More than 300,000 out-of-work Californians could lose their jobless benefits by year's end unless Congress reauthorizes funding for the program through 2012. Across the coountry, some 1.8 million would lose their lifeline. Sounds like a presidential election issue to me.
From Marc Lifsher in the LA Times: "About 70,600 would see their 26 weeks of regular, state-paid checks run out. Another 122,500 would stop getting federal emergency unemployment compensation, and 112,300 immediately would lose special, extended federal benefits."
"Other states with large numbers of people on unemployment insurance include Florida, New York, Texas and New Jersey."
"On Tuesday, NELP released a report called "Hanging on by a Thread," warning that a cut in unemployment benefits would damage workers, business owners and the U.S. economy."
The jobless outlook is only one of the many indicators of hard times in the Golden State. A grim report from Cal Lutheran University paints a bleak picture indeed, describing the state as a "post-industrial hell."
From Lance Williams at California Watch: "Wages are down. Since the recession began, the value of the average California home has dropped by about $90,000. About 3 percent of all home mortgages are in foreclosure."
"And while 150,000 California students get their college diplomas each year, the state is creating only about 50,000 jobs for people with college degrees, he writes."
"And so, middle-class people are bailing out. “Domestic migration has been negative for a decade,” Watkins writes, and the state is attracting fewer legal immigrants from abroad."
To add even more misery, Caloifornai's gasoline prices hav e dropped a little in recent weeks, but are likely to remain higher than average through the fall. The LAT's Ron White reports.
"By one standard, for example, the average cost of a gallon of regular gasoline in California on Tuesday was $3.806, down two cents from a week ago. That's according to the AAA Fuel Gauge Report, which uses statistics from more than 100,000 retail outlets across the U.S., gathered by the Oil Price Information Service and by Wright Express."
But that's about 71 cents a gallon higher than the year-ago price. It shatters the old record for this week of the year of $3.47 a gallon set in 2008. The average cost of diesel in California is $4.122 a gallon, breaking the old record for this week of the year of $3.656 a gallon. A year ago, the state's average for diesel was $3.338."
Nationally, average prices aren't as bad, but are also at record high levels for this time of year. The average fell from $3.408 a gallon last week to $3.396 Tuesday, according to the AAA. But that broke the old record for this week of $3.151 a gallon set in 2008. It's also 58.9 cents a gallon higher than the year ago price."
As California's new political district boundaries shake out, new candidates are popping up, including the son of farm workers and a former astronaut with a compelling personal story. The Bee's Marcos Breton heads to the 10th Congressional District for a look.
"The 49-year-old grew up a Stockton kid whose humble Mexican parents barely had an education themselves, yet raised four children who achieved advanced degrees and professional careers."
"Jose knew he wanted to be an astronaut even as he worked stooped over, laboring the sugar beet fields near Stockton as a young lad."
"Instead of discouraging him, Salvador and Julia Hernandez nurtured their son's dream."
Meanwhile, the Occupy Wall Street movement, which has branched out across the country, is having an impact and is "scaring the pants off the establishment," notes the LAT's Michael Hiltzik.
"Nothing shows that as powerfully as the reaction to the Occupy Wall Street protests that have spread from the financial district in lower Manhattan to cities nationwide, including Los Angeles. Conservative politicians have condemned the Occupy Wall Street protesters as "mobs" supporting the "pitting of Americans against Americans" (Rep. Eric Cantor, R-Va.) and proponents of "class warfare"(GOP Presidential hopeful Herman Cain, who also hung on them the "anti-American" label)."
"On the other side of the aisle, Democrats are expressing support, if gingerly thus far, for the anger against the financial industry underlying the new protests: "People are frustrated, and the protesters are giving voice to a more broad-based frustration about how our financial system works" (President Obama) or "I support the message to the establishment…that change has to happen" (House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-San Francisco)."
