Budget axes public health projects
Bradenton Herald
If enacted, the 2007 budget would eliminate federal programs that support inner-city Indian health clinics, defibrillators in rural areas, an educational campaign about Alzheimer's disease, traumatic brain-injury centers, and a nationwide registry for Lou Gehrig's disease.Government Waste
NOW | Truthout
Programming Note
NOW reports on whether the government is wasting billions of tax dollars on pet projects for lawmakers.U.S. Has Royalty Plan to Give Windfall to Oil Companies
In the midst of a storm of ethics scandals and calls for reform in Washington, NOW shines a spotlight on another abuse that has gone unnoticed-billions being "earmarked" in provisions attached to spending bills that direct money to lawmakers' pet projects. In the report NOW's Maria Hinojosa looks at the dramatic proliferation in the use of earmarks, which some say are being used to deliver handouts to politicians that help them get re-elected. The broadcast profiles some of the projects that have been criticized as a waste of taxpayer money.
Airdate: Friday 17 February 2006 at 8:30 p.m. on PBS
(Check local listings at NOW . TV Schedule | PBS
By Edmund L. Andrews
New York Times
The federal government is on the verge of one of the biggest giveaways of oil and gas in American history, worth an estimated $7 billion over five years. New projections, buried in the Interior Department's just-published budget plan, anticipate that the government will let companies pump about $65 billion worth of oil and natural gas from federal territory over the next five years without paying any royalties to the government.Audits Show Millions in Katrina Aid Wasted
By Hope Yen
Newsday.com
The government squandered millions of dollars in Katrina disaster aid, including handing $2,000 debit cards to people who gave phony Social Security numbers and used the money for such items as a $450 tattoo, auditors said....The Economy and Mr. Bush
Editorial
Washington Post
Middle-Class Job Losses Batter Workforce
Chron.com
"Many of the country's manufacturing workers are caught in a worldwide economic shift that is forcing companies to slash payrolls or send jobs elsewhere, leaving workers to wonder if their way of life is disappearing. The trend in the manufacturing sector toward lower pay, fewer benefits and fewer jobs is alarming."Bring Back the 40-Hour Workweek
By Joe Robinson
t r u t h o u t
"It was a great year for labor - if you worked at a call center in India, made your living as a CEO or sold real estate to big-box stores. But deep in Cubicle Nation, the average American worker had to contend with soaring workweeks, declining wages and benefits vanishing faster than you can say job security."States Take Lead in Push to Raise Minimum Wages
By JOHN M. BRODER
The New York Times
Despite Congressional refusal for almost a decade to raise the federal minimum wage, nearly half of the civilian labor force lives in states where the pay is higher than the rate set by the federal government.US Economy Grows at Slowest Pace in Three Years
Seventeen states and the District of Columbia have acted on their own to set minimum wages that exceed the $5.15 an hour rate set by the federal government, and this year lawmakers in dozens of the remaining states will debate raising the minimum wage. Some states that already have a higher minimum wage than the federal rate will be debating further increases and adjustments for inflation.
Associated Press
t r u t h o u t
The economy grew at only a 1.1 percent annual rate in the fourth quarter of last year, the slowest pace in three years, amid belt-tightening by consumers facing spiraling energy costs. The second article says that early signs suggest that inequality is now growing again after a brief interruption.Legislation weakens pension protections
By Theo Francis and Ellen E. Schultz
The Wall Street Journal
Pending federal legislation aimed at pushing companies to shore up underfunded pension plans also eliminates some longstanding retirement protections and gives employers new powers to reduce some workers' pensions.What Is a Living Wage?
By JON GERTNER
The New York Times
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