The GOP has ruthlessly sold the outlandish myth to millions that a hike in the minimum wage is a huge job killer. It has been so effective in its hard sell that President Obama and Congressional Democrats have repeatedly been stymied and frustrated in every effort they’ve made to boost the minimum wage nationally. And almost certainly, Obama in his State of the Union Address later this month will again demand that Congress, meaning House and Senate Republicans, immediately raise the minimum wage. 

While the week before Christmas is a time when most Americans begin to pay less attention to the outside world in order to focus on friends and family, 1.3 million people will find that nearly impossible. That’s the number of the long-term unemployed—individuals who’ve been jobless for more than six and a half months—-whose unemployment benefits will expire just days after Christmas. The long-term unemployed are disproportionately people of color.

What that means in practice is giving young people -- especially low-income and at-risk youth -- job skills and paid employment. At the same time, they’re learning about climate change and sustainability. “We’re preparing them for any job that they will have in their future, and ideally, they will have a job in the green economy,” Pincus says. Early in the Obama administration, the “green economy” was getting a lot of attention. The President’s massive 2009 economic stimulus plan included $500 million for job training in the emerging clean energy market. 

Whites had an average wealth of $632,000 in 2010 while Blacks had about $98,000 and Hispanics had $110,000, according to a recent study by the Urban Institute. “Such great wealth disparities help explain why many middle-income Blacks and Hispanics haven’t seen much improvement in their relative economic status and, in fact, are at greater risk of sliding backwards,” the report says.

The crucial job that voters in 2008 believed Obama could do best, and still want done in 2012, is to make the economy right, rein in the Wall Street greed merchants, save jobs and homes, and get the credit pipeline to businesses open. He also will continue to be the firewall against all efforts to gut Medicare, Social Security, and Medicaid. His ability to accomplish these things didn’t fully happen during his first four years. The modest proposals that he put forward to attack these towering problems only gave the GOP ammunition to rally millions to harangue, hector, and obstruct Obama’s efforts. 

Obama has tried to be consistent with his all-of-the-above approach [to energy]…[which] puts a big emphasis on renewables, and Romney has been all over the place on this issue... At least you know what you are getting with Obama. You have no idea what you are getting with Romney. (But) the environmental movement is going to have to push Obama the day after the election.

One report on an AP survey shows that the poor are not only getting poorer, they are also more numerous than any time in the last half-century. The other report from the Tax Justice Network finds that the super-rich are not only getting richer, they are also squirreling tens of trillions in offshore tax havens, far outside the reaches of the U.S. and other nation’s tax collectors. Wealthy Americans are amply represented among the offshore tax evaders. This money could bankroll business startups, expand businesses, fatten federal and state tax revenues, and create thousands of new jobs.

President Obama's jobs plan centers on: 1) putting millions of people directly back to work to rebuild America’s tattered infrastructure and 2) providing money to states to rehire over 450,000 teachers.  If the Republicans had enacted the president’s employment legislation when he proposed it in 2011, rather than declaring it dead-on-arrival, the economy could have churned out 227,000 jobs last month rather than the anemic 69,000. This is the point that Obama was making when he tripped over himself on June 8: Americans need quick action on jobs.

New America Media and Investigative Reporting Workshop: Young and old in mud-caked shoes marched toward the Capitol last Thursday calling for jobs and economic fairness. The marchers have convened in Washington from across the country, camping on Washington’s National Mall by day and sleeping in local churches by night. They are part of an effort backed by Our DC, a grassroots advocacy group focused on good jobs for District residents.

From New America Media: As the economy continues to flounder, a growing number of college graduates are shifting their priorities away from forging a career path in their desired field to more immediate demands, such as paying the bills.  As a result, many are taking jobs out of college that they never imagined themselves doing and are finding that once they’ve taken that turn, it isn’t so easy to find their way back.