Seems Bush's campaign 'theme' du jour - "We've Turned A Corner" - should end with "Into A Bad Neighborhood".
CNN story: Back to work for less
An excerpt:
"Among the long-tenured workers who were displaced, 65 percent had found either full-time or part-time work by January of this year, when the BLS survey was conducted. Another 20 percent were still unemployed and 15 percent were not in the labor force, meaning they said they had not looked for work in the four weeks prior to the survey.
But 57 percent of the group who had lost full-time jobs and found new full-time work reported that they were now earning less than what they earned in their old jobs. Indeed, about one-third of those with smaller paychecks were being paid at least 20 percent less."
Lets double-check CNN for accuracy:
US Bureau of Labor Statistics Press Release
Excerpts:
"About 65 percent of the 5.3 million long-tenured displaced workers were
reemployed when surveyed in January 2004. The proportion unemployed at the
time of the survey was 20 percent. The remaining 15 percent of long-tenured
displaced workers were not in the labor force."
and:
" -- Fifty-seven percent of long-tenured workers who were displaced from
full-time wage and salary jobs and who were reemployed in such jobs
had earnings that were lower than those on the lost job. About
one-third experienced earnings losses of 20 percent or more."
Seems pretty accurate. I tried to double check from the preferred NeoCon-approved news outlet but as of 10:00PM EDT Fox News had somehow missed the story, apparently 'We report, you decide' has its limits.
The 'corner' Bush has 'turned' is taking us back to the 1890s. This is apparent in both his changes to the labor laws, for instance his changes to the overtime rules which are wholeheartedly endorsed by the National Association of Manufacturers, and his idea of 'economic recovery', with the lowered wages and benefits and limited opportunities we and our children can expect. No wonder the American workers are unhappy, it takes wages and benefits to afford prozac.
'Turned a corner'? More like another wrong turn, courtesy of G.W. Bush!