What You Need to Know: 01.09.09
Unemployment Hits 7.2%, 16-Year High
"With the recession in full swing, the nation’s employers shed 524,000 jobs in December, the government reported Friday, and a rapidly deteriorating economy promised more significant losses in the months ahead. December’s job losses brought the total for 2008 to 2.6 million, spanning a recession that started 12 months ago.
The unemployment rate jumped to 7.2 percent in December from 6.8 percent in November and 5 percent last April, when the recession was four months old and just beginning to bite. More than 11 million Americans are now unemployed, and their growing ranks seem likely to put pressure on President-elect Barack Obama and Congress to act quickly on a stimulus package that mixes tax cuts and public spending."
Geithner Preparing Overhaul Of Bailout
"Confronted with intense skepticism on Capitol Hill over the $700 billion financial rescue program, Treasury Secretary nominee Timothy F. Geithner and President-elect Barack Obama's economic team are urgently overhauling the embattled initiative and broadening its scope well beyond Wall Street, sources familiar with the discussions said.
Geithner has been working night and day on the eighth floor of the transition team office in downtown Washington with Lawrence H. Summers and other senior economic advisers to hash out a new approach that would expand the program's aid to municipalities, small businesses, homeowners and other consumers. With lawmakers stewing over how Bush administration officials spent the first $350 billion, Geithner has little chance of winning congressional approval for the second half without retooling the program, the sources added."
Israel and Hamas Rebuff U.N. Cease-Fire Call
"Israel and Hamas rebuffed a United Nations call for a cease-fire in the 14-day Gaza war on Friday, with Israel saying continued barrages of rocket fire from its adversaries made the United Nations resolution “unworkable.”"
Illinois House nears Blagojevich impeachment
"Gov. Rod Blagojevich faces almost certain impeachment by the Illinois House, a historic step that would trigger a trial to determine whether the Democratic governor should be tossed out of office.
A simple majority vote will be enough to impeach. With Blagojevich defenders almost impossible to find, the outcome appears set."
Move over, boomer presidents: A new generation takes charge
"When President Kennedy said the torch had been passed to a new generation in the 1960s, the baby-boomers who were beginning to grow up then figured it was their time, and they spent most of the decade noisily trying to do just that in ways that have split the culture ever since.
Half a century later, after voters under 30 backed him in record numbers, Barack Obama will "pass the torch" to another new generation: The children of the boomers, most of them born after 1980, known as "millennials.""
"With the recession in full swing, the nation’s employers shed 524,000 jobs in December, the government reported Friday, and a rapidly deteriorating economy promised more significant losses in the months ahead. December’s job losses brought the total for 2008 to 2.6 million, spanning a recession that started 12 months ago.
The unemployment rate jumped to 7.2 percent in December from 6.8 percent in November and 5 percent last April, when the recession was four months old and just beginning to bite. More than 11 million Americans are now unemployed, and their growing ranks seem likely to put pressure on President-elect Barack Obama and Congress to act quickly on a stimulus package that mixes tax cuts and public spending."
Geithner Preparing Overhaul Of Bailout
"Confronted with intense skepticism on Capitol Hill over the $700 billion financial rescue program, Treasury Secretary nominee Timothy F. Geithner and President-elect Barack Obama's economic team are urgently overhauling the embattled initiative and broadening its scope well beyond Wall Street, sources familiar with the discussions said.
Geithner has been working night and day on the eighth floor of the transition team office in downtown Washington with Lawrence H. Summers and other senior economic advisers to hash out a new approach that would expand the program's aid to municipalities, small businesses, homeowners and other consumers. With lawmakers stewing over how Bush administration officials spent the first $350 billion, Geithner has little chance of winning congressional approval for the second half without retooling the program, the sources added."
Israel and Hamas Rebuff U.N. Cease-Fire Call
"Israel and Hamas rebuffed a United Nations call for a cease-fire in the 14-day Gaza war on Friday, with Israel saying continued barrages of rocket fire from its adversaries made the United Nations resolution “unworkable.”"
Illinois House nears Blagojevich impeachment
"Gov. Rod Blagojevich faces almost certain impeachment by the Illinois House, a historic step that would trigger a trial to determine whether the Democratic governor should be tossed out of office.
A simple majority vote will be enough to impeach. With Blagojevich defenders almost impossible to find, the outcome appears set."
Move over, boomer presidents: A new generation takes charge
"When President Kennedy said the torch had been passed to a new generation in the 1960s, the baby-boomers who were beginning to grow up then figured it was their time, and they spent most of the decade noisily trying to do just that in ways that have split the culture ever since.
Half a century later, after voters under 30 backed him in record numbers, Barack Obama will "pass the torch" to another new generation: The children of the boomers, most of them born after 1980, known as "millennials.""
Labels: what you need to know
posted by Justine at 10:11 AM
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