Change immigration policy in light of job losses?
From CNN's Jack Cafferty:
With the U.S. economy hemorrhaging jobs, it might be time to reconsider this country's immigration policy.
Immigrants arriving at Ellis Island in 1905. Is it time to change our immigration policy?
Just last month our economy lost nearly 600,000 jobs, hitting an unemployment rate of 7.6%. Since December 2007 the economy has shed 3.6 million jobs, with almost half of those losses occurring in the last 3 months alone.
Meanwhile, there are millions and millions of legal and illegal immigrants who have jobs in this country. These job losses also come at a time when President Obama is under increasing pressure from Hispanic groups, who helped get him elected, to loosen up on the more aggressive immigration policies of the Bush administration. They're calling on the new president to push for comprehensive reform that would balance law enforcement with new legal avenues to citizenship.
But some might wonder if now is the right time to make it easier for more people to get into this country when millions of Americans are struggling to find work. Remember when all we heard was that illegal aliens do the work Americans are unwilling to do? I wonder if that's still the case today.
Others insist that this is the wrong time to close immigrants out. Tom Friedman writes in the New York Times about the importance of opening the U.S. economy to a smart and energetic immigrant workforce. Friedman says protectionism didn't cause the Great Depression but did helped make it "great". Writes Friedman, "When the best brains in the world are on sale, you don't shut them out. You open your doors wider. We need to attack this financial crisis with green cards not just greenbacks."
Here’s my question to you: Should the government change its immigration policy in light of the tremendous loss of American jobs?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
How stimulating is $13 a week?
From CNN's Jack Cafferty:
You want to be stimulated? How does $13 a week sound to you?
Officials estimate the new stimulus plan will mean about $13 a week more in people's paychecks this year.
While the federal government is passing an $800 billion stimulus bill - which works out to about $2,700 for every man woman and child in the country - the average worker can look forward to seeing about an extra $13 a week in his/her paycheck after taxes. This is on top of the $700 billion financial bailout package that was passed last fall and given to the Wall Street and banking weasels.
When I was a kid and was given my meager allowance I was often told, "Try not to blow it all in one place."
$13 a week. Think you can stave off foreclosure with that? How about junior's tuition, room and board at college?
Maybe trade in the old car for one of those new, fancy hybrids. $13 a week ought to handle it.
Or you could plan a lavish trip to Las Vegas and make the whiny old mayor of that town happy.
I'm no economist. But if two-thirds of our economy depends on consumer spending, and we have lost three million jobs in the past year and have almost five million people drawing unemployment benefits, wouldn't it make sense to put a little more jingle in the pockets of the folks who are fortunate enough to still have a job?
President Obama should be embarrassed. And those clowns in Congress should be ashamed of themselves.
Here’s my question to you: How stimulating is $13 a week?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
Is stimulus plan “theft”?
From CNN's Jack Cafferty:
It was on. Then it was off. Now it's on again. The stimulus plan at this moment is a done deal.
Meanwhile, as top Democrats and a select few Republicans worked on that compromise, other lawmakers are saying that the stimulus package amounts to little more than "theft."
Does the stimulus plan amount to theft?
Democratic Senator Byron Dorgan points out this is more money than has "ever been contemplated in the history of our country." He's proposing that the government come up with a system to show how every penny is spent, adding the real scandal is not knowing how the money is being managed. Said Dorgan, "Letting the banks be run like casinos on their own account, is that theft? You're damn right it is."
Then there's Republican Senator John "the fundamentals of the economy are strong" McCain who is calling the bailout "generational theft." He says we're robbing future generations by laying such astronomical debt on their shoulders.
These critics are right that the numbers are staggering. The president's package is more than $800 billion. That's on top of the $700 billion Bush bailout plan. Then tack on trillions of dollars the government has promised in loans and potential spending to loosen up credit markets.
But here's the catch: many of the brightest economic minds suggest that the risk of doing nothing is more costly than this mind-boggling price tag.
Here’s my question to you: Do you agree with lawmakers who say the stimulus plan is "theft"?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
Should obese people pay more for health insurance?
From CNN's Jack Cafferty:
Want to save money on your health insurance? Try the salad bar. In South Carolina obese people may soon have to start paying more for their monthly premiums.
South Carolina is considering a proposal that would charge obese state employees extra for health insurance.
A bill in the state Senate would charge fat public workers an extra 25 bucks a month, tying the fee to employees' body mass index, which is a measurement of weight and height.
But a subcommittee delayed its vote when the author of the proposal said he'd be willing to rewrite it. They may turn the surcharge into an incentive instead of a punishment, meaning the state would increase everyone's premiums and then give a discount for fit workers. Either way it sounds like a win-win. It's no secret that fat people tend to eventually require more healthcare than skinny people. Diabetes, heart attacks and strokes tend to occur more frequently in the overweight population.
And South Carolina has a lot of them. The state ranks fifth nationwide when it comes to adult obesity and diabetes. 30% of residents are considered obese and one in 10 has diabetes. The state has already approved a proposal to charge smokers $25 more a month for health insurance.
Critics say the fee would be too difficult to administer and enforce. One senator calls it an intrusion into people's lives and another says it wouldn't be fair to those who have weight problems for health reasons and not because they just eat too much and don't exercise.
Last summer Alabama became the first state to approve charging fat workers more if they don't shed some pounds.
Here’s my question to you: Should obese people pay more for health insurance?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
Will economy shorten Pres. Obama’s honeymoon?
A Financial Times columnist wonders if Barack Obama's presidency has already failed. (PHOTO CREDIT: GETTY IMAGES)
From CNN's Jack Cafferty:
Getting the stimulus bill passed is one thing, but before we break out the champagne we might want to see if it works. And nobody is offering a guarantee on that. In fact, there are folks out there who are suggesting that if the economy doesn’t show some signs of life pretty soon, the American public might begin to sour on the euphoria surrounding the man from Illinois.
For example, here’s a headline: "Has Barack Obama's presidency already failed?” That's a rather startling question posed in the Financial Times by columnist Martin Wolf. He writes how in normal times, this would be a ludicrous statement. But because we're living in times of "great danger”, it's worth taking a look.
He says that right now a lot of the blame is still being heaped on the previous administration. But if the Obama administration doesn't act swiftly and strongly enough, it will inherit the blame. He says "doing too little is now far riskier than doing too much" and suggests that if the president can't fix the economic meltdown, the rest of his presidency is pretty much over.
According to Wolf's column, both the stimulus package and Tim Geithner's banking plan seem to be hoping for the best, when what they really need to do is expect the worst. Wolf says he's surprised that the new president let Congress pretty much write the stimulus package, and he sees the new banking proposal as too indecisive and optimistic.
Meanwhile, a CNN-Opinion Research Corporation poll out this week shows an American public looking very favorably on the new president, with an approval rating of 76%. That includes a whopping 97% of Democrats and 50% of Republicans.
But people aren't nearly as fond of the president's stimulus package, with only 54% supporting the Senate bill. If more and more Americans continue to lose their jobs, it's unclear how long Mr. Obama can keep those numbers up.
Here’s my question to you: If the economy doesn't start to improve, how long does President Obama have before the public turns on him?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
V.P. Biden an embarrassment for prez?
Is Vice President Biden embarrassing the President? (PHOTO CREDIT: GETTY IMAGES)
From CNN's Jack Cafferty:
"Barack Obama throws Joe Biden under the bus" is how one British newspaper describes the president's little dig at his number two during last night's press conference.
President Obama was asked about the Veep's recent remark that even if the White House did everything right in combating the economic downturn, there's a "30% chance we're going to get it wrong." The president grinned a little, saying he didn't remember "exactly what Joe was referring to.” Smooth as ever, Mr. Obama went on to say that he wouldn't assign a numerical value to all this. But given the magnitude of the problems we're facing, no one single thing they do will solve all the problems.
But let's get back to the vice president. During the campaign, folks were always wondering what would pop out of Biden's mouth next. Biden has said "I never make any big, big gaffes”, but many would beg to differ.
Perhaps the biggest headache came in late October when his running mate suggested that Mr. Obama would be tested by an international crisis within his first six months in office, something the McCain camp seized on immediately.
And, it didn't end on the campaign trail. During their first full day in office, Biden joked at a press conference about how his memory wasn't "as good" as Chief Justice John Roberts', who stumbled over the president's oath of office. The president wasn't laughing, and Biden later apologized to Roberts.
Here’s my question to you: Is Vice President Joe Biden becoming an embarrassment for President Obama?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
How concerned are you about the banking system?
From CNN's Jack Cafferty:
So Tim Geithner, the wunderkind who didn't bother to pay all his taxes and kept the nation waiting breathlessly for an extra 24 hours, finally unveiled his plan to save the world today.
The Dow dropped 300 points minutes after Geithner's plan was unveiled.
Well actually it's the banking system. But if he doesn't save that, then somebody is going to have to save the world. The plan he announced is like a Chinese crossword puzzle unless you have a PhD in economics and finance. So let us try to simplify; it may cost another trillion dollars to keep the banking system afloat and get credit flowing again.
When Wall Street heard the news, it immediately threw up on itself, with the Dow dropping 300 points in a matter of minutes. And if Wall Street doesn't like it, I find it difficult to imagine why the rest of us should get too excited.
Nevertheless, at this point, we have little choice but to pull for Geithner- 34 banks have failed in the last year.
As the cost of dealing with our financial crisis soars into the trillions of dollars, I have this nagging feeling that we were never told the truth about how bad things were getting last year right up until Lehman Brothers went belly up in September. I still don't think we know.
Here’s my question to you: How concerned are you about the nation’s banking system?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
Releasing prison inmates to save tax dollars?
From CNN's Jack Cafferty:
A California court says the state has to reduce its prison population by as many as 57,000 inmates within three years. That's more than one-third of the nation's largest prison population.
California prisons house nearly 173,000 inmates.
The panel of three judges ruled the state could do this by shortening sentences, limiting new admissions, sending nonviolent felons to county programs, reforming parole and giving early releases for good behavior. They say these options would not harm public safety. Not sure how they came to that conclusion, but anyway.
By keeping the system at more than 150,000 - which is double capacity - the panel says inmates are not receiving a level of medical and mental health care that's guaranteed by the Constitution.
California's attorney general is already vowing to appeal the ruling, saying it goes against public safety and that they will appeal directly to the U.S. Supreme Court. However, the panel of judges cites Governor Schwarzenegger's support for prison reforms. He has said this would reduce the prison population by about 40,000 inmates.
Perhaps more importantly, state budgets around the country are strapped for cash in these tough economic times and the court says California would save between $800 and $900 million a year by doing this. They say some of that money could go to local groups that would work with inmates put on parole or probation.
Here’s my question to you: Should state prison inmates be released as a way of saving taxpayer dollars?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
Rate media coverage of Pres. Obama?
From CNN's Jack Cafferty:
Americans are keeping a close eye on President Obama - just three weeks into his administration - but they're also focusing on the so-called "fourth" branch of government, the media.
President Obama answers questions from the press on AIr Force One,
A new Gallup poll shows 38% of those surveyed don't think the press has been tough enough in its coverage of the new president. 11% say "too tough", while almost half - 48% - say "about right."
It's not surprising that Americans' views on media coverage of President Obama breaks down along party lines. Another recent poll showed most Democrats find it "about right", while most Republicans say it's "not tough enough." Independents are about evenly split.
When it comes to those who believe the media haven't been tough enough on President Obama, Gallup found an overwhelming majority of these people - 85 percent - are at least somewhat concerned that the news media won't be able to fulfill its duties of providing oversight of the administration.
You may recall this was a big deal during the Bush years - the public was quite critical of the media - saying they weren't tough enough in their questioning, particularly during the run-up to the Iraq war.
In just a few short weeks in office - President Obama has been all over the media - popping into the press room, doing sit-down interviews with network and cable news anchors, holding town hall meetings, and tonight his first prime-time news conference.
Here’s my question to you: How would you rate the media coverage of President Obama?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
Important to move quickly on stimulus?
From CNN's Jack Cafferty:
The stimulus debate rages on, even though the Senate is expected to pass its $827 billion version tomorrow.
The president urged Congress to support the stimulus at a town hall meeting today.
President Obama hit the road today with town hall-style meetings to sell it. He will address the nation in a primetime press conference tonight. The President insists the stimulus package will help pull our economy out of its current tailspin.
But most Republicans continue to slam the plan for what they believe is excessive spending that won't fix our economic problems. Senator Richard Shelby of Albama says the package will put the U-S on "a road to financial disaster". The head of President Obama's National Economic Council - Lawrence Summers – says the Republicans have no credibility on this issue after the previous administration racked up trillions of dollars of debt over the past 8 years.
Bottom line is there's a real sense of urgency that this thing pass. The Senate is expected to vote tomorrow, but even now Congressional aides are at work reconciling the Senate version with the House's.
Meanwhile- the Republicans might want to tone down their whining. A new Gallup poll shows a majority of Americans– 58% - disapprove of the way the Republicans have handled themselves during the stimulus debate. That's compared to 42% who disapprove of Congressional Democrats and 25% who disapprove of President Obama.
Here’s my question to you: How important is it that Congress move quickly on the stimulus plan?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
@jackcafferty on Twitter
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