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Suppose we think income redistribution is a good idea -- given near-record corporate profits at a time when wages for most workers are stagnant. There are two main ways to achieve this goal: We could make business pick up the tab directly by raising the minimum wage, making it easier for workers to
Blog
David Callahan
Assuming some short-term deal emerges in Washington to avert a default, pending later budget talks, we all know what comes next: Another dead-end debate over taxes. Why? Because if there's one issue that conservatives in Congress are even more implacable about than Obamacare it's taxes -- as in, no
Blog
David Callahan
Don't use that post-surgery fog as an excuse to ignore medical bills, even if you're still contesting them with your doctor or health insurer. Otherwise, your credit score will need to heal, too. Medical debt is the most common type of collection account, representing nearly half of all reported
In the media
Janna Herron
If you think that only banks and other traditional lenders get to gouge consumers with high interest rate loans, you're obviously behind on the evolution of American finance. These days, just about any service provider can offer loans with what used to be criminally high interest rates. And that
Blog
David Callahan

Millions are working hard to move forward, or just to make ends meet, and getting nowhere. This policy agenda can change that reality.

Research
Miles Rapoport
Jennifer Wheary
The debate over America’s federal budget is getting stale — and getting us nowhere, as the latest government shutdown depressingly reminds us. Political obsession over budget deficits has now morphed into legislative extortion.
In the media
Sam Pizzigati
The CATO Institute styles itself as the nation's leading defender of personal liberty, but don't count on these libertarians to watch your back in the face of any threats you may face from powerful private actors. No, CATO is only worried about threats posed by public entities.
Blog
David Callahan
Those Bush tax cuts are a gift that just keeps on giving. They are a big reason the national debt is so high, requiring huge interest payments, and a big reason that the Treasury faces such large shortfalls every month between what comes in the door and what goes out. Yet, somehow, conservatives
Blog
David Callahan
Growth doesn't work. It doesn't deliver the claimed social and economic benefits.
Blog
James Gustave Speth
One of the most alarming aspects of a possible default is also one that gets the least attention: A default would raise the cost of federal borrowing, perhaps for years to come, and send the deficit soaring. If Treasury securities become, well, less secure, the United States will have to pay
Blog
David Callahan