Ohio is a referendum state; PA is not. More than likely, if some PA voters want a new program, end an old one or just update, they must go through their lawmakers.
What makes one employee worth $10 an hour and another $15 an hour?
There is nothing natural about the fast food industry paying $10 or less to employees. It is simply that there is no industry wide force working on behalf of workers.
How Mergers Damage the Economy
NEW YORK TIMES EDITORIAL: In many industries, like airlines, telecommunications, health care and beer, mergers and acquisitions have increased the market power of big corporations in the last several decades. That has hurt consumers and is probably exacerbating income inequality, new research shows. A recent paper by two economists, Jason Furman and Peter Orszag, says […]
LETTER: Pennsylvania budgetary crisis
Urge the readers to contact elected officials and ask them to adopt a budget or at least a continuing resolution.
A Mass Migration Crisis, and It May Yet Get Worse
NEW YORK TIMES: …There are more displaced people and refugees now than at any other time in recorded history — 60 million in all — and they are on the march in numbers not seen since World War II. They are coming not just from Syria, but from an array of countries and regions, includingAfghanistan, […]
Arbitration Everywhere, Stacking the Deck of Justice
NEW YORK TIMES: On Page 5 of a credit card contract used by American Express, beneath an explainer on interest rates and late fees, past the details about annual membership, is a clause that most customers probably miss. If cardholders have a problem with their account, American Express explains, the company “may elect to resolve […]
Top deputies question Kane’s ability to remain on the job
PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER: …”We think immediate changes are necessary,” wrote First Deputy Attorney General Bruce Beemer, along with the office’s three top lawyers: Lawrence Cherba, who heads the criminal law division; Robert A. Mulle, who oversees the civil law section; and James A. Donahue 3d, who presides over the public protection unit. On Thursday, Beemer and […]
Philadelphia Daily News struggling to survive as an entity
According to Bob Fernandez, a source deemed reliable, Terry Egger, publisher of the Philadelphia Inquirer and Daily News says they will merge their newsrooms to save $5 million to $6 million per year.
EU Votes to Protect Edward Snowden
CNN: The European Parliament voted Thursday in support of a resolution that calls on member states to protect Edward Snowden from extradition. The vote, which has no legal force, was 285-281. The resolution urges nations to drop criminal charges and “consequently prevent extradition or rendition by third parties, in recognition of his status as whistle-blower […]
Memo from deputy hints at revolt in attorney general’s office
PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE: ….[Attorney General Kathleen] Kane, in an email to reporters, contended that she was within her rights to release the emails between a Northumberland County judge, his lawyers, two reporters and a former state prosecutor because they were no longer private after they were “captured” by an Office of Attorney General server. “That statement […]
Bernie Sanders: “The time is long overdue for us to remove the federal prohibition on marijuana”
Right now, marijuana is listed by the federal government as a Schedule One drug, meaning that it is considered to be as dangerous as heroin. That is absurd. In my view, the time is long overdue for us to remove the federal prohibition on marijuana. In my view, states should have the right to regulate marijuana the same way that state and local laws now govern the sale of alcohol and tobacco. And among other things, that means that recognized businesses in states that have legalized marijuana should be fully able to use the banking system without fear of federal prosecution.
Insiders: Bush bombed, Rubio won
POLITICO: …The former Florida governor was a ghost for most of Wednesday’s GOP presidential debate – and when he spoke up, he was swiftly and effectively counter-punched, most notably by Marco Rubio. As a result, he lost the opportunity to lift his sagging campaign, say insiders surveyed for a special edition of the POLITICO Caucus, […]
Rubio, Cruz Take on Liberal Media at Debate
NEWSMAX: …”This is not a cage match,” [Ted Cruz] began. “How about we talk about the substantive issues the American people care about?” “Nobody believes the moderator will vote in the Republican primary. It shouldn’t be about tearing into each other.” Leading up to the question, Cruz recounted some of the questions asked earlier in […]
Herpes affects two-thirds of people under 50, WHO says
GUARDIAN: Two-thirds of the world’s population under 50 have the highly infectious herpes virus that causes cold sores around the mouth, said the World HealthOrganization in its first estimate of global prevalence of the disease… HSV-1 normally causes mouth ulcers rather than genital infection, but it is becoming an increasing cause of genital infection too, […]