Media

Looking at the corporate misconduct that led to last year’s terrible mining disaster in West Virginia, a few words spring to mind. And while "repugnant" might be an understatement, at least it’s printable.

Republican lawmakers in Minnesota have forced a government shutdown in that state by refusing to agree to any revenue increases at all to help close the state's $5 billion budget deficit. Governor Mark Dayton, in contrast, has offered a mix of steep spending cuts and a modest tax hike on high earners.

The historic financial reform law that President Barack Obama signed last July is more akin to an outline than a detailed regulatory mandate. It will only have teeth when numerous rules are written and oversight mechanisms are put into place. Getting the money for this work wouldn’t have been a problem if Democrats still controlled the House--but they don’t anymore.

Since we checked in last week, the Presidential candidates have solidified their support considerably for Rep. Jim DeMint's "Cut, Cap and Balance," a pledge to oppose raising the debt ceiling in the absence of fairly draconian spending cuts and a balanced budget amendment. The pledge also includes a mandate for a supermajority in both chambers for raising taxes, effectively making such actions impossible.

Insurers justify the use of credit screening for insurance purposes by pointing to internal industry data showing that, on average, people with lower scores are more likely to make an insurance claim. The problem is, they don’t have a convincing explanation for why people with poor credit tend to make more claims.

The shale gas industry has been booming in recent years, not only fueling growth in stated U.S. gas reserves, but also controversy over its environmental impact. Although high-volume fracking combined with horizontal drilling has allowed producers to get at hard-to-extract shale gas, many argue that the technique’s impact on the environment requires further study. Despite the environmental controversy, the industry still has plenty of supporters.

Preet Bharara, the U.S. Attorney prosecuting the insider trader cases, is quoted in a recent New Yorker article as saying that a lack of manpower was the reason that authorities hadn't prosecuted more people involved in the financial crisis: "If the well is dry," he said, "a thousand more people aren't going to get you water in that well." 

When Joseph Stiglitz and Linda Bilmes published a book entitled The $3 Trillion War, they were criticized by some academics and reviewers for inflating the costs of the Iraq war. Well, now it appears that the authors' figures may have been too low.

For Immediate Release
June 29, 2011

Alex Amend, [email protected], 212.389.1411
Anna Pycior, [email protected], 914.330.1103

Demos Has Published Numerous Reports on Negative Impact of Voter ID Legislation