WASHINGTON - June 29

HEATHER BOUSHEY
An economist with the Center for Economic and Policy Research, Boushey said today: "New changes to the 1996 welfare reform law mean that more welfare participants will need to be in work activities and states will have less flexibility in defining what those activities are, all without significant increases in funding for child care. Single parents, especially low-income single parents, need access to the kinds of work supports that make moving from welfare to work viable. Most women leaving welfare enter jobs that don't provide the kinds of benefits -- paid sick days and holidays, paid family leave, or employer-provided health insurance -- that make work work. Those with children also need access to safe, affordable, and enriching child care. To promote work, welfare policy should not be based on rigid, national rules, but be flexible enough to recognize that families need to provide adequate care, and that many need access to education to move up the job ladder."
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DOUG HENWOOD
Author of the book "Wall Street," Henwood said today: "With its 17th consecutive interest rate increase a virtual certainty, the Fed is running the risk of going too far, provoking a recession that almost no one wants, not even the notorious bond market vigilantes. But as a bearded academic succeeding the grossly overrated Greenspan, it looks like Bernanke has to prove his manliness to the markets. He certainly hasn't helped his case by apparently changing his mind every other week. But there's a good case to be made for a pause, now that the economy is slowing and wage growth is slowing to a crawl."
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