Aside from the political challenges, some saw the Americans Elect process for nominating candidates as too long and rigorous: Its website has hundreds of pages of bylaws, rules, committee pledges, candidate pledges, elector applications and briefing books. Becoming a verified supporter of a candidate proved so challenging that the site’s leading contender, former Louisiana Gov….
Author: TRP
The end of fish, in one chart
Between 1950 and 2006, the WWF report notes, the world’s annual fishing haul more than quadrupled, from 19 million tons to 87 million tons. New technology — from deep-sea trawling to long-lining — has helped the fishing industry harvest areas that were once inaccessible. But the growth of intensive fishing also means that larger and…
Sophomoric? Members Of Congress Talk Like 10th Graders, Analysis Shows
Georgia Republican Rep. Rob Woodall registers the second-lowest grade level: 8.01. An example of Woodalls speech: “What do they say about socialism, Mr. Speaker? Its a great plan until you run out of other peoples money. Guess what? Weve run out of other peoples money. I just want to show you a chart.” Thats five…
The 1 Percent Solution
Nick Hanauer is the kind of innovator and venture capitalist expected to power the country’s next wave of growth. So why does he insist that only the fading middle class can rescue America? SOURCE: Jim Tankersley – NationalJournal.com. The middle class incubates entrepreneurs because it offers a good combination of time, resources, and motivation to invest…
DCCC Posts Big April Fundraising Haul
The DCCC has posted boffo fundraising figures in recent months, often outraising their partisan counterpart, the National Republican Congressional Committee. A DCCC spokesman said this was their “best April in history.” By comparison, the DCCC raised just under $3 million in April of 2006, a year in which they took control of the House, according…
U.S. slaps tariffs on Chinese panels. Is this the end of cheap solar?
On Thursday, the Commerce Department ruled that China’s solar manufacturers are engaged in “dumping” — that is, they’re selling their panels for below-market rates in order to drive their competitors out of business. In response, the Commerce Department has slapped a 31 percent tariff on imports of silicon photovoltaic cells from China. That’s on top…
Republicans Likely Renege On Their Pledge To ‘Replace’ Obamacare
The GOP’s internal disagreement and unwillingness to offer a unified comprehensive plan suggests that they consider health care a low legislative priority. For instance, Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) — the GOP’s spokesman on economic issues — told the Washington Examiner on Thursday that the party will “articulate our vision” to replace the law, but wouldn’t…
The American Middle Class, Income Inequality, and the Strength of Our Economy
The research for this project began with a series of interviews and a national conference with leading U.S. economists to learn their views about the mechanisms through which income inequality and the strength of the middle class affect economic growth and economic stability. This paper summarizes what we have learned from these conversations, alongside our…
House and Senate Unanimously Reject Obama Budgets — Or Do They?
While the Sessions and Mulvaney bills put forward the same topline numbers as those in the president’s budget, neither offered any specifics. The Sessions legislation was 56 pages long; actual budgets are closer to 2,000 pages long. Thus, a White House official said, the Sessions proposal was a “shell that could be filled with a…
Why So Many Ph.D.s Are On Food Stamps
With the economic troubles of the past few years, it’s no surprise that the number of people using food stamps is soaring. The U.S. Department of Agriculture reports that an average of 44 million people were on food assistance last year; that’s up from 17 million in 2000. What might be surprising, though, is one…
Debt Ceiling Debate Is Revived In Washington[audio]
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner warned on Tuesday that the U.S. will likely hit its debt limit sometime before the end of the year. At the same event in Washington, House Speaker John Boehner promised that any increase in the nation’s debt ceiling would have to be accompanied by corresponding budget reductions. SOURCE: Debt Ceiling Debate…
Insurers Face $1 Trillion Revenue at Stake in Health Law
Health insurers will gain $1 trillion in new revenue over the next eight years under the 2010 health- care law, assuming it’s upheld by the Supreme Court, according to a Bloomberg Government study. The amount is equal to about one-half percent of the nation’s estimated gross domestic product from 2013 to 2020, and insurers led…
America’s Future Under ‘Drill, Baby, Drill’
The promise of abundant oil jobs was dangled before us as an incentive—despite the fact that clean energy industries were some of the only sectors to show strong growth at the height of the Great Recession, and 3.1 million jobs in the United States were associated with the production of green goods and services in…
The American Community Survey Is Under Attack
Last week the GOP-led House of Representatives voted to end the American Community Survey, or ACS, the Census Bureau’s annual study of U.S. socioeconomic conditions. The largely party-line vote defied the advice of conservative think tank experts, the interests of the business community, and, most critically, common sense. Data from the 21-page questionnaire are used…
Why isn’t Obama getting crushed right now?
Obama is the incumbent. The economy is growing at a moderate pace. There’s no serious third-party challenge. We’re not losing massive numbers of soldiers in a foreign war. And when you look at those fundamentals, the reality is this: Incumbent presidents very, very rarely lose under those conditions. I recently had to study this fairly…
Wind-Generated Energy Is Working Well For Us in Iowa
The wind-power industry is an American success story that is helping us build our manufacturing base, create jobs, lower energy costs and strengthen our energy security. As a country, we should support energy diversity and development of all domestic resources, creating an “all of the above” energy strategy. To that end, our state and national…
Tea Partiers Backing Scott Walker May Run Afoul of IRS
Tea Party Patriots could prove to be a formidable force in Wisconsin given the size of its fundraising machine; Martin recently bragged that the group raised $12 million last year. And that could be problematic. As a nonprofit group, TPP is banned from devoting the bulk of its resources to campaign activities—those resources are supposed to…
Charter School Lobby Group Quits ALEC Two Days After Being Identified By Republic Report
NACSA worked closely with ALEC to promote charter schools. As we’ve reported, ALEC legislation allows for-profit charter school companies to siphon tens of millions of taxpayer dollars. In many cases, the ALEC-authored legislation provides for unproven online school companies to administer the charter schools. A few hours ago, NACSA released a statement announcing that it…
Record-setting 2012 warmth largely confined to North America, western Europe
In March, high temperatures over two-thirds of the continental US set numerous records and made it the nations warmest March on record. April has been no slouch either, as high temperature records have continued to fall. But at the time of our last report, the services that track global temperatures hadnt analyzed the global extent…
Global push to guarantee healthcare coverage leaves U.S. behind
Even as Americans debate whether to scrap President Obamas healthcare law and its promise of guaranteed health coverage, many far less affluent nations are moving in the opposite direction — to provide medical insurance to all citizens. China, after years of underfunding healthcare, is on track to complete a three-year, $124-billion initiative projected to cover…