from the Budget & Policy Center

The kids are all right. And so are their grandparents. Why? Because Social Security is there — for all of us. And we can make that promise even better by making sure we all pay the same tax rate for the same guarantee. The Social Security Trustees report shows solid funding for the next 23…

Conservatives are eager to destroy public education, to complete their plan to dismantle the New Deal and to further enrich the 1%.  Their favorite stratagem is to blame public schools for failures of education in poor communities. But let’s look at the facts. Internationally, do the nations with the best school systems have public schools…

Via Rep. McDermott Chides Tea Party For Acting Like Poor Innocent Victims in IRS Examination McDermott said But as I listen to this discussion, I’d like to remind everyone what we are talking about here. None of your organizations were kept from organizing, or silenced. We are talking about whether or not the American taxpayers…

by Jennifer Langston King County’s transit agency needs a stable funding source. Really Metro service cuts hearing Here’s a picture of hundreds of people who crowded into a hearing room Tuesday to protest looming and massive bus cuts at King County Metro. If this looks familiar, it’s because we went through a similar exercise two years…

According to The Independent, fake votes made their way into the Paris mayoral race. Reporters found it easy to vote under various names, and even voted more than once using the same credit card and computer. One reporter voted five times, once using the name Nicolas Sarkozy, the former French president. The online election, originally touted as “fraud proof”…

Don’t miss the Public Banking Conference on lifestream.  Speakers will include Ellen Brown, Matt Taibbi, Gar Alperovitz, and Birgitta Jonsdottir. Thanks to John Repp and Cindy Cole will represent Washington State there! The Public Banking Institute is having their annual conference in San Francisco beginning at 1:00 PM tomorrow, Sunday, June 2nd, 3rd and 4th.   If you have…

On the 3d virtual world Cloud Party (which runs in your browser — chrome or firefox), I’m building a Peace & Justice place, in Peaceful Acres.  Come join me — I’m Alan Ramona there.  I want also to build a Museum of Accountability about the crimes of our governments…. So far it has cost me…

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Youth Leaders Confronting the Prison Industrial Complex Interactive Podcast on Youth Justice ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~     Youth Justice Reinvestment, Part II: Youth-led Solutions and Successes to Juvenile Injustice On Tuesday, June 4th at 5:30 Pacific/8:30 Eastern, we invite you to join us for the second of our Conversations on youth justice reinvestment. Zachary Norris and…

Another loophole for the wealthy? If not fixed by the legislature, this technical glitch will siphon $160 million out of Washington’s Education Legacy Trust Fund. It funds tuition assistance, higher education, and public schools. Washington’s estate tax, which applies to the sons and daughters of wealthy estate owners, provides dedicated funding for public schools and public higher…