U.S. Government Purchases 760,000 Pounds of Ham for $1.191m, at a Cost of Approximately $1.50 per Pound, Agriculture Secy. Vilsack Defends Purchase

We are living in some scary economic times and I must say I was appalled to learn that the government is literally throwing money away on ridiculous things. Why am I not surprised at the level of waste at the hands of elected officials. According to recovery.gov, the following contracts were awarded:

RECOVERY.GOV//AWARDED: $2,531,600 FOR 'HAM, WATER ADDED, COOKED, FROZEN, SLICED, 2-LB'...
RECOVERY.GOV // AWARDED: $1,191,200 FOR '2 POUND FROZEN HAM SLICED'...
RECOVERY.GOV // AWARDED: $351,807 FOR 'REPLACE AND UPGRADE THE DUMBWAITER'...
RECOVERY.GOV // AWARDED: $1,562,568 FOR 'MOZZARELLA CHEESE'...
RECOVERY.GOV // AWARDED: $5,708,260 FOR 'PROCESS CHEESE'...
RECOVERY.GOV // AWARDED: $16,784,272 FOR 'CANNED PORK'...
RECOVERY.GOV // AWARDED: $1,444,100 FOR 'REPAIR DOOR BLDG 5112'...
RECOVERY.GOV // AWARDED: $541,119 FOR 'INSTALL TRAFFIC SIGNAL'...

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack released a statement in defense of this ridiculous ham purchase:

"Through the Recovery Act, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has made $100 million available to the states for The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP), which acquires food that is distributed to local organizations that assist the needy – including food banks, food pantries, and soup kitchens.

The Recovery Act funds referenced in press reports allowed states to purchase ham, cheese and dairy products for these food banks, soup kitchens and food pantries that provide assistance to people who otherwise do not have access to food. This program will help reduce hunger of those hardest hit by the current economic recession.

The references to "2 pound frozen ham sliced" are to the sizes of the packaging. Press reports suggesting that the Recovery Act spent $1.191 million to buy "2 pounds of ham" are wrong. In fact, the contract in question purchased 760,000 pounds of ham for $1.191m, at a cost of approximately $1.50 per pound. In terms of the dairy purchase referenced, USDA's Farm Service Agency (FSA) purchased 837,936 pounds of mozzarella cheese and 4,039,200 pounds of processed cheese.

While the principal purpose of these expenditures is to provide food to those hardest hit by these tough times, the purchases also provide a modest economic benefit of benefiting Americans working at food retailers, manufacturers and transportation companies as well as the farmers and ranchers who produce our food supply." Source: United States Dept. of Agriculture

Thank God for transparency. As millions of Americans are losing their jobs, it's amazing that the government can still waste millions of dollars rather than channel some of this money into helping people avoid foreclosure, find employment and to even help the states that have double digit unemployment rates, among other problems. If these purchases are for soup kitchens, how come so many are little closing their doors for lack of funding and food? Stay tuned. This soap opera is developing......

Thaddeus McCotter (R-Mich.) Says Michigan Could Hit 20% Unemployment Thanks to President Barack Obama

Once again, the Rethuglicans are pointing a finger at President Barack Obama for the continued economic nightmare we have been living through. Rep. Thaddeus McCotter (R-Mich.) said that his state's unemployment rate could climb as high as 20 percent, thanks to President Obama. He said that Michigan's unemployment, which is the highest in the country at 14.1 percent, could go even higher as General Motors and Chrysler continue to shed jobs after their government-backed bankruptcies.

"Sadly, we've seen estimates, because of the radical restructuring that the auto task force demanded, that this year, Michigan wind up over 20 percent unemployment," McCotter said during an appearance on a conservative news radio program. The Wolverine State hasn't yet exceeded its previous record for unemployment in modern history, when it reached 16.9 percent in November of 1982.

McCotter warned that the effect of such a high jobless number could spread to other states and cities. "That cascading effect throughout the entire economy — and throughout other states — that rely in many ways on the manufacturing base is going to have devastating effects not only to state government, it's going to have devastating effects for local government," McCotter explained. Source: The Hill

Is it me, or has the right wing forgotten that much of this economic quagmire started under their beloved President George W. Bush's eight-year term? Actually, the auto industry didn't just suddenly develop massive financial problems over the past several months. This has been brewing for many years, while the elected leaders of both parties turned a blind-eye to excesses and mismanagement that occurred at both companies. Sorry, don't blame President Obama for trying to fix this mess. Where was Rep. McCotter when the United Auto Workers decided to purchase multi-million dollar lakeside retreat, Black Lakes Club, in Michigan, complete with its own designer golf course? How many workers has the country club helped to get back on their feet after being laid-off? Rather than offer viable solutions, Republicans such as Rep. McCotter are only too happy to point a finger at someone else.

The Great U-Turn: Global Migration Flows Reverse for the First Time Since the Great Depression

I guess Lou Dobbs will be foaming at the mouth over these latest developments on immigration during his Monday evening telecast. According to the Wall Street Journal, immigration is on the wane as work dries up in the "rich" countries. With unemployment rising and backlashes against foreign workers mounting, among other things, we have what is potentially the biggest reverse in immigration since the Great Depression. The United States, Dubai and other rich countries are losing their allure of the promise of a better life for immigrants. Reports and data from government ministries and outside organizations suggest that the flow of immigrants from poor to wealthier countries is slowing significantly, with more people returning home.

According to the WSJ, among the returnees: road builders from Bangladesh, domestic servants from the Philippines, factory workers from Indonesia and Vietnam, construction workers from Mexico, as well as bankers, lawyers and real-estate professionals from around the world who were working in Singapore and Dubai. I have seen reports in my own homeland of Jamaica, where some people who have lost their jobs and homes are returning home. I guess it is better to head back to the familiarity of home than stay in a country that doesn't have very much to offer someone down on their luck or those who feel that they will find better opportunities in their own countries.

Emigration from Mexico to the U.S. dropped 13% in the first quarter of this year compared to the same period last year, with more Mexicans leaving the U.S. than coming in. Indonesian authorities expect 60,000 or more citizens to be sent home from Malaysia, South Korea and other wealthy neighbors this year, as immigrant workers lose their jobs. Tens of thousands of Indians are washing their hands of Dubai as jobs there dry up and work permits expire. And in the U.K., the number of registered workers coming from new European Union member nations like Poland and the Czech Republic dropped 55% in the first quarter of 2009 compared to the same quarter a year earlier.

A growing number of migrants are returning home to places as diverse as Nepal and Tajikistan, while many are deciding not to emigrate to begin with, says Dilip Ratha, an economist and migration expert at the World Bank in Washington, D.C., citing reports from ministries and embassies. Mr. Ratha calls this reverse migration "very new" and "unprecedented."

Such migratory shifts could have profound consequences for developed nations, especially in places where domestic populations aren't growing fast enough to fill jobs or pay for social needs. High-skill immigrants are an important source of tax revenue in some cities, and their kids fill the classrooms of universities and private schools. In the developing world, remittances sent home by migrant workers are also slowing, meaning less income -- and potentially, less growth. Source: Wall Street Journal

That information is pretty staggering and sobering at the same time. Some attention should be paid to the fact that there are some countries who are offering incentives for immigrants to return to their own countries and many of these countries are making it harder for immigrants to stay due to increases in visa restrictions. For example, Spain and Japan have offered cash incentives for immigrants to go home. Australia recently disclosed that it plans to cut its intake of skilled migrants this year by 14%. Malaysia has frozen work permits for foreign workers in some sectors of the economy and is asking employers to lay off foreigners before they lay off native-born residents.

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