To the Point
Have People in Power Turned Their Back on Job Creation?
Economists are predicting that high unemployment will last at least through next year's elections. Has the government done all it can? Should Americans resign themselves to continued suffering or are there short-term solutions?
By Warren Olney • • 51m ListenEconomists are predicting that high unemployment will last at least through next year's elections. Has the government done all it can? Should Americans resign themselves to continued suffering or are there short-term solutions? Also, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates says NATO's becoming irrelevant, and Alabama outdoes Arizona in cracking down on illegal immigration.
Banner image: Protesters gather outside of Senator Charles Schumer's office to demand more jobs on in New York City. Photo: Spencer Platt/Getty Images
In this episode
3 storiesDefense Secretary Gates Says NATO Becoming Irrelevant
In his farewell address to NATO in Brussels today, outgoing Defense Secretary Robert Gates had harsh words for alliance members that rely on the US instead of doing their own defense spending, at a time when the US has increasing problems of its own. Peter Spiegel is Brussels Bureau Chief for the Financial Times .
Read the story8 minHave People in Power Turned Their Back on Job Creation?
US unemployment is back up to 9.1 percent and 45 percent of the jobless have been out of work for more than six months, 30 percent for more than a year. Joblessness has become chronically high on both sides of the Atlantic, but "policy makers are sinking into a condition of learned helplessness on the jobs issue.
Read the story36 minAlabama's Immigration Law Is the Toughest Yet
Alabama has gone Arizona more than one better when it comes to cracking down on illegal immigration. Republican Governor Robert Bentley has signed House Bill 56 , making it illegal to knowingly give an undocumented alien a ride. Schools will have to determine the immigration status of children starting in kindergarten.
Read the story8 min
