EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the second story in a two-part series on the state of Illinois after a year of higher personal and corporate income taxes.

By Andrew Thomason and Anthony Brino | Illinois Statehouse News

SPRINGFIELD — Illinois Republican lawmakers and businesses blame the state’ staggering economic recovery on income tax increases, but recent indicators suggest other factors at play, too.

Since Illinois increased its corporate income tax by 46 percent from 4.8 percent to 7 percent this past year, several unexpected and expected changes occurred.

The number of limited liability companies, or LLCs, and corporations registered with the state actually increased, from 71,449 in fiscal 2010 to 73,130 in fiscal 2011, according to the Illinois Secretary of State.

The number of non-farming jobs increased by 1 percent, from 5.6 million in 2010 to 5.7 million in 2011, according to the Illinois Department of Employment Security.

And the state unemployment rate increased from 9 percent last January to 10 percent in November, the latest figure available. Meanwhile, the national unemployment rate dropped from 9.1 percent at the start of 2011 to 8.7 percent in November, a 4.3 percent decline.

Economic paradox

Recoveries usually create a paradoxical mix of economic figures, said Fred Giertz, an economist with the Institute of Government and Public Affairs at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, who puts out a monthly index of the state’s fiscal health.

“To get the unemployment rate down, you don’t just have to create new jobs, you have to create enough jobs to absorb the number of people coming into the job market,” he said.

When unemployed people give up looking for jobs, they are no longer counted in unemployment figures. As the economy slowly improves and those people once again start looking for work, they can inflate the unemployment rate, Giertz said.  

As far as higher taxes are concerned, Giertz pointed to the state’s fiscal health. Raising income taxes would have been a huge blow to businesses, if the state’s finances were healthy and robust, but since the state was on the verge of financial collapse, raising taxes wasn’t the worst decision.

Businesses don’t want to expand in a state that’s in dire fiscal straits, he said. Illinois’ deficit at one time approached $15 billion as the state’s skipped payments to vendors and spending outpaced income.

However, Todd Maisch, vice president of government relations for the Illinois Chamber of Commerce, the state’s largest business association, said the income tax increases have crippled economic recovery.

“To be honest, if you are really in a hard-hit industry, you’re probably operating at a loss and so you haven’t felt the impact,” Maisch said. “Probably the ones that were hit the hardest were those that were starting to come out of the recession and starting to turn a profit.”

Ripple effect

Rolling back the income tax increases could have a ripple effect.

Illinois House and Senate Republicans say the rollback would foster job creation by creating a more competitive business climate.

But a premature rollback could result in teachers, firefighters and police officers statewide being fired, said Kelly Kraft, Gov. Pat Quinn’s budget spokeswoman.

The tax increases, set to expire by the end of 2014, are estimated to bring in about $7 billion to the state’s coffers.

Tax tweaks

The GOP’s effort to roll back the taxes immediately has not gained traction in the Democratically controlled Legislature, and would require Quinn’s signature.

“Raising the income tax was the first of many difficult decisions,” said Rikeesah Phelon, a spokeswoman for state Senate President John Cullerton, D-Chicago. “It’s not clear that Republicans are willing to join us in making tough choices about cuts, old bills or revenue in the coming years. What is clear is that their call for a premature repeal of the temporary tax doesn’t get us any closer to solid financial footing.”

Even so, lawmakers have tweaked the year-old tax increase in response to some heavyweight companies’ threats.

The legislature passed a $250-million tax break package for businesses in December after CME Group, which owns the Chicago Board of Trade and the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, and the national retail company Sears Corp., threatened to leave the state.

CME Group and Sears will see annual tax breaks of about $100 million annually over the next decade.

Many Republicans said the legislation was “crony capitalism.”

Shortly after the package passed, GOP members of the Illinois House introduced legislation to roll back the corporate income tax rate from 7 percent to 6 percent, a 14 percent decrease, starting Jan. 1, 2013. On Jan. 1, 2014, the rate would return to 4.8 percent, an additional 20 percent reduction.

All told, the GOP legislation would cost the state about $4.8 billion in revenue.

House Republican Leader Tom Cross, R-Oswego, said his party’s plan would make up for the lost revenue by paving the way for more jobs, and thus more people paying the income tax.

Rolling back the tax increases “would send a good sign,” Maisch said. “But I believe that there is no one perfect answer. There still needs to be a re-engineering of state government, with pension reform at the top of the list.”

Giertz comes down between the claims of the business community that the state has lost a year of job creation and the Quinn administration’s claims that the income tax saved the state from certain doom.

“Illinois was in a really bad situation a year ago, and it’s still in a really bad situation now,” Giertz said. “It’s been kind of a wash.”

Originally reported by Illinois Statehouse News. Read the original article here.

IL economy struggles from mix of factors, some surprising | Chicago Press Release Services - Chicago's leading press release newswire service; professional press release services, press release distribution and newswire services.

CHICAGO – Illinois Department of Employment Security (IDES) service centers will be closed on Thursday and Friday, Nov. 24 and 25, in observance of the Thanksgiving holiday. Regular office hours of 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday-Friday, will resume Monday, Nov. 28.

Although IDES offices will be closed, services will be available at www.ides.illinois.gov People still will be able to file for first-time unemployment benefits, certify for benefits which is necessary to receive payment, and switch that method of payment to direct deposit. Because Thursday is a federal banking holiday, the availability of some benefit payments might be delayed. The IDES does not determine federal banking holidays.

The Department encourages direct deposit. Direct deposit is a simple, smart and secure way to receive benefits. Debit cards also are available. There are no fees associated with a debit card at point-of-service counters across the country that accept MasterCard, such as grocery stores, drug stores and convenience stores. Customers can request cash back after qualifying purchases. Fees likely will be assessed when using out-of-network ATM machines.

Career planning, training and job placement assistance are available at Illinois workNet centers. The services encourage individuals to assess their current skills and identify the training or education needed to augment those skills so they are ready to re-enter the workforce and find meaningful work. The Department also administers tax credits and bonding programs that reward employers who hire specific workers, such as military Veterans and the formerly incarcerated. The Department hosts workshops to help employers better understand how  insurance claims are evaluated, what is required to successfully challenge a claim, and other services to help businesses evaluate current and future growth potential.

The IDES supports economic stability by administering unemployment benefits, collecting business contributions to fund those benefits, connecting employers with qualified job seekers, and providing economic information to assist career planning and economic development. It does so through nearly 60 offices across the state, including the Illinois workNet Centers.

Employment Security Closed Thanksgiving and Friday – Claimants Should Certify; Services Available on Internet; Banking Holiday Might Delay Payments | Chicago Press Release Services - Chicago's leading press release newswire service; professional press release services, press release distribution and newswire services.

University of Illinois at Chicago disability and human development professor Fabricio Balcazar, who has studied and worked on the problem for two decades, calls the lack of job opportunities for this population “unacceptable.” He has secured a two-year, $550,000 grant from the U.S. Labor Department to pull together a partnership of interested groups to try a new approach.

“We want those youths and young adults to get prepared, so we’re going to invest to make sure they succeed,” says Balcazar, a psychologist who directs UIC’s Center on Capacity Building for Minorities with Disabilities Research.

The focus is not just to find jobs for these youths, but jobs that require a flair for entrepreneurship. And if they need training on how to develop and run a business, college-level courses will be provided.

“Entrepreneurship development — helping them start their own small businesses — this has become a key anchor of the whole initiative,” Balcazar said.

Chicago youths who have dropped out of the city’s public schools are one of the target groups. Their disabilities may include severe learning disabilities, behavioral disorders or mild cognitive disorders. Two other target groups include individuals with spinal cord injuries resulting from violence, and Asians with disabilities.

About 60 participants will be selected for the study. They will get special mentoring from teachers and business people, and from peer mentors who themselves have sustained disabling injuries resulting from violence.

If the participants develop a viable business plan that is approved by a panel of reviewers, they may be eligible for no-interest business start-up loans of up to $5,000, to be matched equally by government agencies partnering in the program. The participants may use their loans to partner with and help expand established businesses, which may attract additional capital and provide special on-the-job training.

“We’re trying to increase the likelihood that the project will work,” Balcazar said. “And for youths who don’t get their proposals approved, we’ll help them to get additional training, change their mentor, or change their business idea — or maybe all.

“We want to develop a model that we can test or replicate.”

Balcazar’s partner groups include the Federation of People from Jalisco, Mexico; Chicago’s Schwab Rehabilitation Hospital; Chicago’s Youth Connection Charter School for Dropouts; the Asians with Disabilities Outreach Think-Tank program; and the Illinois Division of Rehabilitation Services.

If the partnership plan works as a job-creation model, it may win additional funding to expand. Balcazar is optimistic the plan will put more disadvantaged youth to work in rewarding, permanent jobs.

“I hope we will train as many as we can. In this economy, whatever training you can get, it’ll be beneficial and make them more competitive in the job market.”

UIC ranks among the nation’s leading research universities and is Chicago’s largest university with 27,000 students, 12,000 faculty and staff, 15 colleges and the state’s major public medical center. A hallmark of the campus is the Great Cities Commitment, through which UIC faculty, students and staff engage with community, corporate, foundation and government partners in hundreds of programs to improve the quality of life in metropolitan areas around the world.

Educators, Business Join in City Minority Youth with Disabilities Jobs Plan | Chicago Press Release Services - Chicago's leading press release newswire service; professional press release services, press release distribution and newswire services.

CHICAGO, Nov. 10, 2011 /CHICAGOPRESSRELEASE.COM/ — Although they are battling a higher than average unemployment rate, those returning from military duty and re-entering the workforce may find better employment prospects over the next year.  One-in-five (20 percent) employers reported they are actively recruiting U.S. veterans to work for their organizations over the next 12 months; 14 percent are actively recruiting members of the National Guard.  The survey was conducted by Harris Interactive on behalf of CareerBuilder from August 16, 2011 to September 8, 2011 and included more than 2,800 hiring managers in the public and private sectors nationwide.

Where Are They Hiring?

Employers are planning to tap into the technical and communications skills and leadership abilities of U.S. service men and women.  More than one-third of employers plan to hire for Information Technology positions, which topped the list of hot areas for hiring U.S. veterans:

“The unemployment rate for veterans who left military service over the last decade continues to outpace that of the civilian workforce,” said Brent Rasmussen, president of CareerBuilder North America.  ”After fighting for their country, they come home fighting for jobs.  The survey shows that employers recognize the unique value military experience can bring, but that they don’t always understand how military skills fit into corporate America.  Veterans will need to clearly make that connection in their resume, cover letter and job interviews as they enter this new chapter of their careers.”  

Must Knows for Job Seekers Coming Off of Active Duty

Survey Methodology

This survey was conducted online within the U.S. by Harris Interactive© on behalf of CareerBuilder among 2,874 hiring managers and human resource professionals (employed full-time, not self-employed, government and non-government) between August 16 and September 8, 2011 (percentages for some questions are based on a subset, based on their responses to certain questions). With a pure probability sample of 2,874, one could say with a 95 percent probability that the overall results have a sampling error of +/- 1.83 percentage points.  Sampling error for data from sub-samples is higher and varies.

About CareerBuilder®

CareerBuilder is the global leader in human capital solutions, helping companies target and attract their most important asset – their people. Its online career site, CareerBuilder.com®, is the largest in the United States with more than 24 million unique visitors, 1 million jobs and 40 million resumes. CareerBuilder works with the world’s top employers, providing resources for everything from employment branding and data analysis to recruitment support. More than 9,000 websites, including 140 newspapers and broadband portals such as MSN and AOL, feature CareerBuilder’s proprietary job search technology on their career sites. Owned by Gannett Co., Inc. (NYSE: GCI), Tribune Company and The McClatchy Company (NYSE: MNI), CareerBuilder and its subsidiaries operate in the United States, Europe, Canada and Asia. For more information, visit www.careerbuilder.com.

Media Contact:
CareerBuilder
Jennifer Grasz
773-527-1164
jennifer.grasz@careerbuilder.com
http://www.twitter.com/CareerBuilderPR

SOURCE Career Builder, Inc.

http://www.careerbuilder.com

One-in-Five Employers to Hire U.S. Veterans Over the Next 12 Months, According to CareerBuilder’s Veterans Day Survey | Chicago Press Release Services - Chicago's leading press release newswire service; professional press release services, press release distribution and newswire services.

CHICAGO – The Illinois seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for August increased to 9.9 percent, according to preliminary data released today by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Illinois Department of Employment Security (IDES).

Illinois added +3,100 jobs in August, while nationally there was zero job growth because reductions in government employment offset private sector gains. The national unemployment rate for August was unchanged at 9.1 percent. Most private economists agree that the recovery from the national recession will continue, but at a more gradual pace in the second half of the year.

“Consumer confidence drives our nation’s economy. That confidence was shaken by events at the national level,” IDES Director Jay Rowell said. “It is difficult for any state economy to establish positive momentum while the nation’s jobs growth picture remains sluggish.”

Illinois has added +36,300 jobs so far this year and +79,600 jobs since January 2010 when job growth returned to Illinois after 23 consecutive months of declines. January 2010 also marked the plateau of the unemployment rate after 33 consecutive month-over-month increases. Since, the monthly unemployment rate has declined 15 times and increased four when compared to the previous month.

Since January 2010, leading growth sectors are Professional and Business Services (+36,600); Educational and Health Services (+25,800); Manufacturing (+19,700); and Trade, Transportation and Utilities (+17,200). Compared to August 2010, employment in Illinois is up +42,400 led by Educational and Health Services (+14,800); Professional and Business Services (+11,800); and Manufacturing (+11,500).

In August 2011, unemployed individuals increased 25,400 (4.0 percent) to 653,000 compared to July. Total unemployed has declined -87,100 (-11.8 percent) since January 2010 when the state unemployment rate peaked at 11.2 percent. The unemployment rate identifies those who are out of work and seeking employment. A person who exhausts benefits, or is ineligible, still will be reflected in the unemployment rate if they actively seek work.

The IDES supports economic stability by administering unemployment benefits, collecting business contributions to fund those benefits, connecting employers with qualified job seekers, and providing economic information to assist career planning and economic development. It does so through nearly 60 offices, including Illinois workNet centers.

Seasonally Adjusted Unemployment Rates

Stagnant National Growth Squeezes Illinois Labor Market – Unemployment at 9.9 Percent; 3,100 Jobs Added in August | Chicago Press Release Services - Chicago's leading press release newswire service; professional press release services, press release distribution and newswire services.

CHICAGO, Aug. 31, 2011 /CHICAGOPRESSRELEASE.COM/ — Six out of ten corporate restructuring specialists think a double-dip recession is likely within six to 18 months, according to a Turnaround Management Association poll.

“Availability of financing will be a primary determinant in whether the economy goes back into recession,” said Charles Moore, CTP, senior managing director with Conway MacKenzie Inc.  ”If financing dries up, more companies are likely to take actions to reduce costs and conserve cash, which may push us back into recession.”

The gloomy prognosis emerges against mounting evidence that relief is elusive for a limp U.S. economy. Unemployment stands at 9.2% and continues to wilt consumer confidence. Though nearly 30 percent of respondents doubted recession is likely, they still found little to cheer about.

“The current tremors in the market are really an indicator that we are in for a prolonged period of muted growth,” said Tom Pabst, president of liquidation firm HYPERAMS, LLC.

About 10 percent of respondents are unsure about recession, and some questioned whether the Great Recession really “ended” in 2009.

“Consumer spending was driving this economy for decades, but a tapped-out consumer is now working to delever; likewise, public sector spending can no longer run deficits,” said Brad Coulter, CTP, director with O’Keefe & Associates Consulting LLC. “The combination of those two factors is going to cause the economy to be in a slowdown, possibly for many years.”

The Fed’s decision to keep short-term interest rates near zero through mid-2013 produced near equal responses gauging the likely effect on troubled businesses. Half the respondents expect businesses to stay current on loans while the rest said businesses still are likely to falter in an enfeebled economy. Distressed companies could benefit if lenders delay loan maturities — or they could be purchased by buyers who can take advantage of low interest rates, respondents said.

“The continuation of lower interest rates will make it less likely that lenders will play hardball and more likely that companies will continue to limp along,” said TMA President Mark Indelicato, a partner with Hahn & Hessen LLP.

“The primary reason for default is overleverage,” said Thomas Kim, CTP, senior managing director with r2 advisors llc. “Interest rate levels are a factor, but not a driver, of defaults.”

TMA, www.turnaround.org, has more than 9,000 members in 47 regional chapters, including turnaround practitioners, attorneys, investors, lenders and accountants. Follow TMA at  twitter.com/TMATurnaround.

SOURCE Turnaround Management Association

http://www.turnaround.org

TMA Poll: No Quick Relief for Ailing Economy | Chicago Press Release Services - Chicago's leading press release newswire service; professional press release services, press release distribution and newswire services.

CHICAGO – The offices of the Illinois Department of Employment Security (IDES) will be closed on Monday, Sept. 5, in observance of Labor Day. All services will be available on the IDES website. Claimants scheduled to certify for benefits that day are encouraged to use the Internet. TeleServe will be available. Regular office hours of 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. will resume Tuesday, Sept. 6.

Labor Day is celebrated on the first Monday of September. The labor movement created the tribute to honor the economic and social achievements that the American worker brought to our nation. The first celebration was in 1882 in New York city. The day was a Tuesday. The holiday moved to Monday in 1884. Although there are conflicting reports that the holiday began through the Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners or the International Association of Machinists, there is agreement that the Central Labor Union was responsible for the initial demonstration and picnic.

Municipal ordinances first recognized the day in 1885 and 1886. New York was the first state to propose legislation creating the holiday, but Oregon was the first to enact a law in 1887. Illinois created the holiday in 1891. In 1894, Congress established the first Monday in September to be the legal holiday. In 1909, the American Federation of Labor declared the Sunday before Labor Day as Labor Sunday. It recognizes the spiritual and educational aspects of the labor movement.

Although IDES offices will be closed, services are available at www.ides.illinois.gov People still will be able to file for first-time unemployment benefits, certify for benefits which is necessary to receive payment, and switch that method of payment to direct deposit. The IDES will process customer certifications on Monday. Because Monday is a federal banking holiday, the availability of some benefit payments might be delayed. The IDES does not determine federal banking holidays.

The IDES supports economic stability by administering unemployment benefits, collecting business contributions to fund those benefits, connecting employers with qualified job seekers, and providing economic information to assist career planning and economic development. It does so through nearly 60 offices across the state, including the Illinois workNet Centers.  

IDES Offices Closed Sept. 5 to Observe Labor Day – Customers Should Certify; Services Available on Internet | Chicago Press Release Services - Chicago's leading press release newswire service; professional press release services, press release distribution and newswire services.

By Benjamin Yount | Illinois Statehouse News

SPRINGFIELD — It’s clear that finding or keeping a job in Illinois is getting tougher, but it is much less clear as to why.

Originally reported by Illinois Statehouse News. Read the original article here.

Illinois: Jobs picture worsening | Chicago Press Release Services - Chicago's leading press release newswire service; professional press release services, press release distribution and newswire services.

CHICAGO – The Illinois seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for July increased to 9.5 percent as 24,900 fewer jobs were reported, according to preliminary data released today by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and Illinois Department of Employment Security (IDES). The data reflects uncertainty in consumer confidence and the volatility associated with data management.

July is the third consecutive month to record an increase in the unemployment rate following 15 consecutive months of declines. Including the preliminary job loss, Illinois has added 28,900 jobs so far this year and 72,200 jobs since January 2010, when job growth returned to Illinois after 23 consecutive months of declines.

“This preliminary data reflects the recent volatility in the national economy and the uncertainty both in the labor force and business community,” IDES Director Jay Rowell said. “Although monthly data fills our need for immediacy, long-term data tells a more accurate story.”

Uneven monthly reports of job growth and unemployment rates are common in a typical recovery. However, to ensure more reliable national statistics, federal authorities earlier this year implemented methodological changes to data estimation that reduces input from individual states. As a result, there have been greater fluctuations in monthly jobs and employment data at the state level. How those changes might be reflected in July’s data will not be known for several months. Most private economists agree that the recovery from the national recession will continue, but at a more gradual pace in the second half of the year.

The uneven progress is evident in the job growth numbers. Since January 2010, Illinois has added, on average, about 3,800 jobs each month. In the first half of this year, Illinois added about 9,000 jobs each month. By contrast, during the national recession, Illinois lost, on average, 18,000 jobs each month.

Since January 2010 when Illinois employment resumed after the national recession, Illinois has added +72,200 net new jobs. Leading sectors are Professional and Business Services (+34,200); Educational and Health Services (+26,000); Manufacturing (+20,000); Trade, Transportation and Utilities (+16,000).  Compared to last year, Manufacturing employment is up +11,300 over its July 2010 level.

In July, the number of unemployed individuals increased 24,300 (4.0 percent) to 627,800. Total unemployed has declined -112,300 (-15.2 percent) since January 2010 when the state unemployment rate peaked at 11.2 percent. The unemployment rate identifies those who are out of work and seeking employment. A person who exhausts benefits, or is ineligible, still will be reflected in the unemployment rate if they actively seek work.
 
The IDES supports economic stability by administering unemployment benefits, collecting business contributions to fund those benefits, connecting employers with qualified job seekers, and providing economic information to assist career planning and economic development. It does so through nearly 60 offices, including Illinois workNet centers.

Seasonally Adjusted Unemployment Rates

National Instability Causes Bump in Job Recovery – Manufacturing Jobs Up 4th Straight Month; 11,300 since Last Year | Chicago Press Release Services - Chicago's leading press release newswire service; professional press release services, press release distribution and newswire services.

- Workers Provide Examples of How They Switched to Entirely New Career Paths

CHICAGO, Aug. 4, 2011 /CHICAGOPRESSRELEASE.COM/ — While more laid off workers are getting back to work, those who are still unemployed are anxious about re-entering the workforce.  Sixty percent of workers who were laid off in the last year reported they landed new jobs with 88 percent of these workers finding full-time positions.  Of those workers who are still searching for new opportunities, 56 percent said they are nervous about returning to work after an extended period of unemployment.  The survey, which was conducted by Harris Interactive© from May 19 to June 8, 2011, included more than 800 workers who were laid off from full-time jobs in the last year.

When asked why they felt anxious about re-entering the workforce, 50 percent of laid off, unemployed workers said it was the pressure to prove themselves while 40 percent pointed to fear of the unknown and 21 percent cited new technologies with which they may not be familiar.

Fear of the unknown especially comes into play as workers look to new industries and occupations after exhausting options in their own fields.  More than half of workers (54 percent) who were laid off in the last year and found new jobs reported they found them in entirely different fields than where they previously worked.  Respondents provided the following real-life examples of how they transitioned to new career paths:

• Financial advisor became a grade school teacher
• Restaurant manager became a computer technician
• Video store manager became a home health aide
• Music teacher became an animal care technician
• Marketing manager became an engineer
• Bookkeeper became a truck driver
• Production manager became a sales associate
• Researcher became a customer service representative
• Sales representative became a fitness trainer
• Collections agency representative became a radiology technician

“We need to do a better job as a nation to help workers identify jobs that are in-demand today and are projected to grow in the future,” said Brent Rasmussen, president of CareerBuilder North America.  ”We have a growing skills gap and the need to get millions of Americans back to work.  As the economy recovers, we need to focus on retraining and ‘re-skilling’ workers to help them move to new fields with a greater number of opportunities.”

Relocating

Workers are not only changing industries, they’re changing residences.  Of workers who were laid off and found new jobs, 36 percent reported they relocated to a new city or state.  Of those who haven’t found new jobs yet, 38 percent said they would consider relocating for a position.

Pay Improving

The majority of laid off workers who found new jobs reported their pay is similar or higher than their previous position. Forty-five percent reported taking a pay cut, an improvement from 47 percent last year.  Twenty-seven percent found jobs with higher pay, up from 22 percent last year.

Starting a Small Business

Some workers may replace their job search efforts with entrepreneurship.  More than one-in-four (27 percent) who have not yet found work said they are considering starting their own business.

Survey Methodology

This survey was conducted online within the U.S. by Harris Interactive© on behalf of CareerBuilder among 809 U.S. workers who were laid off from full-time jobs in the last year between May 19 and June 8, 2011 (percentages for some questions are based on a subset, based on their responses to certain questions). With a pure probability sample of 809, one could say with a 95 percent probability that the overall results have a sampling error of +/- 3.45 percentage points. Sampling error for data from sub-samples is higher and varies.

About CareerBuilder®

CareerBuilder is the global leader in human capital solutions, helping companies target and attract their most important asset – their people. Its online career site, CareerBuilder.com®, is the largest in the United States with more than 24 million unique visitors, 1 million jobs and 40 million resumes. CareerBuilder works with the world’s top employers, providing resources for everything from employment branding and data analysis to recruitment support. More than 9,000 websites, including 140 newspapers and broadband portals such as MSN and AOL, feature CareerBuilder’s proprietary job search technology on their career sites. Owned by Gannett Co., Inc. (NYSE: GCI), Tribune Company and The McClatchy Company (NYSE: MNI), CareerBuilder and its subsidiaries operate in the United States, Europe, Canada and Asia. For more information, visit www.careerbuilder.com.

Media Contact:
CareerBuilder
Jennifer Grasz
773-527-1164
jennifer.grasz@careerbuilder.com
http://www.twitter.com/CareerBuilderPR

SOURCE CareerBuilder

http://www.careerbuilder.com

Sixty Percent of Workers Who Were Laid Off in the Last Year Found New Jobs, CareerBuilder Survey Finds | Chicago Press Release Services - Chicago's leading press release newswire service; professional press release services, press release distribution and newswire services.

IRVINE, Calif., July 5, 2011 /CHICAGOPRESSRELEASE.COM/ — TNP Strategic Retail Trust, Inc. (the “Company”), a public non-traded REIT that invests in grocery and drug-store anchored, multitenant necessity retail properties and other real estate-related assets, announced today the acquisition of the debt secured by Constitution Trail Centre, a 197,739 square foot multitenant retail center built in 2007 and located in Normal, a suburb of Bloomington in the heart of central Illinois. The purchase price is at a substantial discount from the loan amount.

“The acquisition of the loan secured by Constitution Trail Centre is an attractive addition to the TNP Strategic Retail Trust portfolio,” said Thompson National Properties’ senior vice president, acquisitions, Steve Corea.

Constitution Trail Centre also includes approximately 28.74 acres of land available for future development and is located north of the densely populated Illinois State University (ISU) area. Aided by a well-diversified employment market, the Bloomington-Normal MSA unemployment rate was 6.9 percent as of March 2011, 1.9 percent lower than the Illinois average.

As of July 5, the property is approximately 65 percent leased. Constitution Trail Centre is anchored by Schnucks Market and Starplex Cinemas. Other national tenants include Dollar Tree, Subway®, H&R Block®, Great Clips and Wendy’s®. Tenants have staggered lease expirations that range from 2012 to 2029.

About TNP Strategic Retail Trust, Inc.

TNP Strategic Retail Trust, Inc. is a publicly registered non-traded REIT that invests in grocery and drug-store anchored, multitenant necessity retail properties, located primarily in the Western United States, and real estate related assets, including investment in or origination of mortgage, mezzanine, bridge and other loans related to commercial real estate. As of June 30, 2011, TNP Strategic Retail Trust has issued 3,516,034 shares of common stock. The Company currently pays a monthly distribution that equates to an annual 7 percent distribution. For more information regarding TNP Strategic Retail Trust, please visit www.tnpsrt.com.

About Thompson National Properties, LLC

Thompson National Properties, LLC (TNP) is an international real estate advisory company, specializing in the creation and management of real estate investment funds. TNP uses a variety of investment structures to fit the needs of its investors, which are designed for both institutional and high net worth individual investors. Thompson National Properties is also a leader in both property and asset management and receivership services, a key element in any successful commercial real estate investment in today’s lender-driven marketplace.

Headquartered in Irvine, California, Thompson National Properties was founded in April 2008 and has seven regional offices. As of July 5, 2011, Thompson National Properties manages a portfolio of 150 commercial properties, in 30 states, totaling more than 19.8 million square feet, on behalf of over 4,000 investor/owners with an overall purchase value of $2.5 billion dollars. TNP has expanded its operations to the Middle East to provide valuation and advisory services on over 2.3 million square feet of real estate in Saudi Arabia. For more information regarding Thompson National Properties, please visit www.tnpre.com.

Forward-looking statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of federal securities laws and regulations.  These forward-looking statements are identified by their use of terms and phrases such as “anticipate,” “believe,” “continue,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “may,” “plan,” “predict,” “project,” “should,” “will” and other similar terms and phrases, including references to assumptions and forecasts of future results.  Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results to differ materially from those anticipated at the time the forward-looking statements are made.  These risks include, but are not limited to: volatility in the debt or equity markets affecting the Company’s ability to acquire or sell real estate or real estate related assets; the Company’s ability to pay distributions at the current rate or at all; national and local economic and business conditions; the Company’s ability to maintain sufficient liquidity and access capital markets; the performance of real estate assets after they are acquired; and other risks and uncertainties associated with our business described in the Company’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Although the Company believes the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are based upon reasonable assumptions, it can give no assurance that the expectations will be attained or that any deviation will not be material. The Company undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statement contained herein to conform the statement to actual results or changes in the Company’s expectations.  This release should be read in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements and notes thereto included in the Company’s most recent reports on Form 10-K and Form 10-Q. Copies of these reports are available on the Company’s website and at www.sec.gov.

This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy securities.

SOURCE TNP Strategic Retail Trust, Inc.

http://www.tnpsrt.com

TNP Strategic Retail Trust Acquires the Debt Secured by Constitution Trail Centre in Normal, Illinois | Chicago Press Release Services - Chicago's leading press release newswire service; professional press release services, press release distribution and newswire services.

By Mary Massingale   Illinois Statehouse News

SPRINGFIELD — Business and labor groups are meeting to hammer out a plan to pay off the state’s $2.8 billion unemployment debt to the federal government, with both groups apparently sharing in the pain.

But neither side is talking much.

“We’ll have a solution by the end of the (calendar) year, but the debt will have to be repaid over a longer period of time,” said Jay Shattuck, executive director of the Illinois Chamber of Commerce’s Employment Law Council, who put the year-end debt at a potential $3.5 billion given the lagging economy.

Shattuck said business and labor groups will pay a large portion of the principle, which now stands at $2.8 billion. Who will pay the $80 million interest due Sept. 30 apparently is still under negotiation.

Secretary-treasurer of the Illinois AFL-CIO Tim Drea is the top labor negotiator. Beth Spencer, director of communications for the Illinois AFL-CIO, said, ”We’re opting to not comment on it at this time while negotiations are ongoing.” 

With both groups helping to pay off the loan, possible options could include an increase in business contributions, a decrease in unemployment benefits, or borrowing by the state — or all three.

A spokesman for the Illinois Department of Employment Security cautioned against jumping to conclusions on a complex issue.

“It really is premature to characterize what the agreement will look like,” said Greg Rivara.

However, he did note that in 2003 the state issued bonds to cover its unemployment debt, and paid them off two years early.

A small part of the business collections can be paid toward the debt, but not enough to cover the total $2.8 billion.

However, the loans from the federal government started accruing an interest rate of 4 percent annually as of Jan. 1, although there is talk in Washington of extending the interest-free borrowing.

The state in January and February made a total $60 million payment on the principle — the first payment since it started borrowing in 2009, according to Rivara.

He noted the interest-free borrowing gave the state no incentive to pay back the principle during those times of high unemployment until it had to — which is now.

“At the end of the day, if the balance on the account is positive, it goes toward the principle,” he said.

The unemployment trust fund is also expecting a replenishment with a large influx of employer contributions beginning next month and continuing into May, after first-quarter collections are received.

Businesses contribute on the first $12,740 that would have been earned by the unemployed worker, meaning most of the total business collections will be collected in the first quarter. Many businesses also make their annual payment after the first quarter, Rivara said.

He said IDES expects to bring in up to $1 billion of business contributions by May, which is funneled directly into paying unemployment insurance claims, negating the need to borrow from the federal account.  

“We went from the end of April 2010 to the end of December without borrowing,” he said. “It had enough dollars on hand to pay the obligation.”

He said the agency expects to bring in a total of $2.6 billion from business collections for 2011, up from $2 billion in 2010. That money goes toward paying unemployment claims, not the debt.

The amount businesses pay to the state’s unemployment trust fund depends on a three-year formula set in a 2003 law that takes into account the employer’s industry and previous history of layoffs. For 2011, the amount businesses annually pay per worker ranges from $89 to $1,070, according to Rivara — up slightly from $81 to $908 in 2010.

The jobs landscape for the state is brightening slightly, as the unemployment rate has fallen for 13 consecutive months, and mirrors the national rate for February at 8.9 percent, which is the most recent data available.

But few expect a quick rebound for the state.

The University of Illinois’ “Flash Index” as compiled by economist J. Fred Giertz hit 96.1 for February, marking the 10th consecutive monthly improvement. But the Flash Index, a monthly weighted average of Illinois growth rates in corporate earnings, consumer spending and personal income, has yet to break 100, which indicates economic growth.

“Slow recoveries are typical in recessions accompanied by a financial panic as occurred in the fall of 2008,” Giertz said in a statement.

Originally reported by Illinois Statehouse News. Read the original article here.

Business, labor hash out payment of state’s $2.8 billion unemployment debt | Chicago Press Release Services - Chicago's leading press release newswire service; professional press release services, press release distribution and newswire services.

RIVERWOODS, Ill., Feb. 28, 2011 /CHICAGOPRESSRELEASE.COM/ — While unemployment benefits are taxable, there are ways that the millions of people out of work last year may be able to lower their taxes, according to CCH, a Wolters Kluwer business and the leading global provider of tax, accounting and audit information, software and services (CCHGroup.com).

“Most people would far prefer to have a job than get tax breaks for being unemployed,” said CCH Principal Federal Tax Analyst Mark Luscombe, JD, LLM, CPA. “But if that’s not the case, they should at least know how to lower their tax bill.”

Additionally, taxpayers who are unable to fully pay their tax debt may see some relief as a result of new IRS rules related to liens and collection procedures. Chief among the changes is barring the IRS from filing a lien against a taxpayer’s property unless they owe more than $10,000 and granting more lien withdrawals, even if the debt has not been fully repaid in some instances.

“Many people were struggling with tax debt while being out of work during the recession,” said Luscombe. “The hope is the new rules will ease their burden as they get back on their feet.”

Below, CCH outlines five ways people who were out of work in 2010 may be able to lower their taxes.

About CCH, a Wolters Kluwer business

CCH, a Wolters Kluwer business (CCHGroup.com) is the leading global provider of tax, accounting and audit information, software and services. It has served tax, accounting and business professionals since 1913. CCH is based in Riverwoods, Ill. Wolters Kluwer is a leading global information services and publishing company. Wolters Kluwer is headquartered in Alphen aan den Rijn, the Netherlands (www.wolterskluwer.com).

SOURCE CCH, a Wolters Kluwer business

http://www.wolterskluwer.com

Five Ways the Unemployed Can Lower Their Taxes | Chicago Press Release Services - Chicago's leading press release newswire service; professional press release services, press release distribution and newswire services.

CHICAGO, Feb. 16, 2011 /CHICAGOPRESSRELEASE.COM/ — This week, Congress begins debate over a bill that would significantly cut spending in 2011. President Obama released his budget request for 2012 on Monday. Both of these proposals include cuts to programs that serve low-income families. As a result, many of the people served by Feeding America, the country’s largest domestic hunger relief organization, are likely to experience increased hardship.  

“Feeding America urges the President and Congress to keep first and foremost in their minds the needs of our most vulnerable Americans as decisions are made about balancing the budget and reducing budget deficits,” said Vicki Escarra, president and CEO of Feeding America. “Programs that make up the federal safety net, including nutrition programs, which provide a lifeline to struggling families, absolutely must be off the table.”

Feeding America experienced a 46 percent increase in requests from emergency food assistance between 2006 and 2010, according to their Hunger in America studies, largely due to rising need as a result of the recession and widespread unemployment. With services for low-income families on the table for cuts, Feeding America’s nationwide network of food banks may see a further increase in the number of people seeking help to feed themselves and their families.

“Protecting the poor is not a partisan issue,” Escarra said. “A principle guiding the recommendations of the bipartisan Deficit Commission is that the budget must provide a robust safety net focused on those who need benefits the most. As Congress and the Administration move forward with work on the federal budget, their work must be guided by the same principle.”

The President’s proposed budget for FY 2012 would freeze non-security discretionary spending for the next five years based on 2010 enacted levels. Rather than impose an across the board freeze, the President’s proposal increases funding in certain areas, such as nutrition assistance for WIC and child nutrition. Other programs are cut back, such as Low Income Home Energy Assistance (LIHEAP), the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG), and Community Services Block Grant (CSBG).

The House this week is considering a spending bill to fund federal programs through the remainder of FY 2011. The bill cuts $65 billion in non-security discretionary spending compared to 2010 enacted levels, including over $1 billion in cuts to nutrition assistance programs. The bill also makes cuts to other key safety net programs, like Head Start, LIHEAP, and CSBG.

Every day, food banks see how families continue to struggle as demand for food assistance remains high. Cuts to nutrition programs like CSFP, TEFAP, and WIC will make it even harder to keep up with unprecedented need in communities across the country. At the same time, cuts to other safety net programs will serve to increase the number of people turning to food banks for assistance. When critical services are cut, low-income families dip into their food budgets to pay for housing, child care, and other basic needs, turning to their local food pantry for help.

Highlights of the House FY 2011 Spending Proposal

• The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) administration funded at $49.5 million, the same level as FY 2010.
• Eliminates funding for TEFAP Infrastructure Grants.
• The Commodity Supplemental Food Program (CSFP) funded at $151.4 million, $20 million less than the funding level enacted for FY 2010.
• WIC (Women, Infants and Children) funded at $6.504 billion, a $1.1 billion cut from the President’s FY 2011 request.
• Eliminates funding for Hunger Free Communities Grants.
• Cuts in half funding for the Emergency Food and Shelter Program, from $200 million in FY 2010 to $100 million for FY 2011.

Highlights of the President’s 2012 Budget Request

• Funding for TEFAP commodities and administration remains essentially the same at FY 2010 levels and eliminates funding for TEFAP infrastructure grants.
• CSFP funded at $176 million, an increase of $5.4 million over FY 2010 enacted levels.
• Restores the SNAP benefits used to help pay for the 2010 Child Nutrition Reauthorization.
• Proposes to temporarily eliminate the 3-month time limit for able-bodied adults without dependents (ABAWDs) enrolled in SNAP.
• Supports WIC participation at 9.6 million participants, a slight increase compared to current participation levels of 9 million.
• Funds grant programs newly authorized in the 2010 Child Nutrition Reauthorization to increase participation in the breakfast programs and support state plans to end childhood hunger.
• Cuts funding for the Emergency Food and Shelter Program in half, from $200 million in FY 2010 to $100 million for FY 2012.
• Provides $5 million for Hunger Free Communities grants.
• Provides $35 million for the Healthy Food Financing Initiative to bring grocery stores and other healthy food retailers to underserved communities in rural and urban food deserts.

About Feeding America

Feeding America provides low-income individuals and families with the fuel to survive and even thrive. As the nation’s leading domestic hunger-relief charity, our network members supply food to more than 37 million Americans each year, including 14 million children and 3 million seniors. Serving the entire United States, more than 200 member food banks support 61,000 agencies that address hunger in all of its forms. For more information on how you can fight hunger in your community and across the country, visit http://www.feedingamerica.org. Find us on Facebook at facebook.com/FeedingAmerica or follow our news on Twitter at twitter.com/FeedingAmerica.

SOURCE Feeding America

http://www.feedingamerica.org

Feeding America Concerned That Proposed Budget Cuts Could Lead to Increased Food Insecurity in the U.S. | Chicago Press Release Services - Chicago's leading press release newswire service; professional press release services, press release distribution and newswire services.

By Andrew Thomason   Illinois Statehouse News

SPRINGFIELD — Illinois is struggling to pay off its growing stack of bills, but some relief might be on its way from Washington, D.C.

President Barack Obama released his budget proposal Monday, and included in it was a two-year break for states’ interest payments on money borrowed from the federal government to fund unemployment insurance.

More than 30 states, including Illinois, borrowed a total of $42 billion from the feds to cope with the higher number of people the recession put on the unemployment rolls.

Illinois is on the hook for more than $2.2 billion in interest. If nothing changes in the law, Illinois’ first interest payment of $80 million must be paid by the end of September to avoid jeopardizing federal incentives.

During the past decade, Illinois’ Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund tanked from a high of $2.1 billion in 2000 to just $4.9 million at the end of January. The most recent unemployment rate in Illinois stood at 9.3 percent for December, with the national rate at 9.4 percent. The state rate averaged 4.5 percent for 2000.

Obama’s plan doesn’t just give, however. It also takes. The  plan would raise the amount an employer is taxed from the first $7,000 of an employee’s paycheck to $15,000 in 2014. This would be the first increase in the wage base since 1983.

The administration has promised that despite the increase, businesses won’t have to pay any more.
Whether that comes to fruition worries Jay Shattuck.

“We do have great concern about raising that wage base without a greater understanding of how it’s going to be revenue neutral,” said Shattuck, of the Illinois Chamber of Commerce Employers Law Council. “Right now the environment is not good, especially here in Illinois, for any kind of additional tax increase.”

Democratic Illinois U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin said he would introduce legislation to coincide with Obama’s plan. How that plan will fare in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives has yet to be seen.

The Illinois Department of Employment Security, which administers the state’s unemployment program, will implement whatever is the law of the land, according to spokesman Greg Rivara.

Originally reported by Illinois Statehouse News. Read the original article here.

Feds could help state with unemployment interest crunch | Chicago Press Release Services - Chicago's leading press release newswire service; professional press release services, press release distribution and newswire services.

In this issue’s cover story, “Loopholes,” Reporter Angela Caputo gives us a glimpse of the city’s job market. In recent years, this story has been told in Chicago from the lens of the number of people who are unemployed. We all cringed when the unemployment rate hit double digits last year. But Caputo takes a different look. Her sobering report focuses on the number of jobs available in the city—particularly held by Chicagoans—and compares that number with the cost the city has spent on economic development in the Loop through Tax Increment Financing Districts.

Caputo’s basic question: “Did Chicagoans get their money’s worth?” If you live south of 43rd Street, the answer is: “No way.”

Residents in these areas—especially those who are black and living on the South Side—are the ones suffering from the loss of most downtown jobs. The city has spent nearly a billion dollars to make the Loop look good. But have we become a world-class city at the expense of these residents? Chicago neighborhoods have the worst chronic unemployment in the nation, and Illinois has horrific unemployment numbers when it comes to young black men, as noted in a story on page 5. And now Caputo’s report has confirmed what many have long suspected—that Chicagoans who need the Loop jobs the most aren’t getting them or able to hang onto them.

On the heels of these abysmal statistics, I heard the news that Wal-Mart Stores Inc. was going to build a new store in the city. Based on the company’s history, wages certainly won’t be top-notch. But, still, I’m certain there were many people wiping the sweat from their brow and looking at the plan as an opportunity to finally get back into the job market, get health insurance, buy fresh produce—something many of us take for granted–and bust down boarded-up storefronts to make way for other economic development that would surely be spurred by the big-box development.

But the good news was short-lived. The store was going up in the Lakeview neighborhood. Of all the communities that need economic development, jobs and a grocer, Lakeview isn’t the first one that comes to mind.

People on the South Side need jobs. They need economic development. Under the current administration, South Siders didn’t reap the full benefit of the nearly $1 billion the city spent to make the Loop fancy.

The wedge between disadvantaged communities and advantaged ones appears to be widening when it comes to economic development. If Chicago is truly a world-class city, leaders must figure out how everyone can benefit.

Can the next mayor get the city that works working?

A city not working | Chicago Press Release Services - Chicago's leading press release newswire service; professional press release services, press release distribution and newswire services.

Elizabeth Edwards’ public battle with cancer was just one of the crises she endured in 2010.

In the waning days of the 111th Congress, Democrats and Republicans worked together (yes, you heard me) to pass some far-reaching legislation, including an extension of the Bush-era tax cuts and unemployment benefits, a repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, and ratification of the New Start Treaty.

All this activity, of course, came in the wake of a huge electoral victory in the House for the GOP — the largest for any party since 1948 — which means that a tremendous number of of incumbents, mostly Democratic, will not be returning to Congress in 2011.

But this time of year — as it always is in the Political Junkie — is reserved not for partisanship or showmanship or a declaration of winners and losers, but for a pause to remember those who passed on in 2010.

It was, sadly, a pretty sizable list.  The longest serving senator in history, followed shortly thereafter by the longest serving Republican senator in history.  Powerful House committee chairmen.  A secretary of state who said he was “in control” at a particularly frightening moment.  A presidential speechwriter whose words live on to this day.  A presidential press secretary who walked away out of principle.  A founding father of the Libertarian Party.  A woman who late in her life walked across the country to make a point about money in politics.  A wife of a presidential candidate.  The mother of the vice president.  A brother and uncle of presidents.  And a legendary journalist whose presence in the halls of NPR is truly missed.

Presented here is a chronological list of those who died last year. It doesn’t claim to be complete, but it includes many of those who made our lives more interesting and the world a better place.

Smith Bagley, 74, an heir to the R.J. Reynolds tobacco fortune and longtime Democratic Party fundraiser.  He twice sought a seat in Congress from North Carolina, losing a Democratic primary to Nick Galifianakis in 1966 and the general election to Republican Wilmer (Vinegar Bend) Mizell in 1968. (Jan. 2)

Royal Hart, 83, who as a Democratic state senator from Maryland in the mid-1960s sponsored the bill that ended the state’s 306 year ban on interracial marriage.  In 1970 he was his party’s unsuccessful nominee for Congress in the 5th CD against GOP incumbent Larry Hogan. (Jan. 2)

Catherine Biden, 92, the mother of Vice President Joe Biden. (Jan. 8)

Robert Mosbacher, 82, a longtime Texas oilman and Republican fundraiser who served as secretary of commerce under the first President Bush. (Jan. 24)

Charles “Mac” Mathias, 87, the last Republican elected to the Senate from Maryland and who, during the course of his four terms in the House (1961-68) and three in the Senate (1969-86), moved considerably to the left.  By the time he retired, after 1986, he was considered the most liberal Republican in Congress.  In 1960, Mathias ousted Rep. John Foley (D) in Maryland’s 6th CD.  Four years later, he played a major role in drafting the 1964 Civil Rights Act.  In 1968, he unseated Democratic Sen. Dan Brewster, and then won subsequent landslides over Barbara Mikulski in 1974 and Ed Conroy in 1980.  Mikulski won the 1986 election to succeed him. (Jan. 25)

Frank Fasi, 89, who served as mayor of Honolulu for 22 years, first as a Democrat and later as a Republican, who also made numerous bids for senator and governor. (Feb. 3)

Cecil Heftel, 85, a Hawaii Democrat who served in the House from 1977, when he succeeded Senate candidate Spark Matsunaga, until July 1986, when he resigned to run for governor.  Heftel lost the Democratic primary that year to John Waihee, who went on to become governor. (Feb. 4)

John Murtha, 77, a Pennsylvania Democrat whose election to Congress in a special February 1974 election sent a signal that the Republican Party could pay the price for the Watergate scandal, and whose 36 years in the House made him one of the chamber’s most powerful members.  A decorated Vietnam War veteran, Murtha lost badly to Rep. John Saylor (R) in 1968, but when Saylor died, Murtha jumped into the special election to succeed him in ’74 and won it — becoming the first Vietnam combat vet elected to Congress.  His ethics were always under the microscope, starting with the Abscam scandal in 1980, when he was shown on videotape turning down money from an FBI agent disguised as a Mideast sheik — but saying that he might be willing to talk about money later.  He was also investigated for his role of receiving campaign contributions — a lot of them — from those who did business before his Appropriations subcommittee.  Long an influential, powerful, and widely feared member, Murtha drew national attention when he publicly broke with the Bush administration and spoke out against the Iraq war in November 2005.  A longtime key ally of Nancy Pelosi who helped her rise to House Speaker after the 2006 elections, he was her choice to run for majority leader, but he lost that contest to Maryland’s Steny Hoyer. (Feb. 8)

Francine Neff, 84, a veteran Republican activist who was the U.S. treasurer, appointed by President Nixon, from 1974-77. (Feb. 9)

Charlie Wilson, 76, a larger-than-life 12-term Democratic congressman from Texas (1973-76) who as a member of the House Appropriations Cmte played a major role in financing and arming Afghan insurgents against Soviet occupiers and whose escapades — regarding Afghanistan and his love for women — were made into a book and later, in 2007, a movie, “Charlie Wilson’s War,” starring Tom Hanks as the Texas congressman. (Feb. 10)

Alexander Haig, 85, the White House chief of staff during the waning days of Richard Nixon’s presidency who is best known for saying, while serving years later as President Reagan’s secretary of state, “I am in control here,” moments after Reagan was wounded in an assassination attempt in March 1981.  Haig had received widespread credit for trying to steady the government as Nixon’s grasp was disintegrating in 1974.  But the response to his role in the Reagan administration was completely different.  By the time he was forced out of the Cabinet, in June 1982, he had alienated many in the administration, including Reagan himself.  In between the two administrations he served as supreme allied commander in Europe.  In 1988, he sought the Republican nomination for president but was out of the race before the New Hampshire primary. (Feb. 20)

James Wieghart, 76, a former editor at the New York Daily News, where he covered the Nixon, Ford and Carter presidencies.  Prior to his NYC journalism career, he worked for the Milwaukee Journal and served as press secretary for Sen. William Proxmire (D). (Feb. 21)

Roy Elson, 79, a longtime aide to longtime Arizona Sen. Carl Hayden (D), who made two bids for the Senate himself, losing in 1964 to Paul Fannin and again four years later to Barry Goldwater, in the battle to succeed the retiring Hayden. (Feb. 25)

Doris “Granny D” Haddock, 100, who walked cross-country in 2000 at the age of 89 to promote a change to the campaign finance system and who mounted a quixotic campaign for the Senate as a Democrat from New Hampshire in 2004, losing by a nearly 2-to-1 margin to incumbent Republican Judd Gregg.  Her 3,200 walk began in Pasadena, Calif. and ended in D.C. 14 months later. (March 10)

Arthur Christy, 86, who as a special prosecutor under a new ethics law pursued allegations against Hamilton Jordan, President Carter’s chief of staff, that he used cocaine at a New York night club.  Jordan was eventually cleared. (March 12)

Edmund Dinis, 85, whose handling (or mishandling) of the case against Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) in the wake of the 1969 Chappaquiddick incident — in which a passenger in Kennedy’s car, Mary Jo Kopechne, drowned — cost him his job as district attorney in the next election. (March 14)

Stewart Udall, 90, who gave up his Arizona congressional seat after the 1960 election to become President Kennedy’s first secretary of the interior, and whose strong work on conservation and environmental issues continued into the Johnson administration.  His House seat was won by his brother, Mo, in a 1961 special election.  His son, Tom, is a Democratic senator from New Mexico. (March 20)

Liz Carpenter, 89, press secretary to Lady Bird Johnson during LBJ’s presidency and a founding member of the National Women’s Political Caucus. (March 20)

Midge Costanza, 77, who while vice mayor of Rochester, N.Y., became an early and influential supporter of Jimmy Carter’s bid for the presidency, and who, after joining his administration, began criticizing him in public, a tactic that led to her decision to resign under pressure.  In 1974, prior to her involvement with Carter, she was the unsuccessful Democratic nominee against Rep. Barber Conable (R). (March 23)

Stanford Parris, 80, a Virginia Republican who was elected to the first of his six terms in Congress in 1972, replacing Senate nominee Bill Scott.  Two years later, with the Watergate scandal killing the GOP nationwide, he lost to Democrat Herb Harris.  In 1980, running on Ronald Reagan’s coattails, he narrowly got his revenge against Harris, winning by just over 1,000 votes.  His re-election margins increasing, he decided to run for governor in 1985 and 1989 but lost the nomination both times.  In 1990, he lost his House seat, to Democrat Jim Moran, who still serves. (March 27)

Jerry terHorst, 87, who gave up his job as Washington bureau chief of the Detroit News to become President Ford’s press secretary in August 1974 but who resigned less than a month later in protest of Ford’s pardon of former President Richard Nixon for his role in the Watergate scandal. (March 31)

Thomas Moyer, 70, the chief justice of the Ohio Supreme Court and the longest serving sitting state supreme court chief justice in the nation. (April 2)

Clifford Hardin, 94, President Nixon’s first secretary of agriculture. (April 4)

Robert Franks, 58, a former chairman of the New Jersey Republican Party and four-term House member who gave up his seat in 2000 for a close, but losing, bid for a Senate seat won by Democrat Jon Corzine, and who also sought his party’s gubernatorial nomination in the 2001 primary. (April 9)

Benjamin Hooks, 85, who succeeded Roy Wilkins as head of the NAACP in 1977 and stayed at the helm of the civil rights organization for 15 years.  In 1972, President Nixon appointed him to the Federal Communications Commission, the first African American to serve on that panel. (April 15)

Daryl Gates, 83, the chief of police in Los Angeles for 14 years until he was forced to resign in June 1992, after the outbreak of riots following the acquittal of four white police officers for the beating of Rodney King after a high-speed car chase, a beating that was videotaped by a bystander and broadcast worldwide. (April 16)

Dorothy Height, 98, a leading figure in civil rights and women’s movements, with a career that started with anti-lynching protests in the South in the 1930s. (April 20)

Walter Murphy, 80, a political scientist and constitutional scholar at Princeton University until his retirement in 1995. (April 20)

Willard Wirtz, 98, who was secretary of labor under President Kennedy, replacing Arthur Goldberg, who was named to the Supreme Court.  He stayed in his post under President Johnson.  He was considered a possible pick for VP in 1968. (April 24)

Walter Hickel, 90, who was elected governor of Alaska in 1966 as a Republican and again, in 1990, as a candidate of the Alaskan Independence Party, and whose tenure as President Nixon’s first secretary of the interior ended with his firing in 1970 after he criticized Nixon’s Vietnam war policy.  He also sought the GOP gubernatorial nomination, unsuccessfully, in 1974, 1978 and 1986. (May 7)

Ike Andrews, 84, a North Carolina Democrat who served six terms in the House and best known for his work on behalf of the elderly.  In 1972 he narrowly won the seat vacated by Rep. Nick Galifianakis, a Democrat who was running for the Senate, and served until 1984, when he was defeated by Republican Bill Cobey. (May 10)

Donald “Buz” Lukens, 79, a once-rising star in the Republican Party whose second tenure in the House ended in disgrace.  Lukens, a strong conservative, was elected president of the national Young Republicans in 1963.  In 1966, running on a pro-Vietnam war platform, he was elected to Congress from Ohio, a post he gave up in 1970 for an unsuccessful run for governor in the GOP primary.  Earlier, in 1968, he was the first House member to endorse Ronald Reagan for president.  He then spent 15 years in the Ohio state Senate.  In 1986, when Rep. Tom Kindness (R) gave up his 8th CD seat to run for the Senate, Lukens returned to Congress.  But in May 1989 he was convicted of paying an underage girl to have sex with him.  He nevertheless insisted on running for re-election, but got clobbered in the 1990 primary by state Rep. John Boehner, who will become the Speaker of the House in 2011.  Lukens ultimately was forced to resign his seat later in the year after being accused of propositioning a House elevator operator.  In 1996, he was convicted of accepting bribes and sentenced to federal prison. (May 22)

Gary Coleman, 42, the diminutive TV actor and star of the “Diff’rent Strokes” show, who makes it to this list only because he was somehow among the 135 candidates on the California ballot in 2003 to recall Gov. Gray Davis.  He finished in 8th place, just after Hustler publisher Larry Flynt. (May 28)

Arthur Link, 96, a former two-term Democratic governor of North Dakota.  Link, a longtime member of the state legislature, won election to the House in 1970, after the GOP incumbent, Tom Kleppe, left to run for the Senate.  With the state losing one of its two House seats in 1972, Link was all but out of a job until Gov. William Guy (D) announced his retirement.  Link ran for that job and won, and was re-elected in ’76.  But he was defeated in a bid for a third term in 1980, losing to Republican Allen Olson. (June 1)

William Murphy, 65, who served as the Staten Island (N.Y.) district attorney for a record 20 years until his retirement in 2003.  A Democrat in a Republican-leaning borough, one of his victories came against Borough President (and former congressman) Guy Molinari in 1995. (June 4)

Robert Healy, 84, a political journalist with the Boston Globe who broke the story in 1962 that Ted Kennedy, then a first-time candidate for the Senate, had been expelled from Harvard for cheating.  Healy was also a familiar presence in New Hampshire during that state’s first-in-the-nation presidential primaries. (June 5)

Frank Evans, 86, a Colorado Democrat who served in the House for 14 years until his retirement in 1978.  He first came to Congress during the 1964 LBJ landslide, when he knocked off GOP Rep. J. Edgar Chenoweth. (June 8)

Thomas “Lud” Ashley, 87, a former Democratic congressman from Ohio who during his 13 terms (1955-80) fought for public housing.  In 1954, Ashley unseated Rep. Frazier Reams, the House’s only independent, and served until 1980, when he was defeated by Ed Weber (R) in the Reagan landslide. (June 15)

Prescott Bush Jr., 87, brother of former President George Bush and uncle of George W. Bush, who made a brief challenge against liberal GOP Sen. Lowell Weicker of Connecticut in 1982 until he dropped out before the primary. (June 23)

Walter Shorenstein, 95, a real estate magnate and financial benefactor to the Democratic Party who advised Presidents Lyndon Johnson and Jimmy Carter. (June 24)

Elise Boulding, 89, a peace activist going back to the 1940s who made a run for Congress from Michigan in 1966 highlighting her opposition to the war in Vietnam. (June 24)

Dolph Briscoe, 87, a conservative Democrat who served as governor of Texas in the 1970s during the state’s oil and gas boom years.  A fourth-place finisher in the 1968 Democratic gov primary, Briscoe returned in 1972 — back when the term was still two years — and won the nomination in a runoff over Frances “Sissy” Farenthold, and then the general in a close election over Hank Grover (R).  He easily won a second term in 1974.  But in ’78, when the term was increased to four years, he lost the Dem primary in a surprise to state Attorney General John Hill.  Hill, in turn, lost to William Clements, who became the state’s first GOP governor since Reconstruction. (June 27)

Robert Byrd, 92, whose 51 years in the Senate made him the longest serving senator (and, when you add six years in the House, the longest serving member of Congress as well) in history.  A fierce protector of the Senate, Byrd had served in the upper chamber from 1958, winning nine times.  Prior to that, Byrd was elected to the House as a Democrat from West Virginia in 1952.  Six years later he knocked off GOP Sen. Chapman Revercomb.  Long a supporter of racial segregation — in the 1940s he was a member of the Ku Klux Klan, he filibustered the Senate for 14 hours during the 1964 debate on the Civil Rights Act, and he opposed Thurgood Marshall’s nomination to the Supreme Court in 1967 — Byrd softened his views on race as he attempted to become a national Democrat.  In 1971, he defeated Edward Kennedy to become Democratic Whip.  In 1976, he made a brief bid for his party’s presidential nomination.  The next year, following Sen. Mike Mansfield’s (D-Mont.) retirement, Byrd became majority leader.  He was a tireless promoter of his home state, and as chairman of the Appropriations Cmte he was responsible for billions of dollars sent to West Virginia; his opponents labeled him the “king of pork.”  But he was untouchable at home. (June 28)

Marc Trager, 64, who until recently had been seeking the GOP nomination for Congress in Wisconsin’s 8th CD. (June 29)

Juanita Kreps, 89, President Carter’s first secretary of commerce and the first woman to head the department. (July 5)

Emilio “Mim” Daddario, 91, a Connecticut Democrat who unseated Rep. Edwin May Jr. (R) in 1958 and served until 1970, when he ran for governor but lost the general election to Tom Meskill (R).  During his 12 years in the House, he focused on science research and development. (July 6)

Kenny Guinn, 73, a former two-term Republican governor of Nevada (1999-2006) whose pushing for the largest tax increase in state history in 2003 was widely denounced at the time but which ultimately was credited for turning the state economy around — a bit of prosperity that ended under his successor, Jim Gibbons. (July 22)

Daniel Schorr, 93, who as an award-winning reporter with CBS News was named to President Nixon’s infamous “Enemies List” for his criticism of the administration and who for the past quarter-century was a news analyst with NPR. (July 23)

Lolita Lebron, 90, the Puerto Rican nationalist/terrorist (take your pick) who was among those who stormed the House of Representatives and fired their guns on March 1, 1954.  Five congressmen were injured, and Lebron was imprisoned for 25 years until her release, courtesy of President Carter, in 1979. (Aug. 1)

Mike Monroney, 83, the son of the late Sen. A.S. “Mike” Monroney (D-Okla.) who made a bid for political office of his own, losing a Democratic primary for a House seat in Maryland in 1966. (Aug. 3)

Ted Stevens, 86, who from his appointment to a vacant Senate seat in Alaska in 1968 to his defeat in 2008 made him the longest serving Republican senator in U.S. history.  A founder of the modern-day GOP in Alaska, Stevens lost badly in his 1962 bid for the Senate, losing to Democratic incumbent Ernest Gruening.  Six years later, following the death of Sen. E. L. Bartlett (D), Gov. Walter Hickel appointed Stevens to fill the vacancy.  He then won seven elections, usually with more than 70 percent of the vote.  But he got into trouble in 2008, convicted of seven felonies for failing to disclose personal gifts.  Days later, he was narrowly defeated by Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich, the first Alaska Democrat to win a Senate seat since 1974.  (Stevens’ conviction was thrown out months later because of allegations of prosecutorial misconduct.)  As chairman of the Appropriations Cmte, the often cantankerous and ornery Stevens helped bring billions of federal dollars to Alaska. (Aug. 9)

Dan Rostenkowski, 82, the longtime Democratic congressman from Chicago whose rise as chairman of the powerful House Ways and Means Cmte ended in 1994, when he was indicted on corruption charges relating to the House post office scandal, forced to give up his chairmanship, and lost his bid for re-election to Republican Michael Patrick Flanagan.  He later went to prison for 15 months.  Rostenkowski, an ally of the first Mayor Richard Daley, was first elected to Congress in 1958 at the age of 30.  He played a major role in implementing tax policy and in the rewriting of the federal tax code. (Aug. 11)

Edwin Newman, 91, the longtime NBC News broadcaster who moderated presidential debates between Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter in 1976 and Ronald Reagan and Walter Mondale in 1984. (Aug. 13)

Sherman Tribbitt, 87, a Delaware Democrat who, as lt. gov., unseated GOP Gov. Russ Peterson in 1972 but then lost his re-election bid four years later to Pete du Pont (R).  His one term as governor was highlighted by a state bank crisis. (Aug. 14)

Denis Dillon, 76, the longtime district attorney of Nassau County, on New York’s Long Island.  Elected first as a Democrat in 1974, he switched to the GOP in 1989 because of his opposition to abortion.  In 1986 he ran for governor as the nominee of the Right to Life Party.  In 2005, he was narrowly defeated as D.A. by Kathleen Rice (D). (Aug. 15)

James Jackson Kilpatrick, 89, a conservative whose early journalism career at the Richmond News-Leader was built on support for segregation but who later broke from his old racial views and became famous for his “point/counterpoint” debates with fellow journalists (the liberals Nicholas von Hoffman and later Shana Alexander).  His battles with Alexander were later spoofed on “Saturday Night Live” with Dan Aykroyd and “Jane, You Ignorant Slut” Curtin. (Aug. 15)

Mario Obledo, 78, a lifelong fighter for Latino causes who, as Gov. Jerry Brown’s secretary of health and welfare, made a brief bid for the Democratic nomination for governor of California in 1982. (Aug. 18)

Harold Dow, 62, an award-winning reporter for CBS News. (Aug. 21)

Robert Ingersoll, 96, President Nixon’s ambassador to Japan. (Aug. 22)

William Saxbe, 94, a one-term Republican senator from Ohio who in 1974 became President Nixon’s fourth attorney general, at a time the administration was engulfed in the Watergate scandal.  As state attorney general in 1968, Saxbe won the Senate seat long held by Frank Lausche, who was defeated in that year’s Democratic primary by John Gilligan.  Nixon’s first two AGs, John Mitchell and Richard Kleindienst, were implicated in Watergate-related crimes, and the third, Eliot Richardson, resigned in the wake of the Saturday Night Massacre, where special Watergate prosecutor Archibald Cox was fired.  The outspoken Saxbe stayed on as AG under President Ford until February 1975, when he resigned to become Ford’s ambassador to India. (Aug. 24)

Paul Conrad, 96, the former political cartoonist and thorn in the sides of many presidents, especially Johnson and Nixon — he made Nixon’s famed “Enemies List” — and who won three Pulitzers for his editorial cartoons that ran in the Los Angeles Times. (Sept. 4)

Ron Walters, 72, a preeminent scholar on race and the politics of race who played a leading role in the creation of the Congressional Black Caucus in the early 1970s and was a deputy campaign manager for Jesse Jackson’s 1984 bid for the Democratic presidential nomination. (Sept. 10)

Natasha Pettigrew, 30, the 2010 Green Party candidate for the Senate in Maryland. (Sept. 20)

Joseph Sobran, 64, a conservative and protege of National Review publisher William F. Buckley whose increasingly anti-Israel and anti-Jewish writings forced him out of the magazine in 1993. (Sept. 30)

Joe Shumate, 69, a Republican consultant from California who was a senior adviser to 2010 GOP Senate nominee Carly Fiorina. (Oct. 1)

Karen McCarthy, 63, a Missouri Democrat who won the Kansas City-based House seat vacated in 1994 by Senate nominee Alan Wheat and served five terms before retiring in 2004. (Oct. 5)

William Harsha, 89, an Ohio Republican who served 10 terms in the House (1961-80), where he rose to become the ranking member of the Public Works Cmte and focused on his district’s infrastructure problems.  The Democrat he defeated in his final two campaigns, in 1976 and 1978, was Ted Strickland, who later went on to serve as congressman and governor. (Oct. 12)

Mildred Jefferson, 84, a surgeon and anti-abortion activist who made three unsuccessful bids for the Republican Senate nomination from Massachusetts in 1982, 1984 and 1990.  She was also the first black woman to graduate from Harvard Medical School. (Oct. 15)

Cary Edwards, 66, a former state assemblyman and later the (appointed) New Jersey state attorney general who resigned in 1989 to seek, unsuccessfully, the Republican nomination for governor; he lost the primary that year to then-Rep. Jim Courter.  Four years later he tried again, and again lost the primary, this time to Christie Whitman. (Oct. 20)

James Neal, 81, a special prosecutor during Watergate who helped seal the convictions of Attorney General John Mitchell and two top Nixon aides, John Ehrlichman and H.R. Haldeman.  He also sent Teamsters chief Jimmy Hoffa to prison in 1964 and won an acquittal for then-Louisiana Gov. Edwin Edwards in 1985. (Oct. 21)

Burton Roberts, 88, a former Bronx (N.Y.) district attorney and later the chief administrative judge of the State Supreme Court in the Bronx who became the model in Tom Wolfe’s 1987 “Bonfire of the Vanities” novel. (Oct. 24)

Owen Pickett, 80, a former seven-term Democratic congressman from Virginia (1987-2000) who made an abortive bid for the Senate in 1982, only to back away following a threat of a third-party challenge by then-state Sen. Douglas Wilder, a fellow Democrat.  A former state party chairman, Pickett won the open House seat being vacated by William Whitehurst (R) in 1986 and held the seat until his retirement in 2000.  While in office he was a strong supporter of his district’s naval and shipbuilding industries. (Oct. 27)

Theodore Sorensen, 82, the longtime strategist, counsel and speechwriter for John F. Kennedy — his work on “Profiles In Courage” earned JFK a Pulitzer Prize in 1956 and his “ask not what your country can do for you” remains as one of the most famous lines ever uttered by a president — who also unsuccessfully sought the Democratic nomination for the Senate from New York in 1970.  He was briefly President Carter’s choice for CIA director in 1976 before the nomination was withdrawn. (Oct. 31)

Charles McDowell, 84, a longtime columnist for the Richmond Times-Dispatch who was best known for his stint as a regular on PBS’ “Washington Week in Review” from 1978-96. (Nov. 5)

Robert Lipshutz, 88, the White House counsel under President Carter. (Nov. 6)

Burton Hoffman, 81, a longtime D.C. journalist who became the press secretary to Sargent Shriver, the 1972 Democratic vice presidential nominee, and who later served as an adviser to then-House Majority Whip John Brademas (D-Ind.) and Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.). (Nov. 17)

David Nolan, 66, one of the founders of the Libertarian Party (1971) who was also his party’s nominee for the Senate in Arizona this year. (Nov. 21)

Stephen Solarz, 70, a nine-term Democratic congressman from New York whose House career ended when his Brooklyn-based district was completely redrawn in the 1992 reapportionment.  He got caught up (though never charged) in the House banking scandal, and he lost the primary in the now-majority Latino district to Nydia Velazquez.  In 1974, a year after a strong but unsuccessful bid to become Brooklyn borough president, Solarz took on the ethically-challenged Rep. Bert Podell and beat him in the Democratic primary.  As a key member of the Foreign Affairs Cmte, Solarz became a worldwide traveler, and in the process was a leading supporter of Israel and critic of South Africa’s apartheid.  A strong advocate for democracy in the Philippines, it was Solarz who revealed the existence of the 3,000 pairs of shoes owned by then-First Lady Imelda Marcos. (Nov. 29)

James Lynn, 83, the housing and urban development secretary under President Nixon and budget director under President Ford in the 1970s. (Dec. 6)

Elizabeth Edwards, 61, who played a prominent role in the political career of her husband, former N.C. senator, 2004 VP nominee and two-time Democratic presidential hopeful John Edwards, and whose long battle with cancer — and the tawdry news about her unfaithful husband — won her widespread admiration and sympathy. (Dec. 7)

Samuel King, 94, a federal judge from Hawaii who was the Republican nominee for governor in 1970 but lost to incumbent Democrat John Burns. (Dec. 7)

Richard Holbrooke, 69, the diplomat and foreign policy adviser to Democratic presidents who played a major role in ending the war in Bosnia in the mid 1990s and who at his death was trying to attain peace in Pakistan and Afghanistan. (Dec. 13)

James Mann, 90, a former Democratic member of Congress from South Carolina best remembered for his role in the House Judiciary Committee in 1974, during the impeachment proceedings against President Nixon.  First elected to the House in 1968, Mann served until his retirement a decade later. (Dec. 20)

This year’s final edition of the “It’s All Politics” podcast was devoted to a political farewell for many of the people listed above.  It can be heard here:

If there are any names I forgot, please drop me a line at politicaljunkie@npr.org.

Have a wonderful, and safe, New Year’s!

Originally reported by National Public Radio. Read the original story here.

Political Dynamos: Remembering Those Who Left Us In 2010 | Chicago Press Release Services - Chicago's leading press release newswire service; professional press release services, press release distribution and newswire services.

Elizabeth Edwards’ public battle with cancer was just one of the crises she endured in 2010.

In the waning days of the 111th Congress, Democrats and Republicans worked together (yes, you heard me) to pass some far-reaching legislation, including an extension of the Bush-era tax cuts and unemployment benefits, a repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, and ratification of the New Start Treaty.

All this activity, of course, came in the wake of a huge electoral victory in the House for the GOP — the largest for any party since 1948 — which means that a tremendous number of of incumbents, mostly Democratic, will not be returning to Congress in 2011.

But this time of year — as it always is in the Political Junkie — is reserved not for partisanship or showmanship or a declaration of winners and losers, but for a pause to remember those who passed on in 2010.

It was, sadly, a pretty sizable list.  The longest serving senator in history, followed shortly thereafter by the longest serving Republican senator in history.  Powerful House committee chairmen.  A secretary of state who said he was “in control” at a particularly frightening moment.  A presidential speechwriter whose words live on to this day.  A presidential press secretary who walked away out of principle.  A founding father of the Libertarian Party.  A woman who late in her life walked across the country to make a point about money in politics.  A wife of a presidential candidate.  The mother of the vice president.  A brother and uncle of presidents.  And a legendary journalist whose presence in the halls of NPR is truly missed.

Presented here is a chronological list of those who died last year. It doesn’t claim to be complete, but it includes many of those who made our lives more interesting and the world a better place.

Smith Bagley, 74, an heir to the R.J. Reynolds tobacco fortune and longtime Democratic Party fundraiser.  He twice sought a seat in Congress from North Carolina, losing a Democratic primary to Nick Galifianakis in 1966 and the general election to Republican Wilmer (Vinegar Bend) Mizell in 1968. (Jan. 2)

Royal Hart, 83, who as a Democratic state senator from Maryland in the mid-1960s sponsored the bill that ended the state’s 306 year ban on interracial marriage.  In 1970 he was his party’s unsuccessful nominee for Congress in the 5th CD against GOP incumbent Larry Hogan. (Jan. 2)

Catherine Biden, 92, the mother of Vice President Joe Biden. (Jan. 8)

Robert Mosbacher, 82, a longtime Texas oilman and Republican fundraiser who served as secretary of commerce under the first President Bush. (Jan. 24)

Charles “Mac” Mathias, 87, the last Republican elected to the Senate from Maryland and who, during the course of his four terms in the House (1961-68) and three in the Senate (1969-86), moved considerably to the left.  By the time he retired, after 1986, he was considered the most liberal Republican in Congress.  In 1960, Mathias ousted Rep. John Foley (D) in Maryland’s 6th CD.  Four years later, he played a major role in drafting the 1964 Civil Rights Act.  In 1968, he unseated Democratic Sen. Dan Brewster, and then won subsequent landslides over Barbara Mikulski in 1974 and Ed Conroy in 1980.  Mikulski won the 1986 election to succeed him. (Jan. 25)

Frank Fasi, 89, who served as mayor of Honolulu for 22 years, first as a Democrat and later as a Republican, who also made numerous bids for senator and governor. (Feb. 3)

Cecil Heftel, 85, a Hawaii Democrat who served in the House from 1977, when he succeeded Senate candidate Spark Matsunaga, until July 1986, when he resigned to run for governor.  Heftel lost the Democratic primary that year to John Waihee, who went on to become governor. (Feb. 4)

John Murtha, 77, a Pennsylvania Democrat whose election to Congress in a special February 1974 election sent a signal that the Republican Party could pay the price for the Watergate scandal, and whose 36 years in the House made him one of the chamber’s most powerful members.  A decorated Vietnam War veteran, Murtha lost badly to Rep. John Saylor (R) in 1968, but when Saylor died, Murtha jumped into the special election to succeed him in ’74 and won it — becoming the first Vietnam combat vet elected to Congress.  His ethics were always under the microscope, starting with the Abscam scandal in 1980, when he was shown on videotape turning down money from an FBI agent disguised as a Mideast sheik — but saying that he might be willing to talk about money later.  He was also investigated for his role of receiving campaign contributions — a lot of them — from those who did business before his Appropriations subcommittee.  Long an influential, powerful, and widely feared member, Murtha drew national attention when he publicly broke with the Bush administration and spoke out against the Iraq war in November 2005.  A longtime key ally of Nancy Pelosi who helped her rise to House Speaker after the 2006 elections, he was her choice to run for majority leader, but he lost that contest to Maryland’s Steny Hoyer. (Feb. 8)

Francine Neff, 84, a veteran Republican activist who was the U.S. treasurer, appointed by President Nixon, from 1974-77. (Feb. 9)

Charlie Wilson, 76, a larger-than-life 12-term Democratic congressman from Texas (1973-76) who as a member of the House Appropriations Cmte played a major role in financing and arming Afghan insurgents against Soviet occupiers and whose escapades — regarding Afghanistan and his love for women — were made into a book and later, in 2007, a movie, “Charlie Wilson’s War,” starring Tom Hanks as the Texas congressman. (Feb. 10)

Alexander Haig, 85, the White House chief of staff during the waning days of Richard Nixon’s presidency who is best known for saying, while serving years later as President Reagan’s secretary of state, “I am in control here,” moments after Reagan was wounded in an assassination attempt in March 1981.  Haig had received widespread credit for trying to steady the government as Nixon’s grasp was disintegrating in 1974.  But the response to his role in the Reagan administration was completely different.  By the time he was forced out of the Cabinet, in June 1982, he had alienated many in the administration, including Reagan himself.  In between the two administrations he served as supreme allied commander in Europe.  In 1988, he sought the Republican nomination for president but was out of the race before the New Hampshire primary. (Feb. 20)

James Wieghart, 76, a former editor at the New York Daily News, where he covered the Nixon, Ford and Carter presidencies.  Prior to his NYC journalism career, he worked for the Milwaukee Journal and served as press secretary for Sen. William Proxmire (D). (Feb. 21)

Roy Elson, 79, a longtime aide to longtime Arizona Sen. Carl Hayden (D), who made two bids for the Senate himself, losing in 1964 to Paul Fannin and again four years later to Barry Goldwater, in the battle to succeed the retiring Hayden. (Feb. 25)

Doris “Granny D” Haddock, 100, who walked cross-country in 2000 at the age of 89 to promote a change to the campaign finance system and who mounted a quixotic campaign for the Senate as a Democrat from New Hampshire in 2004, losing by a nearly 2-to-1 margin to incumbent Republican Judd Gregg.  Her 3,200 walk began in Pasadena, Calif. and ended in D.C. 14 months later. (March 10)

Arthur Christy, 86, who as a special prosecutor under a new ethics law pursued allegations against Hamilton Jordan, President Carter’s chief of staff, that he used cocaine at a New York night club.  Jordan was eventually cleared. (March 12)

Edmund Dinis, 85, whose handling (or mishandling) of the case against Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) in the wake of the 1969 Chappaquiddick incident — in which a passenger in Kennedy’s car, Mary Jo Kopechne, drowned — cost him his job as district attorney in the next election. (March 14)

Stewart Udall, 90, who gave up his Arizona congressional seat after the 1960 election to become President Kennedy’s first secretary of the interior, and whose strong work on conservation and environmental issues continued into the Johnson administration.  His House seat was won by his brother, Mo, in a 1961 special election.  His son, Tom, is a Democratic senator from New Mexico. (March 20)

Liz Carpenter, 89, press secretary to Lady Bird Johnson during LBJ’s presidency and a founding member of the National Women’s Political Caucus. (March 20)

Midge Costanza, 77, who while vice mayor of Rochester, N.Y., became an early and influential supporter of Jimmy Carter’s bid for the presidency, and who, after joining his administration, began criticizing him in public, a tactic that led to her decision to resign under pressure.  In 1974, prior to her involvement with Carter, she was the unsuccessful Democratic nominee against Rep. Barber Conable (R). (March 23)

Stanford Parris, 80, a Virginia Republican who was elected to the first of his six terms in Congress in 1972, replacing Senate nominee Bill Scott.  Two years later, with the Watergate scandal killing the GOP nationwide, he lost to Democrat Herb Harris.  In 1980, running on Ronald Reagan’s coattails, he narrowly got his revenge against Harris, winning by just over 1,000 votes.  His re-election margins increasing, he decided to run for governor in 1985 and 1989 but lost the nomination both times.  In 1990, he lost his House seat, to Democrat Jim Moran, who still serves. (March 27)

Jerry terHorst, 87, who gave up his job as Washington bureau chief of the Detroit News to become President Ford’s press secretary in August 1974 but who resigned less than a month later in protest of Ford’s pardon of former President Richard Nixon for his role in the Watergate scandal. (March 31)

Thomas Moyer, 70, the chief justice of the Ohio Supreme Court and the longest serving sitting state supreme court chief justice in the nation. (April 2)

Clifford Hardin, 94, President Nixon’s first secretary of agriculture. (April 4)

Robert Franks, 58, a former chairman of the New Jersey Republican Party and four-term House member who gave up his seat in 2000 for a close, but losing, bid for a Senate seat won by Democrat Jon Corzine, and who also sought his party’s gubernatorial nomination in the 2001 primary. (April 9)

Benjamin Hooks, 85, who succeeded Roy Wilkins as head of the NAACP in 1977 and stayed at the helm of the civil rights organization for 15 years.  In 1972, President Nixon appointed him to the Federal Communications Commission, the first African American to serve on that panel. (April 15)

Daryl Gates, 83, the chief of police in Los Angeles for 14 years until he was forced to resign in June 1992, after the outbreak of riots following the acquittal of four white police officers for the beating of Rodney King after a high-speed car chase, a beating that was videotaped by a bystander and broadcast worldwide. (April 16)

Dorothy Height, 98, a leading figure in civil rights and women’s movements, with a career that started with anti-lynching protests in the South in the 1930s. (April 20)

Walter Murphy, 80, a political scientist and constitutional scholar at Princeton University until his retirement in 1995. (April 20)

Willard Wirtz, 98, who was secretary of labor under President Kennedy, replacing Arthur Goldberg, who was named to the Supreme Court.  He stayed in his post under President Johnson.  He was considered a possible pick for VP in 1968. (April 24)

Walter Hickel, 90, who was elected governor of Alaska in 1966 as a Republican and again, in 1990, as a candidate of the Alaskan Independence Party, and whose tenure as President Nixon’s first secretary of the interior ended with his firing in 1970 after he criticized Nixon’s Vietnam war policy.  He also sought the GOP gubernatorial nomination, unsuccessfully, in 1974, 1978 and 1986. (May 7)

Ike Andrews, 84, a North Carolina Democrat who served six terms in the House and best known for his work on behalf of the elderly.  In 1972 he narrowly won the seat vacated by Rep. Nick Galifianakis, a Democrat who was running for the Senate, and served until 1984, when he was defeated by Republican Bill Cobey. (May 10)

Donald “Buz” Lukens, 79, a once-rising star in the Republican Party whose second tenure in the House ended in disgrace.  Lukens, a strong conservative, was elected president of the national Young Republicans in 1963.  In 1966, running on a pro-Vietnam war platform, he was elected to Congress from Ohio, a post he gave up in 1970 for an unsuccessful run for governor in the GOP primary.  Earlier, in 1968, he was the first House member to endorse Ronald Reagan for president.  He then spent 15 years in the Ohio state Senate.  In 1986, when Rep. Tom Kindness (R) gave up his 8th CD seat to run for the Senate, Lukens returned to Congress.  But in May 1989 he was convicted of paying an underage girl to have sex with him.  He nevertheless insisted on running for re-election, but got clobbered in the 1990 primary by state Rep. John Boehner, who will become the Speaker of the House in 2011.  Lukens ultimately was forced to resign his seat later in the year after being accused of propositioning a House elevator operator.  In 1996, he was convicted of accepting bribes and sentenced to federal prison. (May 22)

Gary Coleman, 42, the diminutive TV actor and star of the “Diff’rent Strokes” show, who makes it to this list only because he was somehow among the 135 candidates on the California ballot in 2003 to recall Gov. Gray Davis.  He finished in 8th place, just after Hustler publisher Larry Flynt. (May 28)

Arthur Link, 96, a former two-term Democratic governor of North Dakota.  Link, a longtime member of the state legislature, won election to the House in 1970, after the GOP incumbent, Tom Kleppe, left to run for the Senate.  With the state losing one of its two House seats in 1972, Link was all but out of a job until Gov. William Guy (D) announced his retirement.  Link ran for that job and won, and was re-elected in ’76.  But he was defeated in a bid for a third term in 1980, losing to Republican Allen Olson. (June 1)

William Murphy, 65, who served as the Staten Island (N.Y.) district attorney for a record 20 years until his retirement in 2003.  A Democrat in a Republican-leaning borough, one of his victories came against Borough President (and former congressman) Guy Molinari in 1995. (June 4)

Robert Healy, 84, a political journalist with the Boston Globe who broke the story in 1962 that Ted Kennedy, then a first-time candidate for the Senate, had been expelled from Harvard for cheating.  Healy was also a familiar presence in New Hampshire during that state’s first-in-the-nation presidential primaries. (June 5)

Frank Evans, 86, a Colorado Democrat who served in the House for 14 years until his retirement in 1978.  He first came to Congress during the 1964 LBJ landslide, when he knocked off GOP Rep. J. Edgar Chenoweth. (June 8)

Thomas “Lud” Ashley, 87, a former Democratic congressman from Ohio who during his 13 terms (1955-80) fought for public housing.  In 1954, Ashley unseated Rep. Frazier Reams, the House’s only independent, and served until 1980, when he was defeated by Ed Weber (R) in the Reagan landslide. (June 15)

Prescott Bush Jr., 87, brother of former President George Bush and uncle of George W. Bush, who made a brief challenge against liberal GOP Sen. Lowell Weicker of Connecticut in 1982 until he dropped out before the primary. (June 23)

Walter Shorenstein, 95, a real estate magnate and financial benefactor to the Democratic Party who advised Presidents Lyndon Johnson and Jimmy Carter. (June 24)

Elise Boulding, 89, a peace activist going back to the 1940s who made a for Congress from Michigan in 1966 highlighting her opposition to the war in Vietnam. (June 24)

Dolph Briscoe, 87, a conservative Democrat who served as governor of Texas in the 1970s during the state’s oil and gas boom years.  A fourth-place finisher in the 1968 Democratic gov primary, Briscoe returned in 1972 — back when the term was still two years — and won the nomination in a runoff over Frances “Sissy” Farenthold, and then the general in a close election over Hank Grover (R).  He easily won a second term in 1974.  But in ’78, when the term was increased to four years, he lost the Dem primary in a surprise to state Attorney General John Hill.  Hill, in turn, lost to William Clements, who became the state’s first GOP governor since Reconstruction. (June 27)

Robert Byrd, 92, whose 51 years in the Senate made him the longest serving senator (and, when you add six years in the House, the longest serving member of Congress as well) in history.  A fierce protector of the Senate, Byrd had served in the upper chamber from 1958, winning nine times.  Prior to that, Byrd was elected to the House as a Democrat from West Virginia in 1952.  Six years later he knocked off GOP Sen. Chapman Revercomb.  Long a supporter of racial segregation — in the 1940s he was a member of the Ku Klux Klan, he filibustered the Senate for 14 hours during the 1964 debate on the Civil Rights Act, and he opposed Thurgood Marshall’s nomination to the Supreme Court in 1967 — Byrd softened his views on race as he attempted to become a national Democrat.  In 1971, he defeated Edward Kennedy to become Democratic Whip.  In 1976, he made a brief bid for his party’s presidential nomination.  The next year, following Sen. Mike Mansfield’s (D-Mont.) retirement, Byrd became majority leader.  He was a tireless promoter of his home state, and as chairman of the Appropriations Cmte he was responsible for billions of dollars sent to West Virginia; his opponents labeled him the “king of pork.”  But he was untouchable at home. (June 28)

Marc Trager, 64, who until recently had been seeking the GOP nomination for Congress in Wisconsin’s 8th CD. (June 29)

Juanita Kreps, 89, President Carter’s first secretary of commerce and the first woman to head the department. (July 5)

Emilio “Mim” Daddario, 91, a Connecticut Democrat who unseated Rep. Edwin May Jr. (R) in 1958 and served until 1970, when he ran for governor but lost the general election to Tom Meskill (R).  During his 12 years in the House, he focused on science research and development. (July 6)

Kenny Guinn, 73, a former two-term Republican governor of Nevada (1999-2006) whose pushing for the largest tax increase in state history in 2003 was widely denounced at the time but which ultimately was credited for turning the state economy around — a bit of prosperity that ended under his successor, Jim Gibbons. (July 22)

Daniel Schorr, 93, who as an award-winning reporter with CBS News was named to President Nixon’s infamous “Enemies List” for his criticism of the administration and who for the past quarter-century was a news analyst with NPR. (July 23)

Lolita Lebron, 90, the Puerto Rican nationalist/terrorist (take your pick) who was among those who stormed the House of Representatives and fired their guns on March 1, 1954.  Five congressmen were injured, and Lebron was imprisoned for 25 years until her release, courtesy of President Carter, in 1979. (Aug. 1)

Mike Monroney, 83, the son of the late Sen. A.S. “Mike” Monroney (D-Okla.) who made a bid for political office of his own, losing a Democratic primary for a House seat in Maryland in 1966. (Aug. 3)

Ted Stevens, 86, who from his appointment to a vacant Senate seat in Alaska in 1968 to his defeat in 2008 made him the longest serving Republican senator in U.S. history.  A founder of the modern-day GOP in Alaska, Stevens lost badly in his 1962 bid for the Senate, losing to Democratic incumbent Ernest Gruening.  Six years later, following the death of Sen. E. L. Bartlett (D), Gov. Walter Hickel appointed Stevens to fill the vacancy.  He then won seven elections, usually with more than 70 percent of the vote.  But he got into trouble in 2008, convicted of seven felonies for failing to disclose personal gifts.  Days later, he was narrowly defeated by Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich, the first Alaska Democrat to win a Senate seat since 1974.  (Stevens’ conviction was thrown out months later because of allegations of prosecutorial misconduct.)  As chairman of the Appropriations Cmte, the often cantankerous and ornery Stevens helped bring billions of federal dollars to Alaska. (Aug. 9)

Dan Rostenkowski, 82, the longtime Democratic congressman from Chicago whose rise as chairman of the powerful House Ways and Means Cmte ended in 1994, when he was indicted on corruption charges relating to the House post office scandal, forced to give up his chairmanship, and lost his bid for re-election to Republican Michael Patrick Flanagan.  He later went to prison for 15 months.  Rostenkowski, an ally of the first Mayor Richard Daley, was first elected to Congress in 1958 at the age of 30.  He played a major role in implementing tax policy and in the rewriting of the federal tax code. (Aug. 11)

Edwin Newman, 91, the longtime NBC News broadcaster who moderated presidential debates between Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter in 1976 and Ronald Reagan and Walter Mondale in 1984. (Aug. 13)

Sherman Tribbitt, 87, a Delaware Democrat who, as lt. gov., unseated GOP Gov. Russ Peterson in 1972 but then lost his re-election bid four years later to Pete du Pont (R).  His one term as governor was highlighted by a state bank crisis. (Aug. 14)

Denis Dillon, 76, the longtime district attorney of Nassau County, on New York’s Long Island.  Elected first as a Democrat in 1974, he switched to the GOP in 1989 because of his opposition to abortion.  In 1986 he ran for governor as the nominee of the Right to Life Party.  In 2005, he was narrowly defeated as D.A. by Kathleen Rice (D). (Aug. 15)

James Jackson Kilpatrick, 89, a conservative whose early journalism career at the Richmond News-Leader was built on support for segregation but who later broke from his old racial views and became famous for his “point/counterpoint” debates with fellow journalists (the liberals Nicholas von Hoffman and later Shana Alexander).  His battles with Alexander were later spoofed on “Saturday Night Live” with Dan Aykroyd and “Jane, You Ignorant Slut” Curtin. (Aug. 15)

Mario Obledo, 78, a lifelong fighter for Latino causes who, as Gov. Jerry Brown’s secretary of health and welfare, made a brief bid for the Democratic nomination for governor of California in 1982. (Aug. 18)

Harold Dow, 62, an award-winning reporter for CBS News. (Aug. 21)

Robert Ingersoll, 96, President Nixon’s ambassador to Japan. (Aug. 22)

William Saxbe, 94, a one-term Republican senator from Ohio who in 1974 became President Nixon’s fourth attorney general, at a time the administration was engulfed in the Watergate scandal.  As state attorney general in 1968, Saxbe won the Senate seat long held by Frank Lausche, who was defeated in that year’s Democratic primary by John Gilligan.  Nixon’s first two AGs, John Mitchell and Richard Kleindienst, were implicated in Watergate-related crimes, and the third, Eliot Richardson, resigned in the wake of the Saturday Night Massacre, where special Watergate prosecutor Archibald Cox was fired.  The outspoken Saxbe stayed on as AG under President Ford until February 1975, when he resigned to become Ford’s ambassador to India. (Aug. 24)

Paul Conrad, 96, the former political cartoonist and thorn in the sides of many presidents, especially Johnson and Nixon — he made Nixon’s famed “Enemies List” — and who won three Pulitzers for his editorial cartoons that ran in the Los Angeles Times. (Sept. 4)

Ron Walters, 72, a preeminent scholar on race and the politics of race who played a leading role in the creation of the Congressional Black Caucus in the early 1970s and was a deputy campaign manager for Jesse Jackson’s 1984 bid for the Democratic presidential nomination. (Sept. 10)

Natasha Pettigrew, 30, the 2010 Green Party candidate for the Senate in Maryland. (Sept. 20)

Joseph Sobran, 64, a conservative and protege of National Review publisher William F. Buckley whose increasingly anti-Israel and anti-Jewish writings forced him out of the magazine in 1993. (Sept. 30)

Joe Shumate, 69, a Republican consultant from California who was a senior adviser to 2010 GOP Senate nominee Carly Fiorina. (Oct. 1)

Karen McCarthy, 63, a Missouri Democrat who won the Kansas City-based House seat vacated in 1994 by Senate nominee Alan Wheat and served five terms before retiring in 2004. (Oct. 5)

William Harsha, 89, an Ohio Republican who served 10 terms in the House (1961-80), where he rose to become the ranking member of the Public Works Cmte and focused on his district’s infrastructure problems.  The Democrat he defeated in his final two campaigns, in 1976 and 1978, was Ted Strickland, who later went on to serve as congressman and governor. (Oct. 12)

Mildred Jefferson, 84, a surgeon and anti-abortion activist who made three unsuccessful bids for the Republican Senate nomination in 1982, 1984 and 1990.  She was also the first black woman to graduate from Harvard Medical School. (Oct. 15)

Cary Edwards, 66, a former state assemblyman and later the (appointed) New Jersey state attorney general who resigned in 1989 to seek, unsuccessfully, the Republican nomination for governor; he lost the primary that year to then-Rep. Jim Courter.  Four years later he tried again, and again lost the primary, this time to Christie Whitman. (Oct. 20)

James Neal, 81, a special prosecutor during Watergate who helped seal the convictions of Attorney General John Mitchell and two top Nixon aides, John Ehrlichman and H.R. Haldeman.  He also sent Teamsters chief Jimmy Hoffa to prison in 1964 and won an acquittal for then-Louisiana Gov. Edwin Edwards in 1985. (Oct. 21)

Burton Roberts, 88, a former Bronx (N.Y.) district attorney and later the chief administrative judge of the State Supreme Court in the Bronx who became the model in Tom Wolfe’s 1987 “Bonfire of the Vanities” novel. (Oct. 24)

Owen Pickett, 80, a former seven-term Democratic congressman from Virginia (1987-2000) who made an abortive bid for the Senate in 1982, only to back away following a threat of a third-party challenge by then-state Sen. Douglas Wilder, a fellow Democrat.  A former state party chairman, Pickett won the open House seat being vacated by William Whitehurst (R) in 1986 and held the seat until his retirement in 2000.  While in office he was a strong supporter of his district’s naval and shipbuilding industries. (Oct. 27)

Theodore Sorensen, 82, the longtime strategist, counsel and speechwriter for John F. Kennedy — his work on “Profiles In Courage” earned JFK a Pulitzer Prize in 1956 and his “ask not what your country can do for you” remains as one of the most famous lines ever uttered by a president — who also unsuccessfully sought the Democratic nomination for the Senate from New York in 1970.  He was briefly President Carter’s choice for CIA director in 1976 before the nomination was withdrawn. (Oct. 31)

Charles McDowell, 84, a longtime columnist for the Richmond Times-Dispatch who was best known for his stint as a regular on PBS’ “Washington Week in Review” from 1978-96. (Nov. 5)

Robert Lipshutz, 88, the White House counsel under President Carter. (Nov. 6)

Burton Hoffman, 81, a longtime D.C. journalist who became the press secretary to Sargent Shriver, the 1972 Democratic vice presidential nominee, and who later served as an adviser to then-House Majority Whip John Brademas (D-Ind.) and Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.). (Nov. 17)

David Nolan, 66, one of the founders of the Libertarian Party (1971) who was also his party’s nominee for the Senate in Arizona this year. (Nov. 21)

Stephen Solarz, 70, a nine-term Democratic congressman from New York whose House career ended when his Brooklyn-based district was completely redrawn in the 1992 reapportionment.  He got caught up (though never charged) in the House banking scandal, and he lost the primary in the now-majority Latino district to Nydia Velazquez.  In 1974, a year after a strong but unsuccessful bid to become Brooklyn borough president, Solarz took on the ethically-challenged Rep. Bert Podell and beat him in the Democratic primary.  As a key member of the Foreign Affairs Cmte, Solarz became a worldwide traveler, and in the process was a leading supporter of Israel and critic of South Africa’s apartheid.  A strong advocate for democracy in the Philippines, it was Solarz who revealed the existence of the 3,000 pairs of shoes owned by then-First Lady Imelda Marcos. (Nov. 29)

James Lynn, 83, the housing and urban development secretary under President Nixon and budget director under President Ford in the 1970s. (Dec. 6)

Elizabeth Edwards, 61, who played a prominent role in the political career of her husband, former N.C. senator, 2004 VP nominee and two-time Democratic presidential hopeful John Edwards, and whose long battle with cancer — and the tawdry news about her unfaithful husband — won her widespread admiration and sympathy. (Dec. 7)

Samuel King, 94, a federal judge from Hawaii who was the Republican nominee for governor in 1970 but lost to incumbent Democrat John Burns. (Dec. 7)

Richard Holbrooke, 69, the diplomat and foreign policy adviser to Democratic presidents who played a major role in ending the war in Bosnia in the mid 1990s and who at his death was trying to attain peace in Pakistan and Afghanistan. (Dec. 13)

James Mann, 90, a former Democratic member of Congress from South Carolina best remembered for his role in the House Judiciary Committee in 1974, during the impeachment proceedings against President Nixon.  First elected to the House in 1968, Mann served until his retirement a decade later. (Dec. 20)

This year’s final edition of the “It’s All Politics” podcast was devoted to a political farewell for many of the people listed above.  It can be heard here.

If there are any names I forgot, please drop me a line at politicaljunkie@npr.org.

Have a wonderful, and safe, New Year’s!

Originally reported by National Public Radio. Read the original story here.

Remembering Those Who Left Us In 2010 | Chicago Press Release Services - Chicago's leading press release newswire service; professional press release services, press release distribution and newswire services.

CHICAGO – The Illinois Department of Employment Security will be closed Friday, Dec. 24 and Friday, Dec. 31.

Although offices will be closed, all services will be available at www.ides.state.il.us People will be able to file for first-time unemployment benefits, certify for benefits which is necessary to receive payment, and switch that method of payment to direct deposit. Offices re-open on the respective Mondays. Offices are open 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m.

The Department strongly encourages direct deposit. Direct deposit is a simple, smart and secure way to receive benefits. Debit cards also are available. There are no fees associated with a debit card when used inside more than 5,000 Illinois banks that accept Visa, or point-of-service counters across the country that accept Visa, such as grocery stores, drug stores and convenience stores. Customers can request cash back after qualifying purchases. Fees likely will be assessed when using out-of-network ATM machines.

The November unemployment rate was 9.8 percent after dropping -0.2 points from October. The seasonally adjusted figure is the most recent available and reflects eight consecutive monthly declines. Nationally, the November unemployment rate increased +0.2 to 9.8 percent. November is the first month since January 2007 that the Illinois unemployment rate fell below the national rate. The unemployment rate identifies those who are out of work and looking for work regardless if they are collecting benefits. A person not collecting unemployment benefits, or who has exhausted benefits, still will be reflected in the unemployment rate if they continue to look for work.

Illinois has added +54,700 jobs so far this year.

The IDES supports economic stability by administering unemployment benefits, collecting business contributions to fund those benefits, connecting employers with qualified job seekers, and providing economic information to assist career planning and economic development. It does so through nearly 60 offices across the state, including the Illinois workNet Centers.

Career planning, training and job placement assistance are available at Illinois workNet centers. The services encourage individuals to assess their current skills and identify the training or education needed to augment those skills so they can  re-enter the workforce

The IDES also administers tax credits and bonding programs that reward employers who hire specific workers, such as military veterans and the formerly incarcerated. The IDES hosts workshops to help employers better understand how unemployment insurance claims are evaluated, what is required to successfully challenge a claim, and other services to help businesses evaluate current and future growth potential.

Employment Security Offices Closed Christmas Eve, New Year’s Eve – Customers Should Certify; Services Available on Internet | Chicago Press Release Services - Chicago's leading press release newswire service; professional press release services, press release distribution and newswire services.

CHICAGO – The Illinois unemployment rate fell again in November even as more people entered the labor force to look for work.

The seasonally adjusted rate fell for the eighth consecutive month, dropping -0.2 to 9.6 percent, according to preliminary data released today by the Illinois Department of Employment Security. The November national unemployment rate increased +0.2 to 9.8 percent. This is the first month since January 2007 that the Illinois unemployment rate has fallen below the U.S. rate.

“Falling unemployment rates even as more people look for work is another encouraging sign that the Illinois economy is moving forward,” IDES Director Maureen O’Donnell said.

Preliminary industry data indicates a slight contraction of -2,600 total non-farm jobs in November. Slight up-and-down movement in preliminary data is not uncommon. The preliminary jobs data for October was revised upward from +8,000 to +11,600. In November, Illinois had +32,900 more jobs than November 2009, the third consecutive monthly year-over-year increase. So far this year, Illinois has added +54,700 jobs, a growth rate of 1.0 percent. The national growth rate is 0.7 percent. Job sectors leading Illinois’ growth trend are Professional and Business Services (+17,600); Educational and Health Services (+15,700); Trade, Transportation and Utilities (+13,100); and Manufacturing (+9,600). The labor force in November was up +25,700 (+0.4 percent) over October to reach 6,666,800. The labor force has increased for three consecutive months.

The number of unemployed individuals was down for the eighth consecutive month, dropping -7,700 ( 1.2 percent) to 641,000, the lowest level since April 2009. Total unemployed has declined -123,800 ( 16.2 percent) since March 2010 when the state unemployment rate peaked at 11.5 percent. The unemployment rate identifies those who are out of work and seeking employment. A person who exhausts unemployment insurance benefits, or is ineligible, still will be reflected in the unemployment rate if they actively seek work.

The IDES supports economic stability by administering unemployment benefits, collecting business contributions to fund those benefits, connecting employers with qualified job seekers, and providing economic information to assist career planning and economic development. It does so through nearly 60 offices, including Illinois workNet centers.

Seasonally Adjusted Unemployment Rates

November Unemployment Falls to 9.6 Percent | Chicago Press Release Services - Chicago's leading press release newswire service; professional press release services, press release distribution and newswire services.