Relationships and Going Places
Artifacts Meet Activists: Back to Houston For the 40th Anniversary of the 1977 IWY Conference
Jo Freeman writes: Forty years ago over 20,000 people gathered in Houston, Texas to celebrate International Women's Year (IWY) and identify goals for women for the next decade. On November 6 and 7, 2017, a few hundred people gathered at the University of Houston to celebrate the 40th anniversary of that conference. It was not sponsored by the federal government, though some would argue that today's federal government made it necessary. Speakers discussed what happened in 1977, what didn't happen, what should have happened, and what it all meant. more »
In States, the Estate Tax Nears Extinction: Countering Arguments That Eliminating the Estate Tax Was a Gift to the Wealthy
The New Jersey tax compromise included a 23-cents-per-gallon hike in the gas tax, bringing it to 37.5 cents a gallon. The legislation also cut $1.4 billion in other taxes, including income taxes on elderly residents who can now exempt the first $100,000 of retirement income (a couple) from state income tax. Supporters said the tax break for middle-income seniors was a way to counter arguments that eliminating the estate tax was a gift to the wealthy. New Jersey took in nearly $320 million in estate taxes in 2014. The increase in the gas tax is expected to raise more than $1 billion a year. more »
About A Third Of Americans Unaware Of Obamacare Open Enrollment
In the previous open-enrollment season, 12.2 million people nationwide selected individual market plans through the marketplaces. The number dropped off during the year because not everyone paid and some found coverage elsewhere. Forty-five percent of all respondents to the KFF survey and 52 percent who said they were uninsured said they have heard less about open enrollment this year compared to previous years. Insurers are trying to pick up some of the challenges of publicizing enrollment, and some of those ads are getting noticed. more »
Not My Parents' Church: It's Saturday Mass and I'm Wearing Slacks and Sneakers! No Hat! Not Even a Lace Square Pinned to My Head!
Rose Madeline Mula writes: The church I attend these days isn't the Roman Catholic Church of my parents — or even of my youth. No, despite my profound disgust with the pedophile priests horror and the Church’s anti-woman and anti-gay leaning, I haven't converted to another religion. But if the 20-year-old me were to come back to visit me today, she would be sure I had defected.
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