News and perspective on public policy issues affecting Washington's economy and quality of life, brought to you by the Economic Opportunity Institute.
Interested in re-election in 2014? You can pack your bags for home if you vote for the chained CPI. It doesn’t matter what party: if you are a Democrat, the Republican candidate will hammer you for cutting Social Security. And if you are a Republican, the Democratic candidate will hammer you for cutting Social Security. […]
My grandmother was born in 1907 and died in 2008 – just a few months shy of her 101st birthday. My grandfather died in 1971. For those 37 years of her widowhood, Social Security was all of Grandma’s income, except for $50 a month she received from my grandfather’s pension. Her Social Security benefits weren’t […]
By Robert Kuttner, from The American Prospect: Once again, President Obama seems to be on the verge of folding a winning hand. Widely leaked reports indicate that the president and House Speaker John Boehner are making a fiscal deal that includes hiking tax rates back to the pre-Bush levels with a threshold of $400,000 rather […]
In the 1950s and 60s, the American middle class grew from the “middle out” thanks to government policies encouraging education and home ownership. There was also plenty of demand for American-made goods, as much of Europe’s manufacturing base had been destroyed during WWII. Times weren’t good for everyone – most notably African Americans, Japanese Americans, […]
