A government shutdown next week would jeopardize the paychecks of more than 800,000 federal workers who could be told to stay home. More than 2 million other employees who are deemed essential by the government - including the active military - would be entitled to their salaries but might not get paid on time ( Read more... )

Oregon may have solved the student loan crisis
Debt-free higher education plan is like "an inverse of Social Security"

Last week Congress allowed the interest rate on subsidized federal Stafford student loans to double from 3.4 percent to 6.8 percent. This was just the latest in a series of indignities for students, whose debt burden has ( Read more... )

In general, US public opinion is trending liberal. Not that you'd know it from state legislatures bought by conservative dollars

The laws and bills emerging from many of America's statehouses are farther to the right than they've ever been. But the population overall continues to trend moderately leftward. How to explain this growing divergence ( Read more... )

So far, the much-dreaded “sequester” - some $85 billion in federal spending cuts between March and September 30 - hasn’t been evident to most Americans ( Read more... )

The President's proposal to cut the social safety net may someday look as retrograde as Clinton signing DOMA

President Obama reportedly is unveiling a budget using the chained CPI inflation measure to cheat elderly Americans out of the benefits they were promised. In two previous posts I’ve explained the perversity of the current debate about ( Read more... )

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( A federal grand jury charged a former Missouri state representative Tuesday with illegally drawing Social Security disability payments while serving in the General Assembly )

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The recession didn't gut the prospects of American young people. The Baby Boomers took care of that.

By Stephen Marche


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INDSTROM, Minn. - Ki Gulbranson owns a logo apparel shop, deals in jewelry on the side and referees youth soccer games. He makes about $39,000 a year and wants you to know that he does not need any help from the federal government ( Read more... )