I'm getting a raise!

(Get your minds out of the gutter ...)

Proof positive why Republicans so vehemently oppose the Obama stimulus: because it helps little people like me rather than their über-wealthy corporate CEO donors.

The AP reported that benefits in the state are based on a worker’s prior earnings. In 2008, the Florida unemployment benefits ranged from $32 to $275 per week. Under the new agreement, Florida’s weekly unemployment benefits will increase by $25.

According to the Tampa Bay Business Journal, approximately $12.2 billion of the $787 billion in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 is set to be delivered to Florida over the next three years. Additionally, some of the funding in the stimulus is already included in Governor Crist’s proposed $66.5-billion state budget for the next fiscal year. The budget is expected to either create or retain 314,590 jobs in the state, the Tampa Bay Business Journal reported.

OK, so it’s only $25 a week individually. Still, $345 million put back into Florida’s crippled economy is a good thing.

Indeed it is. For me it means that I can afford an extra pizza every month. Whoopie!

Seriously, though, it gives some hope for us jobseekers that more jobs will be available soon. And while that's anathema to Republicans, it's good news for Florida.

I have to give credit to Gov. Charlie Crist (painful though that is) for supporting the stimulus and not following the lead of fellow GOP governors Haley Barbour of Mississippi and Bobby Jindal of Louisiana, who want to reject the stimulus money. Here's hoping their constituents recognize how they're being sold down the (Mississippi) river. Even though their respective state legislatures can accept the money over the governors' objections (making said objections little more than crass political posturing), perhaps Barbour and Jindal are writing their own political epitaphs ... which can only be good news for their states.

Heckuva job, Haley and Bobby.

Thanks, Republicans!

This can only be good news for Rudy Giuliani. Or whatever the Florida equivalent of that classic snarky saying would be ...

Florida's jobless rate spiked to a 13-year high in July, and unemployment in Palm Beach, Martin and St. Lucie counties rose sharply.

Florida's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 6.1 percent last month, the Florida Agency for Workforce Innovation said today. The rate is the highest since January 1995, when unemployment stood at 6.5 percent.

Palm Beach County's jobless rate rose to 6.9 percent in July from 6 percent in June. Martin County unemployment rose to 7.1 percent from 6.3 percent the previous month, and St. Lucie County's jobless rate was 9.5 percent, up from 8.1 percent in June.

The county figures are not seasonally adjusted.

Construction employment fell 13.4 percent over the past year, state officials said, as the housing market continued to slow the Florida economy.

Remind me why we keep electing these GOP dumbshits? So they can keep giving back meaningless pittances of our tax dollars instead of investing it, say, in workforce development?

Maybe we can just agree that the whole Conservative Movement is a massive failure, and start cleaning up their mess now. If it's not already too late, that is ...

Feel the Bush Boom!

For all the criminal behavior by the Bush crime syndicate, for all the death and destruction caused by the illegal war in Iraq, for all the great things about America that Drunky McStagger has ruined over the last seven years, perhaps the most enduring impact on the nation generally will be the utter devastation of the U.S. economy.

It's truly astonishing when you think back to 2000 and recall that the Clinton administration had led this country to unprecedented economic strength. Unemployment was down, the dollar was strong, and we had a budget surplus for the first time in decades.

Today, after years of Republican rule, we have record gas prices, oil is hovering around $100 a barrel, the dollar is tanking, we're in debt as a nation up to our eyeballs, and, today, we learned that unemployment is at its highest point since 2005.

Hiring practically stalled in December, driving the nation's unemployment rate up to a two-year high of 5 percent and fanning fears of a recession.

Employers last month added the fewest new jobs to their payrolls in more than four years, according to the employment report released Friday by the Labor Department. The report showed that employment conditions are deteriorating, strained by a housing slump and credit crunch that are sapping economic strength.

[...]

With the odds of a recession increasing, President Bush is exploring a package to stimulate the economy. The president, who has been coping with low marks for his handling of the economy, isn't expected to make any decisions until later this month. He delivers his State of the Union address to the country on Jan. 28.

The White House stressed Friday that it is on top of the situation. "You have to be persistent in looking at what the threats are to economic growth and stay after them," said deputy press secretary Tony Fratto.

Well, see, that's exactly what worries me. The White House has been "on top of the situation" for seven years now, and we're seeing the results -- and they aren't good. And even though Bush apologists will point to the Dow Jones Industrial Average flirting with the 13,000 mark, that's really a lousy indicator of overall economic health; all it tells you is that certain large corporations are doing well (naturally, with a government that gladly sacrifices the middle class for the benefit of the wealthy).

Yes, as the article goes on to explain, Florida's unemployment numbers are not as bad as the national average, and "South Florida did even better than the rest of the state." However, the gains came in tourism and health care, both of which are likely to slump if the whole economy falters in a recession. Besides, with the other economic crises inherited from Drunky's brother, Florida's not exactly in tip-top shape.

It's difficult for me to understand exactly how the Bush crime syndicate plans to spin the increasingly bad economic news. My guess is that they're just trying to run out the clock now, so that they (and their enablers, the mainstream corporate media) can pawn the problems off on the incoming Democratic administration next year.

Bush Boom, bay-bee!

Blast Off! Radio today at 2:00 EST: Special Unemployment Edition

this post sticky until show time -- scroll down for new material ... if there is any

It's Monday again, which means it's time for Blast Off! Radio ... and it's the Special Unemployment Edition. Yes, I'm between jobs, but unlike most times, I actually have a new job awaiting me, starting a week from today! So today's show will be live from Chez Sinfonian ...

Anyway, I hope you'll participate in Blast Off! Radio today, because the show works best when you join in. So, be a part of the show -- listen and call in!!!! Get into Blast Off! Radio either by phone, e-mail, or IM:

TIME: 2:00 pm Eastern TODAY

Click here to listen

Call in number: (646) 716-7543

AIM: blastoffradio

E-mail: blastoffradio-at-gmail-dot-com

Whether or not you have a job, you're more than welcome to Snark Along With Sinfonian™ this afternoon!

(Cross-posted at Florida Progressive Coalition)