Professional football has a big, big problem on its hands, and I'm not talking about the lockout that is jeopardizing the 2011 season.
Dave Duerson was once a world-class athlete, a perfect physical specimen whose pro football career included Super Bowl championships with the Chicago Bears and New York Giants. Friends and former teammates would tell you that he was also a bright guy — a graduate of Notre Dame with a degree in economics and, at least for awhile, a successful businessman.
Creative ideas regarding energy, education, jobs and so forth have trouble even getting a hearing.
The United States is not racked with the turmoil that is shaking the Arab world, or the tragic devastation that has hit Japan. We are not in a state of emergency. We’re in a moment when it is possible to look thoughtfully at the American landscape and take rational steps to ensure a better, more sustainable future.
Rob Brunhild trusted his broker when he was sold principal-protected notes underwritten by Lehman Brothers, noting that the broker implied that the notes were like Treasuries. His expectations for a solid return were dashed when Lehman went under, wiping out his investment. He said his family lost $275,000 on the notes.
“I had to tell my mother,” Brunhild said. “Mom lived off of this money.”
To focus an investigative spotlight on an entire religious or ethnic community is a violation of everything America is supposed to stand for.
It has often been the case in America that specific religions, races and ethnic groups have been singled out for discrimination, demonization, incarceration and worse. But there have always been people willing to stand up boldly and courageously against such injustice. Their efforts are needed again now.
In November, after the elections, it wasn't so clear how the tenor of our public debate would be shifted. Four months later, at least for the short term, the answer is staring us in the face. An agenda is being presented, in the budget amendments in the House of Representatives, in the conservative echo chambers and media outlets, in Madison, Wisconsin and in states around the country. The contours of this agenda are very clear, and they threaten to steal our country's soul from the inside out.
It's time to put a stop to the unfair and arbitrary use of credit reports to make hiring and firing decisions.
Imagine you’re one of the 6.8 million Americans who have been unemployed for more than six months. (Imagine, that is, if you don’t already have the misfortune of being one of them). You receive a job offer that you quickly accept. But it comes with an increasingly common catch: your potential employer wants to check your credit first.
A left-leaning policy group concerned about economic fairness has released a report card on various budget proposals – and, perhaps not surprisingly, the House GOP fiscal 2012 plan doesn’t fare so well.
If Cuomo's SAGE Commission decides against recommending the elimination of defunct authorities, a bill introduced in the state Legislature would eliminate 118 of them. Sen. Andrea Stewart-Cousins, D-Yonkers, and Assemblyman George Latimer, D-Rye, are pushing that legislation.
Report: A "Realistic Solution" To The "Long-Term Budget Outlook" Includes "Rebalancing The Tax Code And Increasing Tax Revenue From Those Most Able To Pay." In a November 2010 report titled, Investing in America's Economy: A Budget Blueprint for Economic Recovery and Fiscal Responsibility, Demos, Economic Policy Institute, and The Century Foundation laid out a "blueprint" for a "strong economic recovery" and "deficit reduction." From the report:
Let's check out some numbers. There are, right this very moment, more than a billion computers worldwide. Two hundred million televisions were sold is 2009 alone. Eight million dashtop GPS units were purchased in 2008. One hundred and ten million digital cameras were sold in 2009. Apple blew out 20 million iPods in just the first quarter of that same year.
But a national debt of more than $14 trillion makes us vulnerable because our economy is the wellspring of our military might, as well as the happiness and self-confidence of a fully employed people.
Republicans cite the measures as protection against voter fraud, while Democrats and voting rights groups say the bills would disproportionately keep away young people and minorities, and say they are aimed at blocking ballot access for core Democratic voters.
In 2008, for example, Barack Obama relied on college students to bolster his base during the primaries. Under several proposals, an out-of-state student would no longer be able to use a school photo ID as proof of identity, but would have to make an effort to get state identification.
One report shows that nearly 12,000 voters were disqualified statewide from October 2008 to November 2010. Another shows that nearly 6,200 were disqualified from 2006 to 2010. The Election Division wasn't able to explain the discrepancy.
The sheer number of potential voters swept up by the law is another concern, said Brenda Wright, director of the Democracy Program at Demos, a nonpartisan organization that focuses on public policy research and advocacy.
Senate Republicans are suing the Department of Corrections as well as LAT-FOR, the task force on redistricting & reapportionment over a new law sponsored last year by Eric Schneiderman while he was still in the State Senate — the law changes where prisoners are counted. Today we will hear both sides of the argument beginning with Brenda Wright of Demos, a non partisan public policy research and advocacy organization… And then Senator James Seward, one of the people filing the law suit.
A study released by Demos, a research and advocacy organization, may shed light on why some working families have credit card debt and others don't.
The study, "Understanding the Debt Difference," is based on survey research of 2,248 low- and middle-income adults between April 2008 and August 2008, and contrasts the demographics, financial habits and economic circumstances of those with credit card debt and those without it.