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What makes this change in policy most striking is the dismal policy
of corporate subsidies that it is (still too slowly) replacing. The
community organization, Good Jobs First,
has been the premiere chronicler of tax subsidy boondoggles handed out
to corporations by state and local governments,...
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While investments in high technology get a lot of attention, a
number of these new state government investment strategies are also
looking to revive areas devastated by deindustrialization and chronic
poverty. Around the world, "emerging markets" are hotspots for
investment, so many...
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Last week, the state of Maryland joined the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, a consortium of states -- now eight with Maryland's
membership -- that have committed to reduce emissions on four
pollutants and to reduce carbon dioxide emissions 10 percent by 2019.
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We've written before about the new 75-year lease of an Indiana
toll road to a Spanish-Australian partnership, and the bad deal for
taxpayers and democracy that it represents. The state's largest
consumer group filed a lawsuit yesterday saying that the deal was so bad that it violates the state...
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Looks like it's a bad idea to play "Let's Make a Deal" with Mitt Romney. The Massachusetts Governor vetoed the employer assessment
yesterday, a move that was expected to happen, but is still deeply
disappointing. What makes it even more distressing is that the employer
assessment -- a...
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At the core of many voters' frustrations with government is the sense
that, too often, politics is for sale. High-priced lobbyists offering
"gifts" to lawmakers swarm state legislatures; companies looking for
public contracts get too cozy with those handing out public money; and
corporate...
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Every Massachusetts resident will be required to have health
insurance by July 2007 -- with a combination of governments subsidies,
employer assessments and individual fines used to achieve that result
under legislation which was approved by the Massachusetts House and Senate on Tuesday.
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The corporate lobby scored a big victory in Florida last week, as the Sun Sentinel detailed:
The
Florida Senate gave final approval Thursday to a measure toppling a
centuries-old principle of civil law that will make it harder for
people to collect damages when they're injured in an accident...
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In states across the country, the far-right is pushing "TABOR" measures based on Colorado's now infamous spending cap. The Colorado model that capped spending increases at a rate equal to population growth plus inflation and that ratcheted down spending in recession years, is now being...
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The public is fed up. They know that every barrel of oil we import from
the Middle East helps regimes who don't share America's interest. Every
gallon of gas burned on America's roadways contributes to asthma for
children. And every time we import our energy, we're creating jobs
abroad instead of...
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Every state and local official should be paying more attention to the
global trade talks at the World Trade Organization, since local power
to regulate services such as health care, mass transit and a range of
other public services are on the chopping block.
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