Author Archives: shirah

The End of Privatization as We Know It?

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Among unbossed’s focuses – or even, obsessions – as been privatization. You can find links to prior posts on this issue here.

It is a matter of great relief to see that we now have a president who does not have, as his first priority, selling off the country’s China on the cheap. There have been a number of executive orders and other strong statements from the Obama administration on this issue, laying the groundwork for comprehensive reform related to privatization and contracting out.
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FHL Banks becoming insolvent

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by gjohnsit, posted by permission

Last April the Bush Administration changed the rules so that the Federal Home Loan Banks could take a more active part in propping up the housing bubble.

The looming financial difficulties have not prevented the Bush administration from expanding the F.H.A.’s role to help ease the nation’s foreclosure crisis. Since September, more than 150,000 homeowners have refinanced through F.H.A. and officials hope that the number will increase to 400,000 by the end of the year.

In doing so, the FHLB dramatically increased their share of the overall mortgage market right when the market was collapsing.
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Employers Ordered to Post Notices about Rights Under the National Labor Relations Act

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For years, people have asked why it is that employers are not required to post information about rights to organize unions in the workplace. Employers are required to post information about wages, toxic materials in the workplace, and other rights.

The omission of the most fundamental right of workers, under the National Labor Relations Act, the rights that are the source of power that has led to – and maintains the existence of – these other rights is glaring. It is a fundamental admission that at the core this country is anti-union. It is a statement that we think employers’ domains should be free of any incursion by unions. It is evidence that we as a people have not accepted the right of workers to organize.

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GAO Hits the Road Runners

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GAO issued two reports today related to highways. The first tells us just how close our highways have come to being out of money. In fact, according to the report, at some brief periods over the past few months, the cupboard was indeed bare.

The second report deals with issues of the security of our basic infrastructure.

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Health and Wealth, part 3

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To follow up on the prior two parts of this series on the status of our health system and terms of the debate, here are additional voices and links to studies and information related to healthcare in the US. Let’s start with the March 5, 2009 press briefing by Press Secretary Robert Gibbs.

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Health and Wealth – The Whitehouse and Congress

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A new report from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services predicts that, this year, growth in health care spending is expected to be higher than GDP. The report – Health Spending Through 2018: Recession Effects Add Uncertainty To The Outlook – finds:

The health share of GDP is anticipated to rise rapidly from 16.2 percent in 2007 to 17.6 percent in 2009, largely as a result of the recession, and then climb to 20.3 percent by 2018. Public payers are expected to become the largest source of funding for health care in 2016 and are projected to pay for more than half of all national health spending in 2018.

We know just how important an issue this is. Whitehouse healthcare reform now now has its own url. http://www.healthreform.gov/

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