Boosting the federal minimum wage would be great news for the workers who’d receive a higher paycheck. Not so much for those who’d be out of a job. That anxiety sums up much of the debate around increasing the minimum wage.
Andre Perry is 32 years old. He's a commercial photographer, lives in Brooklyn, and loves fashion. He's also black. A month ago, Perry was stopped at a subway station by an undercover officer with the New York City Police Department. He was interrogated about his two-finger ring, arrested, and charged with possession of a deadly weapon—"metal knuckles."
"I'm not saying those are your intentions, but you could hurt somebody with this," the arresting officer says in a video recorded by Perry on his cell phone.
Billionaire energy industry brothers Charles and David Koch are planning a 2016 campaign spending blitz that would easily eclipse previous outside political efforts, with the brothers and their political network poised to spend nearly $900 million to elect conservative candidates to Congress, the presidency, and state legislatures across the country.
The last two years of Obama’s presidency will largely be defined by his defense of key legislation: the Affordable Care Act, caps on carbon emissions and Dodd-Frank. While the broad shape of the first two battles is already known, the war on financial regulation, because of its abstract nature, will often be waged outside of the public eye.
To prepare for “snowmageddon,” Ana Navarrete stocked up on diapers Monday afternoon. She and her ex-boyfriend, Pedro Blanco, perused the baby aisle of a CVS drug store, having left their two-month-old son with a babysitter.
As the snow piled up on Hillside Avenue, Navarrete thought about her imminent commute. She works nights, 8 p.m. to 1 a.m., as a hotel maid on Long Island, about 25 miles east. She drives 60 minutes each way — much longer in the snow — for just $8.50 per hour, 25 cents below the state minimum wage. [...]
It’s been five years since the Supreme Court decided Citizens United, which allowed unlimited corporate money into the political system and increased the domination of democracy by the wealthy elite. Money has indeed overwhelmed the system since 2008.
If you're wondering why issues favored by a majority of Americans such as raising the minimum wage, gun control and net neutrality get scarcely any attention in the halls of Congress, the Citizens United case is the reason.
According to the analysis of Americans for Financial Reform, that’s the amount the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has returned to over 12 million Americans who have been harmed by the illegal, deceptive, and discriminatory practices of financial services companies. And the agency has only been around for three and half years.
For some in the financial services industry, that type of effective law enforcement is a problem.
Given that low-income households often don’t have the luxury of professional tax preparation, the tax system might be a particularly brutal delivery mechanism for them. Nowhere is this more apparent than how we currently subsidize the cost of college at tax time.
President Obama this week touted new ways to help students pay for college, but he also proposed stripping away a popular benefit: a significant tax advantage of college savings plans used by millions of American families.
Much of the buildup to President Obama’s State of the Union address made it sound as if he was going to read chapter and verse from French economist Thomas Piketty’s book, Capital in the 21st Century—you know, last year’s 700-plus page best seller, the one that was unexpectedly all the rage as it argued that vast economic inequality is as much about wealth (what’s owned) as it is about income (what’s earned). That one.
Five years ago this week, in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, the Supreme Court decided to allow unlimited amounts of corporate spending in political campaigns. How important was that decision? At the time, some said criticism of the decision was overblown, and that fears that it would give outsize influence to powerful interests were unfounded. Now, the evidence is in, and the results are devastating. [...]
(NEW YORK, NY) – Last night, the President’s annual State of the Union highlighted policy proposals and reforms the administration will pursue in the coming months. In response, Demos President Heather McGhee issued the following statement:
For too long these issues, and many others that would tackle inequality to ensure a thriving American economy, have been placed on the back burner due to two issues that the President touched too briefly upon: our unequal democracy and our racial divisions.
How would you fare with President Obama’s State of the Union middle-class economics proposals to “turn the page” if you’re 50 or older? It depends. [...]
The President’s focus on paid family leave in his State of the Union address and the week leading up to it is, in practical terms, a modest step forward. By requiring federal agencies to advance employees up to six weeks of paid sick leave when they have a baby, his memorandum issued last Thursday will directly strengthen the safety net under more than four million federal workers.
On the day before the fifth anniversary of Citizens United, the Supreme Court will hear arguments in Williams-Yulee v. The Florida Bar, which asks whether a rule that prohibits candidates for judicial office from personally soliciting campaign funds violates the First Amendment. At its core, the case raises the question as to what measures we will be permitted to take to protect the integrity of our justice system from the influence of big money.
Today, Obama will deliver the State of the Union address, which will focus on inequality, which he has previously called, “the defining issue of our time,” and which was recently highlighted by a proposal by Chris Van Hollen.
