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States used to have the authority to enforce usury laws, capping the excessive interest rates of any lender interested in transacting business with their citizens. Although usury laws are still on the books in some states across the country, when it comes to credit cards they are rendered useless by deregulation of the industry.

Despite a year filled with corruption scandals, the New York State legislature failed to adopt a public financing program—a necessary step in removing the outsized influence of money in politics. Senate Democrats proposed a last minute amendment to another bill before the end of the legislative session, but it failed because it did not receive support from every member of the Democratic conference.

New Jersey Senate heard arguments last week for legislation that would ban the exclusion of formerly incarcerated people from applying for jobs on the sole basis of their records. Part of the Opportunity to Compete Act in NJ, “ban the box” proposals like this one refer to the box convicted felons must check on employment paperwork.

A group representing service employees has organized a morning of demonstrations and civil disobedience at various locations throughout the capital on Tuesday to protest low pay and alleged wage theft by vendors at federal buildings.

Good Jobs Nation, which represents low-wage employees of government contractors, plans to start the day with a mock trial in an intersection near the Ronald Reagan Building, according to organizers.

Beginning at 8:30 this morning, non-union, federally contracted workers plan to walk off the job at the Ronald Reagan Building and Old Post Office Pavilion in Washington, DC. Today’s strike, and a “mock trial” and pair of civil disobedience actions planned for this morning, are designed to highlight alleged “wage theft,” and to pressure President Obama to use his executive authority to require higher labor standards for federal contractors.

In America, employees have the right to stick together to form unions and bargain collectively. At least, we’ve got those rights on paper. In practice, many employers routinely violate rights to organize, threatening, harassing,  and illegally firing workers, whenever employees try to band together.

The Supreme Court’s decision in Shelby County v. Holder is a setback for democracy — especially at the local level.

Overwhelming evidence shows that too many politicians continue to win elections by unfairly manipulating election rules based on how voters look or talk. The Court’s decision makes this problem worse. The biggest problem will be the manipulation of election rules for local offices that are often non-partisan and escape national attention.

A new report from the Sunlight Foundation shows that post-Citizens United we are entering an era where political spending is dominated not by the 1 percent but by the top 1 percent of the 1 percent. In 2012, just 31,385 people contributed $1.68 billion in the election cycle. The median donation from the donor group was $26,574, which is more than half the median family income today.

The best-kept secret in Washington is that the executive branch’s own regulatory agenda is being steadily undermined by one little-known executive industry, the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA).