The Truth About Climate Change Politics
Like a bad penny that keeps showing up, former Vice President Al Gore chose Earth Day and the issue of global warming to make his first serious public attack on the Bush Administration since Campaign 2000.
Colgan: Social Security Reform Critical for Women
Critics of reforming Social Security have begun charging that investment-based reform of Social Security will shortchange women.
NCPA: Lung Association Report Full of Hot Air
In its annual "State of the Air" report, the American Lung Association (ALA) is expected to assert tomorrow (May 1, 2002) that "more than 142 million Americans live in areas where the air they breathe puts them in risk.
Reality Czech
The Czech Republic survived four decades of communism. Now it's facing a different kind of centralizing power, the European Union.
Negotiating With The Executioner
Ever since Israel's military incursion into the West Bank to root out those responsible for the recent spate of bombings and to possibly prevent future attacks, the international community has demanded that Israel withdraw its forces and renew peace negotiations with Yasser Arafat.
PAT Answers
The day after the first Earth Day, the New York Times foresaw "intolerable deterioration and possible extinction" for the human race as the result of pollution. We were "in an environmental crisis," according to biologist Barry Commoner. "Civilization will end within 15 or 30 years" unless we take immediate action, Harvard biologist George Wald predicted.
Analyzing the 2002 Social Security Trustees Report
Is Social Security in financial trouble? If you believe a press release issued by the Trustees of the Social Security and Medicare Trust Funds, the answer is no. If you go to the fine print of their annual report, however, the answer is a resounding yes.
401(k) Reform: Doing It the Right Way
401(k) retirement savings plans have been popular over the past three decades. However, the Enron debacle and the recent stock market slump are spurring Congress and the Bush administration to propose changes in the law. Wise reform could lead to higher returns and safer portfolios for the vast majority of workers. On the other hand, unwise reforms could induce employers to drop these plans altogether.
The Wage Gap Myth
Tuesday, April 16, 2002, is Equal Pay Day – the day on which many organizations protest wage discrimination between men and women. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the median income for all women is about three-quarters that of men, although the results vary significantly among demographic groups. Feminist organizations and some politicians point to these statistics as evidence of the United States as a patriarchal society that discriminates against women. But a closer examination leads to a different conclusion.
Benjamin Netanyahu
Former Prime Minister of Israel
Flattery Will Get You Everywhere
Tax time again, and Americans who pay income taxes are sharing a couple of familiar complaints: We are paying too much in taxes, and the tax code is infuriatingly complex.
The Taxing Reality of the Modern Woman
The major elements of the tax system, from the personal income tax law to the payroll taxes that are deducted every month, were put into place during an era when most women, certainly most mothers, were not in the workforce. That is no longer the case. Today, 70 percent of all married women, and 60 percent of mothers with children under the age of 6, work for wages. Yet the tax laws are biased toward single-earner households in which only one spouse works.
Social Security Penalizes Women Who Work, Pay Taxes
While Social Security is ideal for married women who stay home, it penalizes women who work and pay taxes.
Colorblindness Is Golden
When America's best symphony orchestras evaluate potential musicians, the candidates audition "blind"; they play their instruments behind a screen so the auditioning committee does not know the musicians' race, sex or appearance but only hears the quality of their performance. Auditions are thus an honest meritocracy, and better symphonies are the result.
Single-Payer Health Care By Any Other Name Is Still A Monopoly
Over the past decade, self-appointed health care advocates have talked a lot about health care reform in America, ranging from issues such as a patients' bill of rights to reign in HMOs to the plight of the uninsured.