September 2, 2010
Latino voters blame both parties for stalling immigration reform
It’s hard to find fault with them for doing so.Though Democrats are seen as generally more willing to pass common-sense reform (and less likely to block it), a plurality of voters thinks both parties are stalling.
On the specific issue of immigration reform, congressional Democrats have the edge among the Latinos surveyed when it comes to being seen as working for passage. More than 32% credit Democrats for that, compared to 15.5% who said they saw Republicans doing so.
Democrats also were seen by a smaller percentage — 14.3% — as opposing or trying to block immigration reform, compared to 34% who said Republicans were.
But slightly more than 38% of those surveyed said …
Top of the morning
Jim Horn at Schools Matter is justifiably fired up about the latest move by the Gang of Five on the Wake County Board of Education to dismantle the system’s diversity policy. And he doesn’t mince any words.
Instead of following the advice of the consultant they hired to present a plan for “controlled choice,” the Tea Partiers on the panel have chosen the most divisive and unfair of the four options on the table. Is anyone surprised?
It does make you wonder. Whatever happened to the apparent willingness to listen to Michael Alves, the creator of the Controlled Choice model?
September 1, 2010
See how competing tax proposals would affect you
Would your taxes be lower under President Obama’s proposals to extend the middle class tax cuts, or under proposals to extend all of Bush’s tax cuts, including those for the wealthy?
Here’s a tool that can answer that question. The answer might surprise you (or not, if you’ve paid attention).
The Estate Tax: Bring it Back Now
Of all the ways taxes can be levied, the estate tax might just be the most sensible and fair.
It’s a tax on wealth, not on income, and it can provide funding for vital public investments while having almost no supply-side problems. Besides that, the rates for the tax have traditionally been quite low, much lower than income taxes.
Unfortunately, the estate tax was allowed to expire at the end of last year.
We’ve been making the case for why we should bring it back for a while now. Today’s Wall Street Journal has a very compelling editorial about why Congress should restore the tax in August — for either deficit reduction or public investment, either of which would be medicine …
NCAE: Millions welcome, but serious shortfall looms (video)
In recent weeks, North Carolina’s Department of Public Instruction has received $700 million from the federal government. The first $300 million was to help protect teachers from layoffs this school year. The next $400 million will be used to turning around low-performing schools as part of the Race to the Top initiative.
In some ways the money is both a blessing and a curse.
Sheri Strickland, president of the NC Association of Educators, says there are concerns that some will see the federal windfall as a reason to withhold state funds from public education next year when North Carolina’s budget shortfall is expected to exceed $3 billion. And while the federal money has helped stabilize public education, Strickland maintains it …
Late Lunch Links
You might remember the post I did a while back about oddsmakers making book on the 2012 Presidential election. In the six weeks since, the betting line has moved. President Obama is — surprisingly — even more of a favorite to win than he was in July, being offered at -140 now.
Even more surprising, to me at least: Sarah Palin is no longer the favorite among Republicans. Mitt Romney has rocketed past her and is now being offered at +650 compared to Palin at +900.
Oddsmakers underestimate the impact of Romney’s Mormonism among conservative voters, I think. Especially when evangelicals like Richard Land can show up at Beck’s rally and still pitch bigoted nonsense about …
For the thousands who have been handed pink slips in this recession, landing new jobs are supposed to offer relief and a way back to financial stability. But that may not necessarily be the case. The New York Times offered this sobering take today on the changing job market, reporting that many of the available and new jobs out there are paying less than what the middle-income workers that took the biggest hits in the recession were earning. The accompanying graphic offers a great visualization of this, using data from the National Employment Law Project, and showing that some of the lowest-paying industries (administrative, waste management, manufacturing, etc. with hourly wages of $8 to $21) are the ones that have …
You might say “this is altogether unsurprising,” and you’d be right. My favorite bit of cognitive dissonance these days comes from people who believe CEOs have to get multi-million dollar “golden parachutes” built into their contracts, or else companies won’t be able to attract the most talented people — but state workers shouldn’t get decent pension plans, because those cost money.
Jobs may be out there, but they’re not really paying
CEOs who lay off the most workers make the most money
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- With apologies to Tennessee Ernie Ford…
- New oil rig disaster spawns interesting headlines
- Fixing Medicaid for the better
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