Colorado WINS

CNN: Hiring Ramps Up, Unemployment Falls

2012-02-03T17:55:24Z

New unemployment figures for January released today from the U.S. Labor Department show that unemployment dropped last month (from 8.5 to 8.3%) and that businesses added nearly 250,000 jobs

CNN also reported that at the same time 14,000 public sector jobs were lost.

State and national governments have been cutting important public service jobs since 2010, even in places with increased demands.

Despite the job growth last month, nearly 13 million Americans are still unemployed.

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CBS4 Denver: Interstate 70 Could Be Closed East of Denver for a While

2012-02-03T17:40:41Z

Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) workers are working overtime to plow roads during the storm that's hitting the Front Range and Eastern Plains hard.

Even still, according to a report from CBS4 Denver, CDOT officials say that parts of I-70 could be closed for a while today.

CDOT has 80 plows working in the Denver Metro area and 200 across the Front Range today.

Durango Herald: University of Colorado's high tuition

2012-02-02T15:10:12Z

See this recent editorial from the Durango Herald about how students and families can't afford more tuition hikes. The question is what's the solution? What are your ideas?

This year, CU administrators are proposing another tuition increase, this time for 15.7 percent. That is a two-year increase of 25 percent, part of a series of tuition hikes and add-on fees that have doubled the cost of a CU education in far less than a generation.

CAP: What Caused This Year's Deficit?

2012-02-02T14:45:57Z

Earlier this week, the Congressional Budget Office reported that the national deficit will exceed $1 trillion dollars- a hefty sum.

How did this happen again with so much talk from political leaders about being more fiscally responsible?

The Center for American Progress just released a brief that examines the core reasons behind the deficit and you may be surprised at what they found.

The biggest drivers of the deficit were revenue losses and increased spending between 2007 and the start of 2009. The single largest factor in the loss of revenue wasn't the Great Recession - though important - but the Bush tax cuts.

Read the brief here.

NY Times: Legal Challenge to Colorado's Tabor Amendment

2012-01-31T20:29:27Z

See coverage from the New York Times on the legal effort to overthrow TABOR. TABOR was passed in 1992. It has the strictest tax and spending limitations of any state in the U.S. While the rigid rules were meant to ensure fiscal responsibility, they've actually hurt Colorado's economy and left decision-makers with very little flexibility in times of economic need.

Watch this video from the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities which explains why TABOR isn't working for Coloradans.

Denver Post: Joe Coors announces bid for Colorado's 7th Congressional District

2012-01-31T18:40:07Z

See the latest in The Spot today - Coors announced his candidacy for Congress. Coors is the great-grandson of Adolph Coors, who founded the brewery.

Currently, Ed Perlmutter represents the 7th Congressional District.

The Colorado Independent: Tipton struggles to win voter approval

2012-01-31T18:30:25Z

A new poll from Public Policy Polling shows that current third district Congressman Scott Tipton's approval rating is just 36 percent.

Tipton is serving his first term and faces a challenge this fall by current State Representative Sal Pace from Pueblo.To read the entire article, click here.

MSNBC: Union membership rates are no longer falling

2012-01-30T20:39:48Z

See the recent MSNBC article which covers new data from the Center for Economic Policy Research (CEPR) on union membership.

Some highlights from the CEPR data include:

The Biggest net increases in union members came from health care and social assistance, construction and durable goods manufacturing.

Florida had the biggest gains in membership in 2011; followed by Michigan, Colorado, Illinois and Missouri.

Women represented the biggest increase in union membership.

CBS4: CDOT Crews Hard at Work on I-70 Avalanche Control

2012-01-26T13:25:28Z

Check out CBS4's coverage here and watch an interview with CDOT crews working to keep Coloradans safe from avalanches.

CDOT manages over 275 known avalanche passes. In 2011, CDOT responded to more than 400 avalanches in Colorado and employees spent more than 8,000 hours on avalanche mitigation.

To see the video on CBS4's website, click here.

CPR: Colorado WINS on state employee personnel reform, pay

2012-01-26T13:08:37Z

Listen to CPR coverage about personnel reform including an interview with Scott Wasserman, our executive director. In the interview, Wasserman talks about making structural changes now to ensure that the state has a talented, competent and staffed workforce in order to ensure quality services - health care, keeping our roads and bridges safe and public safety - for Coloradans and funding earned raises when the economy recovers.

"...There's been this misnomer that Pay for Performance is this bonus...it's not a bonus...it's trying to make the state more competitive and actually compete with the private sector." - Scott Wasserman.

To listen, click here and then click on the listen link.

CNN: CEOs of bailed-out-banks paid well

2012-01-24T20:50:06Z

According to a new watchdog audit, the CEO salaries of taxpayer balied out banks weren't effectively curtailed.

According to the Deputy Special Inspector General for TARP, which released the audit, pressure from the bailed-out-banks and from the Treasury Department are the big reason why CEO salaries weren't reigned in by the federal government.

Read the complete article on CNN's website here.

Pueblo Chieftain: Time out (Fort Lyon)

2012-01-24T20:10:17Z

The Colorado Department of Corrections underestimated the number of prisoners that it must house this year, adding urgency to keeping open the Fort Lyon Correctional Facility.

See the Pueblo Chieftain's latest editorial on the schedule closure of Fort Lyon and the likely impacts of the facility closing.

Pueblo Chieftain: CMHIP faces $3 million shortfall

2012-01-18T21:34:55Z

The interim superintendent for the Colorado Mental Health Institute at Pueblo recently sent an email to employees notifying them of new steps being taken at the hospital to save money due to a $3 million budget shortfall this year.

Part of the cutbacks will include eliminating overtime pay and not paying employees for job training.

Read the complete story here.

SEIU: We must win back the American dream for the 99% in 2012

2012-01-17T00:02:40Z

Read this blog post from SEIU vice president Gerry Hudson about how Dr. King's work to create economic justice is just as important today as it was 49 years ago when he delivered his "I Have a Dream Speech".

Read the complete blog post here.

To print out a sign declaring that we're the 99% that you can display on facebook or your door or just about anywhere, click here.

AP: CO employees nervously await employment changes

2012-01-16T23:33:15Z

Check out the AP article from earlier today which features quotes Colorado WINS member Kim Bodin and executive director Scott Wasserman. In it, Bodin and others react to Governor Hickenlooper's plans to change Colorado's personnel laws.

"There is a big move in this country to make people who work for government the fall guy for this economy," said Bodin, a nurse at the Department of Corrections' Denver Reception and Diagnostic Center.

Read the complete article here.