States
From NBC's Ali Weinberg
Twenty-three states reported unemployment-rate increases in September, with three registering record job losses, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics' monthly employment summary.
Nevada (at 13.3%), Rhode Island (at 13.0%), and Florida (11.0%) all posted their HIGHEST unemployment rates since 1976, when the BLS began monitoring the rates.
Despite Nevada's record rate, the chief ecnomist in the state's Department of Employment, Training, and Rehabilitation said the over-the-month increase was the smallest since March 2008. In Florida, however, economists predicted unemployment would not reach 11% until mid-2010, which means the rate could still increase further.
Michigan again had the highest unemployment rate in the country, at 15.3%, up a tenth of a percent from last month. New York lost the most jobs last month (81,700), followed by Texas (44,700), California (39,300), Wisconsin (21,700), and Michigan (21,500).
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From NBC's Mark Murray
Other media outlets are reporting -- and First Read has now confirmed -- that Gov.
Deval Patrick (D) will select
Paul Kirk to temporarily fill
Ted Kennedy's Senate seat.
From NBC's Mark Murray
Bobby Harrell, the Republican speaker of the South Carolina House of Representatives, has become the latest state GOP officeholder to call for embattled Gov. Mark Sanford (R) resign from office.
Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer, who would succeed Sanford in office, also has asked for the governor's resignation.
"It was with much thought and trepidation that I came to this conclusion," Harrell said in a statement. "I did so only after I spoke with colleagues in the Legislature, talked with leaders in our communities, heard from numerous citizens from across the state and carefully reviewed the facts surrounding the situation."
*** UPDATE *** Read Harrell's full letter to Sanford after the jump.
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From NBC's Mark Murray
First Read has confirmed that Florida Gov. Charlie Crist (R) has chosen George LeMieux to fill Mel Martinez's (R) Senate seat.
The pick of LeMieux -- who had formerly served as Crist's campaign manager in 2006 and then Crist's chief of staff -- is the clearest sign yet that this person would be a caretaker of the Senate seat, which Crist is running for next year.
Crist is competing in a GOP primary against Marco Rubio. Florida Rep. Kendrick Meek is running on the Democratic side.
Martinez, who announced that he was stepping down from his Senate seat a few weeks ago, just released this statement: "I congratulate George LeMieux for being appointed by the governor to fill the remainder of my term. George is bright, capable, and an accomplished
administrator. My staff and I stand ready to ensure a smooth transition."
*** UPDATE *** Democrats are seizing on Crist's selection of LeMieux as an example of cronyism.
Here's this statement from the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee: "Charlie Crist came as close as he could to appointing himself to this position. At a time when so many Floridians are unemployed, and many others facing foreclosures, we have learned nothing is beyond the pale for Charlie Crist. Today marked another Charlie Crist choice that significantly impacts the state of Florida but is ultimately about promoting himself."
And here's the Florida Democratic Party: "Today, Charlie Crist decided to play political games with the public's trust by appointing George LeMieux to the U.S. Senate. This glaring example of political cronyism is the last thing Florida needed while we face these tough economic times and the Congress is tackling critical issues such as health insurance reform and global warming."
From NBC's Mark Murray
If Massachusetts Democratic lawmakers want to change their state's succession law to enable a caretaker senator to serve in Kennedy's seat until next winter's special election, they certainly have the math on their side.
Per data from the National Conference of State Legislatures, 89% of the Massachusetts Senate and House is Democratic -- 35 out of 40 senators and 143 out of 160 House members.
Talk about a supermajority...
From NBC's Mark Murray
On a day when all other political news is going to be buried by Ted Kennedy's passing, South Carolina Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer (R) is going to make a statement at noon ET -- in which he'll call for Gov. Mark Sanford (R) to resign, the AP reports.
"South Carolina's lieutenant governor will ask embattled Gov. Mark Sanford to resign at a news conference Wednesday, a spokesman said. Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer will agree to stay out of next year's governor's race if Sanford steps down, an offer he first made in June after his fellow Republican admitted a yearlong affair with an Argentine woman."
From NBC's Mark Murray
The State reports, "First Lady Jenny Sanford
announced Friday she is moving with her four sons to Charleston and will no longer live in the Governor’s Mansion."
From a statement she released: "It is with this support, and after much careful and prayerful consideration, that I have decided to move back to our home in Charleston with our sons for the upcoming school year. From there, we will work to continue the process of healing our family. While we will be leaving Columbia, we will return often, and I will remain engaged in activities in my role as First Lady, acknowledging that my responsibilities to my family come first."
And here's Gov. Mark Sanford's statement: "I stand by this family decision and accordingly ask the media to honor the zone of privacy that Jenny has asked for on behalf of the healing process and our four boys going forward."
From NBC's Chuck Todd and Mark Murray
First Read has confirmed that Florida GOP Sen. Mel Martinez
, who already announced he is not running for re-election in 2010, is resigning from the Senate by the end of the month -- possibly announcing this early as today. It'll be official at some point this month, with the hope of having a replacement in office when the Senate comes back.
Florida Gov. Charlie Crist -- who is already running for Martinez's seats -- will now have to appoint a replacement to fill out the remainder of Martinez's term. The expectation is that Crist WON'T appoint himself, but would rather appoint a placeholder. One rumor is former GOP. Gov. Bob Martinez. Another rumor we've heard is former GOP Sen. Connie Mack.
From NBC's Danielle WeisbergIllinois State Treasurer
Alexi Giannoulias
yesterday officially entered the Senate race for President Obama's old seat. Giannoulias called Obama his “friend, mentor, and inspiration," according to the
Chicago Sun-Times, despite the White House's unsuccessful effort to recruit Illinois Attorney General
Lisa Madigan for the seat. When asked about an endorsement from the White House, Giannoulias replied, “You’d have to ask the president that.”
Other recent developments in the race include speculation, reported by
Sun-Times, that
Chris Kennedy, son of the late Robert Kennedy, is vacillating between running for the Senate seat or the governorship.
Meanwhile, Republican Rep.
Mark Kirk announced he would be running for the Senate seat
last week, making him the GOP front-runner.
From NBC's James Rankin
President Obama’s stimulus package has faced growing criticism recently for its slow implementation and inability (so far) to reduce unemployment and kick-start the economy.
House Minority Leader John Boehner added to the narrative this weekend with an appearance on Fox News Sunday, in which he claimed that the stimulus money had yet to lead to a single infrastructure contract in his home state of Ohio. In fact, as the Cleveland Plain-Dealer pointed out, 52 projects had already been approved at an estimated value of $84 million.
Video: As the effectiveness of the economic stimulus package is being scrutinized, questions swirled Wednesday around whether the Obama administration will propose another one. NBC's Lisa Myers reports.
Citing “multiple independent fact-checkers,” Ohio Democratic Party Chairman Chris Redfern continued to fight back in a press call this afternoon against Boehner’s claims regarding the economic stimulus. “John really needs to get home and listen to the people in his district. They’re pleased that stimulus dollars are being invested in the local economy and they’re pleased with the hundreds of jobs that are going to be created or retained,” said Redfern.
The state of Ohio was awarded nearly $9 billion in stimulus funding by the federal government, $1.4 billion of which is devoted solely to infrastructure improvement. Only $84 million -- 6% of the total infrastructure funds for the state -- has been approved for use.
Redfern defended the money spent thus far and the current pace of spending, adding, “We recognize that with a stimulus package of this size, the distribution has to be done in an orderly and trackable way.”
As First Read noted earlier today, Boehner's office responded to the Democratic criticism with this statement: "Ohio was very nearly the last state to get the first 50% of its stimulus construction money obligated for construction projects, which is ridiculous. As of late May, approximately, no contracts had been signed. Since that time, some contracts have been belatedly set in motion, but the entire process has been absurdly slow-moving."
