Center for Economic and Policy Research

The Minimum Wage Is Not a Living Wage

Thom Hartmann | Posted 04.04.2012

Read More: Minimum Wage, Wages, Federal Minimum Wage, Health Care, Center for Economic and Policy Research, Money News

Economies grow when working people have money in their pockets -- not when the super-rich are given trillions of dollars in tax cuts and are expected to trickle that money down to the rest of us. It's time to put in place a real living wage that a family can actually live on.

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Killing Pensions to Benefit the 1 Percent

Lee A. Saunders | Posted 03.13.2012

Read More: American Enterprise Institute, Jason Richwine, Heritage Foundation, Andrew Biggs, Center for Economic and Policy Research, Retirement, Rupert Murdoch, Pensions, Wall Street Journal, Income, Afscme, AFSCME Union, Treasurer Lee A. Saunders, Business News

Rupert Murdoch's Wall Street Journal, the Pravda of the 1 percent, is at it again, continuing its push to gut the retirement security of millions of middle class workers across the country.

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Why Wall Street Transactions Should Be Taxed

New York Times | NANCY FOLBRE | Posted 10.24.2011

Read More: Casinos, Gambling, Taxes, Eurozone, Wall Street, Stocks, Center for Economic and Policy Research, International Monetary Fund, Bonds, Chancellor Angela Merkel, President Nicolas Sarkozy, Securities and Exchange Commission, Business News

Most of us pay state and local sales taxes on most things we buy, and most casino gambling is subject to state taxes ranging from up to 6.75 percent i...

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Republicans Give Trillions to Health Insurance Companies

Ethan Rome | Posted 07.03.2011

Read More: Budget Cuts, Affordable Care Act, Budget, Cepr, Health Insurance, American Dream, Seniors, Paul Ryan Budget, Koch Brothers, Federal Budget Deficit, Center for Economic and Policy Research, Health Care Reform, Koch Industries, Medicaid, Medicare, Health Care, Paul Ryan, Politics News

If the Republicans have their way and privatize Medicare, it will put millions of seniors at the mercy of health insurance companies and force them to pay $39 trillion more for Medicare coverage than they would under existing law.

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Millennial Generation Has Its Own AARP To Lobby For Jobs And Deals

HuffingtonPost.com | Andrea Stone | Posted 05.25.2011

WASHINGTON -- One in six are unemployed, more than any other adult age group. They carry an average of $24,000 in student debt. And one in 10 have bee...

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The F Word: The Violence of the Broken Economy

Laura Flanders | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Taxes, Pay, Wages, Retirement, Economy, Wage, Tucson, Recession, Jobs, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Tax Rate, Grit Tv, Rick Hayduk, Labor, Unemployment, Laura Flanders, Loughner, Grittv, New York Times, Center for Economic and Policy Research, Unions, American Dream, Politics News

A lot of people have talked this week about violent political rhetoric bringing the U.S. to a fever pitch, but there's something else keeping people o...

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Tunisian Protests Move Hillary's Line on Democratic Reform

Robert Naiman | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Center for Constitutional Rights, Center for Economic and Policy Research, Tunisia, Hillary Clinton Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, Maxine Waters, Saul Alinsky, Organization of American States, Haiti, Egypt Protests, World News

Popular protest can bring down the government in an Arab country. Who knew? It's a whole new ballgame. You think today's events in Tunisia are going to affect conversations in Algeria and Egypt? Maybe even in Haiti?

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Rep. Maxine Waters Calls for New Elections in Haiti

Robert Naiman | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Haiti Elections, Maxine Waters, Center for Economic and Policy Research, Organization of American States, Foreign Policy, Haiti, World News

To fail to act in the interests of the majority of Haitians, with the argument that a new election would be too costly, would be "penny-wise, pound foolish." It's worth $30 million to protect $11 billion.

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The Right Wing Myth on Public Employee Pay

Amy Traub | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Political Economy Research Institute, Public Employees, Labor, Center for Economic and Policy Research, Unions, Public Workers, Economic Policy Institute, Politics News

In reality, there is no pampered public sector elite to blame for public budget woes: elected officials should face the facts and admit to the sacrifices they're asking working people to make.

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For Mother's Day, Hope for Work-Life Balance and Workplace Flexibility

David Gray | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: American Enterprise Institute, Fair Labor Standards Act, Work-Life Balance, Center for Economic and Policy Research, Mother's Day, Work Life Balance Award Act of 2010, House Worker Protection Subcommittee, White House Forum on Workplace Flexibility, Business News

President Obama's White House Forum on Workplace Flexibility could create incentives for business policies that help mothers, and all Americans, find more work-life balance.

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Congress Needs to Listen to the Voices of Real People -- Not Sound Bites

Deborah Weinstein | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Workforce, Children, Jobs, Politics, Recession, Unemployment Insurance, Medicaid, Congress, Wages, H.R. 4213, Coalition on Human Needs, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, Low-Income, Mark Zandi, Unemployment, Tanf, Center for Economic and Policy Research, Economy, Politics News

Yesterday the Coalition on Human Needs sent out an alert asking people to call their congressional representatives in support of a bill that will exte...

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Hollywood: Wall Street's Next Betting Ground

Mother Jones | Nick Baumann | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Investing, Wall Street, Center for Economic and Policy Research, Economy, Blockbusters, Cantor Fitzgerald, Mortgage-Backed Securities, Dean Baker, Business News

If you thought the mortgage-backed securities and other complex financial instruments that crashed the economy were risky, you'll love Wall Street's l...

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A Call to Arms for Civil Rights Activists

Fred Redmond | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: George Bush, Dr. Martin Luther King, Bill Clinton, Unemployment, Wall Street, Great Recession, Civil Rights, Usw, Foreclosure, United Steelworkers, Center for Economic and Policy Research, Day of Service, Justice Department, Politics News

I challenged USW civil rights committee members to shield the downtrodden in society, to aid those felled by the current economic crisis, to serve as their brothers' and sisters' keepers.

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Requiem for the Bailout Storyline

Norman Solomon | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: James K. Galbraith, Robert Reich, Wall Street Crisis, McClatchy Newspapers, Economy, David Brooks, New York Times, Institute for Policy Studies, $700 Billion Bailout, Congress, News Media, Economic Stimulus, Center for Economic and Policy Research, President Bush, Dow, Dean Baker, Media News

Recent events should not be allowed to obscure the reality that the news media played a pivotal role in stampeding the country into a bailout that was unwise and unjust.

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