News and views, October 26, 2009:
Jeff Madrick, free-market myth-buster: There is no example of a major rich nation in the world whose government is not a leading agent of change, growing economies, creating jobs and producing prosperity. | AFL-CIO blog
Working parents frozen out of childcare: As budget problems worsen, states are tightening rules for childcare subsidies, eliminating enrichment programs, raising fees for parents and providers, and halting new subsidies. | USA Today [Editor's Note: Since the bulk of Washington's early learning funding is federal, when the budget axe falls next year it will very likely either reduce quality, limit access or cost parents more. Stay tuned.]
Just average: Washington’s taxes in middle of the pack: New federal data ranks Washington 26th nationally in state and local taxes as a percentage of personal income, and 32nd highest in property taxes. | Seattle Times
The incredible shrinking estate tax: The estate tax is only a faint shadow of its former self. In 2009, less than one-quarter of one percent of deaths—just 5,500 decedents—will leave taxable estates, the smallest percentage since at least the Great Depression. | Tax Policy Center
A scary path to women’s equality: “Die childless at thirty”: “[F]or women the easiest path to equality is to die childless at thirty, when their wages are nearly as high as men’s. …After that, two different patterns emerge: the glass ceiling and the maternal wall.” | MomsRising blog
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