From the Dispatch

Job Creation and State Fiscal Relief Resolutions Moving in the States

Altaf Rahamatulla — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 09:12:03 -0800

In the State of the Union speech, President Barack Obama stated, "...jobs must be our number-one focus in 2010, and that's why I'm calling for a new jobs bill." With the fiscal crisis forcing states to layoff hundreds of thousands of teachers, nurses and police officers, the need for more federal job creation and state fiscal relief support is clear. And there is substantial momentum building around this issue in the states.

State Job Creation Strategies Part I: Finding the Money and Investing in Human Capital and Physical Infrastructure

Nathan Newman — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 09:59:28 -0800

As this Dispatch will highlight, the first step is to fund jobs that support long-term economic competitiveness, notably by investing in people and physical infrastructure. While the economic climate for profit-making business opportunities is more limited, investments in education, health care, transit and energy efficiency can create immediate jobs while strengthening building blocks for long-term growth.

Take Action: Additional Federal Job Creation and State Fiscal Relief Needed

Altaf Rahamatulla — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 11:34:38 -0800

With the new year, Progressive States Network is working with allies to launch a campaign to demand a new, federal job creation plan that includes fiscal relief to state and local governments in order to foster economic growth and create and maintain jobs. We are asking state legislators to sign onto a letter to promote this job creation plan, the full text of which can be seen at www.progressivestates.org/jobcreation. Legislators can sign the letter at www.progressivestates.org/jobcreation or by emailing jobcreation@progressivestates.org.

Buy American and Fair Trade Policies to Spur National and Global Economic Recovery

Nathan Newman — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 09:53:05 -0700

As this Dispatch will outline, Buy American policies are a first step in promoting an alternative to the trade and deregulation policies that fueled the current economic crisis. Ultimately, we need policies that strengthen local tools for economic growth at home, combined with fair trade policies to raise wage standards abroad as well. Also, as corporate interests increasingly use trade agreements to restrict state authority to protect worker, consumer and environmental interests, states are increasingly reviewing those trade agreements in order to restore states' ability to effectively respond to economic crises and protect the long-term interests of working families.

The Financial Bailout and the Challenge for the States: De-Leveraging Working Families

Nathan Newman — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 15:09:42 -0700

According to The Wall Street Journal, "Fed and Treasury officials have identified the disease. It's called de-leveraging, or the unwinding of debt. During the credit boom, financial institutions and American households took on too much debt." But let's not buy into a false equivalence of "financial institutions" and those "American households" borrowing beyond their means.

Aiding States to Stimulate the National Economy

Nathan Newman — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 07:33:52 -0800

As Congress debates a stimulus to the economy in the wake of the housing bust, many economists are urging federal leaders to make aid to state governments a core part of the package. While direct tax rebates for individuals can help, it will not do much for the economy if states are forced to cut back on critical spending on public works, health care, and education at the same time. As Nobel prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz, who was also chair of the President's Council of Economic Advisors in the 1990s, wrote this week in the New York Times:

NJ: Raising Tolls & Keeping the Money for the Public - Unlike Privatization Ripoffs

Nathan Newman — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 04:13:00 -0800

After discussing the possibility of privatizing major state highways last year, New Jersey Governor John Corzine instead made a proposal earlier this month that called for significant increases in tolls that would provide nearly $30 billion to decrease state debt and invest in state transit projects. Unlike rhetorical promises around privatization money in other states, this plan actually laid out how money would get raised.

The Sky is Falling: Manhattan's Aging Infrastructure Causes Explosion and Concern

J. Mijin Cha — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 06:09:00 -0700

Last week, an explosion beneath a street near Grand Central Terminal in midtown Manhattan sent a giant stream of scalding, brownish steam up through the street and into the sky. The explosion caused a large crater, roughly 35-40 feet wide, and was so strong that it flipped over a tow truck. The cloud of steam and hail of debris from the explosion lasted more than two hours and raised concerns of asbestos contamination. The cause of the blast? Not as some rushed to assert, a terrorist attack, but an underground steam pipe constructed in 1924 that exploded when too much cold rain water leaked on it. New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg acknowledged this when he stated, "There is no reason to believe this is anything other than a failure of our infrastructure."