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Early this week, the Montana State Senate took a shot at out-of-control U.S. trade policies when it overwhelmingly passed (44-6) a resolution calling on Congress not to renew the President's "Fast Track" trade promotion authority. That fast track power gives the President the ability to...
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Pharmaceutical companies
spend $11.4 billion each year on marketing. Much of that is spent on
salespeople, known as "detailers", who visit doctor's offices to pitch
the latest drugs, in order to increase prescriptions for their
company's products-- usually at the expense of older,...
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Over a dozen groups have
filed protests against a plan by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to
open up the top of Colorado's Roan Plateau to leases for drilling,
which could be put up for bid as early as November. Oil and gas drilling already takes place on the plateau, but federal land managers...
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The United States, having largely invented the Internet, is becoming a global also-ran in deploying high-speed Internet broadband for its citizens. The dirty secret is that US federal policy is a debacle, a massive failure that has left most American families with access to relatively...
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Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania sued the Bush Administration
this week claiming they failed to adequately regulate emissions of
mercury and other pollutants at older cement plant kilns. Last
December, the EPA announced
new...
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While President Bush and Congress
duke it out over funding and reauthorizing the State Children's Health
Insurance Program, states are moving forward with universal kids
coverage.
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Concerns that new voter identification rules are discouraging voter
turnout, especially by voters in communities of color, is proving
justified, new research shows. A report prepared for the federal
Election Assistance Commission finds that in states with voter ID
requirements, such as forcing...
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If you want to know how cuts in education and social programs proposed
in President Bush's budget are likely to effect your state, check out this state-by-state analysis prepared by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.
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Stop the presses. Instead of receiving ridiculous tax breaks and
taking home obscene amounts of money tax-free, big oil may actually be
asked to pay its fair share of taxes for once.
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One of the most politically challenging, and politically assailable,
decisions a legislator can make is a vote increasing legislative pay.
Yet, with legislative pay a mere pittance in most states, increasing it
is necessary to prevent wealth from becoming a prerequisite to
hold public office.
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If states won't raise the revenue needed for local needs, the least
they can do is let those cities and towns tax themselves. At least
that's the proposal by Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick, who this week proposed eliminating some of the restrictions
that prevent Boston and other towns from...
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When you hear the term "smart growth" what comes to mind?
Anti-sprawl? Open-space preservation? Often overlooked in discussions of smart growth policies is the need
for affordable housing as a key component of growth planning.
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