Media

One New York Times article serves as a perfect exposé on the profoundly undemocratic power of wealthy donors have.

Did you hear that America's biggest drugmaker just agreed to one of the largest criminal and civil settlements in U.S. history? No, you probably didn't -- because news of Johnson & Johnson's $2.2 billion penalty for illegally marketing one of its drugs was buried today in the business section.

With gridlock and discord halting the right’s agenda in Congress, corporations have taken the war on labor to the states. The Economic Policy Institute recently released a new report, “The Legislative Attack on American Wages and Labor Standards, 2011-2012,” authored by Gordon Lafer. The report  documents a coordinated corporate attack on unions, workplace production and fair wages led by organizations like ALEC, the Chamber of Commerce and Americans for Prosperity.

Critics of government spending often describe the ballooning cost of Social Security and Medicare in out years as something of a runaway fiscal train. What tends to be missed in these conversations is the simple fact that, because of their huge numbers, it makes perfect sense -- and is perfectly fine -- that government spending would rise as the Baby Boomers retire. The better question is how much  spending is too much?

New Jersey voters will get to decide whether to raise the state's minimum wage tomorrow by ballot initative, and are almost certain to improve this measure. The new law will raise the minimum to $8.25 an hour, a dollar above the federal minimum, and ensure that this pay scale keeps up with inflation.

Give them jobs. That's the most important answer to the serious economic crisis gripping young America, which faces double digit unemployment rates for some groups -- levels rivaling that of the Great Depression. 

Of course, creating jobs sounds very complicated -- a multi-part process of "stimulating" economic growth to boost demand so that employers add more workers. In fact, though, creating jobs is one of the easiest things for government to do: Just use public dollars to directly hire workers and, presto, government has created jobs. 

Scrooge has come early this year. We’re kicking our Tiny Tims. This holiday season, kids in America’s poorest families are going to have less to eat.

November 1 brought $5 billion in new cuts to the nation’s food stamp program, now officially known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP.

It's no secret that wealthy Americans have enjoyed low taxes since the dawn of the Reagan era—even as they have scored huge income gains thanks to changes in the economy. A less well-known fact, though, is that middle and low-income earners have seen far bigger cuts in their federal taxes, which has helped offset stagnant incomes for these groups and may explain why there hasn't been a bigger revolt against income inequality in America. 

The cut to the nation’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program going into effect today will take food away from 47.7 million Americans who need it.