A year ago President Obama signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, a $787 billion bill designed to prevent job loss, create jobs, and jumpstart the economy. The Congressional Budget Office reports that the stimulus package blunted the impact of the worst recession in 70 years by creating up to 2.1 million jobs in the last three months of 2009. The package boosted the economy by 3.5% and lowered the unemployment rate by up to 2.1% (February 23, Reuters).
Tracking monthly job loss data from the start of the recession to today, Economic Policy Institute Vice President Ross Eisenbrey demonstrates that the most severe job loss of over 700,000 per month occurred in the months immediately preceding the Recovery Act. EPI President Lawrence Mishel noted in a debate on the PBS News Hour that once the Recovery Act investments began, job losses immediately began a decline to about 35,000 by the end of 2009.
During a podcast interview with The Nation editor Chrisopher Hayes, economist Josh Bivens stated that GDP data likewise shows the positive impact of the Recovery Act. During the last quarter of 2008 and first quarter of 2009, GDP contracted at a 6% annual rate. Once Recovery Act spending began in the second quarter of 2009, GDP contracted by less than 1% and has grown each quarter since then.
Last Updated on Monday, 22 March 2010 00:00
The recent arrest in Rwanda of Peter Erlinder, Professor at the William Mitchell College of Law in St. Paul, has revealed that the story of the mass killings in Rwanda is quite different than Western governments and the mass media have led us to believe. During a radio report on Rwanda and Peter Erlinder's arrest, Wharton Professor Emeritus of Finance Ed Herman stated that incumbent Rwandan President Paul Kagame is responsible for more civilian deaths than any leader now living, most of them in the Democratic Republic of Congo. He emphasized that Kagame's actions have been covered up by skillful Western propaganda. "We never stopped supporting him, and we're still supporting him today. . . We have an unbelievable massive propaganda system." Professor Herman is the author with Noam Chomsky of Manufacturing Consent and with David Peterson of The Politics of Genocide.
 Peter Erlinder leads the association of defense attorneys defending Rwandan genocide suspects at the International Criminal Tribunal in Arusha, Tanzania. He traveled to Rwanda the last week in May to defend presidential candidate Victoire Ingabire on the charges of "genocide negationism" brought against her by the Rwandan government, the same charges on which Professor Erlinder was arrested. This means that Ingabire and Erlinder disagree with the official version of the 1994 genocide perpetuated by the current Rwandan regime. This law is frequently applied to silence critics of the regime, including in the past Mrs. Ingabire, Human Rights Watch investigators, and even the BBC.
Last Updated on Tuesday, 01 June 2010 06:59
Senator Franken Calls for Immediate Passage of Health Care Reform
After meeting with Minnesotans in St. Paul and Minneapolis in January, Al Franken returned to Washington to advocate strongly for the passage of the Senate’s health care reform bill during a speech January 28th at the Families USA Health Action 2010 conference in Washington. "The American people recognize that 'no’ doesn’t come close to cutting it as a solution to our health care challenges,” Franken remarked.  He covered the strengths of the Senate bill in his speech and explained how it will alleviate many of the problems American people face in getting health care. Senator Franken recommended "pledge and pass" as the way to pass the bill, a pledge by the Senate to fix parts of the bill that House members find objectionable and a pass of the bill by the House. Through a process of reconciliation, the Senate can make the improvements in the bill required by the House with 51 votes."There are so many people out there that really need some help. And that's the message I want to leave you with today. You didn't come to Washington, I didn't run for the Senate to walk away from the health care debate empty-handed. We can't. And with your help, we won't."
As of March 1, 30 Senators signed on to support the Public Option using Reconciliation in the Senate including both Al Franken and Amy Klobuchar.
Franken Takes Bold Stance Against Merger of Comcast and NBC
Friday, 5 February 2010 13:45
Comcast CEO Brian Roberts and NBC President Jeff Zucker testified in front of House and Senate subcommittees Thursday as regulators decide whether to allow the proposed merger of Comcast, the nation's largest cable TV and residential high-speed Internet company, and NBC, one of the largest content providers. Sen. Al Franken aggressively interrogated Comcast CEO Brian Roberts and NBC Universal President Jeff Zucker. "When the same company produces the programs and runs the pipes that bring us those programs, we have a reason to be nervous."
Read Free Press Executive Producer Josh Silverman's article on the merger of Comcast and NBC and listen to Senator Franken's opening statement and interrogation:
You can sign a letter to Congress opposing the merger.
Al Franken Proposes Wage Subsidy to Promote New Jobs
Senator Al Franken explained his jobs bill at the Workforce Development Inc. center in Rochester in February. "It's a wage subsidy instead of a tax credit and we did it in Minnesota in the 80's..." noted Senator Franken.
The bill would reimburse companies that hire new employees half of their salary - up to $12 an hour for one year. That would increase to 60 percent for veterans who served in either Iraq or Afghanistan. Because the money would come from the bailout money banks are repaying the government, it wouldn't increase the national deficit. Listen to the TV report and get the details.
Last Updated on Monday, 01 March 2010 20:23
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Thanks to the efforts of Senators Amy Klobuchar and Al Franken and Representative Betty McCollum, Rwanda released Professor Peter Erlinder from prison on the grounds of compassion due to illness under pressure from the U.S. Department of State as well as countries world wide, human rights organizations, and the International Criminal Tribunal on Rwanda. See "Kagame releases Professor Erlinder on medical grounds."Peter Erlinder will return to his home in St. Paul by the weekend. He has been imprisoned since May 28th, several days after traveling to Rwanda to defend presidential candidate Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza against the same "genocide ideology" charges he now faces in Rwanda. Ms. Ingabire spoke after she left the Kigali courtroom with Professor Erlinder's lawyers: "Ingabire's Appeal: Stand with Rwanda as with Professor Erlinder."Congolese refugee and organizer Kambale Musavuli and Rwandan refugee, organizer, and genocide survivor Claude Gatebuke spoke to WBAI Radio-NYC this week about Kagame's arrest of US Law Professor Peter Erlinder in Rwanda. Listen to their history of the conflict in Rwanda and Erlinder's work as a defense lawyer for people accused of war crimes and genocide. Their stories and Erlinder's research indicate our news media has not covered the full story of Rwanda and the wars in the neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo in which Kagame's army had a major role. They can start their research with the documents Professor Erlinder has made available at the Rwanda Documents Project.
Last Updated on Friday, 18 June 2010 09:50
 Jim Meffert is an innovative non-profit executive who contributes to the community through his volunteer work as president of the Minnesota PTA and his service to the Minnesota Children's Platform Commission, Minnesota P-20 Education Partnership, Council on Electoral Leadership, and the Growth & Justice foundation.Meffert was born and raised in Marshall Minnesota. After graduating from Marshall Senior High School, he attended St Olaf College. While his major was political science, he spent most of his time in the music department as a member of the St Olaf Band and Jazz Band. Jim Meffert worked for the American Society of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeons in Chicago on such issues as coverage for reconstruction after mastectomy, coverage for cleft lip and palate repair, and insuring that the important access to burn care and reconstructive surgery were included in the Clinton Health Plan proposals. His job was to bring groups who had differing opinions and were fighting against each other to come to agreement and consensus. As the chief executive of the Minnesota Optometric Association, Jim restored its fiscal health, nurtured productive relationships with its partners, and initiated an aggressive public education campaign.Being a husband and father of three has shaped Jim's volunteer efforts. He focuses on organizations and issues designed to improve the lives of our most important resource, our children.See his campaign website at www.jimmeffert.com
Last Updated on Thursday, 04 February 2010 00:35
Last Updated on Monday, 01 February 2010 14:00
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out that government policies created the disparities we see today in development, energy use, and CO2 emissions. In a video recorded talk, Olivier De Schutter, UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, advocates rethinking the relationship between the climate change agenda and the human rights agenda, especially the right to food. The BBC reports on how climate change is affecting food security in Africa right now. For a more detailed description of these written and video reports and their weblinks, download
