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I don't generally worry too much about deficits or about U.S. debt held by foreigners. But in writing a post earlier today about interest on the debt, it occurred to me to investigate just how much money the United States pays out to China and Japan (our biggest economic competitors) every year in interest.
A scheme under consideration in Virginia to rig the Electoral College in Republicans’ favor could well violate a key provision of the Voting Rights Act, experts on the law say. But that very provision is itself under challenge by the GOP, and could be struck down by the Supreme Court later this year.
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Brenda Wright, a top lawyer at Demos and an expert on voting rights, agreed. “I think there would be strong arguments” that the change harmed minority voters, she said.
Using political power to keep employees from organizing unions can be highly effective. That’s one forceful lesson to draw from the new figures on union membership.
Recently, Demos’ Mijin Cha discussed New York Governor Andrew Cuomo’s $1 billion Green Bank proposal. The plan would create a fund, combing public and private capital, directed at spurring investment in clean technology and promoting private enterprise in the sector.
One obvious way to reduce the deficit is to squeeze Medicare recipients by forcing them to pick up more of the tab for their healthcare costs. And any number of proposals floating around in Washington would do exactly that.
The problem, though, is that older Americans covered by Medicare are already spending a lot on healthcare -- and there's growing evidence that these costs are driving them into debt or poverty.
The General Accounting Office has issued a report on the progress of the regulatory agencies as they implement the Dodd-Frank Act financial reforms. It is a depressing read. Fewer than half of the 236 rules required by the act have been adopted. There are not even proposed rules that the public can read and comment on for almost a quarter of the required rulemakings. Congress set deadlines for implementation of about two-thirds of the required rules. The regulators missed 89% of those deadlines.
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — One of the biggest surprises in President Barack Obama’s second inaugural address this week was the prominence given to climate change, marking it as a signature issue for his second term.
The president spoke of the need to preserve the planet for future generations. But he also couched climate change in more immediate economic terms, with leadership on the issue as a necessary component for the U.S. to maintain its economic preeminence.
Standing on the mall Monday among the great and diverse crowd who came to celebrate the second inauguration of the President, I reacted strongly to two aspects of the day. The first was to the feeling produced by the crowd, to the moment itself. The second was something else, something perfectly clear: a new American “demos” has arrived.