In the past few years, there has been a disturbing push in a number of states toward limiting the right to vote and raising barriers to participation in democracy. Not in Connecticut. When it comes to ensuring an inclusive and fair democracy that guarantees every voice is heard, our state has been a real leader and taken important steps forward.
Sixty years ago, the key sectors of Americans society -- business, labor, and government -- often worked well together to grow the U.S. economy. CEOs understood that giving workers a fair of the wealth they created was good business, since it motivated labor to do its absolute best. Elected officials of both parties understood that government's role was to fan growth by building the public structures that undergird prosperity -- like state university systems and the Interstate Highway System.
If you’ve ever been there, it won’t come as a surprise that Montana leads the nation in wind energy potential. Most of the state's sites are in low population and rural areas that are well-suited for wind development because there is not the same level of objection to visual impact and the areas would benefit from economic development. To support its wind industry, Montana’s Renewable Portfolio Standard requires regulated utilities to purchase 15 percent of their electricity supply from renewable sources by 2015.
Massive fraud in the high-speed trading markets is escaping detection because regulators and exchanges are dithering on a powerful supercomputer to uncover the scams, The Post has learned.
And as retail investors begin dipping their toes back into stocks, now at record prices, the market watchdogs are asleep at the wheel.
Washington frets endlessly over the problems that Social Security and Medicare, both of which are projected to exhaust their trust funds in the coming decades, might cause the budget. But two new reports underscore the serious problems they might solve for the country.
Take Social Security. For years, pension experts have spoken of the “three-legged stool” of retirement savings: Social Security, employer pensions and private savings. In recent years, however, that stool has begun to wobble, and today, Social Security is basically the only leg holding it up.
An influential state lawmaker in North Carolina is launching an effort to make it harder for his state’s citizens to vote. It’s a development that should trouble voters, especially because North Carolina’s election process has been improving lately.
It's hard to say exactly why the labor market grew at such a tepid pace last month, adding just 88,000 jobs - not nearly enough to make a dent in the millions of unemployed or even keep up with population growth. Overall, though, it seems clear that consumers are still tapped out, with their incomes flat for years, and many of the new jobs being created lately are low-wage positions that don't leave people with much spending money.
This economy isn't out of the woods yet. Not by a long shot.
An influential state lawmaker in North Carolina is launching an effort to make it harder for his state’s citizens to vote. It’s a development that should trouble voters, especially because North Carolina’s election process has been improving lately.
Another month of weak job growth seems especially cruel after the greater-than-expected employment gains in February. But workers were already onto the trend, leaving the labor market in droves throughout March despite the anomaly of a statistical surge in hiring the month before.
NEW YORK, NY – In advance of the release of this month’s job figures, national public policy center Demos today issued a new report analyzing the lasting economic effects of youth unemployment.
Edwin Guzman already lost his job once for union-organizing. But today, he and several hundred fast food workers across New York City are on strike anyway.
The 5.6 million young adults who are willing and able to work but cannot find a job make up 45 percent of America’s unemployed workforce, while another 4.7 million are stuck in part-time jobs when they are seeking full-time employment, according to a new report from Demos. In total, the U.S. needs to add 4.1 million jobs for young workers — ages 18 to 34 — to return to pre-recession levels of employment.
Young adults are in a critical period of change and choices, as they confront the decisions that will pave the way to their futures. But the generation coming into its own in the aftermath of the Great Recession faces challenges that threaten to undermine even the best laid plans.
Even as the politicians in Washington -- of both parties, alas -- talk about cutting Social Security benefits, more evidence keeps piling up that tomorrow's retirees will have higher financial needs than today's seniors. While nobody wants to admit it, the truth is that we should be talking about how to increase Social Security benefits in coming years, not decrease them.
Last week, over 80,000 gallons of crude oil spilled from an ExxonMobil pipeline in Arkansas. Twenty-two homes were evacuated and the cost of cleanup will be high. So, who will foot the bill? ExxonMobil? Taxpayers? Unfortunately, the answer looks like it will taxpayers will pay for cleanup for a reason that we should be very concerned about as discussion continues over the Keystone pipeline.
A few weeks ago I wrote about a part-time employee at Urban Outfitters who went to work with the flu in New York City becase she didn't have paid sick time and couldn't afford to stay home from her job as a cashier. So, for eight contagious hours, she dealt with the public.
Nowadays, whenever Social Security comes up in policy debates around Washington, the discussion often focuses on how best to cut benefits in order to shore up the program’s finances.
A funny thing happened on Fox Business News last night, where I appeared on a panel to discuss President Obama's new initiative to map the human brain, spending $100 million next year to get started: Everyone on the show gave a thumbs up to the plan, including my two conservative co-panelists and the host.
That's the first time I've ever been on the same side as everyone else on Fox.
