Free Republic

A new study from the Congressional Budget Office starts with the scariest graph you’ll see today. Source: Congressional Budget Office In other words, you’re not imagining it: This economic recovery has been a big disappointment relative to what the United States has usually experienced after a recession. Growth has been 9 percent below what was seen in past recoveries on average in its first three years. The CBO report tries to disentangle where that underperformance is coming from and its answer is deeply unsettling: The U.S. economy just isn’t as good at growing as it used to be. The new...

The Demise Of The Twinkie: Hostess Files Motion To Liquidate By Tom Gara And that’s that: Hostess Brands, maker of Twinkies, Wonder Bread and more, announced this morning it has filed a motion with bankruptcy court to start liquidating the company immediately. A huge number of jobs are soon to be lost. “Hostess Brands will move promptly to lay off most of its 18,500-member workforce,” said CEO Gregory F. Rayburn in the statement, “and focus on selling its assets to the highest bidders.” In a letter posted on a new site set up to communicate with employees and suppliers through...

Comcast Corp's NBCUniversal entertainment unit is laying off about 500 employees at cable channels, Jay Leno's late-night TV show and the Universal Pictures movie studio, a person with knowledge of the matter said on Monday. The cuts add up to about 1.5 percent of the company's workforce of 30,000 employees, the source said. A large portion of the layoffs occurred at the G4 cable channel, a network about video games and the gaming culture, the source said. Two of the network's shows were recently canceled. Other layoffs occurred about two months ago at "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno," which...

Hostess Brands Inc. is permanently closing three bakeries following a nationwide strike by its bakers union. The maker of Twinkies, Ding Dongs and Wonder Bread said Monday that the strike has prevented it from producing and delivering products, and it is closing bakeries in Seattle, St. Louis and Cincinnati. The facilities employ 627 workers. Thousands of members of the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union went on strike Nov. 9 to protest cuts to wages and benefits under a new contract offer, which the union rejected in September. Union officials say the company stopped contributing to workers'...

It didn’t take long. The layoffs and closings are piling up. The saddest thing about compiling this list is that by the time today is over, the list will probably have grown dramatically. The next saddest part is that at least some of these lay off employees voted for Barack Obama because they didn’t believe this would happen. These are more than just headlines. Every number represents real people who have lost their livelihood. Boeing Announces Big Layoffs in Defense Division cut 30% of workforce Anonymous employer in Los Vegas: “I have 114 employees. I’m firing 22” Momentive Inc. plans...

Some low-wage employers are moving toward hiring part-time workers instead of full-time ones to mitigate the health-care overhaul's requirement that large companies provide health insurance for full-time workers or pay a fee.Several restaurants, hotels and retailers have started or are preparing to limit schedules of hourly workers to below 30 hours a week. That is the threshold at which large employers in 2014 would have to offer workers a minimum level of insurance or pay a penalty starting at $2,000 for each worker. Pillar Hotels & Resorts this summer began to focus more on hiring part-time workers among its 5,500...

The victory by Barack Obama on election night has resulted in a huge wave of firings and layoffs all over America. A large number of businesses seem to have suddenly shifted into panic mode. The number of layoff announcements that we have seen in the last 48 hours has been absolutely shocking. So why is this happening? Well, the truth is that the federal government is absolutely suffocating small businesses all over America with rules, regulations and taxes. If you have never tried to run a small business, then you have no idea how oppressive this system actually is for...

Freedom Works has put together a list of companies that will be laying of employees as a result of President Barack Obama's health care law: Welch Allyn Welch Allyn, a company that manufactures medical diagnostic equipment in central New York, announced in September that they would be laying off 275 employees, or roughly 10% of their workforce over the next three years. One of the major reasons discussed for the layoffs was a proactive response to the Medical Device Tax mandated by the new healthcare law. Dana Holding Corp. As recently as a week ago, a global auto parts manufacturing...

A global wind company with offices in the Pacific Northwest has announced more layoffs. Vestas says it will cut an additional 3,000 jobs by the end of 2013. That nearly doubles the number of jobs the wind turbine company had planned to eliminate. Most recently Vestas it would layoff 3,700 people by the end of 2012. Vestas has not said where jobs will be cut from its global workforce, though some of the job eliminations happen as the company sells off some manufacturing facilities. That means workers will be employed through a different company. Vestas’ North American sales and service...

Boeing Announces Big Layoffs in Defense Division http://www.cnbc.com/id/49729998 ING Layoffs In State Are Unrelated To Massive Staff Reduction In Europe http://www.courant.com/business/connecticut-insurance/hc-ing-layoffs-20121107,0,5645363.story Caterpillar’s Layoffs Parallel A Falling Monthly Copper Price Index http://agmetalminer.com/2012/11/07/caterpillars-layoffs-parallel-a-falling-monthly-copper-price-index/ More Layoffs May Be In Store for Alcatel-Lucent http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2012/11/06/more-layoffs-may-be-in-store-for-alcatel-lucent.aspx Boeing Telegraphs Layoffs in Defense, Space & Security Unit http://247wallst.com/2012/11/07/boeing-telegraphs-layoffs-in-defense-space-security-unit/ Umatilla Chemical Depot plans layoffs this month, in 2013 http://www.tri-cityherald.com/2012/11/06/2160493/umatilla-chemical-depot-plans.html#storylink=cpy Hawker Beechcraft to close plants in Arkansas, Texas, Arizona, cut more jobs http://www.therepublic.com/view/story/52f3fff526904fc68717a1cf890c9f9c/KS--Hawker-Beechcraft-Layoffs

HarperCollins Publishers will close its warehouse and distribution operation in Throop next summer and put close to 200 people out of work. “The industry is changing,” said Erin Crum, spokeswoman for HarperCollins, a book publisher based in New York. “It just makes sense for us to go this route as we shift to a more digital industry.” Ms. Crum would not disclose how many people will be laid off when the warehouse at the Keystone Industrial Park closes. However, Craig Pawlik, principal officer of Teamsters Local 229 in Scranton, said 192 people will be furloughed. The union represents maintenance and...

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- U.S. stock futures were lower Friday, as disappointing corporate results weighed on sentiment, setting the market up for a third straight day of declines. J.C. Penney (JCP, Fortune 500) reported a much bigger than expected loss, sending its shares tumbling more than 8% in premarket trading. The company lost 93 cents a share excluding special items, while analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters were forecasting a loss of only 7 cents. Sales also fell short of forecasts. It marked the third straight quarter of bigger than forecast losses at J.C. Penney as new CEO Ron Johnson struggles...

Obama was "fired up" and so were the voters, and so now, the mass firings begin. Here's a collection of today's headlines. Please say a prayer for the families who will be suffering. Had Romney won, many of these companies would now be hiring. Teco Coal officials announce layoffs Momentive Inc plans temporary layoffs for 150 Wilkes-Barre officials to announce mandatory layoffs 600 layoffs at Groupon More layoffs announced at Aniston Weapons Incinerator Murray Energy confirms 150 layoffs at 3 subsidiaries 130 laid off in Minnesota dairy plant closure Stanford brake plant to lay off 75 Turbocare, Oce to lay...

Around 90 employees are being laid off from the Teco Coal Corporation. Director of Personnel, Paul Matney, says no mines are shutting down but they are reducing their manpower and staffing, which will reduce some production. Matney said that the layoffs are at several locations and are the result of the economic conditions of the coal market. He says more information will be released Friday.

Fellow FReepers -- This is designed to serve as a single repository for layoff announcements, stories and other related news pertaining to the future dismantling of our economy due to the re-election of Barack Obama. The goal here is a one-stop source to bolster our argument that Obama's reelection is truly the detriment to our economic well-being.

The second most powerful Democrat in the Senate warned Republicans Sunday that they are toying with a fragile economy and would take the blame for any fallout from a debt default. On Sunday, Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) said he had six words of warning for House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio): “If you break it, you own it.” Republicans and the White House have argued the case that the president “owns” the economy, along with its recovery. Durbin slammed Boehner for calling off debt-ceiling negotiations with the White House on Friday. “The president negotiated with you in good faith,”...