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Just because the government has shut down doesn’t mean Congress will cease its central function of making Americans’ lives miserable. While everyone watches the legislative back-and-forth on the budget, the House may vote this week to thwart a key new Labor Department protection affecting $10.5 trillion in retirement funds. Basically, House Republicans want to allow the financial services industry to continue to steal from your 401(k) and IRA plans. And far too many Democrats want to help them.

Low-wage workers followed members of Congress to the World War II Memorial on Wednesday to protest a federal government shutdown that had entered its second day.

The two-dozen protesters, organized by a labor group called Good Jobs Nation, work in federal buildings affected by the shutdown. The group has organized several small strikes and protests to draw attention to the estimated 2 million workers directly or indirectly employed by the federal government for low wages.

Demos applauds the release of a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) report that underscored the continuing success of the Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure Act of 2009 (CARD Act). The CFPB found that, as a result of the Act:

The federal lawsuit filed to block North Carolina’s restrictive new voting laws is set to test the government’s ability to protect voting rights in the aftermath of a Supreme Court decision gutting the Voting Rights Act.

The student loan default rate is soaring, and it's flying highest among for-profit schools.

The U.S. Department of Education reports that across the nation, the share of borrowers who default within two years after college loan payments become due has risen nearly a full percentage point to 10 percent, while the rate for people who default within three years is up to 14.7 percent.

The most frustrating thing for advocates of a strong public sector is how Americans tend to take government for granted. As Suzanne Mettler showed in The Submerged State, a great many people who have benefitted from government programs don't acknowledge that fact.

National Voting Rights Groups Put Lt. Gov. Guadagno and DHS on Notice for Violations of Federal Law

A new report from Public Campaign shows what could happen if the Supreme Court deals another blow to campaign finance reform in McCutcheon v. FEC.

It's no secret that the public's approval of Congress has been near an all-time low in recent years. According to Gallup, which has been tracking congressional approval since at least 1974, just 10 percent of Americans said they approved of how Congress was handling its job last August -- the lowest ratings ever recorded.