A Plan for Economic Security
Posted in Main Blog (All Posts) on August 5th, 2010 4:32 am by HL
A Plan for Economic Security
Katrina vanden Heuvel, Washington Post
Insecurity in America is on the rise — and was even before the Great Recession.The Rockefeller Foundation just released a study of economic insecurity in America, which was developed by Yale professor Jacob Hacker and measures harsh changes in circumstance: For example, it reveals how many Americans have been subjected to a staggering decline of 25 percent of “available household income,” either from loss of income or sudden, unanticipated out-0f-pocket medical costs, and how many were without the savings to buffer the damage. Brutal losses such as these take six to eight years to…
Rangel, Waters & a House of Entitlement
Ruth Marcus, Washington Post
WASHINGTON — My favorite part of the ethics report on Charlie Rangel involves his efforts to “close” a $10 million gift “to create AIG Hall” as part of the Rangel Center at the City College of New York.Yes, that AIG. Receive news alertsAt a meeting in April 2008, the New York Democrat, then the chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, “asked AIG, at least twice, what was necessary to get this done,” according to the report. The insurance giant wasn't so sure about writing the check, citing the “potential headline risk.”When AIG — the…
Help Us Plug Hole in the Border, Mr. President
Dever & Babeu, AOL News
It was with harsh words that the Obama administration condemned BP for its responsibility in the gulf oil spill, which thankfully has been stemmed for now. The president's subsequent demand for a moratorium on offshore oil drilling showed he took the environmental disaster seriously.As the oil gushed out of the broken pipe in the bottom of the gulf, the public was outraged and all hands were on deck to “plug the hole.” Why is it, then, that a similar flood, with national security implications, is met with such inaction by the federal government?
What Went Wrong With Obama?
Jay Cost, RealClearPolitics
Robert Reich had a thought-provoking piece in the Wall Street Journal yesterday. Unfortunately, his argument begins to fall apart two thirds of the way through. This is what Reich wrote:The real choice is between achieving what's possible within the limits of politics as given, or changing that politics to extend those limits and thereby more assuredly achieve intended goals. The latter course is riskier but its consequences can be more enduring and its mandate more powerful, as both Lyndon Johnson and Ronald Reagan demonstrated.So far, Barack Obama has chosen the former course….
