Happy Tax Week! Here’s a selection of articles the Federal Relations Team has been enjoying this week.
Financial Literacy – Americans are woefully uniformed about their finances. This situation has prompted both federal and state efforts to increase financial education, but much of it hasn’t helped. What has helped? NPR takes a look.
Weakening Infrastructure – Outside conservative advocacy groups — mostly controlled by a small network of extremely wealthy donors — have built sprawling national political institutions with large enough staffs and financial clout to rival a weakening GOP infrastructure. The effect of this shifting locus of key resources has been to move Republican politicians toward positions held by outside groups like the Koch-funded Americans For Prosperity, and consequently, the party has lost its levers of power. Read more in Vox.
Schism – Trump’s supporter, as a group, have been analyzed almost more than the candidate: who are they and what do they have in common? One thing is for certain, Trump has Whoever wins the Republican nomination, it’s too late to address the concerns of Mr. Trump’s core constituents before November. Read the Op-ed in The New York Times.
Case Study: The Potty Wars – North Carolina recently enacted some of the most strenuous anti-LBGT legislation in the nation, which requires individuals to use restrooms corresponding to the gender listed on their birth certificate as well as restrict an individual’s power to sue for discrimination in state court and block local gay rights protections. The state legislature passed HB 2 in response to the City of Charlotte, NC passing broad ordinances allowing transgendered individuals to use whatever bathroom they choose. After strong national outcry, the state’s Governor Pat McCrory, who is running for a second term, attempted damage control with an executive order that would walk back the law portions of the law, but not really. The move only managed to anger McCrory’s Republican base in the state, while Democrats and other states remained upset. It is an excellent example of the increasingly strident Republican schism. Read more about in The Washington Post.
Job Hopping – When tech was a nascent sector, there were two hubs of activity in the US – Silicon Valley and just outside of Boston on Route 128. While the West Coast thrived, the East Coast didn’t…perhaps due to the Massachusetts’s enforcement, and the California banning, of noncompete clauses. Read more in Vox.
A Little Too Focused – A couple in a bar was so engrossed in canoodling that they completely missed a robbery. Read more and watch the video at NPR.