Aug 10 What Does the Wisconsin Recall Fight Reveal About the Electorate? The Democrats came close in their recall fight in the Wisconsin state senate, but they wound up a seat short -- two wins in six tries. So the upper chamber in Madison stays in the hands of the GOP… Continue reading
Aug 04 Cutting the Debt – and Federal Jobs – as Unemployment Rises A look inside the Denver International Airport control center; photo by John Moore/Getty Images After months of squabbling and coming to the brink of national default, Democrats and Republicans finally came together in the end to produce a debt-ceiling… Continue reading
Jul 29 Tying the Debt to Jobs? Not So Fast Lincoln City, Ore., relies heavily on a tourism economy, which many business owners say is flat this year. Photo by Flickr user Anne S. Lucas. LINCOLN CITY, ORE. | Politicians like to make linkages. They like to take a… Continue reading
Jul 21 In Wis., Different Recall Votes, But a Newly Motivated Democratic Base? Fond du Lac County; Creative Commons photo courtesy flickr.com/auvet After two weeks of recall elections in Wisconsin, the Democratic Party has some things to crow about. On Tuesday, the party held onto the one seat it could have… Continue reading
Jul 19 In Wisconsin’s Bars, Coffee Shops and Bowling Alleys, Little Mention of Recalls Voters in Wisconsin are headed to the polls Tuesday for the second time in a week as part of another spate of recall elections. These three are for state Senate seats held by Democrats. And on Aug. 9, there… Continue reading
Jul 15 Taking Wisconsin’s Temperature as the Recalls Go On Ah, summer in Wisconsin. Brats on the grill, time at the lake -- and recall elections. The Badger State's recall-palooza got underway this week on Tuesday with six Democratic primaries that selected the candidates that will challenge six incumbent Republican… Continue reading
Jul 11 Those Unemployment Figures May Be Even Worse Than You Think Job seekers register and pick up jobs fliers from employers at a June jobs fair in Los Angeles; Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images This post was updated at 10:47 a.m. ET on July 12 In the last week, the… Continue reading
Jul 07 As Tourists Return, How Will Service Worker Centers Feel in 2012? Lincoln City, Oregon; photo by Dante Chinni, Patchwork Nation If you want a scorecard for the behemoth we call the American economy, there is no shortage of measurements. Every week brings reports on everything from jobless claims to gas… Continue reading
Jul 01 ‘And If Elected I’ll Fix the Housing Market’ … Probably Not A carpenter installs vinyl siding for a new home under construction in Raleigh, N.C., in May. Photo by Jim R. Bounds/Bloomberg via Getty. As the economic troubles that began with the last recession drag on and on, the drop… Continue reading
Jun 29 The Socio-Economic Significance of Food Deserts In a recent post, we examined the prevalence of food deserts, places with limited access to affordable and nutritious food. In 2006, 2.4 million households were located in food deserts, defined for households as being more than a mile… Continue reading