Let’s Make A Deal

For months Congress has delayed completing work on a host of key matters.  From the budget, debt limit, the Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) Trust Fund shortfall, and highway funding, Congress delayed and passed short term measures that did little beyond keep the lights on and heighten the anxiety. As time ran out and pressure

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Back to “Back to the Future”

This week’s fun fact is that October 21, 2015 is the date that Doctor Emmitt Brown set for his time machine, a DeLorean, in hopes of saving Marty McFly and his girlfriend’s future in the movie “Back to the Future.” As a proud member of Generation X, I enjoyed reading accounts, such as “It’s Time for ‘Back to the Future’ Day,” which reflect upon what the movie got right (e.g. teleconferencing) and what it got wrong (e.g. hovercrafts that run on garbage serving as a common and accessible mode of transportation).

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Identify Your Financial Goals

Today, I attended the first Annual National Financial Goal Day kickoff, hosted by The Financial Clinic, to launch financial goals. Goodwill is a partner with The Financial Clinic, whose mission is to improve financial mobility for the working poor.

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On Labor Day, and Every Day, Goodwill® Thinks About How to Put People to Work

Many associate Labor Day with the end of summer, a three-day weekend and the start of a new school year. Families and friends gather for barbecues and one last outing to the pool until next year. Rarely do folks sit around on Labor Day and actually celebrate America’s workers, think of ways to get more people in the workforce or consider how to lessen the unemployment rate. Unless, that is, you work for Goodwill®.

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Obion County, TN: A Case Study in Goodwill’s Community Impact

When the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. factory in Obion County, TN, shut down in 2011, the local unemployment rate soared past 18 percent. Many of the 1,800 laid off workers struggled with even the first step toward finding a new job. Numerous displaced workers received assistance with their resumes at the Goodwill Career Solutions Center in Union City, the county seat.

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Procrastination: Congress Style

Congress left town this week for the month of August. When they return after Labor Day they might just turn around and leave again. Why? Because all the tough calls they couldn’t make before August will still be here when they get back and with even less time to get it all it done.

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Could Private Investment be the Answer to Appropriators’ Prayers?

For the past several years, efforts to advance annual spending bills have broken down. The result is usually end-of-the-year political theater that causes most constituents to shake their heads in disgust and keeps Congressional approval rates at historically low levels. But to be fair, Congressional appropriators face increasingly difficult choices.

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Support Our Seniors During Older Americans Month

The very first Older Americans Month took place in May 1963.  While the poverty rate for seniors declined from the abysmal high point of 65 percent, it still hovered around an unacceptable 30 percent. Today the senior poverty rate stands just above 10 percent, about the same as other age groups. Social Security, one of

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Tailwind Economy Represents a First Down in a Long Drive

Last Friday, the U.S. Department of Labor released its jobs report for the month of February. The February jobs report finds that the unemployment rate has fallen to 5.5 percent, its lowest level since May 2008. In addition, 295,000 jobs were added last month. In response to these findings, Secretary of Labor Tom Perez stated, "No one's spiking the football here, but there's an undeniable tailwind in the economy."

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What Has the 113th Congress Accomplished This Year?

The 113th Congress comes to a close this week and lawmakers are probably just as happy as the American public to put the last two years behind them and start anew. A recent Gallup poll reported that Congressional approval ratings are just one point higher than last year at 15 percent. Under this Congress we’ve seen a government shutdown and the invocation of the nuclear option (a Senate procedure allowing a rule or precedent to be overridden). However, there were some moments worth celebrating, particularly during the second session of the Congress this year.

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