PHOENIX — The five states hardest hit by the foreclosure crisis have been given only weeks to plan how to spend $1.5 billion in federal funding announced by the Obama administration last month.

Guidelines issued under the U.S. Treasury Depar…

Sir Bob Geldof told Meles Zenawi to “Grow up!” when he found out that security forces directly under the control and command of Zenawi had…

CHICAGO — While laying out his budget plan, Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn sounded less like the leader of a state facing a $13 billion deficit than a guy looking to find a credit card with a better interest rate.

When the state fails to pay p…

Is Tinsley Mortimer becoming more relevant than Paris Hilton? It seems so, as Paris is rarely ever out anymore and prefers to stay in with Doug Reinhardt. So, helllllo Tinsley. Tinsley and Paris have many things in common…namely money.

More pictures of Tinsley after the break…
Tinsley is getting her own reality show that starts this week. [...]

Robert Gibbs wasted no time firing back at John Roberts who on Tuesday told a law school audience in Alabama that President Obama’s criticism of the court’s ruling in Citizens United was “troubling.”

Sam Stein reports:

In a statement sent to reporters, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said that the only troubling thing was the 5-4 ruling by the court, which said that corporations could spend unlimited amounts of money advocating on behalf of candidates in elections. Roberts leads the court.

“What is troubling is that this decision opened the floodgates for corporations and special interests to pour money into elections – drowning out the voices of average Americans,” Gibbs said. “The President has long been committed to reducing the undue influence of special interests and their lobbyists over government. That is why he spoke out to condemn the decision and is working with Congress on a legislative response.”

Let’s hope Roberts troubles himself with a response to keep this story alive.

Kate Gosselin about to debut her new hairdo on Dancing with The Stars. Kate spent all that money – a ton of money, actually, on getting the long hair extensions put in. Now she doesn’t like them and wants them out.
 
More pictures of Kate’s hair after the style….
I wonder if the flying hair in Kate’s [...]

A year ago, as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, nearly $5 billion was set aside in state and tribal grants to weatherize 590,000 of the homes of low-income residents over a period of three years. As a means of saving energy and money, adding insulation, caulking, weatherstripping and other low-tech measures to a house is without rival for cost-effectiveness. The weatherization money – 10 times the annual budget of the federal Weatherization Assistance Program – had the advantage of not only being green, but also being directed at the most obviously shovel-ready projects, capable of generating jobs faster than just about any other part of the stimulus package. But it didn’t.

In fact, thanks to foot-dragging at the state level, only 8% of that money had been spent by the middle of February, according to a special report from the Department of Energy’s Inspector General. The DOE took the inspector general’s advice last March to initiate steps ensuring rapid progress, but the grantees didn’t get it together. Thus, by February 16 this year, Connecticut had weatherized 23 of the 7500 homes it was supposed to, Illinois had finished 331 of the 26,933 on its list, New York had done 280 of its 45,400, and Texas had done zero of its 33,908. Only Delaware, having weatherized a third of the 1526 homes it was supposed to met its first-year goal in the program that ends in 2012.

Originally, it was assumed that ramped-up weatherization would move swiftly because program infrastructure had already existed for years, weatherization techniques were well known, the needed skills were widely available, performance metrics were easy to establish and comprehend, and the conservation benefits were clear to everyone.

The one hang-up from the federal end of things was the Recovery Act’s requirement that weatherizing be achieved under Davis-Bacon guidelines, that is, that laborers performing the work be paid prevailing wage rates. Because getting wage determinations for each geographical area was the Department of Labor’s job, and because this could take time, Energy and Labor both told the states to avoid delays and move ahead with weatherizing and adjust wages retroactively if workers were paid less than appropriate rates. Many states chose to wait, however, and the guidelines didn’t appear until October.

States and other grant recipients were supposed to present their required plans by May 2009. However, the inspector general stated:

Ironically, given the anticipated stimulus effect of the program, economic problems in many states adversely impacted their ability to ensure that weatherization activities were performed. State hiring freezes, problems with resolving significant local budget shortfalls, and state-wide planned furloughs delayed various aspects of the program and contributed to problems with meeting spending and home weatherization targets. …

Officials in California, one of the largest recipients of weatherization funds, reported that furloughs created significant staffing challenges in implementing the Weatherization Program. Similarly, officials in Illinois indicated that their plan to hire staff necessary to implement their weatherization plans had been delayed because of a hiring freeze in the State.

The plans of mice and men, and all that.

The good news? Now that state plans are completed – although the tribes remain behind – an accelerated process may make it possible to spend the remaining weatherization money within the original time-frame despite the very slow start. That means thousands of desperately needed jobs could open up soon among the most heavily unemployed segments of the economy. DOE management says that it has put into place measures that will curtail wasteful spending that might otherwise occur under a speeded-up process.

Meanwhile, states who are still having trouble getting their act into gear might take a gander at how Delaware did it.

= = =

^{h/t to TommyWonk.}

Advancing global equality for women starts with reproductive health care. Each year, 20 million pregnancies end in unsafe abortions, killing 70,000 women and injuring hundreds of thousands more. This is failure.

Many of us describe ourselves as our jobs. We don’t say “I work as a baker,” but instead “I am a baker.” Or “I…

A telethon running on Chile TV and available in over 20 countries is working to raise money for relief and reconstruction efforts in the earthquake-damaged South American nation.

“Chile Helps Chile” was initiated by Don Francisco, host of the…

Economists: Another financial crisis on the way

Nonpartisan group led by Nobel winner calls for stronger financial reforms
The report warns that the country is now immersed in a “doomsday cycle” wherein banks use borrowed money to take massive risks in an attempt to pay big dividends to shareholders and big bonuses to management – and when [...]

By CarlFinally, some rational thought from the Federal Reserve:”I think the disagreeable but sound thing to do regarding institutions that are TBTF [ed. note. Too Big To Fail] is to dismantle them over time into institutions that can be prudently manag…

Ed. note: Have a question for next week? Send it in to advice@abovethelaw.com.

Dear ATL,

Like many 2009 grads, I’m jobless, but not workless. I started an unpaid internship for a local government in January. They’ve been giving me a full caseload (as much as they give other employed attorneys), but no indication that they’re ready to hire me. At what point should I take a stand? And what should I say?

Taxation without Representation

Dear Taxation Without Representation,

Nothing is more infuriating than when people expect you to do the job for which you were hired. When you accepted the unpaid internship two months ago, you sent SEVERAL telepathic messages indicating that you would accept the job on the condition that it would transform into a paid position in eight weeks or less. Even though you agreed to work for free in exchange for valuable resume-building experience, there’s no reason why you shouldn’t be entitled to a salary, 20 vacation days and a lump sum gross-up for accrued hours to date.Your employer’s failure to acquiesce to these reasonable demands is outrageous and potentially illegal.

If you bring the payment issue up with your job head on, they’ll probably use underhanded tactics like citing to your “internship agreement” or your “eight weeks on the job.” Seasoned attorneys will recognize these as red herrings, but lawyers with less experience like you may fall prey to such specious arguments. Accordingly, your best bet is to drop subtle hints that you’d like to get paid. That may mean changing your name to a symbol and writing the word “slave” on your cheek or spending lunch hour singing chain gang work songs and pretending to dig a ditch by the vending machines. If you still fail to get the message across, you can quit and become a hero to all interns who resent the very nature of their engagements. Or, you can spend the rest of your internship being an intern.

Your friend,

Marin

Sure, listen to Marin. Play it safe, accept your limitations, remain beaten and cowardly. Hell, while your at it why not just buy ladies scented body wash and start watching Leno. I mean, if you listen to Marin, it won’t be long before life officially passes you by. Just make it obvious so people with important things to do don’t waste any of their precious time on you.

Look man, fortune favors the bold. Nobody is going to give you anything in this life, you have to stand up and take it. Reach down towards your crotch and see if there is anything dangling there. Are you solid? If so, I think it’s time you started to stake your own claim to this world. There’s a Guinness commercial about this.

Of course you should ask for the money. What’s the worse that can happen? They say “no”? Who cares? Only losers and Democrats are afraid of the word “no.” Winners understand that “no” is just a starting point; it’s the beginning of a negotiation, not the end.

Nobody wants to pay for anything these days. It makes perfect sense to me that government expects you to work for free. Obviously, you had to agree to those terms in order to get in the door. No matter how little you think you can live on, there’s always some competitor willing to do your job for just a little bit less. But now that you have your foot all up in the door, you should absolutely try to get some money out of it.

You don’t think you are worthless, do you? Of course not. I’d walk in there with nothing but my d*** in my hand and tell them to put the money on the table.

– The Confidence Man

Do you have a question for next week’s Pls Hndle Thx? Send it to advice@abovethelaw.com.

Earlier: Prior installments of pls hndle thx

Business – Employment – Job Search – United States – Opportunities

Sam Stein’s appearance on Tuesday’s edition of The Ed Show touched on Senators in both major parties, covering both GOP grandstanding and Democratic discord. Asked…