NEW YORK TIMES: NEAR THE ISRAEL-GAZA BORDER — The curved concrete top of the tunnel grazes the dark-brown buzz cut of Lt. Col. Oshik Azulai, putting it 5 feet and 7 inches above the sand floor. The walls are about 30 inches apart — wide enough for two people to squeeze past each other, unless […]
Month: July 2014
State election law restricts voters’ choices
In the signature review process, courts may require the minor party to provide a small army of volunteers or staff to be present, for work that can take weeks.
Gains Seen for Medicare, but Social Security Holds Steady
NEW YORK TIMES: Medicare’s financial condition improved significantly in the last year, thanks in part to the Affordable Care Act, but the outlook for Social Security is basically unchanged, the Obama administration said Monday. If Congress makes no change in existing law, officials said, Medicare’s hospital insurance trust fund will be exhausted in 2030, four […]
A third of Americans delinquent on debt
USA TODAY: More than a third of the country is in trouble when it comes to paying debts on time; 35% of Americans have debt in collections, according to a study out Tuesday from the Urban Institute, which analyzed the credit files of 7 million Americans. That means the debt is so far past due […]
Yukos ruling adds to Russia isolation
FINANCIAL TIMES: The Kremlin came under intense pressure on Monday after an international tribunal ordered Russia to pay $50bn damages to former shareholders of the Yukos oil company, as the EU and US prepared to ramp up sanctions over Moscow’s role in the Ukraine crisis. A panel in The Hague made the biggest compensation award […]
Capitolwire: Plenty of ideas to address payday lending, little consensus.
Under Corman’s plan, annual interest rates would be capped at 28 percent, compared to 18 percent in Better Choice. Instead of a $500 maximum, loans could be as large as $2,000. Sikorski also said the proposal doesn’t include the mandatory savings deposit. Lenders could charge a “maintenance fee” of as much as five percent a month on the unpaid debt.
CNN Poll: Mitt Romney beats Obama, Loses to Hillary
NEWSMAX: …But the CNN/ORC International survey also shows that Romney would be trounced by former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton if he changes his mind and decides to run again for the White House, CNN reported. Romney would receive 53 percent of the popular vote compared to 44 percent for Obama, but is beaten by […]
LETTER: Rep. Sturla’s statistics are irrelevant and misleading
[Representative Mike] Sturla is a perfect example of the old saying ” Numbers don’t lie but liars use numbers”.
Obama’s 2nd term travails: A lame duck before his time?
USA TODAY: …In his State of the Union address, delivered precisely six months ago Monday, [President Barack] Obama outlined a scaled-down agenda for his sixth year in office, acknowledging the difficulty of passing legislation in a gridlocked Congress and vowing to use “the pen and the phone” to get things done. Now even those circumscribed […]
Understanding world from a dental chair
In addition to a half-dozen comely assistants, Dr. Mong’s suite includes one room where an entire wall is a map of the planet. Sit in that chair and think about world issues.
US Drug Policy and the Border Child Immigration Crisis
This is a complicated problem with no easy solutions and a lot of different suggestions. Whether prohibition and US drug policies have played a key role or only a supporting one, it does seem clear that, at best, they have not helped. At worst, our drug policies in the region have increased violence and corruption in the region, enriching the worst — on both sides of the law.
Twenty years after the facts, NYT harrumphs “Repeal Prohibition, Again.”
We reached that conclusion after a great deal of discussion among the members of The Times’s Editorial Board, inspired by a rapidly growing movement among the states to reform marijuana laws.
Corbett’s pension plan is filled with ‘false’ savings: Mike Sturla
It was spelled out in the Act 120 pension reforms that were enacted by the legislature in 2010, but instead of budgeting for those obligations, he provided $2 billion in corporate tax breaks and waited until now to claim a pension “crisis” in order to slash worker benefits as a “solution.”…
Wolf: Wealthy Should Pay More To Cut School Taxes
Wolf’s goal would be to raise the state’s share of public school costs to 50 percent. That’s a shift of several billion dollars a year. It currently pays about one-third, while property taxes shoulder more than 40 percent…