Happy Birthday Jersey!

Net Neutrality: Jon Oliver Nails It!

AFTER I STOPPED LAUGHING, I WENT TO THE FCC WEBSITE TO LET THEM KNOW THAT JON OLIVER SPEAKS FOR ME. A TWO-TIERED INTERNET IS UNACCEPTABLE IN ANY FORM.

The President's Heartfelt Answer To America's Worst Nightmare

“We're the only developed country on earth where this happens. And it happens now once a week. And it's a one-day story. There's no place else like this.”

 “I have been in Washington for a while now, and most things don't surprise me. The fact that 20 six-year-olds were gunned down in the most violent fashion possible and this town couldn't do anything about it…was stunning to me.”

 “The United States does not have a monopoly on crazy people. It's not the only country that has psychosis. And yet we kill each other in these mass shootings at rates that are exponentially higher than anyplace else. Well, what's the difference? The difference is, is that these guys can stack up a bunch of ammunition in their houses. And that's sort of par for the course.”

“There's no advanced, developed country on earth that would put up with this. So the country has to do some soul searching about this. This is becoming the norm. And we take it for granted in ways that, as a parent, are terrifying to me.”

“I am prepared to work with anybody, including responsible sportsmen and gun owners, to craft some solutions. But right now, it's not even possible to get even the mildest restrictions through Congress. And we should be ashamed of that.”

Related: An anguished plea from a grieving dad.

74 school shootings since Newtown. NRA is making its mommy proud.

A yet unidentified school shooter attacked Reynolds High School in Portland Oregon today, killing at least one student. It was the 74th school shooting since the assault on Sandy Hook School in Newtown, CT — where twenty innocent people, mostly 4th grade elementary school kids, were brutally murdered.

Shootings at K-12 schools in red, at colleges/universities in purple. 
Source: Everytown for Gun Safety/Mark Gongloff

Student Loans: A Small Step Forward

Public Job Cuts = Drag on Recovery

Dec. 2007 employment level equals 1

Government Employment Still Hasn't Recovered
by David Leonhardt
New York Times  June 6, 2014

The United States economy has finally exceeded its pre-recession employment peak, as many analysts of today’s jobs report have noted. But the public sector — federal, state and local government — still isn’t close to returning to its pre-recession employment levels.

Many state and local governments cut jobs sharply to deal with budget deficits during the recession. The federal government also employs somewhat fewer people than it did in December 2007. Government employment is still 2.3% lower than when the recession began. The recent cuts in government jobs stand in stark contrast to the government’s expansion in the wake of the recessions in the 1980s and 1990s.

If the government hadn’t done so much cutting over the last several years, the job market would almost certainly be healthier today.

Twenty-Five Years Ago: June 4, 1989