Media

Our city governments make decisions that affect us most, yet we know very little about the ways that money influences them. In a previous post I explored new evidence that people of color are not well represented by their councils. One possible reason is the overwhelmingly white municipal donor classes.

Federal deficit hawks in Congress, driven by ideology and the campaign donations of, for lack of a better term, millionaires and billionaires, held yet another hearing last week about the national debt — but U.S. lawmakers continue to ignore the debt that is causing real trouble for the nation.

The debt danger Americans should really worry about comes from credit cards and student loans.[...]

Today marks the start of Hispanic Heritage month. The “month” that lasts from mid-September to mid-October begins with Mexican Independence Day, commemorating the first of many independence wars that occurred in Latin America during the 19th Century and that decimated the Spanish Empire in the New World. Culturally, it is a marker of the common history that many Latino/as in the United States share - that at different points in the same century, our ancestors fought (and often defeated) a common enemy.

Miami is in the midst of the most spirited campaign-finance debate it's had in years.

Amid soaring inequality and stagnant wages, consumers in the United States collectively accumulated a stunning $34.4 billion in credit card debt during the second quarter of 2016 alone, according to a new report from the personal finance website WalletHub.

A Miami-Dade lobbyist [Eric Zichella] on Monday joined the court fight against a ballot item that would sharply limit campaign donations as advocates release a study claiming smaller donors to local races better reflect the county’s diversity.[...]

Just in time for the end of the presidential election voter registration period, the United States Commission on Civil Rights (USCCR) has issued the important report, “Increasing Compliance With Section 7 of the National Voter Registration Act,” on voter registration access.

On Labor Day, let’s all take a moment to thank our bosses for the rights and benefits they have so generously granted us.

Oh wait, that’s right. Decent wages and working conditions were never gifts. Workers organized, fought, and in many cases died for each and every improvement in our working lives. And workers are fighting today—to protect the rights we’ve won, and to advance new and needed labor laws.

Barriers to good jobs

Last week, I discussed how socioeconomic characteristics can limit the pool of people who run for office. Holding office is biased towards people with disposable income and time they can dedicate to public service when many offices are voluntary or offer little remuneration. The composition of our elective bodies warps policymaking in favor of the wealthy.