The Second Bill of Rights was a proposal made by United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt during his State of the Union Address on January 11, 1944 to suggest that the nation had come to recognize, and should now implement, a second bill of rights. Roosevelt did not argue for any change to the United States Constitution; he argued that the second bill of rights was to be implemented politically, not by federal judges. Roosevelt’s stated justification was that the “political rights” guaranteed by the Constitution and the Bill of Rights had “proved inadequate to assure us equality in the pursuit of happiness.” Roosevelt’s remedy was to create an “economic bill of rights” which would guarantee…

via Second Bill of Rights – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Taiwan-based optical disc drive (ODD) maker Lite-On IT's factory in southern China is running short of about 800-1,000 workers, about 10% of its regular personnel, due to a prevailing labor shortage in the region and eastern China, according to the company.

via Lite-On IT China factory facing labor shortage.

Joe Stack’s adult daughter, Samantha Bell, spoke to ABC's “Good Morning America” from her home in Norway. Asked during a phone interview broadcast Monday if she considered her father a hero, she said: “Yes. Because now maybe people will listen.”

via Daughter Calls Pilot in Texas Plane Crash a Hero – Local News | News Articles | National News | US News – FOXNews.com.

The message that comes out of it is that were finally paying for the hollowing out of our economies. When many of the decent paying, non-professional jobs have fled to cheaper climes, well how about that – many of the non-professional people – like the article’s Ms. Eisen – no longer have anything to do – much less anything to do that can afford them a lifestyle considered more than impoverished.

Structural unemployment is an economic construct that accounts for the fact that we’ll never have 100% unemployment – there will always be a percentage of people that are unsatisfied with their options and looking for a while; people moving between cities and taking time to get established, etc. I think now that there’s a new component: people without the skills to work in our hollowed out “service” economies. While they may eventually be retrained or whathaveyou, in the meantime, I believe policy-makers need to account for a much higher level of structural unemployment on a permanent basis. That will be reflected in social assistance, food stamp programs, housing, child support, and adult education programs.

Canada, I think, won’t feel it as badly when averaged across the nation – we have a robust resource sector to fall back on, ideally positioned to serve Asia’s growth, and keep Canadians as hewers of wood and water (or whatever the turn of phrase is) for some time. But there’s an important policy implication here anyway: a healthy economy allows productive participation at many skill levels, which depends upon nurturing productive and valuable industries. When we let industries get hollowed out, and rationalize the acceptability of the act by pointing to our “service” sector, were really putting all of our economic eggs in one very vulnerable basket.

Remember: we can’t all deliver pizza to each other.

(Yes,  I know I’ve harped on this before. I am unrepentant in my belief in the “rightness” of using policy-levers to shape long-term trends)

Large companies are increasingly owned by institutional investors who crave swift profits, a feat often achieved by cutting payroll. The declining influence of unions has made it easier for employers to shift work to part-time and temporary employees. Factory work and even white-collar jobs have moved in recent years to low-cost countries in Asia and Latin America. Automation has helped manufacturing cut 5.6 million jobs since 2000 — the sort of jobs that once provided lower-skilled workers with middle-class paychecks.

via The New Poor – Despite Signs of Recovery, Long-Term Unemployment Rises – Series – NYTimes.com.

President Obama is announcing funding to break ground on the first new nuclear power plant in nearly three decades. In Lanham, Maryland Tuesday morning, Mr. Obama will announce the first loan guarantee for the construction and operation of two new nuclear reactors at a Southern Company plant in Burke, Georgia. Southern Company says approximately 3,000 onsite construction jobs and approximately 850 permanent operations jobs will be created and the facility will power 550,000 homes.

via President Obama Announces Loan for Nuclear Power Plant « Row 2, Seat 4.

US President Barack Obama called Saturday for new spending cuts, warning the country must bring its ballooning deficit under control in order to be able to move forward.

via Obama signs ‘pay as you go’ legislation into law | Raw Story.

THE tins of seasoning on top of Zach Motl’s refrigerator — Old Bay, Hungarian paprika, Madras curry powder — are for show only, chosen for their graphic punch and nifty typefaces. Living in a room that’s only 178 square feet, you don’t want to cook much, Mr. Motl said; it’s just too odoriferous. He once made French onion soup, and the apartment smelled for four days. “It was gross,” he said.

via On Location – Zach Motl Fits a World Into a Tiny Brooklyn Studio – NYTimes.com.

Images taken by police helicopters capturing the collapse of the World Trade Centre buildings have been released. The dramatic images capturing a cloud of smoke and debris roaring down the streets of New York City were made public after a Freedom of Information request from ABC News .

via Dramatic Images of World Trade Centre Collapse on 9/11 Released – AOL News Canada.

A new Washington Post-ABC News Poll shows far more Americans trust congressional Republicans to handle the big issues than they did just a few months ago, as public approval of Washington sinks.

via FOXNews.com – Republicans Winning Back Trust on Handling of Big Issues, Poll Shows.

“In case you weren’t planning to attend CWG [Conservative Working Group] tomorrow morning, you might want to reconsider because Joe the Plumber will be joining us!” Kimberly Wallner, an aide to South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint, wrote in a message to her e-mail list this afternoon. [Alex Isenstadt]

Yes, Joe the Plumber is advising the GOP at their strategy sessions.