Workforce development updated its page July 23 and seems to indicate that if you were receiving unemployment, but were cut off after 26 weeks and before 99 weeks you should “expect a letter”. Note that there is a phone line, though, to answer questions: 1-888-998-8418. the link above is where to get updates and “how to” information as it becomes available.
Will the reinstitution of extended unemployment benefits stem the 25% jump in bankruptcies and 57% increase in foreclosures so far this year?
I know one thing; that level of bankruptcy, albeit a lagging indicator, and doubling in completed foreclosures is NOT good news for a sustained, healthy recovery which would require at least stabilization in real estate values.
Rep. Bowles, Rep. Sannicandro and his colleagues are to be commended for over riding the veto of Workforce Development Training Funds for that very reason.
There is no better bang for the buck then training Massachusetts workers for Massachusetts jobs. Employed citizens mean drops in bankruptcy, drops in foreclosure and stabilizing real estate prices – and healthy tax rolls. And the fact is that Massachusetts has had to “import” workers for many jobs that require training; there was a shortage of 90,000 trained workers just a couple of years ago. This story from Bristol Community College is one of many on this topic.
And, again, how about reviewing and pruning the Tax Expenditure Budget – Both our state and the federal government have so-called tax expenditure budgets – the giveaways, exemptions, and incentives that mean foregone government revenue.
Prune the “tax expenditure budgets”, not extended unemployment or workforce training funds!
Stop the slide into a debtor state and debtor nation! Bring back made in the USA and made in Massachusetts. Hey, what if China called in its “credit card” to the USA?
Seriously – albeit a USED Ford; no more new cars on credit for this household as of 2006.
A Toyota from the USA.
The first one or two digits will tell you where it was assembled. (Though only God knows were the parts were manufactured.)
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p>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/V…
…and it started out ‘JHM’…or do I look at the first NUMBER?
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p>It may well be foreign made/assembled – I got a Honda Fit back in 2007 for energy efficiency, not point of manufacture.
“J” would be for Japan.
Too bad our Senior Senator didn’t help. A 7M yacht would have provided a lot of middle class jobs.
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p>BTW – I make things in the US and employee MA & RI Residents.
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Are funded by a fee on employers, taking the funds away was theft by the state.
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Business pay a explicit fee on their UI bill for training. This money explicitly was to be used for training and states so on the bill. The state took the money and put it in the general budget.
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fees are not being taken away, 12 million in fees then 12 million in matching funds. The matching funds were in question.
The Workforce Training Fund is a state fund financed entirely by Massachusetts employers through surcharge on the Unemployment Insurance tax. The purpose of the fund is to provide resources to Massachusetts businesses to train current and newly hired employees. If your company pays unemployment taxes it is eligible to participate in the programs.
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p>Hey, you know the state is having budget problems, lets take money from the college student fees – even though they say – “student center fee” or “campus fee” we can just take the money and use it in the general fund.
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A few years ago, the Lege wanted to take money out of the UI trust fund to fund more daycare slots. After all, THAT helped people go to work, and the fund had, like, BILLIONS in it, and we could never need all that money for Unemployment again, right? I mean, this is MASSACHUSETTS, not MISSISSIPPI!
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p>Speaker Finneran put a quick squelch on this, but in good times and bad, the Lege is all about redirecting money from its alleged purpose.
they say I don’t get unemployment anymore and at 55 corporate just doesn’t want you anymore. Also factor in attempting to care for not one but two aging parents(watch for my book on the Satanic evils of America’s elder care system) a house fire, boomerang kids who can’t leave and a green suburban swimming pool because chlorine is just not in the budget of zero income. The cars are paid for but one of them has an “R” sticker and is not getting fixed. The winter fuel source of woodpellets is short and the survivalist foodstock has already been tapped out.
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p>Oh, and in killing off any recovery of the real estate market watch for wicked intense new additions to the building codes which will place housing into the throw away disposable category, and get ready to 1099 thyself to death.
VINs starting with 1,4 and 5 are made here in the U.S.A.
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p>I own a Ford 500.
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p>#2 CANADA
#3 MEXICO
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p>I try to buy “Made in U.S.A.” as much as possible. We need politicians with a backbone to push back against corporatists that just look at the bottomline rather than their employees dinner table.
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p>If the Commonwealth of Massachusetts or the Federal Government ever buys foreign products, it is slap in the face to American workers.
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p>Our tax dollars are being sent to other countries and possibly subsidizing their healthcare,infrastructure and services when we could be putting our neighbors back to work using government spending.
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p>This type of government spending spurs growth in our economy.
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p>How many computers does the government use? How many are manufactured here in the U.S.A.? Toilets? Desks? I could go on and on…it is time to elect leaders that will bring our jobs back and protect the ones that are left.
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p>We are the ONLY country that uses “free trade” principles. All the other countries have some sort of economic protection such as tarriffs and other safeguards…IE Germany and China.
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p>If you qualified your statement by saying “within reason,” I’d completely agree, but that’s a pretty all-encompassing statement. What about products that the state would buy that aren’t made in America or are rarely made in America? What about products that are vastly more expensive if purchased in this country — you could say, “well, buy it anyway,” but you have to remember that’s tax dollars that aren’t going to go to help keep our health care bill intact, or help keep our schools staffed and roads built.
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p>So, yeah… the state should buy American-made (and particularly Massachusetts-made) goods when its at all reasonable and realistic. However, let’s not pretend as though there can’t or shouldn’t be exceptions.
I agree that we should try and buy American and MA made products wherever reasonable. There are some things that are not made here that are still needed.
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p>However, when you say “products that are vastly more expensive if purchased in this country” I would like to understand why they are vastly more expensive.
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p>Could it be that certain apparel made in the US is made under different labor law requirements than products made in other parts of the world? I would say buy American in that case.
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p>Could it be that certain products are made elsewhere with lower (or no) environmental laws or regulations? I would say buy those products made in the USA.
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p>We cannot simultaneously argue that we should support US and MA companies and services except when it is more expensive. There may be valid reasons why the products or services are more expensive. Some of these reasons may be as a result of policies that are supported in the US but not elsewhere.
it meant laying off a lot of teachers and other important state employees?
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p>If the difference in price is a few percentage points, I agree with you, the state should buy American. But if it’s 10% or 20% I’m just going to have to disagree, especially if it’s something that has to be bought in bulk (and there’s probably not much that the state government buys that isn’t purchased in some kind of bulk).
I bought a home a few years ago. Built right here in MA, in the 1920s. The second most expensive thing I’ve ever purchased is being built down the street — a custom bookcase/table/cabinet system.
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p>You know, it’s not just about the major things. Minor things are important too, and we buy lots more of those. Not all jobs are manufacturing jobs (nor should they be). When you go out to to consume a service (restaurant, pedicure, landscaping, whatever), that money goes back into the economy very quickly, and helps maintain your very local economy. Learning to eat and drink local food (in season, etc) helps too. Arts and culture are an industry which tends to be local or national — live performers in America are typically American, as are their support staff, etc. Hollywood movies are made in America, and most music is too, even if the CD is manufactured elsewhere, the recording studio, the art and marketing, and the management are all Stateside.
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p>In fact, I contend that a great way to spur the economy is to not buy so much stuff, particularly from big box stores. If you spend your money on services, you’ll find that more of your money will stay local, have a higher multiplier, and you’ll consume less energy and pollute less in the mean time. Just a thought…
and work off commission.
that doesn’t mean it works perfectly for everyone, just something that, in general, has a stronger effect on the local economy. BTW there are people who work on commission, selling “stuff,” in local stores, too. Like this one. And “so much” =! nothing.
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p>If people were a little more careful with the way they spent money buying “stuff,” even if that meant a little less consumption between 1990-2008, we probably wouldn’t be where we are today and almost everyone, save perhaps the top 1%, would be much better off. The thing is, by and large, no one was buying those things to begin with. Our creditors were — and that was the problem.
Are we no longer necessary to support the oligarchs? Were we meant to serve our masters only?
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p>“You walk into this room at your own risk, because it leads to the future; not a future that will be, but one that might be. This is not a new world: It is simply an extension of what began in the old one. It has patterned itself after every dictator who has ever planted the ripping imprint of a boot on the pages of history since the beginning of time. It has refinements, technological advances, and a more sophisticated approach to the destruction of human freedom. But like every one of the super states that preceded it, it has one iron rule: Logic is an enemy, and truth is a menace. This is Mr. Romney Wordsworth, in his last forty-eight hours on Earth. He’s a citizen of the State, but will soon have to be eliminated, because he’s built out of flesh and because he has a mind. Mr. Romney Wordsworth, who will draw his last breaths in the Twilight Zone. –Obsolete Man, The Twilight Zone.
Food for thought anyway. I’m not sure about the likelihood of the cited mass emigration any time soon. I could imagine the oligarchs moving themselves offshore once they’ve done more wrecking here.