Who Do You Support? Start With Friends And Family!

So, we are seeing some further shifting numbers in the "Great Recession".  The recession is seeming to be getting worse.  Today the stock market plummeted further and we have many people looking for work (cities like Santa Ana CA. have an unemployment rate of 10% right now).

By now, we all know someone that has been laid off or is currently looking for work.  Let's get real; don't we really have a better way of doing things?  Can't companies (especially large corporations i.e. Apple) be given tax incentives to bring more jobs back to the united states?

When will things change... Can't we realize that more and more people are living in poverty, while we have a continued shrinking middle-class?

I recommend you see an eye-opening movie called "Death By China" narrated by Martin Sheen (you can catch it on Netflix).  The movie addresses how large corporations are sending manufacturing jobs abroad and how many things we buy today are from China.  Oh yeah, do you remember NAFTA? If you don't then Google it!

Some last words:  Think about where your purchases were made from now on and who you want to support.  Would you like to see your brother or sister with a job instead of someone else in another country? Check the label before buying things or simply walk into a local store or go to your friends website to buy things...  (instead of supporting a large corporation i.e. Wal-Mart/Target).

Zine Scene Staff

4/5/10 Benefits ending, but one Republican isn't extending employment benefits- KICK THEM WHILE THEY'RE DOWN!

By ANDREW TAYLOR, Associated Press Writer Andrew Taylor, Associated Press Writer – Thu Mar 25, 6:58 pm ET

WASHINGTON – Once again, a stubborn Senate Republican is blocking speedy passage of a stopgap bill to extend jobless benefits, saying its $9 billion cost should not be added to the national debt.

This time it's Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., who's insisting that the measure be "paid for" so as not to add to the nation's $12.7 trillion debt.

"What we are doing is stealing future opportunity from our children," Coburn said Thursday.

The clash comes less than a month after Republicans abandoned a similar battle that led to an interruption in unemployment benefits eligibility for some people and a two-day furlough for about 2,000 Transportation Department employees.

A stopgap law enacted early this month extends though April 5 unemployment insurance for people who have been out of a job for more than six months, provides health insurance subsidies for the jobless and protects doctors from a sharp cut in Medicare payments.

But another short-term extension of the jobless benefits is needed while House and Senate Democrats work through negotiations on a long-term measure that would provide them through the end of the year. Those talks have slowed, prompting Democrats to move to extend benefits for an additional month.

Last month, Sen. Jim Bunning, R-Ky., blocked a similar extension of jobless benefits, but Republicans ended up on the losing end of a public relations battle and Bunning backed away.

Unlike the prior battle, this time there's no immediate danger of jobless people becoming ineligible for benefits. The unemployment benefits don't expire until April 5, leaving time to work through the problem. But lawmakers are also antsy to go home for a two-week spring recess.

The House passed the stopgap bill last week by a voice vote.

Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky tried to move to legislation to extend the jobless benefits and other provisions, but the move was immediately quashed by Democrats. Democratic leaders say that jobless benefits are an emergency and don't need to conform to the new pay-as-you-go budget law, which requires new benefit programs to be offset with spending cuts or tax increases so they don't increase the deficit.

"We really believe that the unemployment situation is an emergency economic situation. Republicans do not accept that," said Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., the majority whip. "They want to cut off unemployment benefits or pay for it with stimulus funds that are creating jobs."

"I understand that Republicans are upset they didn't get their way on health care," said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev. "But Republicans should not take out their anger on the least fortunate, which is exactly what they are doing. They should not kick the unemployed while they're down."



(This version CORRECTS that unemployment benefits expire on April 5, not March 31.)

Courtesy of Yahoo.com & Andrew Taylor, Associated Press Writer