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The derivatives industry is squeezing Washington like a python. Desperate to control the tone and thrust of derivatives regulation, industry lobbyists have been swarming over the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the Securities and Exchange Commission, each of which is writing derivatives rules as mandated by the Dodd-Frank reform law.

1. The government has collected less in taxes as a proportion of the economy in the past three years than it has in any three-year period since World War II, and tax rates are at historic lows.

Hattie Carthan Community Garden nyc.go

A Conversation with Rakim Brooks

A compromise has been reached on New York's living wage, and it is now estimated that it will help only 400-500 workers a year. Even the bill's opponents will tell you this legislation is no threat to their livelihood.

The Fairness for Struggling Students Act should apply not only to private student loans but to government student loans as well.

The “Buffett Rule” proposed by President Obama and now being considered by the Senate would be an important symbolic step toward a fairer tax system. By instituting a minimum tax on very high earners, it would advance the principle of progressive taxation and reform the tax code in an overdue way.

This week, New York Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos dashed any hope workers advocates had for a minimum wage increase this year.  He released a letter that essentially called a minimum wage increase non-negotiable issue for his members.

By now it's pretty clear that Mitt Romney's recent claim about female job losses during the Obama presidency has more to do with selective number fudging and electoral pandering than factual accuracy.