Media

These days, there's not a lot of sympathy out there for the big banks. That isn't likely to change through the advocacy of Steve Forbes. Of all the controversial provisions of Dodd-Frank, Forbes, and the banking industry, has seized upon the Durbin Amendment as the most dangerous.

Why? The Durbin Amendment caps the hidden fees that banks can charge you for swiping your debit card.

“I went through four interviews and everything went smoothly. I was on my way to the orientation program [for my new job] when I got a call on my cell phone: they had to cancel my orientation because there was a discrepancy in my credit report. . .”

PHILADELPHIA – On Wednesday, the Black Political Empowerment Project (B-PEP) and ACTION United entered a Court approved Settlement Agreement with the Secretary of the Commonwealth Carol Aichele, Secretary of Public Welfare Gary D. Alexander, and Secretary of Health Dr. Eli N.

New York State has a chance to move from the back of the class on campaign finance regulation to star pupil status by enacting a small donor match public funding system. State leaders discussed the value of such a system, and the differences it could make in the lives of New Yorkers, at a forum yesterday afternoon hosted by Governor Cuomo, the New York State Democratic Committee, the Center for American Progress, and Third Way.

Last week, I wrote about the difficulties that young people with student loans can have getting getting a mortgage -- yet one more example of how debt can make it hard to build assets.

Many Florida families have been paying up to 25 percent of median income for public in-state college costs — out of reach for some middle-class parents who have taken recent pay cuts or lost jobs, according to a new study.

The news of looming cuts in California's education system is, an and of itself, depressing and frightening. Considered as part and parcel of a pervasive American tic -- the ability to be both aware of a problem but obstinately unwilling to do anything to solve it -- well, one can't help but be gloomy.

The Pew Research Center is out with a depressing new study today about how America's middle class has lost ground -- along with some of its famous can-do optimism, too. No big surprise there, given that we're now in year five of the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression.

Quick question: What happens when you step down a slope? Well, if it's a steep slope you'll start sliding, but not so fast that you can't catch yourself, avoiding serious harm.

And that's exactly the situation Washington will face early next year, if it doesn't reach a deal on expiring tax cuts and new spending reductions before January 1. The nation is headed for a fiscal slope, not a cliff.