Media

With over twenty million Americans still unable to find full-time work, Washington can't take its eye off job creation for a minute. That's certainly the feeling of voters, who overwhelmingly told exit pollsters on Election Day last November that fixing the economy should be Congress's number one priority -- far more than said reducing the deficit.

Paul Ryan is known for his devotion to cutting spending, but even compared to his previous attempts, his latest plan, with its promise to balance the budget by 2023, is remarkable for its severity. It's also notable for how blantantly it renegs on the core principle of the Simpson-Bowles Commission agreements which promised that deficit reduction should not come at the expense of the poor or increase economic inequality.

The Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations hearing and 300-page report (plus 200 pages of exhibits) on the London Whale is now being digested by the public and spun by JP Morgan Chase. The bank lost $6.2 billion and survived easily because of its immense size.

I attended yesterday’s U.S. Supreme Court oral argument in the Arizona voter registration case.  The argument went well generally, but Justice Alito suggested the Justices would create a “crazy” double standard by requiring that Arizona election officials accept the federal registration form. 

Alito’s concerns are unwarranted.  Arizona chose to create two standards when it chose to add special “proof of citizenship” to register.  

The push for Same Day Registration has encountered a curious adversary in some states this year – county clerks.

The latest example is Utah, where the state Senate killed a SDR bill last week on an 18-10 vote. Under current state law, Utahans must register at least 15 days before an election if they want their ballot to be counted. Since many voters don’t tune in until the waning days of a campaign, arbitrary deadlines like this come as an unwelcome surprise to a lot of people who hope to participate in elections.

Months after super storm Sandy, families are still waiting for permanent housing. Only a quarter of the families registered with NYC’s hotel sheltering program will find permanent housing with the next three months. Between New York and New Jersey, damage from the storm is estimated to cost over $71 billion.

Last year, the top ten U.S. university presidents made a combined $21 million. That's a lot, except when you consider what athletic coaches often make. For example, Mack Brown -- the football coach at the University of Texas in Austin -- made $5.3 million in 2012. 

As was vividly demonstrated in the 2012 election, immigrant communities are increasingly a major political and civic force. 

A basic principle of smart tax reform is that we should shift away from taxing good behaviors, like work and wealth creation, to taxing bad behavior, like pollution and speculation.