Jobs, jobs, jobs:

►  In The Hill -- AFL-CIO's Trumka to press deficit panel to continue stimulus spending -- The labor leader will tell the bipartisan panel that more spending to create jobs is needed. "Without a significant reduction in the trade deficit, only economic stimulus in the form of deficit spending can make up for the remaining shortfall of aggregate demand until private sector demand regains its footing," Trumka will say, according to excerpts of prepared remarks. "But instead, we are heading in the opposite direction. We are prematurely withdrawing economic stimulus, allowing the Recovery Act to phase out and standing by passively as state and local governments plan to lay off 900,000 workers." 

►  In today's Wash. Post -- Recession cut into employment of half of working adults, study says -- The recession has directly hit more than half of the nation's working adults, pushing them into unemployment, pay cuts, reduced hours at work or part-time jobs, the Pew Research Center finds. The economic shock has jolted many Americans into a new, more austere reality, which is likely to have lasting consequences for an economy fueled mostly by consumer spending.

►  In today's NY Times -- Governments moving to cut spending, in echo of 1930s -- The world’s rich countries are now conducting a dangerous experiment. They are repeating an economic policy out of the 1930s -- starting to cut spending and raise taxes before a recovery is assured -- and hoping today’s situation is different enough to assure a different outcome.

►  In today's LA Times -- With stimulus funds running out, economic worries grow -- Much of the $787 billion stimulus has been spent, creating jobs and extending jobless benefits. But with lawmakers reluctant to approve more, concerns are rising about staving off another recession.

►  At NYTimes.com -- Jobless aid back on Senate agenda -- Senate Democrats on Tuesday unveiled yet another effort to extend unemployment benefits as part of a pared package that includes an extension of the deadline for homeowners to claim a tax credit. 

►  In today's NY Times -- Who will fight for the unemployed? (editorial) -- Without doubt, the two biggest threats to the economy are unemployment and the dire financial condition of the states, yet lawmakers have failed to deal intelligently with either one. The situation cries out for policies to support economic growth -- specifically jobless benefits and fiscal aid to states. But instead of delivering, Congressional Republicans and many Democrats have been asserting that the nation must act instead to cut the deficit. The debate has little to do with economic reality and everything to do with political posturing. What’s needed, and what’s lacking, is leadership, both in Congress and from the White House, to set the terms of the debate -- jobs before deficit reduction -- and to fight for those terms, with failure not an option.

Banks, banks, banks:

►  In today's NY Times -- Bank fee is eliminated in financial overhaul bill -- Senate Republicans who had supported an earlier version of the sweeping financial regulatory bill threatened to block final approval unless Democrats removed a proposed tax on big banks and hedge funds. So  conference negotiators eliminated the proposed tax and adopted a new plan. 

(YOU get to pay for it. That's right, it'll come out of previously approved TARP funds. So, while Congress prescribes austerity and layoffs for the states, it managed to find $20 billion laying around so banks can avoid paying any of the cost of cleaning up the mess THEY created.)

►  In today's NY Times -- In U.S. bailout of AIG, forgiveness for big banks -- When the government began rescuing it from collapse in the fall of 2008 with what has become a $182 billion lifeline, A.I.G. was required to forfeit its right to sue several banks -- including Goldman Sachs and Merrill Lynch -- for misrepresenting mortgage securities that it insured in the pre-crisis years.

Local news:

►  In today's Olympian -- Two agencies tell workers to stay home on Tuesday -- The Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction and the state Department of Retirement Systems are getting a jump on state worker furloughs, shutting down their offices on Tuesday. The furloughs -- or temporary layoffs -- are one controversial budgeting tool that state lawmakers used this year to shave an estimated $35 million from state general-fund payroll costs and $38 million from other funds. The Washington Federation of State Employees has sued to block the furloughs, and a court hearing is scheduled Friday in Olympia to consider whether an injunction is warranted. But in the meantime, agencies are moving ahead.