Politics
Off the Table for Now: Using the Chained CPI to Reduce Social Security Payment Calculations
"The chained CPI grows more slowly than the traditional CPI does: by an average of 0.3 percentage points per year over the past decade. As a result, using that measure to index benefit programs and tax provisions would reduce federal spending (especially on Social Security and federal pensions) and increase revenues." more »
Bills Passed: The Katie Sepich Enhanced DNA Collection Act of 2012; Reducing Preterm Delivery; Strengthening Investigations of Sex Offenders & Missing Children
Katie's Law, also known as the Katie Sepich Enhanced DNA Collection Act of 2010, has been passed as a federal law to provide funding to states to implement minimum and enhanced DNA collection processes for felony arrests. "The bill is named after Katie Sepich, who was brutally attacked outside of her New Mexico home in August 2003. She was raped, strangled, her body set on fire, and abandoned at an old dump site." more »
Cuba Today
Ferida Wolff writes: We visited a Cuban cooperative organic farm. The land is still state-owned but the produce can be sold privately. We ate in a few paladars, small, privately owned restaurants located in homes. What we found was a resourceful culture, friendly people, and music that enlivens everything. more »
While Waiting for the Tipping Point: The Impact of the Fiscal Cliff on the States
The state impact of the fiscal cliff’s expiring federal tax provisions and scheduled spending cuts is missing from the national discussion. This PEW study finds that the effects on the states vary greatly based on the extent to which states are tied to the federal tax code and federal spending. more »