Media

Evidence keeps coming in that the culture war is winding down. Most recently, according to Politico:

More than 80 of the nation’s most prominent Republicans — including top officials of all recent Republican administrations and presidential campaigns – on Tuesday came out publicly in favor of a constitutional right to gay marriage in a brief to be filed this week with the Supreme Court.

Today, the Supreme Court heard argument in Shelby County, Alabama v. Holder, a case challenging the constitutionality of Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Brenda Wright, Vice President for Legal Strategies at Demos, released the following statement:

>>> Blog: The Voting Rights Act Should Survive <<<

While much of the country’s attention is focused on the need for job growth, a new report to be released Monday, March 4 by national public policy organization Demos reveals the ways in which the use of credit history in hiring acts as a significant barrier to employment and may lead to discriminatory hiring practices, particularly for people of color and the long-term unemployed.

Young adults are pulling back on credit-card debt for similar reasons, said Amy Traub, a senior policy analyst at Demos, a public policy research organization. It found that Americans age 25 to 34 cut their credit card debt in half between 2008 and 2012.

All around them, young adults are seeing signs of financial distress -- job insecurity, foreclosures, high college costs. That's making them think twice about applying for loans, she said.

What's problematic about the RATE Coalition's arguments is that it doesn't acknowledge basic facts about U.S. corporate taxes. 

For the third consecutive year since the Great Recession, corporate profits soared in 2012. The FDIC report on fourth quarter 2012 bank earnings, released today, shows banks earning near-record highs. The headline numbers from the report are shocking.

Despite bans on the practice in 15 states, payday loan companies have thrived, finding a powerful ally in major banks like JP Morgan Chase and Wells Fargo. That is the finding of the Pew Charitable Trusts in the second edition of their Payday Lending in America series.

Despite only being 35 years old, it might be time to retire the 401(k).

The 401(k) started out as a tax loop hole to supplement workers' savings and has grown to become Americans’ main retirement savings tool.  But many baby boomers are finding their retirement in tatters and aren’t able to leave the workforce due to grossly inadequate savings.

In 2002, law professor David Yamata suggested that "[l]egal actions by a few bold individuals could trigger a more widespread awareness of the legal plight of student interns." Mistreated interns now have their own book-length expose' and are indeed suing employers in the fashion,