Job market beginning to improve?
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
The economy is beginning to recover by some accounts, but not in the way that hits millions of Americans the hardest - unemployment. Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan says the economy will grow more than expected in the third quarter - he expects three percent growth.
But Greenspan points to the "pretty awful" September jobs report - which showed a worse than expected loss of 263,000 jobs. He says unemployment will continue to go up - eventually topping 10 percent.
It's currently at 9.8 percent, which is the highest rate since 1983.
There are estimates as many as 750,000 additional jobs will be lost between now and next March - that would mean almost nine million jobs lost since the recession began in December 2007. But employment is a lagging indicator - meaning the economy will begin to recover quite a while before we see a pickup in the jobs numbers.
All this has President Obama talking about job creation. The administration and Democrats want to extend safety net programs - like making unemployment benefits available for up to a year and a half. They also may propose new tax incentives for businesses to get them hiring again.
Whether any of these ideas will work remains an open question. One Democratic aide said: "There may not be anything we can do."
Here’s my question to you: Do you get any sense the job market is beginning to improve?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
White House says leaving Afghanistan is not an option. What are U.S.'s options?
A U.S. Marine points his rifle at Afghan men ordered to raise their arms to show they're not carrying explosives in Farah Province, southern Afghanistan. (PHOTO CREDIT: DAVID FURST/AFP/Getty Images)
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
Tomorrow marks eight years since the U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan.
Eight years and 865 U.S. troops killed - and the Obama administration now says leaving is not an option. With both violence and troop deaths on the rise - this White House is caught up in a rather public discussion about what to do next.
They're playing down reports of divisions over strategy among members of the administration; but some of these disagreements seem hard to ignore. The top U.S. commander, Stanley McChrystal, has made no secret of his opinion that more troops are needed - perhaps as many as 40,000 - or else the mission will fail.
Others - like V.P. Joe BIden - want fewer U.S. troops targeting only al Qaeda, along with more training of Afghan troops and increasing Predator drone strikes.
McChrystal has said this approach would lead to "Chaos-istan" and that he wouldn't support it. So much for everyone being on the same page. It's no wonder Defense Sec. Robert Gates is calling on all military and civilian leaders to keep their advice to the president private...
Meanwhile, President Obama has said he needs time to meet with advisers to figure out the best way forward... and today he's talking with a group of bipartisan congressional leaders to get their opinions.
As for the American people - it doesn't seem like there's much of an appetite for this conflict. A recent poll shows support for the war in Afghanistan hit a new low of 39-percent.
Here’s my question to you: When it comes to the eight-year-old war in Afghanistan, the White House says leaving is not an option. What are America's options?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
What should CBS do about Letterman?
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
If you're known as The Tiffany Network, having your late night star admit he was fooling around with women who work for him on his show tends to take a little luster off the company reputation.
Dan Rather was summarily shown the door by CBS when it was revealed he made a mistake in a report about President George W. Bush. No tolerance at the network of Edward R Murrow - even for the man who inherited the mantle of anchorman for the CBS Evening News from the most trusted man in America - Walter Cronkite.
Now they have Dave Letterman going on his late night talk show and admitting to the entire world that he had sex with women who work for him on his program. His sex life aside, this is not proper business behavior in any office in this country in 2009.
We supposedly have gotten past the days when young women could be pressured into having sex with their bosses in order to get a promotion or a raise. But apparently not at the Late Show with David Letterman.
Andrea Peyser writes a column in the New York Post in which she quotes a former Letterman staffer describing a "toxic" atmosphere in the studio. "Everyone inside the program knows what it takes to get ahead," Peyser writes.
Letterman's a funny guy, but this isn't funny. This is insulting to women.
Meanwhile, CBS reportedly has a policy that bosses need to disclose any sexual relationships with subordinates - but Letterman officially works for his production company Worldwide Pants - They put out a statement saying he didn't violate any of their rules. How convenient.
Here’s my question to you: What should CBS do about Dave Letterman?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
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