By Wilton Hollins

          If the presidential elections were tomorrow I would probably stay home.  Neither of the presidential candidates have impressed me post the primary rhetoric.  I’ve yet to hear proposals to solve issues that are front and center with most Americans; primarily the high cost of gas which has caused a ripple effect throughout the economy.

            I will admit though if the congressional elections were tomorrow, I would be the first in line to vote for anyone but the incumbent.  Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the House promised the American people in 2006 that congress would present an energy policy that would reduce the high cost of energy…a gallon of gasoline was about $2.39 then.  Well since 2006 congress has delivered over sixty hearings and has subpoenaed hundreds of witnesses and provided zero legislation - and I don’t expect anything from congress this week because they are on vacation fiddling as Rome burns.

            Go ahead pick either presidential candidate, can anyone tell me how he plans to: stem the rising cost of feeding your family, stabilize the housing markets, bridle oil speculation that’s artificially driving up the price of gasoline, become energy independent in the near future, not 50 years in the future, secure the borders, stem the proliferation of nuclear weapons, bring peace to the Middle East, develop equitable trade policies that will benefit the American worker, address the high cost of healthcare access, and oh yeah find Osama Bin-Laden?  Don’t worry I’ll wait.  These issues plus a plethora of others don’t appear to be on the front burner of the campaigns.

            What I do hear is whether John McCain’s military record qualifies him to be president and if Barack Obama is patriotic enough.  What I should be hearing instead is how they plan to “…form a more perfect Union, establish justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity…”

            Until then, I vote for a third party.

WASHINGTON, June 19 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — Today the Employment Policies Institute (EPI) drew attention to the teen employment drought with a full-page advertisement in the USA TODAY. The ad raises the issue of minority teen unemployment, calling it the biggest crisis currently facing this population group.

  The ad reads as follows:

  The Biggest Minority Teen Crisis?

  -- Pregnancy

  -- Smoking

  -- Unemployment

“Sadly, African-American teen unemployment is nearly six times the national average and almost twice that of teens in general. Find out more about what’s preventing teens from finding work and what it means for their future at www.minimumwage.com.”
The national unemployment rate jumped to 5.5 percent in May from 5 percent in April driven in large part by the 3.3 percentage point jump in teen unemployment. Researchers at Northeastern University, who described summer 2007 as “the worst in post-World War II history” for teen summer employment, recently concluded that 2008 is poised to be “even worse.”
One of the prime reasons for this drastic employment drought is the mandated wage hikes that policy makers have adopted in an already difficult business environment. Economic research confirms that increasing the minimum wage destroys jobs for low-skilled workers while doing little to address poverty. According to economist David Neumark of the University of California at Irvine, for every 10 percent increase in the minimum wage, employment for high school dropouts and young black adults and teenagers falls by 8.5 percent. In the 14 months between June 2007, and August 2008, the United States minimum wage will have increased nearly three times that amount.
“Decades of economic research clearly demonstrate that minimum wage hikes result in job loss for the most vulnerable members of society,” said Rick Berman, Executive Director of the Employment Policies Institute. “The unintended consequence of the federal minimum wage hike is pricing some employees out of the workforce, and based on the recent unemployment data, it’s teens - minority teens especially - who are getting hit the hardest.”
“A summer job for a teen is much more than a paycheck: It’s a chance to gain important skills and learn the invisible curriculum that comes from being employed. Unfortunately many teens won’t have that opportunity this summer thanks to legislators who elected to embrace populist sound bites instead of sound economics,” Berman concluded.
You can view the entire ad at www.epionline.org.
The Employment Policies Institute is a nonprofit research organization dedicated to studying public policy issues surrounding entry-level employment. For additional information or to schedule an interview with a spokesperson call Tim Miller at 202.463.7650.
Source: Employment Policies Institute

CONTACT: Tim Miller of the Employment Policies Institute,
+1-202-463-7650
Web Site: http://www.epionline.org/

Emergency Extended Unemployment Compensation Act will benefit 3.8 million Americans

Washington, D.C. - (June 12, 2008)  Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson today joined a bipartisan majority of her colleagues in the House of Representatives to vote for H.R. 5749, the Emergency Extended Unemployment Compensation Act.  The legislation will immediately provide up to 13 weeks of extended unemployment benefits to jobless workers in every state.  It passed the House by a vote of 274-137.

“People want to work, but in this economy, the jobs just aren’t there,” Congresswoman Johnson said.  “And with the rising costs of food, gas, and health care, it is becoming impossible for families to make ends meet.  This legislation will provide needed benefits to 3.8 million unemployed workers immediately, and I was proud to support it.”

The U.S. economy has lost jobs for five consecutive months and in May saw the largest one-month increase in the unemployment rate in over 20 years.  There are 1.5 million workers who are “long-term” unemployed, meaning they have been jobless for over six months.

The Emergency Extended Unemployment Compensation Act will provide up to 13 weeks of extended unemployment benefits in every state to workers exhausting the 26 weeks of regular unemployment benefits.  In states with unemployment rates of six percent or higher, an additional 13 weeks of benefits will be made available.  The benefits will be paid out of the federal unemployment trust funds, which currently have more than $35 billion in reserves, more than enough to cover the cost of the benefits extension.

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U.S. Representative Eddie Bernice Johnson is the highest-ranking Texan on the House Committee on Transportation & Infrastructure and a senior member of the Science Committee. She represents the 30th Congressional District of Texas, which, includes Downtown Dallas, Fair Park, Oak Lawn, Old East Dallas, Pleasant Grove, & South Oak Cliff; all of Balch Springs, DeSoto, Hutchins, Lancaster & Wilmer and parts of Cedar Hill, Duncanville, Ferris, Glenn Heights and Ovilla.