Highway Tools/Trolls/Tolls - non-Controversy

When I was on the Board of the Milford Chamber of Commerce, and the Legislative Action Committee, the issue of Tolls came up several times. It was shot down rather quickly because people remembered a horrific accident that took place at a tollbooth in CT several decades ago.

(from Wikipedia) 
Several accidents prompted the state to eliminate tolls along the turnpike altogether. Arguably, the most notorious of these was a serious incident on January 19, 1983, in which a tractor trailer after a brake failure collided with four cars at the Stratford toll plaza, killing seven people and injuring several others. The investigation following the crash determined that the truck driver fell asleep at the wheel just before the crash took place.

Opponents to reinstating tolls refer to this as their primary reason. By that way of thinking, we should also eliminate tractor trailers and cars.

People in certain businesses (construction, and those who transport goods from other states) also oppose tolls in CT since it will be an additional cost for their companies. Of course, they already transport through NJ and MA - both states with tolls.

Here is the latest. Very good points. A modern viewpoint, with an eye towards fiscal health.

Statement of House Chair of the Transportation Committee Tony Guerrera re: White House Proposal to Allow Tolls

“Tolls will provide our state with an annual revenue stream of hundreds-of-millions, paid, in a significant measure, by out-of-state drivers. This is the answer to the state’s declining gas tax revenues and will allow us to reduce Connecticut’s high gas tax rates.  As cars get more efficient, gas tax receipts go down.  Tolls, especially border tolls, will provide a stable source of revenue to invest in our transportation infrastructure.”

“Modern tolls are not an inconvenience or safety hazard – you can drive past a transponder at highway speeds and have a toll billed to your plate number or be debited from an account.”

-Antonio "Tony" Guerrera (D-Rocky Hill),
              House Chair of the Transportation Committee

I thought This Was A Joke - But No.

Job Description 

Money Laundering/Terrorist Financing Investigations Manager-130030320

Job Description

 

JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) is a leading global financial services firm with assets of $2 trillion and operations in more than 60 countries. The firm is a leader in investment banking, financial services for consumers, small business and commercial banking, financial transaction processing, asset management, and private equity.

 

The Global Financial Crimes Compliance (GFCC) organization has over 700 staff members across the world.  The team covers both global and business-aligned functions supporting the firm's Anti-money laundering (AML), Sanctions, and Anti-corruption programs and is lead by the BSA/AML Officer and the AML Operations Executive.

 

The successful candidate will manage a high profile Money Laundering/Terrorist Financing function with several investigative professionals. 

Support the Fast-Food Workers Strike

[click on this title to read full article] Fast-Food Workers Will Strike On August 29 — Here's What You Need to Know 

This link Courtesy of Jere Eaton at http://www.blackct.us/

© AP

“On what I’m earning right now you have to choose between paying your rent and eating the next day,” says 32 year-old Christopher Drumgold, a father of two who works at a McDonald’s in Detroit. His story, along with that of thousands of others, is finally coming to the spotlight as employees are mobilizing to say that their wages are unsustainable and unsupportive. According to the Census Bureau, the income threshold level for a family of four to be in poverty is $23,000. Yet the median pay for a fast-food worker is just about $18,500, based on a $9/hour payment — over $4,000 less than the poverty level.

Fast-food workers and labor groups are now calling for a $15/hour minimum wage and many are also asking for opportunities to unionize. Beginning with walk-outs in individual fast-food restaurants last year, the movement has progressed from the local to a national scale. A national strike by fast-food employees is set to take place on August 29.

Here are three important points to keep in mind about the fast-food worker strike.

1. The federal minimum wage is $7.25 per hour. This is the wage that many of the strikers receive. While the workers are demanding almost double the federal minimum wage, a request that almost no business person would immediately indulge, here is some more perspective regarding a livable wage.[... more at full article]

2. Fast-food employees are non-unionized. [...more at full article]

3. It is important to recognize the major demographics involved in the fast food industry. Jezebel highlights the main groups: “The average fast food worker is 28 years old. Two thirds of the industry's workforce is comprised of women; their average age is 32, and they are mostly women of color. The majority are supporting children and families on $7.50 minimum wage, no benefits, and few hours. (Few work full-time because the industry cuts work hours at 32 hours so they don't have to give benefits…).” While the economic situation is burdensome in isolation, the other marginalized identities of many fast-food workers have their own set of relevant challenges with daily living. [...more at full article]

Seriously, people. It will raise the cost of each not-so-happy meal by a few cents, but improve all of our lives and livelihood. Boy-and-Girl-cott all fast-food joints on Thursday to prove the point. Eat at your local food truck or small business restaurant instead.

Math Is Hard - Ben Barnes Bites Back

STATEMENT FROM OPM SECRETARY
BENJAMIN BARNES

(HARTFORD, CT) – Office of Policy and Management Secretary Ben Barnes released the following statement on the latest Office of Fiscal Analysis report:

I think the first point to make is that it should be reassuring to taxpayers that the Republicans are arguing with Governor Malloy over how many billions of dollars his policies have saved, as opposed to how many billions of dollars his policies have created.  That’s a welcome change from the past 16 years.

Nevertheless, it is disappointing that the Republicans continue in their never-ending attempt to score political points against Governor Malloy, especially on the issue of the state’s finances.  Given all that Governor Malloy has done to clean up the financial wreck he inherited from Rep. Cafero, Sen. McKinney, Governor Rowland, and Governor Rell – a $3.5 billion deficit, early retirement incentives, borrowing for operations, underfunding pension payments, etc. – the criticism is kind of ironic.

In this past Wednesday’s installment, Rep. Cafero claimed that there is a “$145 million deficit hole.”

That is incorrect.  The analysis showing that gap does not take into account significant available revenue, more than $100 million in the Reserve for Salary Adjustments account.  Beyond that, Governor Malloy has repeatedly assured our citizens that he will manage to the bottom line -- there will be no deficit, period.  And the state will end the year in the black.

The Republicans can ask these questions any way they want, and they can use all sorts of interesting theatrics in the process, but the answer will always be the same thing: we are confident in OPM’s numbers and the calculations provided by the State’s pension plan actuary.

While we respect the capabilities of the legislature’s Office of Fiscal Analysis, they are not actuaries; their analysis of the pension fund is flawed.  The House minority should refer questions about the actuarial funding of the pension plan to actuaries.  We have relied on the plan’s actuaries and we are confident in their findings, which show billions of dollars in long-term savings to taxpayers as a result of plan changes negotiated by the Administration last summer.

###

They are Sitting on their Trickle Down

USMTO News Release for May Manufacturing Technology Orders
Association for Manufacturing Technology

The United States Manufacturing Technology Orders (USMTO) report, jointly compiled by the two trade associations representing the production and distribution of manufacturing technology, provides regional and national U.S. orders data of domestic and imported machine tools and related equipment. Analysis of manufacturing technology orders provides a reliable leading economic indicator as manufacturing industries invest in capital metalworking equipment to increase capacity and improve productivity.

In any company an important number is always the year-to-date comparison of sale and orders.  That would be what we did last year on today's date versus thus year.  Usually some adjustments are made for day of the week anomalies.  They give Regional breakdowns for the US and here is ours :

Northeast region

At $64.30 million, May manufacturing technology orders in the northeast region were up 8.4% when compared with the $59.33 million total for April and up 88.4% when compared with May a year ago. The year-to-date total of $305.87 million is 92.4% more than the comparable figure for 2010.

Lots of Charts and graphs for the Wonkier Amongst Us at the link: Press release from USMTO (the American Machine Tool Distributors’ Association and AMT - The Association For Manufacturing Technology)

Duh.

 

New Pew Report Points to Gender Disparity in Jobs Recovery; In Sluggish Economic Recovery, Women Fare Worse than Men

A new report from the Pew Research Center highlights gender disparities in the rates men and women are gaining and losing jobs in the recession. Although men lost more jobs in the first two years of the financial implosion, the second wave of layoffs has hit women much harder.

“From the end of the recession in June 2009 through May 2011, men gained 768,000 jobs and lowered their unemployment rate by 1.1 percentage points to 9.5%,” the report says. “Women, by contrast, lost 218,000 jobs during the same period and their unemployment rate increased by 0.2 percentage points to 8.5%.” The Pew Research Center report, authored by senior researcher Rakesh Kochhar, is based on an analysis of U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data.  

“This trend is important to track because it breaks with historical recovery patterns and may have a significant impact on women’s overall ability to gain financial security as the nation moves out of the recession,” said Teresa C. Younger, executive director of The Permanent Commission on the Status of Women (PCSW), a research and policy arm of the General Assembly. “This is the first time since 1970 that women have fared worse than men in the years immediately following an economic downturn. Female employment in state government seems to be the exception; women have added jobs in this sector. But it’s of concern to us that in fields not traditionally populated by women and where women have made strides, such as manufacturing and finance, they are losing jobs at a faster rate. The PCSW is paying attention to this national trend and will be watching to see its impact, if any, on Connecticut women.”

Link to the Pew Research Center Report: “In Two Years of Economic Recovery, Women Lost Jobs, Men Found Them”

Previously noted:  June, 2011 post