Media

The Supreme Court’s decision in Shelby County v. Holder is a setback for democracy — especially at the local level.

Overwhelming evidence shows that too many politicians continue to win elections by unfairly manipulating election rules based on how voters look or talk. The Court’s decision makes this problem worse. The biggest problem will be the manipulation of election rules for local offices that are often non-partisan and escape national attention.

A new report from the Sunlight Foundation shows that post-Citizens United we are entering an era where political spending is dominated not by the 1 percent but by the top 1 percent of the 1 percent. In 2012, just 31,385 people contributed $1.68 billion in the election cycle. The median donation from the donor group was $26,574, which is more than half the median family income today.

The best-kept secret in Washington is that the executive branch’s own regulatory agenda is being steadily undermined by one little-known executive industry, the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA). 

Rhode Island General Treasurer Gina Raimondo is building a political career on the strength of the pension reform she spearheaded in 2011, which she has touted as a model for other states to follow. But here’s something you probably don’t know about the new hybrid retirement plan for teachers and other government workers: it actually increases costs for taxpayers even as it cuts benefits for most workers.

If you're part of the 9-to-5 crowd, chances are you wish you had more flexibility. But many low-income workers have the exact opposite problem: their hours vary wildly and they rarely know if they will get a full forty hours of work in a given week. Or even get work at all.

Afraid your bad credit may be holding you back from a great job?

That soon may not be a concern for job-hunting New Yorkers, as the Credit Privacy in Employment Act passed the New York Assembly on June 20. The act will largely ban employers from using credit reports to influence employment decisions. 

June 25th marked the 75th anniversary of the federal minimum wage law in the United States, known as the Fair Labor Standards Act. When President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed this legislation, his vision was to ensure a “fair day’s pay for a fair day’s work” and to “end starvation wages.”

For the past half century, one of the surest paths to well-heeled financial security was becoming a corporate lawyer. Your class background didn't matter all that much, as long as you were smart enough to get into a top law school and could then endure the brutal hours of an associate at a corporate firm.

True, many associates didn't actually make partner at the very top firms, but just logging a few years at a place like Cravath, Swain, and Moore set you up to make partner elsewhere later on. One thing was certain: You wouldn't get suddenly fired as an associate. 

Come April 2014, New Yorkers will finally have the right to get sick. Thanks to a New York City Council vote last night overriding Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s veto, New York will become the largest city in the nation to guarantee paid sick days. It’s an important milestone, even for those of us already fortunate enough to get a paid day off when we fall ill.