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Re: The Shining City Upon a Hill
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Re: The Shining City Upon a Hill
The White House released it's annual report on staffers' salaries, which max out at $180,000.
Twenty-two White House employees make the maximum yearly salary. That list includes White House press secretary Jen Psaki, chief of staff Ron Klain and Neera Tanden, who is now senior adviser to the president after her nomination for Office of Management and Budget director was withdrawn.
The Biden administration published the gender and pay analysis of its staff on Thursday as it delivered a required annual report to Congress listing the title and salary of every White House office employee. President Joe Biden has filled about 56% of his senior White House staff positions with women, including about 36% who come from racially and-or ethnically diverse backgrounds, according the White House.
The administration said the data shows it is "the most diverse administration in history" and also has only a narrow pay gap between men and women on staff.
The average salary for women in the administration is $93,752, while men average $94,639, representing about a 1% pay gap.
That compares with a 37% gender pay gap in President Donald Trump’s administration during his first year in office, while President Barack Obama's pay gap was 16% at the same point in his presidency, according to an American Enterprise Institute analysis of staff salaries.Comment
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Re: The Shining City Upon a Hill
GM moves to secure critical U.S.-sourced lithium for electric vehicle batteries
- GM has invested and partnered with Controlled Thermal Resources, a company that plans to extract lithium from the Salton Sea Geothermal Field in Imperial, California.
- GM said it is investing “multi millions” of dollars into the company and its lithium project, which CTR is calling “Hell’s Kitchen.”
- Most lithium used in EV batteries is currently mined and processed outside of the U.S.
General Motors is moving to secure U.S.-sourced lithium, a metal crucial to electric vehicle batteries, through a strategic investment and partnership with a company called Controlled Thermal Resources.
GM announced the deal Friday as a way to accelerate the adoption of lithium extraction methods that cause less impact to the environment and increase domestic supply of the metal. Both are major concerns of the Biden administration as well as investors as automakers release a slew of new EVs this decade.
Most lithium used in EV batteries is currently mined and processed outside of the U.S. It is expected to put the country at a disadvantage when it comes to producing battery cells domestically, which GM is currently investing billions of dollars in with plans to manufacture them in the coming years.
The first stage of the project, which CTR is calling “Hell’s Kitchen,” is expected to begin yielding lithium in 2024. It’s expected to help GM meet its plan of eliminating tailpipe emissions from light-duty vehicles by 2035, officials said.
“By securing and localizing the lithium supply chain in the U.S., we’re helping ensure our ability to make powerful, affordable, high mileage EVs while also helping to mitigate environmental impact and bring more low-cost lithium to the market as a whole,” said Doug Parks, GM executive vice president of global product development, purchasing and supply chain, in a statement.Comment
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Re: The Shining City Upon a Hill
U.S. adds 850,000 jobs in June, better than expected
Job growth leaped higher in June as businesses looked to keep up with a rapidly recovering U.S. economy, the Labor Department reported Friday.
Nonfarm payrolls increased 850,000 for the month, compared with the Dow Jones estimate of 706,000 and better than the upwardly revised 583,000 in May. The unemployment rate, however, rose to 5.9% against the 5.6% expectation.
The jobless rate increase came even though the labor force participation rate was unchanged at 61.6%. A separate figure that accounts for discouraged workers and those holding part-time jobs for economic reasons fell sharply to 9.8%, with the 0.4 percentage point decline putting the so-called real unemployment rate below 10% for the first time since March 2020.
Markets rose on the news, with futures on the major indexes indicating modest gains at the open before the holiday weekend.
“From a market perspective, this was an all-out positive jobs report,” said Seema Shah, chief strategist at Principal Global Investors. “The improvement today likely reflects a slight easing of the labor supply constraints that have been holding back the jobs market in recent months, as well as continued momentum from the economic reopening.”
Hiring accelerated as the second quarter morphed into a summer that will see a closer to return to normal for Americans held captive for the past year due to the pandemic-related restrictions.
As the data continues to point higher, economists are looking for GDP growth in the second quarter to approach 10%, a stunning continuation of a rebound helped by vaccines that have sharply reduced Covid-19 case rates along with hospitalizations and deaths.
The latest numbers bring the total job recovery from the pandemic losses to 15.6 million. More than 22.3 million Americans were laid off in March and April of 2020 amid government-imposed business restrictions, and the total employment level remains 7.13 million below where it was in February 2020.
Hospitality continued to be the prime beneficiary of the reopening as workers returned to jobs at bars, restaurants, hotels and the like.
The industry notched a gain of 343,000 amid easing restrictions across the country. That total included 194,000 in bars and restaurants, but still left the sector 2.2 million shy of where it was in February 2020 before the pandemic began. Despite the big increase in jobs, the sector’s unemployment rate jumped to 10.9%.
Other notable gains came in education, which totaled 269,000 across state, local and private hiring, while professional and business services increased by 72,000 and retail added 67,000.
The other services industry added 56,000 jobs, including a gain of 29,000 in personal and laundry services, a subsector that has been seen as a proxy for the resumption of normal business activity. Social assistance added 32,000, while wholesale trade contributed 21,000 to the total and mining grew by 10,000.
Manufacturing edged up 15,000 for the month, though construction lost 7,000 positions despite a sizzling housing industry where new building has been held back by supply shortages and what had been soaring lumber prices before the recent plunge.
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Adversity temporarily visits a strong man but stays with the weak for a lifetime.Comment
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Re: The Shining City Upon a Hill
President Joe Biden
3 million jobs since we took office.
Our economic plan is working.
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Re: The Shining City Upon a Hill
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Re: The Shining City Upon a Hill
(CNN)President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden on Sunday are hosting their biggest party yet at the White House as the administration looks to use July Fourth to celebrate the progress the nation has made in its fight against the coronavirus pandemic.
More than five months into their tenure, the Bidens now have the opportunity to host guests in person, and more than a thousand are anticipated to enjoy food and festivities for the Fourth on the South Lawn, culminating in fireworks on the National Mall.
Those invited are mostly military families and essential workers, who can bring their families, a nod of gratitude to service members and those who kept the country going during the darkest days of the pandemic.Comment
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