Media

Nobel economist Joseph Stiglitz made some critically important observations in the Sunday New York Times. He pointed out that income disparity is a cause of the maddeningly slow recovery from the effects of the Great Recession, not merely a consequence of it. He drew parallels to the income disparity that predated the Great Depression.

The standard conservative rap on the social safety net is that it turns people into slackers by providing a comfy hammock and discouraging work and initiative. 

Yesterday, President Obama offered a diametrically opposite analysis: Programs like Social Security and Medicare, he argued, actually enable people to reach higher:

these things do not sap our initiative; they strengthen us. They do not make us a nation of takers; they free us to take the risks that make this country great. 

President Obama’s call for Americans to stay engaged has rightly been taken to refer to issues high on the public’s agenda, such as gun control and immigration reform. Essentially, the President is saying that reform reflective of the country’s most broadly held values can only be realized if people remain engaged and let their representatives know that they are paying attention.

President Obama’s inauguration speech highlighted the need to address climate change in a way that has been largely absent in both the campaign and the months following the election. The President spent more time on climate change than any other single topic and sounded a welcome call for America to lead the transition to sustainable energy sources.

Unemployment may be at the lowest level in three years, and the housing sector may be showing signs of life, but a serious structural problem in the economy seems to actually be getting worse, not better:  income inequality.

Annapolis, MD – A coalition of government reform groups praised efforts by Governor Martin O’Malley and Delegate Kiril Reznik that would help Marylanders vote and make sure every vote is counted. The groups also encouraged the Governor to further strengthen his voting package and fix the range of problems Marylanders encountered last year at the polls. Those would include an increase and fair distribution of early voting sites and funding for a new voting system.  

NEW YORK - Today, Demos and O’Melveny and Myers LLP filed an amicus curiae brief in the U.S. Supreme Court in support of respondents in Arizona v. Inter Tribal Council of Arizona (No.

New York, NY – Over 300 citizens rallied today at New York University and Federal Hall to denounce “those who are trying to buy or steal our democracy” and to call for overturning Citizens United, enacting Fair Elections campaign finance reform in NYS, and expanding the vote.

In 2011, five workers died in Hawaii when unexploded fireworks they were attempting to defuse exploded. Yesterday, at a hearing in Washington, D.C., a federal panel responsible for regulating the treatment of hazardous chemicals announced its recommendations after a thorough study of the incident.