On paper, at least, Texas is well-prepared to meet the water needs of its rapidly expanding population — even when Mother Nature lays down a harsh and lengthy drought. The price tag on the plan: $53 billion. State money allocated: $1.4 billion. If there were funds, Texas would be able to build the dams, reservoirs,…
Category: News & Opinion
Most States Experience Significant Rise In Levels Of ‘Deep Poverty’
The closer one looks at the Census data on American poverty, the more discouraging it becomes. It was already known that the national poverty rate climbed to 15.1 percent last year, the greatest percentage since 1993, and that the actual number of Americans living in poverty had hit 46.2 million, the highest number…
10 Suburbs With The Highest Poverty Rates: Census
Suburbs have long been associated with white picket fences and manicured lawns. But for many living in suburbia today, the reality is much bleaker. This month, it was reported that 15.1 percent of Americans live below the poverty line last year, the high level since 1993. And while the majority of the 46.2…
Solyndra Executives Refuse To Testify At Hearing : NPR
Top executives from a bankrupt California solar energy company have declined to testify before a congressional hearing investigating their half-billion dollar government loan. Solyndra CEO Brian Harrison and the company’s chief financial officer, Bill Stover, both invoked their Fifth Amendment right to decline to testify to avoid self-incrimination. Harrison told the House Energy…
Bachmann proposes to eliminate all taxes
At Thursday night’s Republican presidential debate, Rep. Michele Bachmann R-MN proposed the elimination of all taxes, but then added that the government did need some money to run.“You earned every dollar, you should get to keep every dollar that you earned,” the candidate said. “That’s your money, that’s not the government’s money.” via Bachmann proposes…
Republican Debate Audience Boos Gay Soldier Stephen Hill After DADT Repeal Question VIDEO
Of course, the big news of the exchange will once again be about an audience reaction. After Fox cut back from the clip of Hill, several members of the audience were heard, in a shocking demonstration of disrespect for one of our soldiers, lustily booing him. Very sad. via Republican Debate Audience Boos Gay…
Republicans Decrying ‘Job Killing’ Green Energy Agenda Have Sought Green Jobs For Their Own Districts
In dozens of letters obtained by The Huffington Post, the lawmakers, led by Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), argue convincingly about Department of Energy funding going to their favored projects, often touting the job-creating potential of numerous endeavors. The issue erupted earlier this month when reports broke that the bankrupt solar manufacturer Solyndra, which…
Poverty an invisible issue in GOP race
When the U.S. Census Bureau reported last week that a record number of people were living in poverty, Republicans were quick to attach the figures to President Barack Obama, desperately trying to lay them at his feet. But anyone with common sense knows that someone doesn’t just fall into poverty overnight. The deplorable…
Infrastructure Funds Benefit More Than The Economy[audio]
A number of U.S. mayors have been in Washington this week for meetings at the White House and on Capitol Hill. Their message: We need help. Oklahoma City Mayor Mick Cornett was in the group from the U.S. Conference of Mayors. And he was the sole Republican. Cornett talks to David Greene about the needs…
The insurance industry gets bullish on health-care reform
As the Wall Street Journal reported Sunday, individual policies make up only 1 to 2 percent of CIGNA’s current revenue; most profits come from employer-based insurance. But the health reform law makes the individual market newly lucrative: The CBO projects that, by 2019, the number of Americans buying their own insurance will double. So Tuesday,…
New Study Finds That There Is Actually Less Crime Near Medical Marijuana Dispensaries
A new study from the Rand Corporation finds that there is actually less crime near medical marijuana dispensaries in Los Angeles as opposed to other areas of the city, where the researchers conducted a rigorous examination of crime trends. via New Study Finds That There Is Actually Less Crime Near Medical Marijuana Dispensaries |…
Wonkbook: Can the new Obama get anything done?
The smart money is still on nothing big getting done this year or next. In Washington, the smart money is almost always on nothing big getting done this year or next. But it’s not at all clear that the chances of something big getting done are lower under the White House’s confrontational strategy…
GOP mayors like Obama’s jobs plan. GOP governors don’t.
Republicans in Washington have little love for President Obama’s jobs plan and his proposal to pay for it. But the president may find a warmer reception from Republicans governing on the local level. The U.S. Conference of Mayors–a bipartisan national group for mayors of major cities–has openly embraced the American Jobs Act, with key Republican…
Obama jobs bill still waits for action in the Senate
Senate Democratic leaders have said for days they could not take up the president’s proposal until they resolved ongoing legislative battles with Republicans over funding for highway construction, the FAA, FEMA and a bill to keep the government operating into the new fiscal year, which begins October 1. However, they also admitted they…
What if the Secret to Success Is Failure?
Levin had also spent many years trying to figure out how to provide lessons in character to his students, who were almost all black or Latino and from low-income families. At the first KIPP school, in Houston, he and his co-founder, Michael Feinberg, filled the walls with slogans like “Work Hard” and “Be Nice” and…
Obama White House: ‘Compromise By Necessity’ Phase Is Behind Us
And so, as the administration enters the next stage of deficit reduction talks, it’s doing so with its chest notably puffed out. “It is fair to say we’ve entered a new phase,” White House communications director Dan Pfeiffer told The New York Times on Monday. “The popular narrative is that we sought compromise…
Union reps lawsuit seeks to remove Detroit schools emergency manager
Union employee Robert Davis filed a lawsuit Monday in an effort to remove Roy Roberts, the emergency manager for Detroit Public Schools, because he did not take the oath of office before he started working in the position.While the lawsuit is asking the removal of the leader of the state’s largest school district…
Wonkbook: No compromise from Obama
Now let’s look at what’s not in President Obama’s deficit plan: There are no cuts to Social Security. There’s no rise in the Medicare retirement age. Instead, the headline policy is so-called the “Buffett rule,” a tax reform principle that holds that millionaires should not pay lower tax rates than their secretaries. Moreover,…
Google chairman on economy: ‘The current strategy is ludicrous’[video]
Christiane Amanpour’s Sunday interview with Google chairman Eric Schmidt is attracting an unusual amount of notice. Mike Allen excerpted it in Playbook, and Kevin Drum asked, “Why don’t more CEOs talk like this?” If you watch the clip, you’ll see why: it’s a refreshingly clear and analytical take on what’s holding back American business. via…
Why Obama’s black critics are wrong
What is one to make of this critique? First, it should not be at all surprising. Black America is ideologically diverse, just like other communities. Moreover, as I document in “Sellout: The Politics of Racial Betrayal,” there exists in black America a special anxiety about the loyalties of high achievers, especially when their…