And couldn’t they simply require businesses to pay them whatever “living wage” Congress decrees, too?

Problem solved! Economic Nirvana is within their grasp!

My guess is we will see slight up-tick in part-time/seasonal jobs in preperation for the holidays, in which retail sales will be clamitous this year.
…
Archimedes on November 11, 2009 at 3:10 PM

My guess is we won’t even see that much. Look up the UK Daily Mail piece from a couple months back about the “Ghost Fleet” of container ships that under normal circumstances would have been plying the lanes with thousands of tons of product to get a head start on the holiday rush – and were in fact sitting tied up at various locations around the globe. Or take a look at this site, which tracks ships in real-time everywhere around the globe (Somali coast excepted, for some reason). Take a look at the Baltic Index, which is to international shipping what Chicago is to wheat and beef. It’s cratered to the point that it wouldn’t look out of place on the far side of the moon.

Nobody’s buying what they don’t absolutely need right now – even those with jobs, even with stores giving away half-off coupons like candy. Go to the entertainment department at Target and Walmart – and run a finger along the tops of the DVDs displayed. They haven’t even been picked through, outside of the obligatory (and oft-switched) new release racks. Who’d be crazy enough to hire someone, even temporarily, to help them sell to no customers?

highhopes on November 11, 2009 at 2:24 PM

Amen.

The natural question will be why Reid doesn’t pull the plug on further Porkulus spending and use some of what’s left in real economic stimulation — signaling tax credits rather than the massive tax expansions of ObamaCare, for instance, and the end of funding pork projects. If we need a jobs bill now, we should first stop spending massive amounts of cash on the one that failed.

“signalling tax credits”? Where are the supply siders? Tax rate cuts, or a new, simpler tax code?
And all we’ll get from the big “O”, any tax cuts will not be big enough to make a difference to working families, like he did when poo pooing the lowering the federal fuel tax.
NO more Keynesian stimulus projects!!!

However, a new jobs bill is fraught with political risks. Just considering such a bill will be seen as a tacit admission that Porkulus has utterly failed. The natural question will be why Reid doesn’t pull the plug on further Porkulus spending and use some of what’s left in real economic stimulation

Some of what’s left? Some of what’s LEFT?!??! There was nothing there to begin with except the paper and ink used to create the currency. There was and is NO real money behind this Obamanation (and ever further back, Bushanation). It’s not there. It’s a ghost, a phantom, a chimera, a mirage. There is NO “something left to spend” because it wasn’t…there…to…begin…with.

Welcome to Obama’s Depression folks. It’ll be great.

18-1 on November 11, 2009 at 2:30 PM

We could call it Opression.

journeyintothewhirlwind on November 11, 2009 at 4:06 PM

Hey Journey, I’m in the near-north (Chicago&State) of down town! We should grab a beer and compare notes sometime, you game?

Detroit = Gotham City.

JohnGalt23 on November 11, 2009 at 3:47 PM

I was going to say we have the Joker as governor, but he’s already taken

Demand the banks and car industry be returned to the public sector.

No more bailouts…sink or swim.

Demand tax breaks across the board including keeping the Bush tax cuts.

Start drilling now

Start more coal production now

Start building Nuclear Power plants now

Invest in “proven” alternative energy like electric cars and Hydrogen.

Sign the Latin American free trade agreement

Increase investing and trade agreements with India.

Enough with the socialist crap.
Time to get back to what has always made America Great.
Freedom and Capitalism.

Baxter Greene on November 11, 2009 at 3:43 PM

My if that doesn’t look like a campaign platform right there!

Run Bax, Run! I’ll vote for that with vigour & vim.

And probably close to 50% unemployment in Detroit.

highhopes on November 11, 2009 at 2:32 PM

Detroit = Gotham City.

“New jobs bill…”

Stimulus 2?

No thanks.

Enoxo on November 11, 2009 at 2:26 PM

Exactly!

That’s the first thing that hit me when I read this that it was nothing more than a stimulus 2.

The democrats may think they can push this because if Republicans go against it they will appear again as the party of “no” obstructing job growth policies.

The Republicans need to make it very clear that they already promised this with the 800 billion dollar stimulus that has been a failure.

As Obama put it: “Shut up!!!”
“I don’t want to hear from the people that got us in this mess”.

Republicans need to take control of drafting this bill:
As Obama put it: “Grab a broom and help out!!!”

and demand that the democrats figure out a way to pay the American people back the 800 billion they just got through stealing from us.

Don’t let the democrats off the hook for their “pay to play” stimulus rip off by taking credit for a jobs bill later.

Demand concessions from the Unions.

Demand the banks and car industry be returned to the public sector.

No more bailouts…sink or swim.

Demand tax breaks across the board including keeping the Bush tax cuts.

Start drilling now

Start more coal production now

Start building Nuclear Power plants now

Invest in “proven” alternative energy like electric cars and Hydrogen.

Sign the Latin American free trade agreement

Increase investing and trade agreements with India.

Enough with the socialist crap.
Time to get back to what has always made America Great.
Freedom and Capitalism.

China and Japan are about to cut up our credit cards. :-O

Dave R. on November 11, 2009 at 3:20 PM

Yesterday Politico had piece asserting serious evidence China has been fudging their numbers even more than normal. That in actuality they have been just staving off an economic implosion. One of the points cited is 900B stimulous (in a 4.6T economy/20ish%!) to buy their own products and warehouse them tto hide the stats.

If that is right, the largest purchaser of our debt will not even be able to so if they were willing. Which would only leave the Fed the buyer of last resort for Treasury issues, as happenned our last debt issuance. This sort of game that Bernacke played last time around caused the Int’l community to start pondering using a new currency for trade, he risks much if he were to so again.

We are seriously teetering on the finacial abyss here kiddies, it blows my mind how overwhelmingly our population remains oblivious to our imminent peril.