The economy again takes center stage

By: Lynne Perri

Posted: Feb. 15, 2013 | Tags: economy

The national economy took center stage again this week with the president's State of the Union address, and reporter Michael Lawson uses Obama's call for a hike in the minimum wage to file a story on the increase in the number of working families who are still considered "working poor," according to government income thresholds. We also revisit our colleagues, Donald Barlett and James Steele, who have been writing about the economy — and, specifically, the intersection of Washington and Wall Street policies that have contributed to the nation's current plight. The two talk about their journalistic practices of the last 40 years, and of their work on "The Betrayal of the American Dream," published last summer and expected to be released in paperback in September.




Recent Posts

Wisconsin legislators vote to kick investigative journalism out

A group of Republican state legislators in control of the Wisconsin Joint Finance Committee voted to kick the nationally respected Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism, better known online as “Wisconsin Watch,” off the University of Wisconsin premises. Top officials at the university countered forcefully against the nocturnal mischief, calling it a "direct assault on our academic freedom."

Obama defends drone program amid calls for oversight

President Obama has pledged to increase accountability for the administration’s controversial drone program in a speech today at the National Defense University. The administration has used the program in the killing of thousands of suspected terrorists overseas, including four American citizens.

The move is in response to growing public unease on both sides of the aisle surrounding the administration’s use of drones, and recent criticisms by the state department’s former legal adviser, Harold Koh. In a speech May 7 at Oxford University, Koh asserted that the administration’s lack of transparency regarding drone use has led to public misinformation and disillusionment, and called on the president to release its full legal justification for the assassination of American citizens abroad.


Solitary amendment passes Senate

The Senate Judiciary Committee passed an amendment Monday to the  844-page immigration bill that would both better define and limit the use of solitary confinement at immigration detention centers. The amendment limits the use of solitary confinement in adults and bans it for children younger than 18 and those with mental illness except in situations deemed as emergencies or threats.

 Subscribe to the RSS Feed

Archives

Twitter

Follow the workshop at IRWorkshop