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Walmart Denies Report It's Weighing Support For A Minimum-Wage Hike

Walmart is denying a Bloomberg report that said the nation's largest private employer is considering supporting an increase in the minimum wage.

"We are not at all considering this," Walmart spokesman David Tovar told The Huffington Post Wednesday afternoon, just after Bloomberg published the story. [...]
February 19, 2014 |
Huffington Post
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Economy & Opportunity 
Jobs & Income 
Attorney General Wants to Alter New York's Voter Challenge System

People who challenge ballots at polling places would have to outline their reasons for a challenge in an affidavit, under a bill from state Attorney General Eric Schneiderman.

Under state law, any registered voter can challenge the validity of another person's voting status at the ballot box if there's an issue with their signature or they are suspected to be living out of state. When a challenge is raised, the challenged voter then has to recite an oath declaring they are legally able to cast a ballot before they are allowed to vote. [...]
February 14, 2014 |
Gannett Albany Bureau
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Voting Rights & Voter Registration 
North Carolina Voting Law Hits Black Voters: Study

North Carolina’s recent voting law changes will disproportionately affect black voters in the state, according to a study published Wednesday by Dartmouth University.  

“The study provides powerful ammunition for the pending legal challenges,” says Brenda Wright, a voting rights expert with the liberal think tank Demos. “It shows that virtually every key feature of North Carolina’s election legislation will disproportionately cut back on registration and voting by African Americans in North Carolina as compared to whites.”
February 13, 2014 |
MSNBC
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Voting Rights & Voter Registration 
After 23 Years, Your Waiter Is Ready For A Raise

When Woody Harrelson's character got hired as a bartender on Cheers, he was so excited, he insisted on working for no more than the minimum wage. "I'd work like a slave," he said, "and, of course, I'd wash your car."

Most bar and restaurant workers would prefer to bring home a little more cash. They may be in luck.
February 12, 2014 |
NPR
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Economy & Opportunity 
Jobs & Income 
The 1 Percent State of Mind

Due to a spate of bizarre rants from members of the 1 percent over the past two weeks, it would be easy to conclude that America’s super-rich have gone off the rails. A well-known billionaire Tom Perkins recently compared the plight of America’s economic elite to that of Jews in Nazi Germany.
February 12, 2014 |
Colorlines
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Campaign Finance Reform 
Obama Signs Executive Order on Federal Contractor Wages Today

Democrats are planning a yearlong campaign against economic inequality as the midterm elections approach, and President Obama will kick it off in earnest Wednesday when he signs an executive order raising the contracting standards for workers on federal contracts.
February 12, 2014 |
The Nation
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Economy & Opportunity 
Jobs & Income 
Elizabeth Warren Vs. the Neoliberals: The Battle Over Americans’ Retirement Security

In the last year or two, something remarkable has happened in American politics. After decades in which future deficits, mostly caused by health care costs and conservative tax cuts, were invoked by those seeking to slash Social Security benefits for reasons of ideology or pecuniary interest, the national conversation has changed.
February 12, 2014 |
Salon
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Retirement Security 
It’s Official: Obama Signs Minimum Wage Hike for Some Federal Contract Workers

Today, President Barack Obama honored his promise from last month’s State of the Union address to raise the minimum wage for some workers indirectly employed by the federal government. In a new executive order, he raised the minimum wage from $7.25 to $10.10 an hour, effective Jan. 1, 2015. The White House estimates the order will affect hundreds of thousands of workers employed by private companies with government contracts. [...]
February 12, 2014 |
In These Times
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Economy & Opportunity 
Jobs & Income 
No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: The High Price Of Today's Broken 401(k)

If the road to hell is paved with good intentions, perhaps the same could be said about many of today’s 401K plans.  Employers craft benefit packages with the best of intentions, yet, there’s a good chance you may be administering or participating in a retirement plan not in compliance with new Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) regulations.  Last year nearly 75% of plans audited by the Department of Labor (DOL) were either fined, received penalties or had to make reimbursements fo
February 10, 2014 |
Forbes
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Retirement Security 
Retailers Feel the Squeeze in America’s Poverty Economy

The neediest Americans will be hurt by an $8.6bn cut to food aid in a bill that was approved by Congress this week and will be signed into law by President Barack Obama on Friday. But another set of welfare beneficiaries will lose out too: big grocery retailers.

The farm bill, which contains both agricultural subsidies and federal food stamps for the working poor and unemployed, is watched closely by big retailers such as Walmart because it affects a substantial number of their shoppers.[...]
February 7, 2014 |
Financial Times
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Economy & Opportunity