AFSCME Information Highway

Source: Consumers Union, Press Release, May 1, 2008

Proposal Offers Important Protections for Consumers But More Safeguards Needed To Rein In Abusive Practices

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The Federal Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS) announced today that it has approved for public comment a proposed rule to prohibit savings associations from engaging in certain unfair and deceptive practices. The proposed rule offers important new protections for credit card consumers, but more safeguards are needed, according to Consumers Union, nonprofit publisher of Consumer Reports.

See also:

Office of Thrift Supervision, Press release

Rule summary

Posted by Info Center at 5:37 PM in Finance | Permalink

Source: Sherry Glied, and Bisundev Mahato, Commonwealth Fund, Volume 37, May 2, 2008

From the overview:
Employer-sponsored insurance coverage forms the backbone of the U.S. health insurance system, yet there are crucial weaknesses that have contributed to a growing number of uninsured Americans. Ultimately, the lack of employer-based coverage generates public costs in the form of taxpayer bills to fund public insurance or uncompensated care programs for care that would otherwise be paid for through insurance. This report quantifies those costs, using data from the Medical Expenditure Panel Surveys to estimate public program spending and uncompensated care costs for uninsured workers and their dependents. In 2004, uninsured and publicly insured workers and their dependents accounted for $45 billion in public costs. This includes $33 billion associated with public program insurance costs and $12 billion in uncompensated care costs. Public costs associated with uninsured and publicly insured workers and their dependents were 45 percent greater in 2004 than in 1999. All costs are reported in 2004 dollars.

See also:

The Widening Health Care Gap Between High- and Low-Wage Workers

Congressional Testimony--Widening Gaps in Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: The Need for Universal Coverage

Posted by Info Center at 5:34 PM in Health Care | Permalink

Source: Bruce Katz and Margery Austin Turner, Brookings Institution, Opportunity 08, April 24, 2008

From the summary:
Despite the fact that one-third of all Americans--representing 36 million households--live in rental housing, rental policy often takes a back seat to home-ownership policy in Washington. To ensure that low- and moderate-income Americans can afford rental housing, Bruce Katz says that the next president needs to help supplement incomes through tax credits, empower local governments to expand and preserve the supply of affordable housing and deal with the subprime mortgage crisis.

See also:

Position Paper
Fact Sheet

Posted by Info Center at 5:32 PM in Housing | Permalink

Source: Brookings Institution, Opportunity 08, April 28, 2008

From the summary:
On April 28, the Brookings Institution's Opportunity 08 project hosted U.S. Transportation Secretary Mary Peters for a discussion of America's transportation infrastructure. Secretary Peters focused on the challenges facing the nation's transportation network, and how local, state and national leaders can take advantage of new technology and approaches to unleash a new wave of transportation investments in this country.

Watch the video

Posted by Info Center at 5:29 PM in Infrastructure | Transportation | Permalink

Source: Sam Pizzigati, Apex press, 2006

From the press release:
America's richest 1 percent now holds more wealth -- over $2 trillion more -- than America's entire bottom 90 percent. Might America need a 'maximum wage'?

FDR once thought so, and so does Sam Pizzigati, the veteran labor journalist whose new Greed and Good makes vividly clear why inequality remains our nation's most crushing burden.

Posted by Info Center at 5:27 PM in Income Inequality/Gap | Permalink

Source: Kim Rueben and Carol Rosenberg, Urban Institute, April 14, 2008

From the abstract:
State and local revenues have been relatively stable over the last 30 years, growing from 13.5 percent of GDP in 1972 to 16.3 percent in 2005. However, as shown in the table, the composition of revenues has changed, with property taxes declining from 25.6 percent of revenues to only 16.6 percent. Much of this decline occurred in the 1970s.

Posted by Info Center at 5:26 PM in State & Local Finance | Taxation | Permalink

Source: Robert Reeves and Pamela Villarreal, National Center For Policy Analysis, Brief Analysis No. 615 April 25, 2008

The popularity of 401(k) plans has grown in recent years. According to the Employee Benefits Research Institute, almost two-thirds of employers offer such plans and millions of employees now contribute to them. These defined contribution plans allow workers to set aside part of their earnings in tax-deferred retirement accounts that are invested in stock and bond funds. A worker can begin to withdraw funds from the account without penalty at age 59 and one-half. All contributions, as well as accumulated dividends and interest, are subject to income tax when the funds are withdrawn.

Posted by Info Center at 5:22 PM in Retirement | Permalink