Media

One of the few thin­gs that President Obama and Mitt Romney are likely to agree on when they debate next week is the need for tax reform. Both candidates have backed streamlining America’s crazy-quilt tax code, and both have said that reforms could boost economic growth. Meanwhile, two key congressional committees held a rare bipartisan hearing last week – with lawmakers from both parties saying that tax reform is needed to rev up the economy.

For years, many thoughtful people -- progressive thinkers, anti-hunger advocates, and business executives at the mercy of energy and food prices -- have appealed for relief from rampant speculation that distorts the commodities markets. Such speculation makes traders rich, but burdens American households, hurts businesses, and leads to empty bellies in areas throughout the world that are dependent on food imports.

It is always nice when a major newspaper points out one of the most obvious facts in Washington today: Which is that the main stumbling block to deficit reduction lies on the right, where ideologues won't give an inch on taxes and thus doom any realistic compromise to reduce the deficit -- compromise that must include a combination of spending cuts and additional revenue. 

In other words, it is precisely the people who complain loudest about rising debt who most obstruct any solution to this problem. 

At a minimum, we can expect “poll-watchers” to come up with enough “documented” examples of “voter fraud” to support a general post-election effort to de-legitimize the results.

It appears that the German Bundestag is ready to impose meaningful limits on high-frequency trading, or ”HFT.”

This is a very big deal.

The historic elections taking place this November will not just decide what candidates win or lose, or even "just" what policy directions our states and country will take. They will also be a test for democracy itself.

Say you want to buy a house or a car and you need a loan to do it. You do what every personal finance site recommends and obtain a free copy of your credit report from annualcreditreport.com.

America the Possible: Manifesto for a New Economy, a new book from Demos Distinguished Senior Fellow James Gustave Speth, examines the grave and interconnected challenges facing Americans -- joblessness, failing schools, declining health, intractable poverty, income inequality, a poisoned environment, dwindling natural resources, indebtedness, climate change, war – and outlines the urgent changes we must embrace now in order to leave a prosperous, secure and healthy nation for future g

Our long, national nightmare is over. Well, for NFL fans at least. After a protracted negotiation, NFL referees will maintain access to their defined pension plans...for a few more years. When a union wins the support of noted laborphobe Scott Walker, you'd think they'd be on their way. Alas: