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The Road to Recovery: Do a Budget

President Obama took the advice of Bret and Jemaine from Flight of the Conchords and asked Peter Orszag, Director of the Office of Management and Budget, to "do a budget" for the fiscal year of 2010. Orszag (seen here estimating how many Americans are still gainfully employed) writes about his approach..

 Andrew Price
02.28.09

President Obama took the advice of Bret and Jemaine from Flight of the Conchords and asked Peter Orszag, Director of the Office of Management and Budget, to "do a budget" for the fiscal year of 2010.Orszag (seen here estimating how many Americans are still gainfully employed) writes about his approach to the task in his first ever post on the new OMB blog. OMG! He says his big goals were 1) do away with accounting gimmicks that have made past budgets look better than they were, 2) halve the deficit in Obama's first term, 3) set aside cash for reforming health care, and 4) invest in education and energy.The Washington Post talks about how unhappy Republicans are with the budget in a piece titled "Republicans Attack Obama Budget, Call It Loaded With Spending". Indeed, being a budget, it contains lists of expenses. They're mostly mad that Obama plans to let tax cuts for the rich expire and start fining companies for carbon emissions that exceed a certain level.Robert Reich loves it because, "it represents the biggest redistribution of income from the wealthy to the middle class and poor this nation has seen in more than forty years." I guess you can say that kind of thing out loud these days.You can see the full budget for yourself here.
elections and politics
Articles

A 'rude' encounter between Susan Collins and one voter might just end the Republican's career

For more than 20 years. Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) has served the citizens of Maine in the U.S. Senate. For most of that time, she has enjoyed a hard-fought reputation as a moderate Republican who methodically builds bridges and consensus in an era of political polarization. To millions of political observers, she exemplified the best of post-partisan leadership, finding a "third way" through the static of ideological tribalism.

However, all of that has changed since the election of Donald Trump in 2016. Voters in Maine, particularly those who lean left, have run out of patience with Collins and her seeming refusal to stand up to Trump. That frustration peaked with the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court.

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Politics

Human inequality goes all the way back to the Bronze Age, study finds

NHM Vienna/Hans Reschreiter

Wealth inequality has been a hot topic of discussion as of late, but it's something that's occurred all throughout history. Class structure is a complicated issue, especially when you consider that haves and have nots have been in existence for over 4,000 years.

A study published in Science took a look at over 100 late Neolithic and early Bronze Age skeletons found in a burial site in southern Germany. The study "shed light on the complexity of social status, inheritance rules, and mobility during the Bronze Age." Partly by looking at their teeth and the artifacts they were buried with, researchers were able to discover that wealth inequality existed almost 4,000 years ago. "Our results reveal that individual households lasting several generations consisted of a high-status core family and unrelated low-status individuals, a social organization accompanied by patrilocality and female exogamy, and the stability of this system over 700 years," the study said.

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Culture

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez jusst endorsed Bernie Sanders for president

via Truthout.org / Flickr and Dimitri Rodriguez / Flickr

Bernie Sanders' presidential campaign looks to be getting a huge big shot in the arm after it's faced some difficulties over the past few weeks.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a leading voice in the Democratic parties progressive, Democratic Socialist wing, is expected to endorse Sanders' campaign at the "Bernie's Back" rally in Queens, New York this Saturday.

Fellow member of "the Squad," Ilhan Omar, endorsed him on Wednesday.

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Politics

A new PSA smartly reveals just how dangerous tackle football is for kids

When former Pittsburgh Steelers' center Mike Webster committed suicide in 2002, his death began to raise awareness of the brain damage experienced by NFL football players. A 2017 study found that 99% of deceased NFL players had a degenerative brain disease known as CTE (chronic traumatic encephalopathy). Only one out of 111 former football players had no sign of CTE. It turns out, some of the risks of traumatic brain injury experienced by heavily padded adults playing at a professional level also exist for kids with developing brains playing at a recreational level. The dangers might not be as intense as what the adults go through, but it can have some major life-long consequences.

A new PSA put out by the Concussion Legacy Foundation raises awareness of the dangers of tackle football on developing brains, comparing it to smoking. "Tackle football is like smoking. The younger I start, the longer I am exposed to danger. You wouldn't let me smoke. When should I start tackling?" a child's voice can be heard saying in the PSA as a mother lights up a cigarette for her young son.

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British family makes one wrong turn into the U.S. and ends up trapped in an ICE nightmare

via ICE / Flickr

The Connors family, two coupes from the United Kingdom, one with a three-month old baby and the other with twin two-year-olds, were on vacation in Canada when the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) turned their holiday into a 12-plus day-long nightmare.

On October 3, the family was driving near the U.S.-Canada border in British Columbia when an animal veered into the road, forcing them to make an unexpected detour.

The family accidentally crossed into the United States where they were detained by ICE officials in what would become "the scariest experience of our lives," according to a complaint filed with the inspector general of the Department of Homeland Security.

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