As the nation inches closer to the dreaded "fiscal cliff," much of the public's anxiety is focused on spending cuts and income tax increases that will hit middle- and upper-income households unless Congress and the president strike a deal that pulls us back from the edge. Read Comparatively little attention is being paid to the…
OpEds
In a recent editorial, "Weak economies lead to income inequality," the Daily Mail wrongly concluded that generous (high tax) states underperform economically compared to stingy (low tax) states. Read The reality is that most academic research finds that tax differences between states have only a small effect on economic growth. Why? Simple arithmetic. Take business taxes.…
Charleston Gazette - Health reform is working for West Virginia seniors. Since passage of the Affordable Care Act in 2010, West Virginia seniors on Medicare have saved almost $60 million on prescription drug costs. Link to article This year alone 28,700 seniors saved $23 million or an average of $817 per person. Health reform is…
Sunday Gazette-Mail - Children who spend their earliest years in poverty suffer consequences all their lives. They're five times more likely to have children outside marriage, twice as likely to be arrested, and three times more likely to have severe health problems than the average kid. Read
The Charleston Gazette -- It is unfortunate that deficit reduction has come to occupy center stage in the national political debate when clearly our country's biggest problem is the jobs deficit. Read
The Charleston Gazette -- Recently I worked on a report on how working people are faring in West Virginia. The report, the fifth of its kind in so many years, is "The State of Working West Virginia" by the West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy. Read
The Charleston Gazette -- If West Virginia could improve the health, well-being and financial security of more than 100,000 of our friends and neighbors, wouldn't we jump at the opportunity? Read
Charleston Daily Mail -- I strongly applaud Sen. Joe Manchin for standing up this week for working families in West Virginia by voting to continue tax cuts for the middle class, end those that benefit only the richest two percent of taxpayers, and protect critical tax relief for thousands of West Virginia's low-income working families.…
The Charleston Gazette -- During a speech on the Senate floor, Sen. Jay Rockefeller showed genuine leadership and courage in telling the truth about the real challenges facing coal in West Virginia. Read
The Charleston Gazette -- Our states' economic recovery requires long-term strategies that protect basic rights like clean water and air, that provide dependable public funding for public goods like elementary schools and that engender sufficient private financing seeking realistic rates of return for business ventures. Read