News & Stories

The most basic principle of economics is supply and demand. When consumers pay for a product, the market responds with a supply that is equal to the demand. Unfortunately (as the text books will tell you) things only work this way in a perfect world. Economic growth is cyclical. But sometimes, corporate malfeasance, flawed logic […]

Reprinted from the Everett Herald: The sullen and divisive politics of privilege are over. The citizens of our nation’s capital are friendly, proud and hopeful. Obama-mania is still going strong, with t-shirts, baseball caps, buttons, and bumper stickers proclaiming the 44th President of the United States. I bought my 89-year-old dad a President Obama t-shirt, […]

In the midst of the Great Depression in 1938, Franklin Roosevelt called for adoption of the first federal minimum wage as “an essential part of economic recovery.”  By increasing the purchasing power of those workers “who have the least of it today,” he explained, “the purchasing power of the Nation as a whole – can […]

If you’re holding a hammer, so the saying goes, everything looks like a nail. But what if you’re holding a shovel? Faced with a mounting revenue shortfall, Washington lawmakers are grappling with potential cuts in health care, transportation spending, education and more. That hasn’t stopped some legislators from introducing bills to cut revenue even further.

Health care reform is moving back to the top of the local and national political agenda – and for good reason. Despite having some of the most advanced health care technology in the world, 47 million Americans are still uninsured—almost 20% of the population. Many others struggle to get and maintain employer coverage in face […]

Thanks in part to thousands of emails from Coalition member organizations, today the Family Security Act (HB 1609) has many more friends in the Washington House of Representatives than it did last Friday. When first submitted, the bill had 6 sponsors – not a bad start. And by the end of Monday, nine more representatives […]

Reprinted from the Everett Herald: Now it’s the Democrats’ turn. The Obama era has begun. George W. Bush is back on his ranch. And there is no time to bask in the euphoria of the inauguration. The economy is headed down a steep path. Public services, health care and education are being cut. Our infrastructure […]

The vast majority of Americans support a more active role for government in making pensions available, according to a recent poll conducted by Mathew Greenwald & Associates on behalf of the National Institute on Retirement Security. The research reinforces EOI’s work in Washington State to make it easier for employers to offer retirement accounts, through […]

Economist Dean Baker outlines 7 ways to make Obama’s economic stimulus package more effective (excerpted from Truthout). Several of his proposals could also be used by state governments to promote local economic recovery: Extend health insurance – Offer a $2,000 tax credit for any firm that gives health insurance to employees not currently covered. Match […]

Economist Dean Baker (Co-Director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research) has run the numbers on the relative payoff of two economic stimulus proposals: increased government spending, or a cut in taxes. The result? $100 billion of additional government spending will lead to 1 million additional jobs, while a temporary cut in payroll taxes […]

Obama’s transition website features a family issues page with policy proposals that will boost family economic security here in Washington and across the nation. Among many other important changes to support working families, Obama proposes to: Encourage states to adopt paid leave: His strategy is to “encourage all of the states to adopt paid-leave systems…provide […]

Remember that old saying about a Timex? Now that we have watched our 401K accounts become 201K accounts, defined benefit pensions being reduced and sunsetted, and our retirement savings drained by Wall Street, many of us are licking our financial wounds, wondering what will come next. We have a lot to fear for our own […]

Dean Baker, an economist, EOI board member and co-director for the Center for Economic Policy Research offered some ideas for new revenue sources during the recession. These new streams, he explains, could raise $100 billion or more annually and actually discourages “nonproductive activity”. And since simply adding to our deficit (already $10 trillion+) is neither […]

A major new study by researchers at Harvard and McGill Universities — the largest ever to look at working conditions worldwide — finds the United States far behind other economically successful nations in terms of adopting policies that support workers and families. The new study finds that 14 of the world’s 15 most competitive countries […]

As President-elect Obama’s economic stimulus package has developed, it has a gained a big post-Christmas ornament that has nothing to do with stimulus and everything to do with currying favor with the corporate community.  His package includes a refund provision that would enable some companies posting losses last year to get refunds for taxes paid […]

The revenue shortfall and projected budget deficit have been the buzz around Washington State for months. We have seen reports of record numbers on state unemployment rolls, businesses reporting huge losses and politicians calling for ‘tightening our belts’ and ‘lean times ahead’. Unfortunately, these rarely capture how the proposed budget cuts will affect all of […]

Reprinted from the Everett Herald: For a lot of us, these past ten days of snow and cold have been a bit trying, with lost days of work and school.  Our usual holiday plans are all messed up, work unfinished, homework undone, holiday concerts and plays unperformed, parties ungotten to, presents unbought.  But for many […]

As I previously posted, The Washington State Family Leave Coalition has joined the Multi-State Working Families Consortium and dozens of organizations from around the country in calling on Congress and the Obama administration to insure that economic stimulus and recovery packages help build up America’s working families. Here is an updated list of signatories to […]

The flood water is rising fast on lower- and middle-class families in Washington. The state budget has already been swamped, and a lifeboat from the federal government isn’t even in the water yet.