US jobless rate falls to 7.8 pct., 44-month low - Page 14

What have you done personally to provide meaningful improvement the lot of American veterans, who experience unemployment at a rate approximately twice that of the general population?

When did you last acknowledge the good efforts of those with whom you have philosophical differences?

Seems that the last questions put an end to this discussion...

All I do is buy DVDs, video games, and books and take them to veterans in rehab.
If I've read the same books or author we sometimes have a conversation. If I have not they sometimes tell me about the movie they watched or book read.

If the nurse has time I go to the ones she or he suggests. I'm not sure whether that improves their lot or not.

Actually I did not think it worthy of response. If it still is of interest I will acknowledge one thing I do to work for vets assistance. I work to get vets into the Veterans Court in our state. It is not an easy task and well worth all the difficulty when we are able to assist vets to clear charges they got, usually post PTSD. We provide day work to vets who are otherwise unable to hold down a regualr job due to their situations. Our rate of pay far exceeds Wal-Mart.

I fail to see how I can support Wal-Mart's economic plan when it costs taxpayers to subsidize poor wages. I see other box stores that treat their employees much better, Costco, for example.

I cannot ignore the pollution created in China by all the industry that is not regulated for carbon emissions in any way.

I do acknowledge many efforts of those with whom I have philosophic differences. I just don't pander to those that have been shown to be ineffective such as the "job creators" who want lower taxes when it has been shown over and over again that higher taxes for those in that 1% will create jobs and lower taxes have proven to be job killers.

Probably the clearest example of support for philosophic differences is support for military in spite of my anti-war stances.

I actually didn't think it required a response at all...I thought it was a catty question.

Oh I see. If I support properly taxpayer funded schools in inner cities and don't want corporate school vouchers I'm meant to have personally volunteered at that school? Or if I am ashamed that so many of my fellow citizens have to go to food banks I have to have volunteered at a food bank to hold that opinion? If I am upset that our multinational companies continue to pollute I must have had to have lobbied the government and sailed on a Greenpeace ship to be worthy to say I find the poisoning of our earth aborrhent?

States Question What To Do With Surging Tax Revenue

by Greg Allen
April 29, 2013

Across the country, state budgets are back in the black after years of belt-tightening and spending cuts. From California to Florida, in nearly every state, the economic recovery has produced a surge in tax revenue.

For governors and state legislators, that's produced a new question: how to spend the money.

The past three years have not been easy ones for elected officials. Nearly every state requires them to produce a balanced budget. And with declining revenue from sales, property and income taxes, that has meant big spending cuts.

But with the economy in slow recovery, tax receipts have improved. And governors like Florida's Rick Scott find they now have good news to report: "We have a projected budget surplus for the first time in six years." ...

... Florida — like many states — is putting much of the surplus into education. After cutting education spending by more than a billion dollars in his first year, Gov. Scott is proposing a $2,500 across-the-board raise for teachers. Scott, by the way, is running for re-election next year. ...

... In states like Florida, California and Arizona, the improving housing market has helped.

In the Midwest, the resurgence in the auto industry has made all the difference.

In Ohio for example, two years ago Gov. John Kasich and the Republican-controlled Legislature had to plug an $8 billion deficit.
Paul Beck, a professor emeritus of political science at Ohio State University, says that meant less money for schools and local government.
"They were pretty massive cuts," Beck says. "Local governments and school districts were basically having to tighten their belts considerably. There was a substantial downturn in government jobs in Ohio, particularly at the local level."

Now that Ohio has a budget surplus, the discussions between Kasich and lawmakers aren't about restoring spending to schools and local governments. Most of the money is earmarked for tax cuts. ...

... Montana, Indiana and Oklahoma are a few of the other states also using their surpluses to fund tax reductions.

But in no state is the budget turnaround more dramatic than in California. Two years ago, Gov. Jerry Brown was looking at a $25 billion budget deficit. This year, Brown's budget increases spending by 5 percent.

The improving economy helps. But the key factor was a referendum approved by voters last year that increased taxes to help fund education. ...

... In California and other states, the question is how long this current growth will last. Because of the recession, states and local governments laid off nearly three-quarters of a million workers. If growth continues and budgets keep improving, the hope is that some of those workers may be rehired. ...

http://www.npr.org/2013/04/29/179762...k-in-the-black