Media

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. 

A small study out of Yale School of Medicine caught the eye of some observers this week by raising an intriguing question: Do food stamp cuts lead to greater rates of HIV?

It’s too late for Tonisha Howard, the mother of three in Milwaukee who was fired for leaving work to be with her hospitalized two-year-old. And for Felix Trinidad, who was so afraid of losing his job at Golden Farm fruit store in Brooklyn that he didn’t take time off to go to the doctor—even after he vomited blood.

The most maddening thing about politics today is how often rational analysis gets pushed aside by ideology. Exhibit A right now is the economy. Logic and history dictates that only government has the capacity to offset big shortfalls in demand during deep economic slumps, and any number of leading economists have been pressing Washington to act on that obvious fact. Instead, though, Congress has been doing the opposite by cutting spending -- most dramatically with sequestration. 

It’s too late for Tonisha Howard, the mother of three in Milwaukee who was fired for leaving work to be with her hospitalized two-year-old. And forFelix Trinidad, who was so afraid of losing his job at Golden Farm fruit store in Brooklyn that he didn’t take time off to go to the doctor—even after he vomited blood.