Jobless Claims in U.S. Unexpectedly Rose Last Week, by Alex Kowalski, June 14, 2012, Businessweek: “More Americans applied for jobless benefits and consumer prices dropped by the most in three years, giving the Federal Reserve room to spur an economy that’s generating little growth or inflation. Claims for unemployment insurance payments unexpectedly climbed by 6,000 to 386,000 in the week ended June 9, Labor Department figures showed today in Washington. The cost of living fell 0.3 percent in May, led by the biggest decrease in gasoline prices in three years, the agency also reported. Stocks rose as investors increased bets Fed policy makers meeting next week will take additional steps to boost growth and cut an unemployment rate stuck above 8 percent since February 2009. . .”
Day: June 14, 2012
Proposed Cuts to Social Services Programs – California
Welfare-to-work debate takes center stage in California budget stalemate, By Steven Harmon, June 13, 2012, Santa Cruz Sentinel: “SACRAMENTO — Gov. Jerry Brown finally made it clear this week how important welfare reform was to his budget when he invoked an old nemesis, President Bill Clinton. The governor chastised his fellow Democrats for rejecting his proposed $1.3 billion in cuts to social services programs, including a plan to cut parents off welfare-to-work grants after two years if they haven’t found a job or sought job training. He implored Democrats to support a reform “built on President Clinton’s framework and focused on getting people back to work. We’re not there yet.” The showdown over welfare reforms has become an unlikely hurdle as state legislators close in on a Friday deadline to solve the state’s $15.7 billion budget deficit. Democrats argued Wednesday that Clinton’s 1990s welfare reform worked better in a strong economy and that eliminating services for people on the edge . . .”
Public Defender System – Michigan
Michigan Finally Eyeing Changes To Lawyers For Poor, By Carrie Johnson, June 14, 2012, NPR: “Lawyers on all sides agree the system enshrined nearly 50 years ago that gives all defendants the right to a lawyer is not working. The Justice Department calls it a crisis — such a big problem that it’s been doling out grants to improve how its adversaries perform in criminal cases. Consider Michigan: Five times since the 1980s, independent groups have called on Michigan to change the way it pays lawyers for the poor. Each time, state officials have done nothing. And a 2008 study by a legal nonprofit association said the state’s indigent defense system had reached a “constitutional crisis.” But a lawsuit and a growing number of exonerations may be starting to change that. . .”