Aug 06 Friday: Unemployment Unchanged at 9.5%; BP Closer to Sealing Well Private employers added 71,000 jobs in July, up from a revised 31,000 in June but not nearly enough to help the unemployment rate, which remained unchanged at 9.5 percent. Overall, the economy lost 131,000 jobs in July, the… Continue reading
Aug 06 The Morning Line: It's All About Jobs, Jobs, Jobs The Labor Department released its much-awaited monthly jobs report Friday, showing 131,000 jobs were lost in July, more than economists had expected. Both the unemployment rate, at 9.5 percent, and the number of unemployed persons, 14.6 million, remained unchanged. Continue reading
Aug 06 Watch Marcus and Gerson on Jobless Numbers, Prop 8, Divisive Kagan Vote Washington Post columnists Ruth Marcus and Michael Gerson -- sitting in for David Brooks and Mark Shields -- discuss the mostly partisan Elena Kagan's confirmation vote, the U.S. job outlook and the same-sex marriage ruling in California. Continue watching
Aug 05 Watch After Calif. Same-Sex Marriage Ruling, What's Ahead Legally for Both Sides? People on both sides of the same-sex marriage in California debate vowed appeals of the judge's ruling, regardless of the outcome, and one has now been filed. Ray Suarez talks to Jennifer Pizer of the Lambda Legal Defense Fund and… Continue watching
Aug 05 Watch Appeal Filed After Judge Overturned Calif. Same-Sex Marriage Ban Federal District Judge Vaughn Walker overturned California's ban on same-sex marriage Wednesday but did not vacate the law. This creates a stumbling block for gay couples who wish to get married. Ray Suarez reports on the fallout from the ruling… Continue watching
Aug 05 Watch Kagan Confirmed: 'Reliable Liberal Vote' or 'New-School Moderate'? The Senate confirmed Elena Kagan to the Supreme Court Wednesday by a vote of 63 to 37. Kagan will be the third female judge on the Supreme Court joining Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Sonia Sotomayor. Ray Suarez examines the… Continue watching
Aug 05 Rapper Wyclef Jean Files to Run for Haitian Presidency Grammy-winning recording artist and philanthropist Wyclef Jean has confirmed reports that he plans to run for president of his homeland of Haiti. On Thursday, he filed the paperwork to run at an electoral council office in Port-au-Prince. Jean, who said… Continue reading
Aug 05 U.S. Senate Approves Kagan to Join Supreme Court By Quinn Bowman The U.S. Senate voted 63 to 37 Thursday afternoon to approve Elena Kagan as an associate justice to the Supreme Court, making her the fourth woman to become a justice on the nation's highest court and the third woman on… Continue reading
Aug 05 Would a Google-Verizon Deal Kill Net Neutrality? A report this morning says Google may be close to a deal with Verizon that would give the search giant preferred access on the service provider's networks. That news has open-Internet advocates worried and Web-watchers scratching their heads. The New… Continue reading
Aug 05 McConnell: Democrats' Big Senate Majority Forces Obstructionism Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell on Thursday defended his party's decision to obstruct the Democrats' agenda in the Senate as best he could by forcing their rivals to get 60 votes for nearly every measure. He described the conflict… Continue reading