Media

In the debate over our energy future, I keep coming back to the question of whether or not fracking can be done safely.

In taking on the cost of college, President Obama is going up against one the best organized special interests in Washington: Higher education.

This morning the New York City Council will hold a hearing on legislation to guarantee paid sick days  to all working New Yorkers. The measure has been pending for several years with repeated compromises  to address the concerns of employers.

As everyone knows, the "fiscal cliff" deal raised taxes on households making over $400,000, restoring the Clinton-era top income tax rate to 39.5 percent.

One fact that gets less attention, though, is that progressivity in the tax code ends right there: There is no difference in the tax rate paid by a two-income professional couple bringing in $400,000 and a CEO who brings in the average pay for such executives, which was $14 million in 2011.

Fittingly, perhaps, Cuomo’s single biggest misstep in office can be tied to the power of moneyed interests. After fighting long and hard, the governor was forced to abandon a scheme to build a $4 billion convention center in Queens, as part of a joint venture with the Genting Group, a Malaysian corporation.

For most young Americans, obtaining a secure place in society depends upon going to college. Three out of every four college students depends upon public colleges and universities. Yet the dream of achieving a rung on the college-educated ladder is slipping away as states reduce their commitments to higher education.

It’s not getting better. That’s the key finding of a new survey of low-wage workers out yesterday from the Associated Press and NORC Center for Public Affairs Research at the University of Chicago. Eighty-one percent of low-wage employees surveyed said their family’s financial situation was the same or worse than it had been four years ago, while 64 percent reported that their wages have been stagnant or declined over the past five years.

Whatever happened to President Obama's call, in his State of the Union address, for all children to have access to pre-kindergarten education? It seems to have vanished without a trace.

WASHINGTON -- A bipartisan cadre of House lawmakers will move on legislation to deregulate Wall Street derivatives Wednesday, less than a week after Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.) released adevastating report on the multibillion-dollar derivatives debacle at JPMorgan Chase.