Newsalert

Forty-four states lost jobs in April, led by California where employers slashed 63,700 positions, as the recession took a further toll on U.S. workers.

Trailing California in over-the-month job losses were: Texas, which saw 39,500 jobs vanish; Michigan, which lost 38,400 jobs; and Ohio, where payrolls fell 25,200, according to a U.S. Labor Department report issued Friday.

California's unemployment rate dipped to 11 percent last month, fifth-highest in the country. Michigan's jobless rate was the highest at 12.9 percent, followed by Oregon at 12 percent, South Carolina at 11.5 percent and Rhode Island at 11.1 percent.

Baltimore pension dispute illuminates public/private divide

Overpaid Government Worker reports:

The gap between the public sector and private business in wages and benefits continues to grow. Last month, USA Today reported federal figures showing that public employees earned benefits worth $13.38 per hour in December 2008, compared to $7.98 for private sector workers.

A full-time government worker receives benefits worth an average of $28,830 per year. A private worker's benefits are worth an average of $16,598. Yet in this time of recession/depression, the shrinking private sector foots the bill for massive bailouts of public employees. In the nongovernment world, jobs are being lost by the hundreds of thousands each month. Government workers are secure in theirs. As the ordinary American becomes more aware of the disparity and unfairness of the current system, anger builds.

There was a time when people took government jobs for the security they offered. The bargain was that they would sacrifice pay for that security. Over time, the bargain tilted totally in favor of the government workers as they got both job security and higher pay than their counterparts outside government. Can this system be sustained? I think not, but we shall see.

You'll want to read the whole article.

Fannie, Freddie Scale Back Gifts to Charity

The Washington Post reports:

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac reduced charitable giving by more than 40 percent from 2006 to 2008 and focused it more sharply on housing-related issues, leaving some local nonprofits without a major source of funding.

The mortgage giants' charitable giving is projected to drop slightly again this year, and the longer-term future of the companies -- and their donations -- is still unclear.

District-based Fannie Mae and McLean-based Freddie Mac were veering toward collapse when they were taken over by the government in September in a bid to stabilize the home-loan market. The companies have long been the two biggest donors to Washington area charities, and the takeover sent worries throughout the local nonprofit community.

Fannie Mae and the Freddie Mac Foundation together gave more than $47 million last year, down from $83.5 million in 2006, the year before Fannie shut down its foundation and moved its giving in-house. The Freddie Mac Foundation is still funded by an endowment. In the first quarter of this year, the two companies gave out $4.5 million.

No word from Jesse Jackson on this great moment in socialism.

Hugo Chavez nationalizes iron, steel companies

AFP reports:

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez announced the government would nationalize several iron and steel companies to pave way for a large "socialist" state-run enterprise.

"There is nothing to discuss. We've been on this for a long time," Chavez said in a televised address Thursday, ordering the beginning of "a process of nationalization to create an industrial complex."

Chavez, who has nationalized many of the mineral-rich country's biggest industries, named Matesi, Consigua, Ceramicas Carabobo and Tavsa, which produces seamless steel pipes for the oil industry.

Also affected were Orinoco Iron and Venprecar, subsidiaries of Venezuelan-owned International Briquettes Holding (IBH), which exports iron briquettes.

Is Hugo Chavez,Tim Geithner in a hurry?

For years, Ron Paul has been a lone voice in Congress, questioning the wisdom of the Federal Reserve -- both its various chairmans and the institution itself. His dogged questioning of Alan Greenspan, and then Ben Bernanke, make for great TV (otherwise, those hearings are total snoozefests).

But now, as America wakes up to its dire financial situation and average people talk about things like "fractional reserve lending", the gold standard, and Zimbabwe-like inflation, he's finally getting some momentum.

It's baby steps, of course. Paul is the sponsor of the Federal Reserve Transparency act of 2009, which demands a GAO audit of the Fed, and a full report to Congress sometime next year. And it's gaining steam. It already has 175 co-sponsors in the House

Taking on the Federal Reserve cartel.

He Rocks, They Flock: The Yoga King

The New York Times

Terminating illusions in California

The Washington Times reports:

California is the beta state, where everything new is tried and then exported, true or not. Rap, rock, lavender love, student riots, Arianna Huffington, hot rods and the Hula Hoop. Ronald Reagan and the tax revolt. The illusion that you can have it all, and somebody else will pay for it. This week California's voters offered a view of what happens when big government finally grinds to a noisy halt. Barack Obama could take note.

The state of California, alas, is busted. Broke. Down and out in Beverly Hills. Empty pockets in the sunshine. The Golden Gate, once the magnet that sent millions of Americans rattling westward, first in covered wagons, later in jalopies or "riding the thumb," opens now only to the prospect of the bankruptcy court.

Democracy is a God that fails,as Hans Hermann Hoppe would say.