Reform Talk Doesn't Add Up

The good news is employment rose in April by 290,000 jobs – the largest gain in four years, but the bad news is the unemployment rate moved up to 9.9 percent, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

While some see the job generation as a step in our economic recovery, a one-month report hardly constitutes a pattern of positive growth. The impact of the financial meltdown is far from over, and those who claimed they’ve changed their free-spending ways haven’t proved a thing except: Talk is cheap.

Still, many folks long discouraged by the lack of available work since the recession began in December in 2007 are once again seeking jobs, the bureau reports, noting an uptick in the labor force. This boosted the unemployment rate, from 9.7 to 9.9 percent, with the total number of unemployed standing at 15.3 million.

Jobs were added in manufacturing, professional and business services, health care, and leisure and hospitality. Federal government employment also rose, reflecting continued hiring of temporary workers for Census 2010, the bureau reports.

Jobs were axed in state and local governments, which are grappling with budget issues; transportation and warehousing firms; and information companies, mostly telecommunications firms.

The number of underemployed individuals, those employed part time for economic reasons (sometimes referred to as involuntary part-time workers) remained unchanged at 9.2 million in April, according to the bureau. These individuals were working part time because their hours had been cut back or because they were unable to find a full-time job.

Another sobering statistic was the number of long-term unemployed -- those jobless for 27 weeks or more hit 6.7 million. Nearly half (45.9 percent) of all unemployed people have been jobless for 27 weeks or more, the highest percentage since the bureau began tracking that indicator in 1948, according to Rachel Kaufman, blogging for MediaJobsDaily.

Among the major worker groups, the unemployment rate for whites (9 percent) edged up in April, while the rates for adult men (10.1 percent), adult women (8.2 percent), teenagers (25.4 percent), blacks (16.5 percent), and Hispanics (12.5 percent) showed little or no change, the bureau reports. The jobless rate for Asians was 6.8 percent, not seasonally adjusted.


"Companies feel more comfortable that growth in the economy and in their own sales is here to stay and that they can start preparing for the future and add to their payrolls," Joel Naroff, president of Naroff Economic Advisors, told the Associated Press.

The unemployment rate rose as 805,000 people without jobs entered the labor force in April to search for work.

"Individuals are gaining confidence in their ability to find a job and are now throwing their hats into the ring," John Challenger, CEO of outplacement firm, Challenger, Gray & Christmas, told the AP.

Many economists predict the unemployment rate will continue to rise as people who had given up on finding a job feel better about their prospects. The labor force includes employed people and people actively seeking work -- not those who have stopped looking.

President Barack Obama called April's job growth "very encouraging news" but said much remains to be done to put more Americans to work, according to the AP.

Obama, since taking office, has pegged U.S. economic recovery to health care reform, which the president and a bitterly divided Congress approved after a highly partisan debate that left most of the American public upset, confused and worried.

Some on both sides of the aisle, as well as independents, continue to insist job creation should have taken center stage, not health care reform in the middle of the worst recession America has seen in decades. They argue: What good is health care if one does not have a job to pay for it?

It’s true U.S. officials, during Obama’s tenure and under the previous Bush administration, pushed through so-called stimulus packages and a variety of “tax relief programs” – George Bush urging us to all shop and Obama giving us more in our paychecks (only to repay at end of the year in higher federal income taxes).

But neither Bush nor Obama provided any long-term gains for the middle class, with the notable exception of bridge, road and highway improvement projects. The orange road-work signs have sprouted this spring like dandelions and, to their credit, officials are wasting no time in making use of available federal funds. If you’re lucky enough to have a job, at least your commute will be on smoother roads and safer bridges!

Bush, a Republican, and Obama, a Democrat, urged us to spend our way to economic health. Remember, Bush and Obama are opposite sides of the same coin – the tax-and-spend crowd. Party labels are meaningless, except for the extreme right and left in partisan politics, a position We Mean Business firmly defends.

Here’s a novel idea for our leaders: exercise some fiscal restraint, purchase only what we really need, not necessarily what we want, and stop passing debt onto generations not yet born. Imagine if they had used that strategy right along? We might not be hearing “years” in the time it may take for a full recovery.

As for me, I practice what I preach at writenowworks.com.

Stem Cell R&D Draws Debate

Stem cell research is one of today’s most controversial and interesting areas of biomedical research. It offers huge potential for improving our quality of life but raises ethical and moral questions.

Researchers and practitioners are intrigued and still learning how the body uses these cells to restore and regenerate human tissue. Doctors hope to restore and harness the power of stem cells in efforts to have a human “repair kit.”


However, there is still a deep divide over how safe and ethical this practice is. It’s true that stem cells could revolutionize medicine, but the subject also raises profound ethical and moral issues about how far we should take this research and development to save lives and extend life.

Stem cells are found in most, if not all, multi-cellular organisms, according to Wikipedia. They are characterized by the ability to renew themselves through mitotic (mitosis) cell division and differentiate into a diverse range of specialized cell types.

Research in the stem cell field grew out of findings by Canadians Ernest A. McCulloch and James E. Till in the 1960s.
The two types of mammalian stem cells are embryonic stem cells, which are isolated from the inner cell mass of blastocycts, and adult stem cells found in adult tissues.

In a developing embryo, stem cells can differentiate into all of the embryonic tissues. In adult organisms, stem cells and progenitor cells act as a repair system for the body, replenishing specialized cells, but also maintaining the normal turnover of regenerative organs, such as blood, skin, or intestinal tissues.

Adult stem cells are unspecialized, undifferentiated cells which exist in very small numbers among specialized cells in an adult organ or tissue. Their main function is to maintain and periodically repair tissues in which they are found.

Stem cells can now be grown and transformed into specialized cells with characteristics consistent with cells of various tissues, such as muscles or nerves through cell culture. Highly plastic adult stem cells from a variety of sources, including the umbilical cord blood and bone marrow, are used in medical therapies.

Embryonic stem cells generated through therapeutic cloning also have been proposed as promising candidates for future therapies.

The Controversy: When Does Human Life Begin?

The isolation of stem cells took place initially in 1998 and thrust the subject into debate related to the battle over abortion. Isolating embryonic stem cells and destroying an embryo in the process have been raising ethical issues. Most of the debate centers over when life begins.

For instance, is an embryo a person? Should scientists forgo embryonic stem cell research to protect the embryo? Is it ethical to jeopardize a potential life in the name of science? Or should researchers investigate adult stem cell technology only; thereby avoiding the “right-to-life” issues altogether?

The Case For Using Embryonic Stem Cells

Scientists think human embryonic stem cells can provide the most immediate opportunity for curing human disease.

“Embryonic stem cells could serve as replacement cells for those that have been lost or destroyed because of disease,” according to Dr. Robert Goldstein, chief scientific officer of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.

Adult stem cells are difficult to isolate, and they do not propagate well in culture media. There’s little proof, researchers contend, of a wide array of human adult stem cells which can differentiate into multiple tissue types. However, despite the questions, there is little doubt that most scientists want to research adult and embryonic stem cell research on parallel tracks.

President Obama last March signed an executive order that brought about major change in stem cell research. Obama lifted the ban (imposed by former President George W. Bush) on federal funding to help promote state-of-the art embryonic stem cell research. “We will aim for America to lead the world in discoveries it may one day yield,’’ Obama said.

We support this policy change and believe it may create new employment opportunities within the health care system. With the historic overhaul of America’s health care system just approved, it remains to be seen if funds will be available to support stem cell research.

We applaud this new initiative and hope this progressive thinking will carry forward to other new potential industries.

Still, the question remains: Does and can the United States provide the brain trust and creativity to solve complex answers to fundamental needs and demands? The success of this model represents our ability to grow and prosper as a nation, and ultimately create jobs.

This post is courtesy of TechMan, a contributor who writes about science, health, education and other areas affecting industry, business and technology.