Helene D. Gayle
| June 19, 2013, 2:23 p.m.
Every five seconds, a child dies from hunger-related diseases, and nearly 1 billion people go to bed hungry every night.
Stephen Crowley
| June 19, 2013, 2:23 p.m.
When doctors told my wife and I that our soccer-playing, Harry Potter-reading 7-year-old daughter Olivia had cancer, we were struck with panic, dread and challenges we never could have imagined. And once we overcame the shock, we were stunned to learn that children’s cancer is a disease that’s largely ignored.
Aleta Sprague
| June 19, 2013, 5 a.m.
State Line Road, along the border of Illinois and Indiana, defines more than geographic boundaries — it also defines the economic futures of struggling families.
Joseph Gyourko
| June 19, 2013, 5 a.m.
The Federal Housing Administration has suffered twin policy and financial failures. First, it is failing to help far too many first-time and financially constrained homebuyers become successful owners. Recent research projects that 15 to 30 percent of borrowers whose mortgages the FHA guaranteed since 2007 have defaulted or will soon do so. Second, it has failed to remain financially solvent. The FHA’s main mortgage insurance guarantee fund does not have sufficient funds to cover expected losses according to its most recent actuarial review, and a stress test showed that the FHA could lose $115 billion if the economy were to suffer a downturn.
Grace Boatright
| June 18, 2013, 5 a.m.
This week, the House Energy and Commerce Committee will explore the effects of America’s energy exports. From shale gas to Western coal, demand for American energy resources is creating a new trade wind for America. Previous hearings on this subject have overlooked another major U.S. trade industry that stands to benefit from more exports: agriculture. One doesn’t naturally put together that agricultural exports and energy resources like coal could go hand-in-hand. But in the upper Northwest, a region that stands to gain substantially from energy exports, nothing could be further from the truth.
Rick Boucher
| June 17, 2013, 3:17 p.m.
The numbers never lie. In the fifth game of the NBA finals, starters for the Spurs poured in 107 points, Danny Green made six 3-pointers (beating the NBA finals record) and the team became the first to shoot 60 percent in a finals game in four years. By contrast, the Heat’s first string put up just 73 points, and its leading 3-point shooter made two fewer than Green.
Raymond M. Hair Jr.
| June 17, 2013, 3:15 p.m.
Publicly traded companies often tell one story to Congress and another to Wall Street. When they want favorable legislation, they cry the blues. When they report to their investors, it’s nothing but bluebirds and blue skies.
William J. Mellin and Diana Dykstra
| June 14, 2013, 1:14 p.m.
Banking industry lobbyists have become increasingly vocal in their attacks on credit unions. Banks have been demanding a repeal of the credit unions tax status, railing against credit unions for filling a void in the market for member business lending, and opposing regulatory reform measures that would grant qualified credit unions access to supplemental capital and improve the safety and soundness of the credit union system.
Gary D. Bass and Gregory L. Colvin
| June 14, 2013, 12:53 p.m.
The time has come for Congress to decide how it will address news that the IRS inappropriately targeted conservative groups for greater scrutiny of their tax-exempt applications.
Alex Nowrasteh
| June 14, 2013, 5 a.m.
There is a common argument that goes like this: Many immigrants are poor, and some poor people abuse welfare. Therefore, we should not let in more legal immigrants, some of whom may abuse and eventually bankrupt the welfare system.
Reps. Ander Crenshaw and Nita M. Lowey
| June 13, 2013, 3:32 p.m.
In a remote Ethiopian village, a front-line health worker dedicated to helping mothers deliver their babies uses the most sophisticated piece of medical equipment she can find: a flashlight. In the darkness of a single-room home, she clenches it between her teeth as she helps bring a newborn safely into this world.
Sens. Rob Portman and Maria Cantwell
| June 13, 2013, 3:29 p.m.
From the Buckeye State to the Evergreen State, Americans want their elected officials to focus on supporting economic growth. And, wouldn’t it be nice if Democrats and Republicans worked together for a change?
Howard Dean
| June 12, 2013, 5 p.m.
For the first time in history, Americans owe more in student debt than they owe on their credit card bills. For a new graduate, that burden means sacrificing dreams, such as embarking on a difficult career that requires more schooling, opening a business or even starting a family.
Rep. Charles B. Rangel
| June 12, 2013, 3:27 p.m.
The recent problems at the IRS have been characterized in many ways and criticized across the political spectrum. Some of this criticism has been fair (and necessary), but this situation has also been used to demonize an entire agency for action taken by a small number of employees. These employees acted not out of malice or partisanship, but in an effort to do a job the public should never have asked them to do in the first place. Let me continue to be clear about one thing: Any kind of IRS inquiry, scrutiny or harassment based on political ideology has no place in this nation and some of the IRS employees acted wrongly. Rather than continue a worthless political witch hunt, however, we should be asking why this happened and searching for solutions to prevent it in the future.
Dan Epstein
| June 11, 2013, 5 a.m.
Three congressional committees were authorized to (and seemingly did) begin investigations in 2010 of the IRS’ political targeting, yet none of them were able to reveal what the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration reported last month.
Douglas Holtz-Eakin and Laura Tyson
| June 10, 2013, 3:07 p.m.
The U.S. last reformed its business tax code in 1986, when Forbes reported that 218 of the world’s largest 500 companies were based in the U.S. Since then, the world economy has become larger and more competitive, and production and employment have become more globalized. Today, the U.S. is home to only 137 of the world’s largest 500 companies by sales and is competing with many countries for the production, research and jobs of global businesses. The current corporate tax code is a major impediment in this competition; it makes the U.S. less attractive as a place to do business and disadvantages American multinational companies.
Jennifer J. Rosenbaum
| June 10, 2013, 2:41 p.m.
As the Senate votes this week on amendments to the immigration bill drafted by the “gang of eight,” it needs to make sure that it doesn’t bring one group of immigrant workers out of the shadows while trapping another in captive labor.
Christine Harbin
| June 10, 2013, 1:23 p.m.
The 2013 farm bill is currently working its way through Congress, and proposed cuts to food stamps are at the center of the debate. The Senate version calls for cutting $1.7 billion from this program over the next five years; the slightly more aggressive House version proposes cutting $9.6 billion. These cuts may sound like a lot of money in isolation, but they’re barely a haircut in the big picture. Congress should go further in seeking real reforms to food stamps.
Andrew J. Littlefair
| June 7, 2013, 1:05 p.m.
United Parcel Service’s announcement that it plans to expand its fleet of trucks running on liquefied natural gas, or LNG, to 800 by the end of next year is just the latest in a line of companies casting their vote for natural gas as the preferred commercial vehicle fuel. UPS joins AT&T, Frito-Lay, Republic Services, Ryder, Swift, Waste Management and many others making the switch to American natural gas.
Bud Cramer
| June 7, 2013, 1:03 p.m.
In America, nearly five children die every day from abuse and neglect. Even more frightening, every 13 seconds, a child is abused. The effect of this abuse is felt not only by the victims and their families, but also in the communities in which they live. I know this because, as an Alabama district attorney, I saw the fallout each and every day.
