Media

The political heat had been building for months on the Obama administration to provide a solution, even if only partial, to the plight of young people who came to the U.S as children, and were raised as Americans but had little chance to make it in this country.

Defenders of unregulated capitalism argue that markets tend to police themselves, as bottom feeders and cheaters get punished by consumers who take their business elsewhere. But this assumes that consumers know they are being victimized in the first place, which often they don't.

Despite continual claims that renewable energy will never be able to replace fossil fuels, its development and expansion continues at an impressive pace. A new report shows that not only is global renewable energy production increasing, investment in renewables is also increasing. In 2010, renewable energy sources supplied nearly 17 percent of all global final energy consumption. Investment in renewables rose 17 percent to $257 billion, despite the debt crisis in Europe.

As we all sit around waiting for the Supreme Court to hand down decisions on a whole handful of whoppers — the Affordable Care Act, the Arizona "Papers, Please" law — it was something the Court didn't do this week that may be the most overlooked matter of all. It has before it a case from Montana whereby that state's supreme court upheld Montana's 100-year-old ban on corporate campaign contributions in the face of the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in the Citizens United case.

The city of Philadelphia is facing a vacant land crisis.

Philly has more than 40,000 vacant properties, 10,000 of which are under the city's control, and 30,000 of which are owned by private landowners. Some 20,000 of these properties are long-term tax delinquent.

Yesterday, I wrote about some of the new indicators coming out of the Rio +20 conference, including a corporate initiative to value natural capital. On first glance, I have to admit that I couldn’t get past the idea that it was an exercise in advanced greenwashing.

Here's a day that many of us thought we'd never see: Hot button topics like immigration and contraception operating as wedge issues -- but in ways that benefit Democrats.

Start with the awkward spot that the White House has placed Mitt Romney in with its policy shift on the deportation of young immigrants.

NEW YORK – Almost two out of five American Indians and Alaska Natives eligible to vote are not registered, but according to a new report by national policy center Demos, designating Indian Health Service (IHS) facilities as official voter registration agencies under the National Voting Rights Act (NVRA) would go a long way toward addressing this civic crisis.

“Our democracy is stronger when all of our citizens participate, and this is all the more true in the case of American Indians and Alaska Natives.”

Call the cops — your pocket’s been picked.

American workers are being ripped off by excessive retirement plan fees — which may force them to work longer or live less comfortably in their golden years, according to a recent study.

For the average US household, the high fees drain about $155,000 from their 401(k) accounts over their lifetimes, the study found.

In one example highlighted in the study, a two-wage-earner household with a median income for their age group contributed an average of 7 percent a year to their 401(k) plan over 40 years.