The opening sentence of "Reducing the Deficit by Increasing Individual Income Tax Rates", a paper [pdf] jointly authored by the Pew Charitable Trust and Tax Policy Center, is worth noting: "Current federal budget policies are unsustainable." (A month before publication, the US debt-to-GDP ratio broke 100 percent.)
Okay, let’s make this clear one more time. The way to lower gas prices is to stop oil speculation, ratchet down Iran war talk, and make real investments in alternative fuel supplies. And the way to be less negatively affected by price hikes is to decrease our oil-intensive and car-centric lifestyle so that we spend less time fretting at the gas pump. These are not catchy or easy fixes, but they are the only ones that will work.
Corporations are not inherently bad, but they have strong incentives to behave badly to increase their profits and stock value. The free market, which tends to push companies to behave positively when it comes to innovation, price, and customer service, often offers few counter-weights to the strong incentives which exist to cut corners ethically and take huge risks.
One of the GOP’s recent favorite tactics is to take an issue that is fundamentally non-controversial and non-partisan and make it into a partisan issue. They did it with raising the debt ceiling, which has been raised under every president except for Truman. The latest target was public transportation, which enjoys strong bi-partisan and public support.
In New York State, progressives' worst fears about redistricting have been realized. Last night the state legislature released a proposed constitutional amendment to "fix" redistricting in the state.
This amendment was supposedly created by the legislature to fix the brazenly partisan redistricting process in New York State. But the proposed language is, in the end, mostly toothless.
It's hard to believe now, but not a year ago the government nearly shut down over the princely sum of $75 million -- the amount of federal funding given to Planned Parenthood. To be sure, much of the opposition towards the funding was (and is) due to a willful misunderstanding of how the organization allocates its resources, but some lawmakers such as Rep.
Some of the hardest-working people in America aren’t covered by overtime or minimum wage protections. It’s crazy, but true: U.S. labor law was updated in 1974 to specifically exclude babysitters and companions. Since then, the lucrative and fast-growing home care industry has taken up residence in that loophole. The home care sector, currently valued at between $70 and $84 billion, is creating great wealth for agency owners.
The thing about data is that if you pick and choose, it can say exactly what you want it to. The Heritage Foundation did just that when they took a recently released CBO report and claimed that the tax code no longer favors fossil fuels.
Here's a trend worth noting on International Women's Day: In just the past year, women leaders have taken the helm at four national think tanks -- changing the gender landscape of what has been, traditionally, a male-dominated sector.
Wisconsin State Court Judge David Flanagan issued a temporary injunction on Tuesday that will prevent Wisconsin’s controversial Voter ID law from going into effect prior to the state’s April 3 presidential primary. After noting in the order that the Wisconsin State Constitution recognizes voting as a guaranteed right, Judge Flanagan called the bill “the single most restrictive voter eligibility law in the United States.”
Some youngsters want to grow up to become artists or athletes or firefighters. Some want to be doctors or dancers. Charles Walker wanted to own a supermarket.
“Ever since I can remember, I wanted my own grocery store,” he said over lunch on a quiet afternoon in snowbound Detroit last year. To Walker, “grocery store” meant a gleaming, well-run supermarket, not necessarily huge but well stocked and scrupulously clean, with fresh meats and produce and first-class customer service.
Credit: Flickr/DreamActivistWhile there's zero chance of Congress approving the Dream Act any time soon, some progress is still being made for undocumented students who, having grown up in the US and excelled in school, cannot make it in
One of the most troubling economic facts of the past few years is that many of the very same people who helped crash the economy saw their fortunes rebound the fastest after the financial crisis of 2008. Meanwhile, the innocent bystanders who had nothing to do with the financial crash -- e.g., most households -- have still not fully recovered at all.
The unevenness and unfairness of the recovery has long been apparent -- from news of record corporate profits to surges in stock values to anecdotal reports of a big uptick in luxury spending.
State government should offer a retirement plan to the increasing number of people whose companies don't provide a pension or a 401(k) savings program, labor groups and other advocates this week told a legislative panel.
The Labor and Public Employees Committee has raised a bill that would create a task force to study that concept and report back when the 2013 General Assembly session convenes next January.
Super Tuesday has arrived and with it, so has the full might of the Super PACs.
Ten states go to the polls today but all eyes are on Ohio, where former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney could add to the distance between him and the rest of the pack needed to solidify his claim on the nomination. With the stakes this high, Super PAC spending has risen to the challenge, dumping $11.9 million on the races.