How Many Jobs Are There?

Progressives usually trace income inequality back to policy from Republican administrations, but it seems to go back much further than anyone realizes.

Erik Hare
By Erik Hare

Income inequality is finally getting the attention it deserves.  New York Mayor Bill de Blasio ignited the imagination of the city running against it, but his focus is even larger. “This inequality problem bedevils the entire country,” he said in his inaugural address. “It is not just a moral outrage, it is a horrible constraint on economic growth

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Study: America’s Public Pensions Are Even Deeper In Debt Than Previously Thought

Some funny bookkeeping practices mean that cities like Detroit face an even deeper public pension funding crisis.

Frederick Reese
By Frederick Reese

Thousands of Detroit’s police officers, firefighters, garbage collectors and other municipal workers face a future without promised compensation and even more uncertainty moving ahead. In the wake of Detroit’s unprecedented July bankruptcy filing -- making the city the largest in the United States ever to seek bankruptcy protection -- an argument

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The 182 Percent Loan: How Installment Lenders Put Borrowers In A World Of Hurt

World Finance, a billion-dollar company, peddles installment loans, a product that often drives borrowers into a similar quagmire of debt.

Paul Kiel
By Paul Kiel

One day late last year, Katrina Sutton stood at a gas pump outside Atlanta and swiped her debit card. Insufficient funds. But that couldn't be. She'd been careful to wait until her $270 paycheck from Walmart had hit her account. The money wasn't there? It was all she had. And without gas, she couldn't get to work. She tried not to panic, but

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Judges’ Lawsuit: Disability System ‘In Crisis’

Social Security’s disability program is overwhelmed by so many claims that judges sometimes award benefits they might otherwise deny just to keep up with the flow of cases, according to a lawsuit filed by the judges themselves. The Social Security Administration says the agency’s administrative law judges should decide 500 to 700 disability cases a […]

Associated Press
By Associated Press
A stack of bills is shown in the Jan. 24, 2012 picture. (Photo by 401 (K) 2012 via Flikr)

Social Security's disability program is overwhelmed by so many claims that judges sometimes award benefits they might otherwise deny just to keep up with the flow of cases, according to a lawsuit filed by the judges themselves. The Social Security Administration says the agency's administrative law judges should decide 500 to 700 disability

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Warren Being Considered As Possible 2016 Presidential Candidate

Frederick Reese Progressives are currently holding out hope that Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) will challenge former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) for the 2016 Democratic nomination for president of the United States — even though neither of the women have announced interest in the nomination. Progressives and liberal Democrats’ concerns over the president’s seemingly […]

Frederick Reese
By Frederick Reese

Frederick ReeseProgressives are currently holding out hope that Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) will challenge former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) for the 2016 Democratic nomination for president of the United States — even though neither of the women have announced interest in the nomination. Progressives and liberal

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Opposition Grows Fierce To Austerity Cuts In Portland

On April 11, more than 400 people packed the third public Portland Budget Hearing, which was organized by the City of Portland and which left many spilling out beyond the room where the hearing took place. More importantly, for the City Council there was an unexpected critical outpouring from the vast majority who attended. For […]

Mark Vorpahl
By Mark Vorpahl

On April 11, more than 400 people packed the third public Portland Budget Hearing, which was organized by the City of Portland and which left many spilling out beyond the room where the hearing took place. More importantly, for the City Council there was an unexpected critical outpouring from the vast majority who attended. For the first time, the

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