Federal minimum wage increase

The problem is that most of the budget will be spent on one-time expenditures without any contribution to the advancement of the economy. Welfare budgets aimed at promoting public health and curbing unemployment will reach a whopping 200 trillion won next year. It would be much better if the money was spent taking care of the vulnerable class, overcoming our alarmingly low birthrate and creating jobs for the elderly. But the Moon Jae-in administration wants to spend money on creating 1.03 million public jobs — a 10 percent increase from this year — for senior citizens. The government is putting 21.3 trillion won into so-called Korean New Deal projects to help foster digital and green economies along with ratcheting up our social safety net. The colossal projects are already under fire for being replicas of earlier government projects. Besides, the projects have a plethora of loopholes and some are just plain wacky- sounding. These are far from what the Moon administration touted as … [Read more...] about Stop the spending

The Environmental Protection Agency for the first time is proposing a measure that would force four Western states to reduce their harmful emissions because of the impact they’re having on air quality in neighboring states — including Colorado. If approved, Utah, Wyoming and Nevada would be required to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from power plants and industrial manufacturing sites, while California would need to cut emissions from certain industries. National modeling shows those states’ emissions are blowing across the West and into metro Denver, adding to the already bad ground-level ozone pollution. The move would help Colorado because the EPA recently announced plans to downgrade Denver and the northern Front Range to “severe” violators of federal ozone standards, which would mean more stringent emissions limits for industries and higher gas prices for motorists. The EPA unveiled earlier this month its plan to include 26 states in an update of the agency’s … [Read more...] about EPA plan would force Utah, Wyoming and California to cut harmful air emissions drifting into Colorado

This live blog is now closed. For the latest updates please check here . Russia began a new offensive Monday in Ukraine's eastern Donbas region, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said. Russia in recent days had been building up its forces for an attack on what is Ukraine’s industrial heartland, where Moscow-backed separatists have been fighting Kyiv for eight years. “We will not give away anything Ukrainian, and we do not need anything that is not ours,” Zelenskyy said. Explosions also rocked Lviv on Monday in a rare and deadly attack on the western Ukrainian city — up to now a safe hub for refugees , Western officials and the media — as the world braces for a major Russian offensive farther east . At least seven people were killed in the Russian missile strikes, Ukrainian officials said, with Russian forces striking areas across Ukraine while readying a new ground offensive in the east. In Mariupol, the strategically crucial southeastern port city … [Read more...] about Russia begins new offensive in the Donbas region

Teachers unions are the “biggest budget winner” in California’s projected $98 billion budget surplus, the Wall Street Journal reports, seeing funding for public schools rise even as enrollment has plummeted thanks to closures during the pandemic. Earlier this month, Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) announced a record-breaking surplus, the result of unexpectedly high tax revenues and federal bailout funds from President Joe Biden’s America Rescue Plan, sold as an urgent rescue for blue states. The Journal noted : Mr. Newsom revealed the giant surplus in his updated $301 billion budget plan. State coffers have swelled by 40% during the pandemic thanks to Congress’s Covid spending and a capital-gains revenue gusher from surging asset prices. California’s surplus alone is bigger than the budget of every state besides Texas, Florida and New York. … The biggest budget winner as usual is the teachers unions. Public schools will get $128 billion, a 25% increase over pre-pandemic … [Read more...] about Teachers Unions ‘Biggest Budget Winner’ in California’s Record-setting $98 Billion Surplus