In the midst of a terse national conversation about police violence against Black Americans came news that Morehouse College, my alma mater and the nation’s only all-male historically Black college, welcomed one of its largest freshman classes.
Almost everyone agrees that education, innovation and human capital are critical to economic growth and security. And anyone who can’t find a job or is stuck with a low-paying job is told to acquire the skills necessary to succeed in today’s economy.
Unfortunately, the results of believing in that myth have been catastrophic. Earnings have stagnated or declined for everyone except the very top earners, even for those who have educational qualifications, and jobs that didn’t previously require credentials now do.
Those orders represent a victory for unions, particularly the labor federation Change to Win, which has been organizing workers at federally contracted businesses through the campaign Good Jobs Nation. Low-wage workers affiliated with Good Jobs Nation — including food service and janitorial workers in federal buildings — have spent the past two years engaging in protests and other labor actions to pressure the federal government to improve contractor standards.
Consumer advocacy groups have long complained that there is no link between bad credit and job performance. They argue that such checks lead to discriminatory hiring.
The system is profitable but imperfect, and for decades critics have attacked it for all sorts of offenses. In 1969, Columbia University legal scholar Alan Westin testified to Congress that the companies violated Americans’ right to privacy and that their inaccuracies damaged lives.
eddy Roosevelt famously argued that, when it comes to foreign policy, one should “Speak softly, and carry a big stick.” Similarly, an apt summation of the political inclinations of billionaires might be, “Speak softly, and carry a big check.”
As of today, New Yorkers’ personal finances are none of their bosses’ business. Today Local Law 37, prohibiting discrimination based on consumer credit history, goes into effect. As a result, employers can no longer ask employees or job applicants to undergo a credit check to get a job—or keep one—except in certain very restricted circumstances.
Hurricane Katrina destroyed most of New Orleans and left the greater Gulf Coast area wrecked. Nearly 2,000 people were killed as a result of the storm and thousands more were permanently displaced from their homes. With an estimated $108 billion dollars of damage, Katrina was also the also costliest disaster in U.S. history.
The image chosen also appears to be deliberately misleading,Robbie Hiltonsmith, senior policy analyst for left-leaning think tank Demos, told Mic via email.
The New Orleans Police Department had a reputation for corruption long before Hurricane Katrina made landfall in the summer of 2005. For decades, the department was infected by a culture of discrimination, abuse, and lawlessness. That culture spilled out into the open in the week after the storm. During that brief period, police officers shot and killed three unarmed civilians.
The ink had barely dried on the recommendation issued last month by New York Gov. Cuomo’s Wage Board — calling for a $15 minimum wage in the state’s fast-food industry — when corporate special interests in New York began sounding the alarm.
It’s been a decade since Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast area of the United States, and nearly destroyed New Orleans. Katrina was one of the worst natural disasters in U.S. history, killing nearly 2,000 people, displacing thousands, and inflicting an estimated $108 billion dollars of damage.
Beyond the stats, when I think about the events that unfolded in late August of 2005, I remember what it taught me about our democracy.
In the 2016 presidential election, we are approaching a singular and momentous crossroads in our nation’s history. Will we, or will we not, make a serious effort to achieve a low-carbon future for our children and our planet? The fossil fuel magnates and the GOP say no, because we can’t or shouldn’t, but more than 75 percent of Americans want our leaders to take significant steps to fight climate change, according to a poll released in January 2015 by the New York Times, Stanford University, and Resources for the Future.
Heather McGhee, the president of the left-leaning research and advocacy group Demos, often begins her Sundays by giving her mother something to talk about. “She’s the person who has a lot of opinions about my appearance,” said Ms. McGhee, 35, a frequent guest on morning talk shows and on MSNBC. Besides doing on-camera stints, she likes a day without meetings, conferences or fund-raising talks, instead pursuing culture with friends. She lives in Greenwich Village with two cats.
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Given how tough it can be for many people to save for retirement, it’s unfortunate that some companies make it even more difficult. But a large number of 401(k) plans do just that by imposing high costs and offering subpar investment choices.
Women make up almost half of all workers in America and working mothers are the primary breadwinners in 40 percent of the nation’s families, so economic equality would make an immense difference for families and the economy as a whole.