Media

When Congress narrowly missed another government shutdown in December by passing the “cromnibus” bill, much of the press coverage focused on Capitol Hill’s ongoing dysfunction. However, buried inside the bill was yet another blow to campaign finance regulations, dramatically increasing the amount of money donors can give to political parties. A single couple can now give up to $3.1 million to a political party over a two-year election cycle, a six-fold increase.

Most people want to believe that their place in the world is something they earned, either through hard work, preparation, or both. I understand this sentiment. As a native of a country that reveres Horatio Alger-inspired tales of upward mobility, the idea that our status might be attributed to something we can’t control seems unfathomable.

There’s a lot going down with policing these days. The flurry of action this week included an interim report from the President’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing. It bears both good and bad news. 

One weakness in the report is overarching and unavoidable: the federal government is limited in the actions it can take to address policing because policing is largely within the control of the states; much of what is recommended is ultimately up to the discretion of local law enforcement agencies. 

The talk around Wall Street is that profits at the trading desks of the big banks are down and that regulations are to blame.

There may be some truth to that, at least to the extent that transparency rules have deterred some price gouging. We should be careful about reading too much into the effects of regulation, though. The banks want to spin a story that regulations have forced them to tighten belts and avoid risks. They certainly do not want further regulation and would love nothing better than to roll back regulations that exist.

It can be hard to make sense of the fees that can accompany a typical 401(k), and that confusion can carry a steep price tag.

The U.S. economy has finally slugged its way out of the ditches.

The Wall Street Journal reports that Department of Labor job numbers indicate that the labor market improved in all 50 states, Puerto Rico and Washington D.C. in 2014.

For about a month now, New England has been pummeled with massive winter storms, leaving large swaths of the region with feet of snow and frequently making travel impossible.

This week a group of former students calling themselves the Corinthian 15 announced that they were committing a new kind of civil disobedience: a debt strike. They are refusing to make any more payments on their federal student loans.

In the wake of the recent gutting of the Voting Rights Act, partisans were quick to jump on the opportunity to restrict unfavorable voters. Across the country, conservatives in particular have debated fiercely whether to pursue voter suppression to remain competitive in an increasingly diverse electorate.