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How Livestreamed Child Abuse Is Challenging How We Think About Online Privacy – TIME

“…Given the clandestine nature of this crime, accurate global statistics are hard to find. But extrapolating from limited empirical studies paints a grim picture. In 2013, four researchers from Terre des Hommes Netherlands posed as pre-pubescent Filipino girls on 19 different online chat forums. Over a 10-week period, 20,172 people from 71 different countries asked them to perform a webcam sex show.

“A report published last month by the IJM, Childlight East Asia, and the University of New South Wales surveyed 1,473 American men and found 4.1% admitted to engaging in sexually explicit webcam interactions with children and another 3.5% said they would if offered. That’s the equivalent of 1 in 13 respondents either having livestreamed sexually with a child or having such a desire…

“While law enforcement can search your home or wiretap conventional phone calls with a court warrant, no U.S. government agency can compel digital communications providers to directly listen to E2EE voice or video calls in real-time or access recordings. The FBI can only use legal processes to obtain extensive metadata and, in some cases, content stored directly on a device…

“Increasingly, governments are stepping in. The U.K. and Australia have rolled out Online Safety Acts making platforms legally responsible for protecting users from harmful content…But with nearly all the main apps owned by American companies, U.S. government action is critical for meaningful enforcement…”

Questions: Where there’s a will, there’s a way. What can Congress do to stop this? Is AI capable of tracking down both traffickers and users? Would stiffer penalties and a stronger commitment to policing make a difference?

Evidence of Diverging Spending Behavior by Income – Philadelphia Fed

Report on the Economic Well-Being of U.S. Households in 2025 – May 2026 – Federal Reserve

“A key measure of a person’s financial situation is whether they can afford to pay their regular bills. Sixteen percent of adults said they did not pay all their bills in full in the month prior to the survey, similar to 2024.30

“Low-income adults were particularly likely to struggle with monthly bills. In the month prior to the survey, 34 percent of adults with an income less than $25,000 did not pay all their bills in full, compared with 7 percent of adults with an income of $100,000 or more (table 19). Young adults, Black and Hispanic adults, and adults with a disability were also less likely to have paid all their bills in full in the prior month. However, the rate of bill payment for these demographic groups was generally unchanged from the prior year…”

Nurses’ AI pushback expands to new front – Becker’s Hospital Review

“…The objection centers on the precedent the codes set. Bedside nursing is one of hospitals’ largest labor investments, yet registered nurses have no standalone Current Procedural Terminology, or CPT, code; their work is folded into a hospital’s room charge rather than billed on its own. If the framework advances, AI would get a direct payment pathway nurses never have…”

Cheeky examples of how their pay is embedded in hourly rates can be obtained by asking AI how much nurses or personal care workers can be expected to be paid for cleaning a patient’s rear end.

Shrinking student populations cause spike in public school closures across US – msn/WaPost

“School closures have spiked 35 percent across the country over the past four years, propelled by a shrinking youth population and the end of covid-19 relief funds that had propped up education funding in some places. For the fourth year in a row, the number of school closures rose nationally last year, according to data from the National Center for Education Statistics released last week. Districts closed more than 1,000 schools in 2025-26, compared with 755 in 2021-22. And more closures are planned, including districts in Houston, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and Broward County in Florida…

“Nationally, federal projections indicate public school enrollment has already started to decline from its peak in 2019 and will continue to do so in coming years. From 2019 to 2031, schools were projected to lose nearly 4 million students. And those estimates were made before the Trump administration made changes to sharply curb immigration, further reducing the number of kids at some schools…”

What Declining Student Enrollment Means for Schools — and What States Are Doing About It – US Education Commission

EU companies: a ‘capitalism of rent’? – Michael Roberts

Some Qs: First, call in the accountants (to define terms)! This difference of opinion may be a case of “both” rather than “either or”. It’s possible that both “rent seeking” (profits derived from ownership and power) and lagging wages might factor into a decline in EU “competitiveness” and investment in productive capital. It would be interesting to see more discussion of how higher interest rates and degrees of market concentration impact investment in productive capital rather than financial speculation. Also, could an increase in monopoly power offset Marx’s theory that profits tend to go down – at least in the short run?

Tech has never been richer, but its work­ers feel unsettled – Press Reader/WaPost

“Waves of lay­offs, grow­ing pres­sure to auto­mate jobs cre­ate exist­en­tial panic”

“…Ruth Milkman, a labor sociologist at the City University of New York, said that technology workers are getting a dose of what workers in other industries have long complained about: jobs that feel unsteady or rob them of autonomy. ‘Low-wage workers are used to it,’ she said…

“What’s happening in Silicon Valley is a turbocharged version of the division in the American economy between superstars and everyone else. Superstar companies such as Google, Amazon and Meta won a concentrated share of their markets — and tech stocks have accounted for nearly half of the surge in the S&P 500 since the end of 2010, according to S&P Global Indices. Superstar cities, including in the Bay Area, generate far more economic output per worker and thrive relative to low-productivity ones. About one third of the total personal wealth in the United States is held by the top 1 percent of households, while the bottom half of Americans holds less than 3 percent, according to Federal Reserve data…”

Sunday, July 19, 2026

The Sower – Jean-François Millet

As college graduates fret over finding jobs, a record shortage of workers is projected – Jon Marcus/Hechinger Report

“…Among the trends that have been leading to this moment: a mismatch between the careers college graduates are pursuing and the kinds of jobs employers are struggling to fill. Far fewer students are majoring in health care fields than are needed to meet demand, for instance…”

CCSE work on this issue:

The US needs more workers and more kids: The time is coming for major immigration, workforce, and job training legislation

“To strengthen Social Security and our economy, invest in larger families. And bring in more workers.” – Statement of Karl Polzer – Senate Finance Committee hearing: The Future of Social Security

Americans in need are about to lose Medicaid — over paperwork, not eligibility – Washington Examiner

“Last summer, Congress passed the so-called One Big Beautiful Bill Act, or HR 1, which included approximately $1 trillion in Medicaid cuts over the next decade. The law also established strict eligibility provisions requiring many adults enrolled in Medicaid to verify at least 80 hours per month of employment, education, or volunteer service.

“These cuts will be especially detrimental to the nearly 14 million adult Medicaid enrollees with a diagnosed physical health condition and the 75% of enrollees who have one or more chronic health conditions. Under the new law, patients are required to regularly update their work status and eligibility information every six months, increasing the risk that eligible individuals will lose coverage because of paperwork errors, reporting issues, or difficulty navigating complex administrative requirements. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that more than 5 million people will lose Medicaid coverage because of the provisions included in HR 1…”

Timing of State Implementation of H.R. 1’s Medicaid Policies, Including Those Taking Coverage Away for Not Meeting Work Requirements – CBPP

The Democratic Establishment Had This Coming – rsn.org/NYT

“…In the contest of ideas unfolding in the Democratic Party, the progressives may go on to overreach, or lose important races for the party in key swing states. But the cautious centrists and center-left establishment politicians who have dominated the party for so long have failed. The sneering some of those elected officials have directed toward their own voters recently is a measure of their hubris, and an argument for still more competition. The Democratic base is finally prepared to take big risks on something bracingly different.”

Leave it party elites to come up with a 6-sylabble word (“affordability”!) as a war cry. Would “Shit pay! Shit prices!” be less opaque?

Follow up:

Michael Goodwin: Vance’s baffling statements on Israel & Epstein should disqualify him from 2028 GOP ticket – NY Post

Epstein linked to Israeli ‘deep state’, US intel, says Vance: What we know – Al Jazeera

Is Vance’s willingness to engage in a public discussion of Epstein’s links to the Israeli government a subtle way to establish some distance between himself and President Trump — whose name presumably would come up repeatedly if more Epstein files are released and analyzed? If Trump’s behavior becomes too erratic, it’s conceivable that Republican leaders might make a move to put Vance in the top spot in advance of the 2028 presidential election. Watch for passive aggressive comments that undermine the president as the vice president at some point might be asked why he kowtowed for so long.

China Is Sabotaging the World That Enables Its Rise – Foreign Affairs

“…If Beijing’s immediate problem is how to persuade the world to continue absorbing its excesses, its longer-term challenge is finding a path to prosperity that no longer depends on them. If the immediate question for the United States and Europe is how to regain control over their external balances and rebuild their productive economies, their own longer-term task is figuring out how to engage China in redefining its rise in a manner that is more compatible with a sustainable international order…”

China’s slowdown – Michael Roberts

“…China is not expanding domestically fast enough, even though real consumer spending has averaged over 6% a year since 2014 – hardly a snail’s pace as in the G7. However, it seems likely that the property bust is bottoming and local governments are beginning to deal with their debt overhang. And investment in new tech sectors is rocketing. So there is every reason to expect China to meet its current growth target of 4.5-5.0% this year.”

ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS FOR THE RECORD: Following Senate Budget Committee Hearing on
Social Security’s Finances – CBO

“Question (Sen. Grassley): Some advocacy groups argue that Social Security does not contribute to the national debt because benefit payments are tied to the program’s trust fund. What’s the truth? Does Social Security contribute to our debt and deficits?

“Answer: Social Security does affect unified federal deficits and unified federal debt held by the public, which is the measure of debt most relevant to economic growth and the measure CBO uses in its budget and economic projections…”

Related CCSE work:

Why Social Security’s big benefit cut won’t happen: The U.S. Treasury already is filling its funding gap: Legislative Choices for Paying Promised Benefits – statement to Senate Budget Committee (2023)

Center on Capital & Social Equity work on Social Security and retirement savings (updated June 2026)

Many Owners Cannot Afford to Maintain Aging Homes – Harvard JCHS

“…New analysis of the American Housing Survey (AHS) finds that while spending on improvements and repairs rises as homes age, the capacity to meet that need differs sharply by income. Among owners of homes built before 1960, those in the highest income quintile spent three times as much on improvements and repairs in 2023 as those in the lowest. Though the oldest homes need significant investment, they are disproportionately occupied by owners with the least financial capacity to make repairs…”

Good start:

Sens. Kaine, Murkowski Introduce Legislation to Boost Health Care Workforce, Address Shortages

“The bill would help internationally educated health care professionals overcome common barriers to entering the health care workforce in the United States…”

The State of Rural Primary Care in the United States – Commonwealth Fund

“…Rural clinician shortages, limited broadband internet, and a lack of public transportation in rural areas make it difficult for patients to get health care, either in person or virtually.3 These access challenges are associated with poor health outcomes, low uptake of preventive services, and overreliance on costly emergency department visits for nonurgent health needs.4

“Nearly half of rural residents are uninsured or insured by public payers.5 This limited payer mix, coupled with relatively low reimbursement rates and high provision of uncompensated care compared to nonrural areas, poses challenges to the financial stability of rural primary care.6 …”

A Smaller Labor Force Means a Smaller Economy – Stan Veuger/AEI

“In 2024, the U.S. fertility rate reached a new low of 1.6. Net immigration started declining rapidly that same year and quite possibly turned negative in 2025. This combination of factors has brought the rate of population growth to a historic low, a development with major economic implications. Perhaps the most obvious consequence is lower overall output growth…”

related CCSE work:

The US needs more workers and more kids: The time is coming for major immigration, workforce, and job training legislation – Karl Polzer

Statement to Senate Finance Committee hearing

While Ds push for higher taxes on property at the federal level, Republicans are cutting property taxes at the state level:

More States Jeopardizing Local Services With Property Tax Cuts and Caps – CBPP

“…Broad property tax cuts and caps harm communities because property taxes are the primary source of revenue for over 90 percent of local governments. The benefits from tax cuts and caps tend to accrue to existing and wealthier homeowners. In addition, when local governments are unable to raise adequate revenue, their borrowing costs tend to rise, and when lower revenue leads to local services being cut, schools are often particularly harmed…”

Missouri Tax Amendment Likely to Seriously Harm Services, Shift Taxes Onto Working Families – CBPP

related CCSE work:

Want ‘affordability?’ Start by retooling your state’s regressive tax system. – Hill

We’re in a wage crisis too – New Republic

Your paycheck is just barely keeping up with inflation – msn/WaPost

“‘No matter what we see in the averages, there’s going to be a lot of people whose wages are simply not keeping up with inflation,’ said Betsey Stevenson, who was the Labor Department’s chief economist from 2010 to 2011 and is now at the University of Michigan. ‘So they just can’t buy the same bundle of goods that they could have bought a year ago.’

“Many workers holding the same job year after year see raises of around 3 percent. Some get less. Those people fall behind in an economy running at 3.5 percent inflation…”

Don’t ask me about my profits, but let’s talk about your wages – Branko Milanovic/Global Inequality

“How Western capitalists use China-bashing to deflect attention from their soaring profits”

“…It is a common complaint that many years ago Marx identified: all capitalists want that workers of other capitalists be paid higher wages so that they can become their customers, but they want their own workers to be paid as little as possible. This is exactly what the West is doing now: London and New York financial newspapers that attack any workers’ improvement at home are full of articles urging China to ‘decompress’ wages and introduce more generous social transfers. Suddenly, The Financial Times and The Wall Street Journal are brimming with concern about Chinese workers’ welfare…”

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Featured

Thanks to The Hill for running our op-ed:

Trump’s 401(k) proposal could be a major step toward retirement security – Karl Polzer/Hill

“To succeed, Trump’s proposal must meet two fundamental requirements: funds to save and invest and accounts overseen by a fiduciary. The millions of workers with no money left over from their paychecks after covering the cost of living need more than just access to a retirement account — they also need money to put in that plan, week by week and month by month. This is why, without congressional action, most low-income workers will likely still be left out…”

Thanks to the Richmond Times-Dispatch for publishing this column:

New governor prioritizing ‘affordability’ should push reforming Va.’s regressive tax code – Karl Polzer

“…It will take some time for the new governor and Democrats running the state legislature to find effective ways to make life in Virginia more affordable. Reducing the tax burden on low-income families should be part of their agenda. Meanwhile, legislators should avoid adding taxes that hit the poor the hardest.”

States Can Push Back Against Reckless Federal Tax Policy. Here’s How. – Governing

Beware of Republicans bearing cash!

Substituting Cash for Health Insurance Can Drive Up Costs, Medical Bankruptcy – Karl Polzer/CCSE

Not! (for now)

Senate GOP health care plan fails on mostly party-line vote – Hill

As suspected, the two health care subsidy votes were performative art organized by Senate leaders setting a high bar (60/100 votes). Clock’s still ticking for millions of Americans needing health insurance they can afford.

Health Care–Related Savings Accounts, Health Care Expenditures, and Tax Expenditures – JAMA
“Conclusions and Relevance: Participation in FSAs is associated with higher health care expenditures and tax expenditures, while HSAs are not associated with reduced expenditures. Tax policy could be better targeted to enhance insurance coverage and health care accessibility.”

Why Substituting Cash for Insurance Can Drive Up Both Total Costs and Individual Medical + Financial Risk – Statement to US Senate Finance Committee

Submitted to Finance Committee Hearing: “The Rising Cost of Health Care: Considering Meaningful Solutions for All Americans”

“No matter how many adjustments the government might make, giving people money to leave the risk pool and bargain on their own with the players in health system undermines the basic concept of insurance – which is pooling risk and resources to make hard-to-predict future expenses more affordable.”

A ‘conservative/progressive’ path to negotiating Social Security solvency: Bend the cost curve, grow revenue, and protect low earners – Karl Polzer/IQInk

Updated Oct. 8, 2025

“This paper presents options – some favored by conservatives, others by progressives – as a framework for negotiating an equitable solution to Social Security’s financing shortfall.  Taken together, the changes could generate up to twice as much in savings and revenue as needed to balance Social Security’s books…

“Congress could strike a deal drawing about half the savings needed to fix Social Security through a gradual benefit reduction by changing the formula for determining initial benefit levels while protecting the lowest earners.  The rest of the gap could be filled through tax increases.  These financing options provide room for targeted benefit improvements to help the lowest income pay their bills and families raise children.”

Judge says Trump administration ‘used antisemitism as a smokescreen’ against Harvard – USA Today

Trump Administration’s Cuts to Harvard Funding Are Unconstitutional, Judge Rules – msn/WSJ

CCSE correspondence with Harvard President Garber

“Prediction: Harvard University will be teaching students from all over the world long after what remains of Trump and his brain trust rest in silence beneath the ground. BTW, White House staff could benefit from taking free public finance courses at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. Harvard has a positive fund balance. The United State government, not so much.”

No peace, no prize. – Karl Polzer

“Republican members of the US Congress, which is financing Israel’s now escalating ethnic cleansing of Gaza, have nominated President Donald Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize.  It is hard to fathom the depth and irony of their fawning depravity.  The Nobel prize is clearly a trophy that he covets. But shouldn’t a peace prize have something to do with reducing conflict and killing? The US president and Congress, including a majority of Democrats, are doing the opposite of making peace.  They are facilitating Israel’s daily, systematic killing, starvation, and displacement of entire populations of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank…”

Trump ‘1-2 punch’ shifts tax burden from top onto middle-and lower-income Americans – Karl Polzer/CCSE

“Economists and business analysts increasingly agree that Trump’s tariffs are raising prices. There is far less awareness that the historic spike in tariffs – coupled with the tax cuts just made permanent by Congress – comprise a major shift in the tax burden. Taken together, these two changes promise to make the US tax system more regressive. In our increasingly unequal country, taxpayers at the bottom of the economic pecking order are taking on proportionally more of the tax burden as the well-off shoulder less…”

New capitalism III: Capital – Branko Milanovic

“Why is capital so concentrated and why so few have it?”

“The new capitalism has even in the rich countries failed to produce what Margaret Thatcher, and Friedrich Hayek before her, called ‘property-owning society’. (For good measure, Thatcher added ‘democracy’ too.) Even when we include income from forced savings that becomes pension wealth, between one-half and almost 90 percent of the population in rich countries are financial-capital destitute. That percentage becomes more than 90, or even more than 95, in less developed countries…”

Related CCSE work:

Half of Americans have no retirement savings — here’s how Congress can look after them …. op-ed

How the U.S. Retirement Saving System Magnifies Inequality – Society of Actuaries

Growing inequality has shrunk Social Security’s revenue. Revitalizing its tax base could help restore solvency without cutting benefits.

New Capitalism in America: Richest capitalists and richest workers are increasingly the same people – Global Inequality

Branko Milanovic: The World Under Capitalism – Stone Center/Toronto Public Library

Prof. Milanovic discusses two types of capitalism – “liberal capitalism” in the US and “political capitalism” directed by the Chinese Communist Party. Both systems have produced relatively high levels of income inequality.

Comparing United States and China by Economy – Statistics Times

2025 Social Security groundhog day:

US needs $28 trillion more over 75 years to pay promised benefits

“A few months after the Trump Administration chain-sawed Social Security’s leadership and staff, four newly installed senior officials overseeing the program released the annual report on its declining financial condition.  This year’s actuarial forecast is a bit gloomier due in large part to a benefit expansion enacted by the previous Congress.  However, in the big picture, not much has changed.  Social Security’s looming insolvency remains…

“As I have pointed out to the Senate Budget Committee, the process of spending down Social Security reserves already is increasing overall federal spending and pushing up annual deficits. Drawing down reserves in the Social Security trust funds requires the Treasury to sell bonds (or find other sources of revenue) to raise cash to pay the program’s 74 million beneficiaries.

“On pp. 51-52, this year’s report estimates that Social Security will draw down $181 billion from the combined trust funds in 2025 with the amount rising to $405 billion in 2033. As a result, the federal government is gradually moving to finance part of the program’s benefits through newly issued debt substituting for now-insufficient payroll taxes...”

More on these issues can be found in these CCSE articles and testimony:

‘Trump kids accounts’ in budget bill would drive up inequality and raise the national debt – Karl Polzer/CCSE

“Helping young people learn how to save and build up money for college and adult life are worthy goals. But new ‘Trump kids accounts’ embedded in the massive Republican tax and spending bill before the US Senate not only duplicate existing programs.  They also would widen financial gaps between families in our already very unequal country.  In addition, tax subsidies for money invested in Trump accounts would go mostly to well-off families and push up the national debt…”

Failure to prosecute and jail law-breaking employers is wasting $$ billions in the fight against illegal immigration – Karl Polzer/CCSE

“The federal government has had authority since 1986 to criminally prosecute individuals and companies employing workers not legally in the United State, but it has rarely used that authority regardless of the administration in office. A one-year snapshot taken during Trump’s first term found that no company was criminally prosecuted for having workers not authorized to be in the country, a Syracuse University study shows…

“Changing the equation to incentivize employers to help enforce, rather than skirt, the nation’s immigration laws does not mean subjecting them to cruel and unusual punishment.  No need to suspend billionaires and entrepreneurs in cages from a tower or use branding irons.  It does mean applying and stiffening laws against hiring illegals and tax avoidance.  Financial penalties, public shaming, and loss of contracts could be a start.  If that isn’t sufficient, start putting law-breaking employers in jail.  They are lining their pockets by stealing jobs from American workers, both native born and those immigrating legally.”

Thanks to the Virginian-Pilot for running our op-ed:

Many questions, few answers about exempting tips from taxes – Karl Polzer/Virginian-Pilot

“Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s proposal to exempt tipped income from state taxes — like President-elect Donald Trump’s on a national level — could help some low-wage workers.  However, it also poses risks for others and raises complex issues facing scrutiny as the state legislature begins its work…”

To provide access to all readers (the newspaper’s op-eds are gated), below is the original submission including links to sources:

Youngkin pitch to exempt tips from taxes could benefit some.  A better option is raising the $2.13 tipped minimum wage.

Statement to 11/20/24 US House Appropriations Committee hearing on Social Security:

A way to ensure Social Security can meet short- and long-term promises to American workers and their families: Bend the cost curve, grow revenue, and protect lower earners – CCSE

“As keeper of the federal government’s purse strings, the House Appropriations Committee plays a part in maintaining Social Security’s commitment to American workers, their families, and taxpayers.  First, Committee members can weigh in as Congress and the Treasury find hundreds of billions of dollars annually in cash outside the appropriations process to draw down Social Security reserves.  The Committee can also help ‘leave room’ in future budgets for revenue increases that might be necessary to keep Social Security solvent as it coordinates with House Ways & Means, Budget, and other Committees on tax and spending issues.”

A ‘conservative/progressive’ path to Social Security solvency: bend the benefit cost curve, grow revenue, and protect lower earners – CCSE

The next President and Congress will face daunting fiscal issues.  In the shadow of historic levels of national debt, lawmakers will be bargaining over trillions of dollars of taxes and spending as they deal with expiration of the Trump tax cuts.  On top of that loom major Social Security financing gaps.   Paying promised benefits will require the government to raise more than $2 trillion in cash over the next eight years and more than $24 trillion to achieve long-run solvency.

This paper presents policy options – some favored by conservatives, others by progressives – as a framework for negotiating a solution.  Taken together, the changes could generate more than twice as much in savings and revenue than needed to balance Social Security’s books. 

Four ‘low-budget’ ways Congress can help working-class families raise more children – Karl Polzer/ Washington Examiner op-ed

– Expand the child tax credit to help more working-class parents and grandparents raising kids.
– Provide Social Security credit for unpaid work raising young children.
– Update/improve SSI so more people with disabilities can work, save.
– If taxes must go up, hold the working poor harmless.

Click here for longer version including references and related articles.

It’s Social Security ‘groundhog day’ as trustees repeat annual forecast of declining finances

“…The trustees’ report, however, neglects to mention how Social Security already is impacting the overall federal budget.  As pointed out to the Senate Budget Committee, the mechanics of spending down Social Security’s reserves require the Treasury to draw funds from general revenue and issue new debt to the public.  As a result, Social Security is gradually and organically moving to paying for current benefits through debt substituting for now-insufficient payroll taxes that it traditionally relies on.”

Missing the obvious: life expectancy in the U.S. is closely related to income – Karl Polzer

“The underlying theory is simple:  More income and wealth allow people and governments to support more years of life.  Fewer resources put them at a disadvantage.  Some politicians who see the connection may be leery of talking about it.  Doing so would lead to awkward questions about improving working and living conditions for millions of Americans and dealing with growing economic inequality.

“The strong relationship between income and longevity is clear when comparing states… (E)ight of the nine states with the lowest median household income also are among the bottom nine in longevity.  Similar clustering occurs comparing the highest ranked states across the two categories. Seven of the nine states with the highest median household income also are among the top nine in life expectancy.   

“Realizing they are rowing in the same economic boat could prompt states to join forces on policy changes, particularly Mississippi, West Virginia, Louisiana, Arkansas, Alabama, New Mexico, Kentucky, Oklahoma, South Carolina, and Tennessee, and others ranking at or near the bottom…

“Presidential candidate and former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley strongly proposes raising the program’s retirement age on the premise that increased life spans are undermining Social Security’s long-term solvency.  If long-held assumptions about longevity were challenged, and potential losses to low-income workers and low-income states caused by raising the eligibility age came to light, would she change her position?  Republican candidate Donald Trump, by the way, opposes cuts in Social Security as do most Democrats…”

Thanks to the Washington Examiner for running this op-ed:

Senate minimum wage bills make bipartisan compromise possible – Washington Examiner

For longer version with references, see:

Senate minimum wage bills make bipartisan compromise possible.  Now for the political energy to get it done. – Karl Polzer/CCSE

Previous work on this issue:

One way to make living easier in Virginia – letter to WaPost

Yes, raise the minimum wage, but don’t stop there – op-ed

Analysis: Considerations on Raising the U.S. Minimum Wage To Help Workers and Families While Minimizing Negative Impacts

The US should take a hard look at the Netanyahu government’s brutality before giving it more weapons – Karl Polzer/CCSE

“More Americans are rightly asking if Israel could neutralize Hamas without massive destruction and loss of civilian life.  Indiscriminate air attacks by the Netanyahu regime already have killed and injured tens of thousands of Gazans with no end to the violence in sight.  To put this in perspective, imagine how Washington, D.C., would look if a foreign government with the power to fence in the District of Columbia dropped a comparable number of bombs here while shutting off access to water and food and destroying most of the capital area’s housing and medical system.  UN officials say conditions in Gaza are catastrophic.”

Thanks to the Washington Post for publishing our letter to the editor:

One way to make living easier in Virginia – Karl Polzer/letter to WaPost

“Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) told reporters he is ‘concerned about the cost of living in Virginia and we’re continuing to evaluate how best to address that,’ as reported in the Nov. 26 Metro article ‘Budget battle looms in Virginia. Facing a tighter fiscal environment and Democratic control of the legislature, Mr. Youngkin and fellow Republicans could help working families without denting the budget by making an expected Democratic push for a higher minimum wage a bipartisan affair.

“The GOP has been trying to attract more minority and working-class voters. However, party leaders have stopped short of addressing core economic issues, such as supporting higher wages and better benefits, and mainly stress cultural issues…”

Background Information on these issues provided to Virginia legislators

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