POLITICO: W.H. Escalates Budget War
The post-election budget wars suddenly felt closer Wednesday, as the White House threw down the gauntlet on appropriations and House Republicans voted to shift tens of billions of dollars from poverty programs to help stave off automatic cuts threatening the Pentagon in January.
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POLITICO: The Fight For 'The Persuadables'
Upscale, college-educated white voters and the blue-collar working class are on opposite ends of the economic spectrum. Their political interests often clash. They don’t always support the same candidate.
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THE NEW YORK TIMES: U.N. Chief Says Syria Is Failing To Adhere To Peace Plan
Despite the Syrian government’s failure to send a “clear signal” that it will implement a peace plan, the United Nations has proposed sending 300 cease-fire observers to Syria for at least three months — with two high-level meetings about the crisis on Thursday due to focus on the mission.
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THE ASSOCIATED PRESS/NEWS-PRESS: Judge Quits In Trayvon Martin Shooting Case
The Florida judge presiding over the Trayvon Martin shooting case removed herself Wednesday after the attorney for defendant George Zimmerman argued she had a possible conflict of interest that related to her husband.
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REUTERS: Jobless Data Suggests Slowdown In Job Creation
The number of Americans claiming unemployment benefits for the first time fell only slightly last week, dampening hopes of a pick-up in job creation in April after March's slowdown.
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THINK PROGRESS: Study: 8.3 Million Children Affected By Foreclosure Crisis
Millions of Americans have been slammed by the decline in housing prices and the foreclosure crisis that followed the 2008 financial collapse, but a new report from First Focus and the Brookings Institution shows that there is one group of victims that has largely been ignored.
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THE HUFFINGTON POST: Biblical Literalism, Secularism And American Politics (OPINION)
One needn't agree with Sullivan's devout conclusion, that we should "follow Jesus but forget the Church," to feel concern about how such troubling perspectives weigh on American society and politics.
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THE WASHINGTON POST: Two-Paycheck Couples, Working Because They Must
Instead of fighting a phony mommy war over what Hilary Rosen said about Ann Romney, we should face the fact that most families these days cannot afford to have one parent stay home with the kids. This is not about “lifestyle” or “values.” This is an economic struggle highlighting yet again the social costs arising from decades of stagnating or declining wages and growing income inequality.
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MOTHER JONES: Will Obama's New Rules Make Fracking Better For The Planet?
The Obama administration took a heavy swing in the ongoing battle over fracking today by imposing new rules that would, for the first time, restrict the release of smog-causing pollutants from natural gas wells. But the law turns a blind eye to greenhouse gases released by fracking; the EPA admits fracking accounts for 40 percent of the nation's overall methane (an even stronger greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide) emissions.
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SALON: 21st Century Chain Gangs
Sweatshop labor is back with a vengeance. It can be found across broad stretches of the American economy and around the world. Penitentiaries have become a niche market for such work. The privatization of prisons in recent years has meant the creation of a small army of workers too coerced and right-less to complain.
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