Raising the minimum wage to $10.10 an hour would increase the price of a $16 product at Walmart, such as the typical DVD, by just a cent if all of the extra costs were passed on to consumers, according to an analysis by an economist for Bloomberg News. [...]
This week, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York offered continuing evidence of the student debt crisis. Outstanding student debt again topped $1 trillion in the fourth quarter of 2013, making it the second-largest pool of debt in the nation behind mortgages. This has tripled in just a decade, as higher-education prices increased faster than medical costs, up 500 percent since 1985.
The odds that Republican House Speaker John Boehner will allow a vote on raising the minimum wage remain as low as ever, but some large retailers are already raising the wage on their own initiative. On Wednesday, clothing chain Gap Inc. announced it would be raising its base wage from $9 to $10 per hour next year, directly benefiting as much as 72% of its hourly workforce.
Last I checked, we lived in a populist moment: Americans deeply distrust large institutions such as government, corporations, and banks. The public's distrust of concentrated power also extends to the news media, with Gallup polling showing that over half of Americans have little or no trust in the media's ability to report news fairly or accurately. Trust in the media actually hit an all-time low in 2012.
The good folks at Demos, led by the redoubtable Liz Kennedy, have produced yet another study, this one outlining strategies to roll back the laws passed out in the country aimed at restricting the franchise of groups of people that conservatives and Republicans would rather not have voting, thank you very much.
Walmart currently does not support raising the federal minimum wage. However, considering the company's lackluster performance over the past few months, perhaps it's time to take a stand.
Voting is the bedrock of our democracy. In a government of, by and for the people, casting a ballot is the fundamental means through which we all have a say in the political decisions that affect our lives. Yet today, without substantial interventions, the freedom to vote is at great risk.
Ohio is not new to voter suppression. In fact, the swing state might be considered a vanguard, considering its calamities during recent election cycles.
CRANSTON, R.I. — Local residents joined the ACLU of Rhode Island today to sue the City of Cranston, charging that the 2012 redistricting plan for the City Council and School Committee violates the one person, one vote principle of the U.S. Constitution by counting incarcerated people in their prison location as if they were all residents of Cranston.
In the last four parts of this series, I have discussed the problems of our current student loan system, the potential for an income-based repayment system, and the difficulties of a graduate tax. This leaves us with another proposal: universal free undergraduate public higher education. [...]
Walmart is denying a Bloomberg report that said the nation's largest private employer is considering supporting an increase in the minimum wage.
"We are not at all considering this," Walmart spokesman David Tovar told The Huffington Post Wednesday afternoon, just after Bloomberg published the story. [...]
The NVRA was intended to make voter registration widely available at agencies serving the public, and is an important tool for modernizing voter registration. Ensuring compliance with NVRA requirements increases voter registration rates, particularly among low-income populations. Expanding the number of designated NVRA agencies can further expand the reach of voter registration opportunities. Congress enacted the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) in 1993 with the goal of making voter registration more convenient and accessible.
States should modernize registration procedures by allowing eligible voters to register to vote and update their registrations online.
Online registration saves states and localities money.
Registration rates among young voters increase with online registration.
These days, bank transfers, credit card transactions, and even medical record storage all happen online. These transactions are not only complicated but also highly sensitive, yet technology has managed to evolve to ensure the transactions are safe and secure, as well as convenient.
A person’s voter registration should remain valid when he or she moves within the state.
Centralized statewide voter registration databases are essential to provide portable registration.
Permanent and Portable registration helps narrow participation gaps among young people, people of color and lower-income Americans.
Twelve percent of Americans change their residence every year.1 Between 2011 and 2012, 22 million voting-age Americans moved either within the same county or to a different county within thei
Eligible 16 and 17 year olds should be pre-registered to vote and automatically added to voting rolls when they turn 18.
Targeted outreach to young eligible voters leads to substantial increases in voter registration.
Encouraging civic engagement at a young age leads to increased participation over a lifetime.
In the 2008 election, young people voted at the second-highest rate of all time.1 Voter turnout among 18-24 year olds grew by double digits from 2000 to 2008.
Third party voter registration drives are a critical component to ensuring eligible voters are registered.
States should permit third party registration drives without restrictive limitations.
Boards of elections should provide materials on voter registration to registration drives.
The National Voter Registration Act substantially increased the number of places where eligible voters could register. Now, voter registration is available at motor vehicle offices, public assistance agencies, and various other sites.
Early voting allows eligible voters more time to review issues and cast their ballot.
Early voting can increase voter participation.
States should expand early in-person voting locations and adopt no-excuse permanent absentee voting.
In a representative democracy like ours, the more people that vote, the stronger our democracy becomes. Given this truth, our voting procedures should provide the flexibility to accommodate every eligible person who wants to cast a ballot.
States should provide uniform poll worker training before Election Day to ensure Election Day runs smoothly.
Polls workers should receive a uniform wage across the state.
Poll worker recruitment should target public employees and high school and college students.
The formula for a well-run polling place is not complicated. At the heart of it, a sufficient number of properly trained poll workers is necessary to smoothly run an election process.
Ballot design should be simple and straightforward to ensure voters understand for whom and for what they are casting their votes.
Ballots should be written in clear, plain language.
Ballot design should focus on the ABCs: Accuracy, Brevity and Clarity.
It seems almost too basic to have to state that the ballots used for voting must be simple and straightforward. Yet, past experience has shown that ballot confusion is common and can have disastrous consequences.
