of the Democratic caucus who voted for the cloture motion (which would end debate on the bill), but Ben Nelson of Nebraska and Joe Lieberman of Connecticut voted with all the Republicans present, including Chuck Grassley, to kill the bill (roll call here). Joan McCarter observed that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid
voted yes, without changing his vote, signaling that this iteration of the bill is indeed dead.
Reid followed the vote by attempting to pass the emergency provisions of the bill, the "doc fix," unemployment benefits extension, and FMAP as well as the homebuyer tax credit, as separate bills under unanimous consent. McConnell objected to each, so we're stuck in further limbo.
Extending unemployment benefits should be a no-brainer when the percentage of unemployed Americans who have been out of work for more than six months is higher "than at any time since the government began keeping track in 1948." Without the "doc fix," medical providers' reimbursements for Medicare patients stand to drop about 20 percent. FMAP stands for Federal Medical Assistance Percentage funding, relating to federal government reimbursements for part of each state's Medicaid spending. The 2009 stimulus bill temporarily raised FMAP payments for states during the recession, with larger increases going to states with higher unemployment rates. Failing to extend this provision will put state budgets under further strain for the 2011 and 2012 fiscal years.
Republicans who blocked this bill claim we should not be adding to the federal deficit. A spokesman for GOP enabler Ben Nelson laid out his views here. Ezra Klein pointed out a few glaring problems with the analysis: the federal budget can't start approaching balance with unemployment at 9 percent, polls show Americans are much more concerned about jobs than the deficit, and the current rate of economic recovery is "far, far too slow to really dent unemployment." Meanwhile, the same senators who claim to oppose adding to the deficit also oppose rolling back tax cuts or tax loopholes for the wealthy in order to pay for extending unemployed benefits, state fiscal aid and tax credits.
[T]he President didn't want to blame Bush and the GOP for the deficit, and he didn't want to sufficiently defend the stimulus and explain to people that they had a choice between a Great Depression and a bigger deficit. [...] If the public understood that the deficit was a) mostly caused by Bush, and b) not nearly as important as staving off a Depression and creating jobs, the GOP would be facing far more pressure not to launch these filibusters at all.
Perhaps no jobs bill passed this week would alter the economy enough to affect the November elections, but if we accept current unemployment levels and don't pass additional fiscal aid to the states, the economy may still be very weak leading up to the 2012 election.
Share any relevant thoughts in this thread. From where I'm sitting, the case for Harkin's filibuster reform proposal has never looked stronger.
When the filing deadline for Iowa candidates passed in March, many Democrats were shocked that no Republican tried to qualify for the ballot in House district 16. The district in Iowa's northeast corner covers all of Allamakee County and most of Winnishiek County, including Decorah, site of Luther College. Click here to download a district map (pdf file). Republican Chuck Gipp represented this district for 18 years before retiring in 2008. Although the area has been trending toward Democrats for some time, Republicans still have a slight voter registration advantage. As of the beginning of June 2010, there were 6127 registered Democrats in House district 16, 6819 Republicans and 7737 no-party voters.
This week, someone finally stepped up to challenge freshman State Representative John Beard. More details about that Republican and an early look at the House district 16 race are after the jump.
Since Memorial Day was established a few years after the Civil War, Americans have marked the holiday every year by remembering our war dead (ok, almost all our war dead). In his weekly address, President Barack Obama asked Americans to honor "not just those who've worn this country's uniform, but the men and women who've died in its service; who've laid down their lives in defense of their fellow citizens; who've given their last full measure of devotion to protect the United States of America."
The IGTNT series will likely continue for many more years. The number of Americans killed in Afghanistan recently passed 1,000, and we are preparing to send an additional 30,000 troops there. Although we have fewer troops in Iraq now than we did for most of the past seven years, we have more troops deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan combined now than we did when Obama became president.
The price of these wars is also enormous in monetary terms. On May 30 the estimated cost of U.S. military involvement in Afghanistan and Iraq exceeded $1 trillion. We could have done lots of things with that kind of money. On May 27 the U.S. Senate passed yet another war supplemental funding bill, this time for $58.8 billion. On May 28 the House passed the $726 billion Defense Authorization Bill for 2011 (roll call here). Iowa's House members split on party lines, with Democrats Bruce Braley (IA-01), Dave Loebsack (IA-02) and Leonard Boswell (IA-03) supporting them and Republicans Tom Latham (IA-04) and Steve King (IA-05) voting no.
For many, Memorial Day is a time to remember lost loved ones, regardless of whether they served in the military. Cedar Rapids Gazette columnist Todd Dorman's mother recently died, and he wrote this tribute to her.
For some people, Memorial Day is first and foremost the unofficial beginning of summer. Feel free to share any fun plans or picnic recipes in the comments. We've been invited to a potluck tomorrow, and I haven't decided whether to make my favorite chick pea dish (from Madhur Jaffrey's Indian Cooking), a North African potato salad with olive oil and spices, or a pasta salad with a Chinese-style peanut butter sauce. I like to bring vegan dishes to potlucks so I don't worry if they sit outside for a few hours. Also, the party I'm attending tomorrow may include some vegetarians and people who keep kosher (they don't mix meat with dairy in the same meal).
This thread is for anything on your mind this weekend.
To hear Iowa Republicans tell it, our state has suffered terribly under the leadership of job-killing, overspending Democrats. The reality, as measured by the conservative U.S. Chamber of Commerce, is quite different:
Iowa's focus on entrepreneurship, innovation and exports has led to an eighth-place ranking on a list of top economic-performing states compiled by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and National Chamber Foundation.
Iowa ranked high overall as "a solid performer across most of our metrics," according to the chamber's newly released Enterprising States survey, largely because "Iowa's strength is perhaps its stability. The state's largest cluster, agribusiness, food processing and technology, grew at a 1 percent rate since 2002, significantly better performing than the same group of industries nationally."
The business group also listed Iowa seventh under "top export performers" due to overseas trade offices that provide help to Iowa companies looking to tap international markets. According to the study, "efforts are paying off, as the state places fourth in growth of exports as a share of gross state product."
[E]arlier this year, Forbes Magazine, the national economic and business journal, named Des Moines as the No. 1 city in America for businesses and careers, and ranked Cedar Rapids as the No. 1 city for projected job growth.
In 2008, Iowa had the eighth-fastest growing economy in the nation, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis. CNBC's 2009 "Top States for Business" survey ranks Iowa the fourth best in the nation and No. 1 for low costs of doing business. Finally, last year MarketWatch, another national financial publication, named Des Moines No. 1 in the country for doing business.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the U.S. economy had a net gain of 290,000 jobs during the month of April, the largest monthly increase since March 2006. The number includes 66,000 temporary workers hired to help conduct the U.S. census. Job numbers for February and March were also revised upwards, Steve Benen notes: "While previous estimates showed 14,000 job losses in February, the revised total was a gain of 39,000. Likewise, March was revised from 162,000 to 230,000."
Still, it's encouraging to see job growth instead of job losses. Down With Tyranny has more analysis of the employment figures as well as the absurdly negative spin some Republicans are putting on the news.
Iowa's index of leading economic indicators posted its largest monthly increase in March, a clear signal that Iowa's is recovering from recession with positive signs starting to appear in the employment sector, officials said Monday. [...]
The March index rose to 98.2 compared to 97.2 in February - where 100 represents Iowa economic activity in 1999. That's a full point gain that marked the largest single increase in the index's 11-year history and was the sixth straight monthly increase among Iowa's leading indicators, Harris said. The Iowa index hit a peak of 107.45 in March 2008. The low reading was 94.55 last September.
On the negative side, non-farm employment fell by 0.08 percent for the month and continued a string of 17th consecutive monthly declines, [Iowa Department of Revenue senior fiscal analyst Amy] Harris noted. However, on a seasonally adjusted basis, the state has gained 15,400 jobs over the past three months - which was more than a fourth of the jobs lost in Iowa during the recession.
"On a seasonal basis, we've been hiring more than we would expect, but year over year it's still not pushed us above where we were a year ago," she noted. The seasonal gain "is a very good sign and the indicators are suggesting that we should start seeing some gains on a non-seasonally adjusted basis in the next few months."
Average weekly unemployment claims gradually are improving and average weekly manufacturing hours rose to 41 in March, which was up from 39.6 in February and 38.6 reported in March 2009 but still down slightly compared to the historical March average from 1996 to 2008, she said.
Here's hoping the summer holds more good job news in store. We're having some roof repairs done because of damage caused by an ice dam, and the contractors tell me they've been very busy this spring after a long and slow winter.
Terry Branstad's campaign launched its third television ad today, about a month after his first commercials started running statewide in Iowa. The new commercial depicts Branstad as "the real conservative change we needed then... and now."
The farm crisis ... Budget deficits... Skyrocketing unemployment...
That's what Terry Branstad faced when he was elected governor.
But this Winnebago County farm kid put his rural values right to work, recruiting thousands of jobs, cutting out half the state agencies and taxes $124 million - leaving us record employment, and a $900 million surplus.
Terry Branstad is the real conservative change we needed then... and NOW.
Time for a reality check.
Branstad was first elected governor near the bottom of one economic cycle (at that time the most severe recession since World War II) and was fortunate to retire near the peak of the Clinton boom years. However, job gains during Branstad's tenure as governor did not fulfill promises he made during his campaigns.
The huge growth in the general fund budget would not have been possible without various tax increases Branstad signed into law. Increased revenue from two sales tax hikes dwarfed the $124 million in tax cuts highlighted in Branstad's new commercial. Those cuts came primarily from reducing income and estate taxes, delivering most of the benefits to wealthier Iowa families. Unfortunately, Branstad's sales tax increases disproportionately hit lower-income families, who spend a greater share of their money on essentials.
Branstad was far from reluctant to raise taxes. He asked the state legislature to increase the sales tax in his very first budget address, within days of being inaugurated in 1983.
I expect Branstad to win the Republican primary on June 8 despite his accountability problem. Bob Vander Plaats is a strong speaker but doesn't have the financial resources to publicize his case against the former governor. Rod Roberts isn't trying to make a case against Branstad, as far as I can tell. His function in the campaign seems to be to prevent Vander Plaats from consolidating the conservative vote in the primary.
However, during the general election campaign, Branstad will face an opponent with the resources to compare his record with his rhetoric. I wonder how many conservative Republicans will either stay home in November or check the Libertarian box in the governor's race.
UPDATE: Kathie Obradovich says the $124 million figure "is the campaign's calculation of the net result of all the tax changes enacted under Branstad - an overall reduction of $124 million, in 2008 inflation-adjusted dollars." I would like to see a calculation of all the Branstad-era sales and gas tax increases in 2008 dollars. Hint: it would work out to a lot more than $124 million.
SECOND UPDATE: Branstad "had an elective heart procedure" today to put a stent in a partially blocked artery. I hope he feels better soon. His campaign released a statement from his doctor saying, "Governor Branstad should be able to resume his normal campaign schedule within the next few days and should quickly return to his normal lifestyle without limitations. He should be fully capable of performing the activities of a candidate and a Governor."
The House of Representatives quickly passed the bill as amended by the Senate. The bill had more bipartisan support in the House, with 49 Republicans joining 240 Democrats (roll call). However, Republicans Tom Latham (IA-04) and Steve King (IA-05) voted with the majority of the GOP caucus against the extension. I guess they don't think the thousands of long-term unemployed in their districts need the extra help. King has previously spoken out against extending jobless benefits, which in his view are becoming a "hammock" instead of a safety net. Iowa Democrats Bruce Braley (IA-01), Dave Loebsack (IA-02) and Leonard Boswell (IA-03) all voted for the bill. After the jump I've posted a statement from Loebsack's office about this legislation.
President Barack Obama signed the bill last night, but Congress will revisit this issue soon, because the new law extends unemployment benefits only until June 2 and other measures through the end of May.
The U.S. Senate defeated a Republican attempt to filibuster another month-long extension of unemployment benefits yesterday by a vote of 60 to 34. Four Republicans voted with all of the Democrats present on the cloture motion, but Iowa's Senator Chuck Grassley supported the filibuster, as did most of his fellow Republicans (roll call here). Senator Tom Harkin was absent but would have voted to overcome the filibuster.
Republicans claim they simply want the unemployment benefits to be "paid for" (though they never objected when supplemental spending for the war in Iraq, or tax cuts for the wealthy, added to the deficit). Senator Chuck Schumer of New York countered,
"Unemployment extensions have always been considered emergency spending, and there's a reason for that. [...] Unemployment insurance is a form of stimulus, but offsetting the extension of this program would negate the stimulative impact. It would be robbing Peter to pay Paul."
Governor Chet Culver had written to the entire Iowa delegation in Congress urging them to pass the benefits extension. Unlike Grassley, our governor understands how important these benefits are as economic stimulus:
The nonpartisan Iowa Fiscal Partnership released a study earlier this year showing the economic impacts of stimulus spending for unemployment benefits. Analysts found that direct spending for unemployment insurance included in the federal stimulus, along with ripple effects from that spending, produced $501.7 million increased economic activity and $112.1 million in income in 2009, creating or saving 3,727 jobs.
For the current year, the researchers also found direct and indirect benefits but in lower amounts, $314.6 million activity, $68.6 million income and 2,258 jobs.
So extending unemployment benefits doesn't just help the jobless and their families, it helps businesses in virtually every community. The bad news is that the bill the Senate is poised to pass this week is not retroactive, meaning that unemployed Americans whose benefits expired on April 5 won't get back the money they would have received this month had the Senate passed this bill before the Easter recess. It was a big mistake for Democrats to go home without taking care of this business in March.
I think Summers is going to leave sooner rather than later, possibly before the mid-term elections, and if not then, soon afterward.
Why? Because Summers is frustrated by his role, and his colleagues are clearly frustrated with him. Alexis Simendinger had a devastating item in last week's National Journal suggesting that Summers's "legendary self-regard" and "ego the size of the national debt" had gotten out of control. Some of Summers's frustration no doubt stems from his wanting to be Treasury secretary. When that plum went to Geithner, Summers cast his eye on the Fed chairmanship and agreed to bide his time until Ben Bernanke's term ended at the NEC--a staff position well below his old job as Clinton's Treasury secretary. Most administration officials tactfully avoid pointing this out, because Summers has a fragile ego. But that's why Joe Biden is so great. "How many former Secretaries of the Treasury would come in not as Secretary of the Treasury?" Biden blurted out to the New Yorker's Ryan Lizza last fall.
But Summers didn't get the Fed job either. Apparently that didn't sit well. Administration insiders told Simendinger that Summers demanded a series of perks as compensation, including cabinet status, golf dates with the president, and a personal car and driver. In the "No Drama" Obama administration, such behavior stands out. [...]
Summers always seemed a bad fit for NEC director because the job entails dispassionately presenting the president with the counsel of his competing economic advisers. Summers doesn't do "dispassionate" and he didn't want to limit himself to fielding others' advice--he had plenty of his own to offer. In other words, he was supposed to be the referee, but he also wanted to play power forward.
Summers was one of President Obama's worst appointments, in my opinion, but I wouldn't expect the president to reshuffle his economic team unless a mostly-jobless recovery continues, or the worst-case scenario of a douple-dip recession develops. Anyway, Summers' departure wouldn't herald a real change in economic policy if Green is right about Timothy Geithner being "ever more secure at Treasury."
This April is shaping up to be a relatively quiet month in Iowa politics, with the legislature already adjourned for the year. However, after the jump you'll find details for many events coming up soon. Please post a comment or send me an e-mail (desmoinesdem AT yahoo.com) if you know of an event I've left out.
I have also posted information about an internship opportunity for women who would like to work on a sustainable farm, as well as a grant opportunity called "Iowa Sun4Schools." It's for Iowa schools that may want to install a solar array: "In addition to supplying electricity to the facility, the solar array will serve as an educational and research tool, and as a symbol of the schools commitment to saving energy and reducing their carbon footprint."
UPDATE: Iowa nonprofit, charitable and government organizations have until April 16 to nominate people for the Governor's Volunteer Award.
SECOND UPDATE: The Fred Phelps freak show is coming back to Des Moines on April 10 to protest a constitutional law symposium on same-sex marriage at Drake University. Click here for details about counter-protests being planned.
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