Media

The Census data released today reinforces that reducing poverty should be a national priority. The headline? From 2010 to 2011 official poverty rate remained flat at 15%. That's better than many analysts expected, but it's still a pressing problem.

If insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result, the House GOP is insane. Last February, an article in Bloomberg Businessweek highlighted that since the Solyndra bankruptcy last year:

Even beyond voter ID, the rightwing plans on exercising extralegal, but not necessarily illegal, measures to suppress the vote in 2012. Bullies at the Ballot Box, a new report released jointly by Demos and Common Cause, surveys the state of the laws of ten states: Colorado, Florida, Missouri, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas and Virginia.

A study by Demos, a liberal research center, found that a median-income couple that invested in 401(k)’s for 40 years with fees averaging 1.6 percent a year would achieve $354,850 in assets at average savings rates, but only after paying $154,794 in investment fees.

READ: The Retirement Savings Drain: Hidden & Excessive Costs of 401ks

The scrutinization of True the Vote, and their voter-stalking Tea Party co-signers across the nation, is growing. Today, Common Cause and Demos released a report called “Bullies at the Ballot Box” that raises awareness about groups determined to challenge voters at the polls, even at risk of intimidating voters. Says the report:

ST. LOUIS (KMOX) – Missouri makes a list of ten states at risk for “voter bullying,” in a report released by the voting rights groups Common Cause and Demos.

Missouri is at a higher risk for bullying this year but it's not at school. Missouri has made a list of ten states at risk for voter bullying this election year. Missouri made the list because it is expected to have some highly contested races.

NOW that some sunshine is being shed on 401(k) expenses, it’s time to see how you can improve returns by lowering the costs of the middlemen.

It seems like everyone agrees that reforming the tax system is a good idea. Progressives don't like how today's Swiss cheese tax code mainly helps the affluent, while conservatives don't like how our tax system picks winners and losers. Typical filers complain about the complexity of taxes -- indeed this is a bigger gripe among Americans than how much they pay.