Media

The number of Americans age 60 and over in debt is alarming. A recent report by the AARP’s Public Policy Institute and the research organization Demos revealed that Americans over the age of 50 carried substantially more debt on credit cards — an average balance of $8,278 — than those under 50, whose average balance was $6,258.

What does $7.5 million buy you these days? If you’re Syngenta Corp, Cargill, or Monsanto it looks like it buys you a legislative rider called the “Monsanto Protection Act,” that strips federal courts of any authority to halt the planting and sale of genetically modified (GMO) seed crops, regardless of any consumer health concerns. Not a bad return on the $7.5 million these companies have donated to members of Congress since 2009.

I've been writing about economic inequality for over a decade and, at this point, it's pretty hard to be shocked by new data. But David Cay Johnston has just crunched some numbers that will surprise even the most jaded observers of the widening gap between the Haves and everyone else. 

Medicaid expansion for low-income Americans just can't catch a break, even with tentative support (or just giving in) from unexpected conservative corners, including Florida Governor Rick Scott. Yesterday, Representative Matt Salmon (R-Arizona), and five other lawmakers backed the Medicaid Expansion Repeal and State Flexibility Act, which would eliminate the Medicaid expansion included under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

Sen. President Donald Williams and 23 other Democratic Senators were cross-endorsed in the 2012 election by both the Democratic party and a third party, but Williams proposed getting rid of the cross-endorsement system Monday because he says it causes confusion for voters.

He told the General Administration and Elections Committee that 44 states have no ability to cross endorse a candidate. He said it’s confusing for voters to have the same candidate appear on two lines on the ballot and could cause problems such as overvoting.

HARTFORD -- Connecticut lawmakers are considering allowing early voting during state elections and eliminating cross endorsements by minor parties.

Through testimony and remarks submitted Monday to the government administration and elections committee, early voting garnered considerable support, while eliminating cross endorsements drew sizable opposition.

Research has shown that someone with a poor credit history is not automatically a poor job prospect. Nevertheless, millions of Americans who have emerged from the recession with medical debts or a record of late payments are at risk of being denied jobs by companies that use credit histories to screen applicants. Several states have placed limits on this practice. But until the federal government engages the issue more aggressively, employers will consign otherwise qualified applicants to a kind of pariah class that gets shut out of the job market.

The libertarian wing of the Republican Party is getting stronger with each passing year, and as a result, the end of America's disastrous 40-year "war on drugs" may finally be in sight. 

The average retail sales job pays only $10.09 an hour, and some retail outlets—notably Walmart, the largest private employer in the world—pay as little as $8.00 per hour. But a handful of large retail companies have made generous compensation a key part of their business models, and it seems to be paying off.