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A new report details how the failure to finalize rules harms the American people by compromising the safety of food, automobiles, workplaces and protections for investors.
Edward Snowden has become an instant hero in the progressive world for leaking information about NSA surveillance. Many are comparing him to Daniel Ellsberg, who leaked the Pentagon Papers.
Imagine, though, if Snowden had leaked a bunch of documents about, say, how HHS was going to use confidential employer payroll data to monitor compliance with the Affordable Care Act. My guess is that Snowden would be seen as a hero on the right, but not the left.
Today, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo unveiled his own proposal for public financing of campaigns. The governor’s proposal adds to several other proposals currently under consideration to get money out of the electoral system in the state. After a year of high-profile corruption scandals and arrests, it’s clear that something must be done.
Costco pays its workers wages well-above the industry standard, offering a reported average of $20.89 per hour plus affordable health coverage, vacation time, and a matched 401(k). This investment pays off in terms of a shockingly low rate of employee turnover.
As members of the class of 2013 stepped on stage to receive their diplomas, the unemployment rate in America stood at 7.6 percent — a bit better than the past four years, but that ain't saying much. Before the financial crisis, students graduating in 2007 faced a much rosier jobless rate of only 4.7 percent. The fact of the matter is that the past four years of high unemployment numbers represent the worst economy the country has suffered in 70 years, and young adults are shouldering a hefty part of the burden.
“Welfare” as it now exists in the United States aims to provide a short-term safety net for very needy families with children and prepare adults to get jobs. The Temporary Assistance for Needy Families law passed by Congress in 1996 said that cash assistance should be limited to no more than five years (sixty months) over a lifetime.
Primary doctors with private practices often argue that they can’t afford to take too many Medicaid patients because of the low reimbursements from the government. These doctors compare themselves to small business owners, and, as one doctor told Fredricksburg’s Virginia’s Free Lance Star, many have to ask themselves, “How much can you take until you have to make the very tough business decision that I can’t do this anymore?”
Yesterday, Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR) got off to an auspicious start as chair of the Banking Subcommittee on Economic Policy by doing something that is all too novel—inviting people with the most at stake in economic policy decisions to testify in Congress.