Media

$4.6 billion.

According to the analysis of Americans for Financial Reform, that’s the amount the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has returned to over 12 million Americans who have been harmed by the illegal, deceptive, and discriminatory practices of financial services companies. And the agency has only been around for three and half years.

For some in the financial services industry, that type of effective law enforcement is a problem.

Given that low-income households often don’t have the luxury of professional tax preparation, the tax system might be a particularly brutal delivery mechanism for them. Nowhere is this more apparent than how we currently subsidize the cost of college at tax time.

President Obama this week touted new ways to help students pay for college, but he also proposed stripping away a popular benefit: a significant tax advantage of college savings plans used by millions of American families.

Much of the buildup to President Obama’s State of the Union address made it sound as if he was going to read chapter and verse from French economist Thomas Piketty’s book, Capital in the 21st Century—you know, last year’s 700-plus page best seller, the one that was unexpectedly all the rage as it argued that vast economic inequality is as much about wealth (what’s owned) as it is about income (what’s earned). That one.

Five years ago this week, in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, the Supreme Court decided to allow unlimited amounts of corporate spending in political campaigns. How important was that decision? At the time, some said criticism of the decision was overblown, and that fears that it would give outsize influence to powerful interests were unfounded. Now, the evidence is in, and the results are devastating. [...]

(NEW YORK, NY) – Last night, the President’s annual State of the Union highlighted policy proposals and reforms the administration will pursue in the coming months. In response, Demos President Heather McGhee issued the following statement:

For too long these issues, and many others that would tackle inequality to ensure a thriving American economy, have been placed on the back burner due to two issues that the President touched too briefly upon: our unequal democracy and our racial divisions.

Today marks five years since the Supreme Court's infamous Citizens United decision--and perhaps nothing tells the story of the results better than a New York Times article from yesterday called "'Koch Primary' Tests Hopefuls in the G.O.P."

How would you fare with President Obama’s State of the Union middle-class economics proposals to “turn the page” if you’re 50 or older? It depends. [...]

The President’s focus on paid family leave in his State of the Union address and the week leading up to it is, in practical terms, a modest step forward. By requiring federal agencies to advance employees up to six weeks of paid sick leave when they have a baby, his memorandum issued last Thursday will directly strengthen the safety net under more than four million federal workers.