Help The Middle ClassNews and Information For The Heart Of America
Growth of Unpaid Internships May Be Illegal, Officials Say (New York Times)
With job openings scarce for young people, the number of unpaid internships has climbed in recent years, leading federal and state regulators to worry that more employers are illegally using such internships for free labor.
Convinced that many unpaid internships violate minimum wage laws, officials in Oregon, California and other states have begun investigations and fined [...]
New Poll Shows People Believe America Is Going In The ‘Wrong Direction’ (MSNBC)
The health-care debate has generated intense levels of frustration among the bill’s opponents, and those who say they are outright angry almost universally believe that the country is going in the wrong direction — some say toward an America they no longer recognize.
Of the 26 percent of people who described themselves as “angry” about the [...]
Fed’s Mortage Purchase Program Ends. What Now? (Los Angeles Times)
The government’s $1.25-trillion program to prop up the housing market by purchasing mortgages came to an end Wednesday — in a small, messy room at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York with four desks and a Nerf basketball hoop.
For the last year, a small team of traders has worked here to buy massive amounts [...]
FDA Feeling The Heat To Fight Food Fraud (The Washington Post)
The expensive “sheep’s milk” cheese in a Manhattan market was really made from cow’s milk. And a jar of “Sturgeon caviar” was, in fact, Mississippi paddlefish.
Some honey makers dilute their honey with sugar beets or corn syrup, their competitors say, but still market it as 100 percent pure at a premium price.
And last year, a [...]
Car Dealers Are Cutting Deals For Drivers With Good Credit (Wall Street Journal)
Car dealers, auto finance companies and credit market analysts are seeing a decided spring thaw in the auto finance market—especially for drivers with good credit.
Today, “if you have a job, and there’s equity in the loan…that’s it,” says Ed Gorham, director of the finance department at Planet Honda, one of the biggest Honda dealers on [...]
15 Money Rules Your Children Should Know (The Wall Street Journal)
It’s a simple calculus, kids and money: From birth until college graduation, children consume dollars like they’re chicken nuggets.
For those of us who aren’t independently wealthy, that puts unrelenting pressure on the family pocketbook. The financial demands of raising a child require that money you otherwise might use to prepare for retirement, or to save [...]
Obama Signs Student Loan Reform Program (Huffington Post)
Finalizing two major pieces of his agenda, President Barack Obama on Tuesday sealed his health care overhaul and made the government the primary lender to students by cutting banks out of the process.
Both domestic priorities came in one bill, pushed through by Democrats in the House and Senate and signed into law by a beaming [...]
Health Care Overhaul: Answering Some Frequently Asked Questions (NPR)
The health-insurance overhaul package signed into law by President Obama is the most far-reaching health legislation since the creation of the Medicare and Medicaid programs.
The following is a look at the impact of the law, which will extend insurance coverage to 32 million additional Americans by 2019, but which will also have an effect on [...]
Health Overhaul Likely To Strain Doctor Shortage (AP & Yahoo! News)
Better beat the crowd and find a doctor.
Primary care physicians already are in short supply in parts of the country, and the landmark health overhaul that will bring them millions more newly insured patients in the next few years promises extra strain.
The new law goes beyond offering coverage to the uninsured, with steps to improve [...]
Obamacare Borrows Key Points From GOP, But With A Twist (AP & Yahoo!)
Republicans were for President Barack Obama’s requirement that Americans get health insurance before they were against it.
The obligation in the new health care law is a Republican idea that’s been around at least two decades. It was once trumpeted as an alternative to Bill and Hillary Clinton’s failed health care overhaul in the 1990s. These [...]
