Media

Back in March, I wondered why states would willingly lose hundreds of millions of dollars annually to Internet sales tax. After all, the amount of money left on the table is staggering:

In a presidential campaign of substance, one great question that the candidates -- and nation -- could debate is this: How much does economic success stem from individual initiative and talent, versus the collective support offered by society?

If individuals are all-important, smaller government and fewer public supports might make sense. But the opposite is true if it is society that structures opportunity.

WASHINGTON – Unlimited outside spending fueled by a small number of wealthy donors is poised to have an outsized impact on the 2012 elections, according to the latest campaign filings.  

This Thursday August 2nd at 11am, national public policy organizations Demos and U.S. Public Interest Research Group (PIRG) will hold a press call to announce the major findings from the new report “Million-Dollar Megaphones: Super PACs and Unlimited Outside Spending in the 2012 Elections.” 

A new report released this morning by Senator Harkin, “ For Profit Higher Education: The Failure to Safeguard the Federal Investment and Ensure Student Success,” would be the final nail in the coffin for for-profit colleges.

One of the main arguments against the Keystone XL pipeline is the damage that would be done to surrounding areas in the case of oil spills, particularly to sensitive environmental areas like the Ogallala aquifer. And, it turns out Keystone's opponents are right to be worried.

It's hard to read statistics about how much most Americans have in retirement savings without seeing that this country is heading toward a major social crisis. As a new study by Senator Tom Harkin noted on Friday:

Half of all Americans have less than $10,000 in savings, and nearly half of the oldest Baby Boomers are at risk of not having sufficient retirement resources to pay for basic retirement expenses and healthcare costs.

It's no secret that many large employers pay near-poverty wages even as they rake in record profits. They get away with this thanks to a weak labor market and even weaker unions, which now speak for less than 8 percent of private sector workers.

The newest GDP release shows an increase of 1.5 percent in the second quarter of 2012, down from a 1.9 percent growth in the first quarter and three percent growth in 2011. But, as Demos continually asks in our Beyond GDP work: What exactly is GDP measuring?