Media

One of the scariest moments of the 2008 financial crisis was the run on money market funds. It was a moment when, suddenly, many regular investors feared that their own cash could disappear into thin air -- along with the billions going poof at big firms like Lehman Brothers and Merrill Lynch.

There is such hysteria about the problems facing Social Security, that it's easy to forget a simple fact: Much of the program's shortfalls in future years will go away if we just raise payroll taxes. And, as it turns out, that solution is more popular with the public than cutting benefits.

This is the finding of a new AP/GfK poll released yesterday.

The ugliest presidential campaign I ever hope to see was the one George H.W. Bush waged against Michael Dukakis in 1988. Poppy Bush governed like a (relative) moderate, but in 1988 he campaigned like a hard-right bigot, relentlessly attacking Dukakis over an assault-rape committed by the convicted murderer Willie Horton, a very scary-looking African American, during a prison furlough (under a program created by Dukakis's Republican predecessor as Massachusetts governor). Say what you will about 41’s son and eventual successor, George W.

Camden, New Jersey, can't seem to catch a break. Fox News, of all outlets, broke the news yesterday that the city of Camden will disband its police department and transfer half the officers to a new non-union division. The move comes at the tail end of a long fight over workers salaries culminating in the city's action.

It's not often that we get a detailed look inside the tax strategies of a private equity firm, so Gawker's publication of a trove of documents related to Bain Capital is a welcome event.

The documents show -- once again -- how sophisticated business people have myriad ways to avoid taxes -- and, in the case of Bain anyway, will readily skirt or break the law.

Yesterday, California came one step closer to adopting a proven innovation that helps increase voter participation –Same Day (or Election Day) Registration.

Candidate campaigns and outside spending groups have nearly a third more influence over narratives around presidential candidates' characters than they did just 12 years ago. Journalist influence has shrunk by nearly half.

Here’s what happens when partisan politics takes over policy making: a thriving industry comes to a screeching halt. In 2011, the wind industry was responsible for over 30 percent of all electric generation capacity added. The 6,800 megawatts added was a 31 percent increase over 2010 and lifted the total wind power generation in the U.S. to 50 gigawatts, enough to power 13 million homes.

New York State has a chance to move from the back of the class on campaign finance regulation to star pupil status by enacting a small donor match public funding system. State leaders discussed the value of such a system, and the differences it could make in the lives of New Yorkers, at a forum yesterday afternoon hosted by Governor Cuomo, the New York State Democratic Committee, the Center for American Progress, and Third Way.