Media

It’s a pleasure to drive the roads of Vermont.  This mountainous state, which still enjoys a strong agricultural sector, outlaws billboards.  So do Alaska, Hawaii, and Maine.  Drive into neighboring New Hampshire to experience the difference. 

The economic analysis of the impact of Hurricane Sandy is a perfect example of the flaws of GDP and our over-reliance on it as a metric of progress. Just like with Hurricane Irene, there will be some GDP growth from Sandy-- spikes in consumption as people stock up on batteries, food supplies, water, etc., and spikes in construction work after the hurricane. This growth will be countered by the loss in productivity and output.

With millions of Americans struggling to recover from Sandy, few people question that government has a central role to play in rebuilding battered communities in New Jersey and other states.

Heather McGhee makes the case for the National Popular Vote and universal registration.

In a surprise move for a right to work state On October 23, the Broward County Commission in Florida passed the Wage Recovery Ordinance, a victory for workers and workers rights advocates in Florida, and an encouraging sign for similar groups around the country including Michigan and Illinois. Opponents maintain that there are already sufficient laws in place to protect workers against losing owed pay, and that the new procedures are merely extra, unwelcome bureaucracy. Supporters believe this law makes it even easier, and helps avoid court appearances. 

5. Will old-school voter intimidation and suppression come into play?

This refers to all the steps that have been taken by the GOP in recent years to complicate the voting process, discourage participation and scare off new voters.

The money is the story. The money is the only story. The money was not the only story ever since this campaign began, which was 15 minutes after the past one ended, but it became the only story on January 21, 2010, when the Supreme Court reversed a lower-court decision in the case of Citizens United vs. Federal Election Commission, thereby demolishing almost a century of state and federal laws aimed at controlling the system by which we finance our political campaigns.

A class action lawsuit was filed against Walmart in Chicago last week, alleging that Walmart cheated its part-time and temporary workers of earnings and deprived them of mandatory rest breaks by requiring them to come in early and work through their lunch breaks.  

Several developments in the past three years suggest that the case for upholding section 5 against constitutional challenge has been strengthened compared to the situation in 2009.