Employment
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg's "brilliance, grace, humor, tact, and unyielding resolve that saw her shatter barriers in the legal world”
Despite graduating at the top of her law school class, Ginsburg struggled to find a job. Title VII had not been enacted, anti-discrimination measures were not yet part of employment law, and firms were reticent to hire women. In law school, she routinely saw sign-up sheets for job interviews that explicitly said “Men only.” “Very few firms were willing to take a chance on a woman and no firm was ready to engage a mother,” said Ginsburg, who landed a judicial clerkship only through the diligent efforts of a professor-mentor. When she joined Rutgers’ law faculty in 1963, the Equal Pay Act had just been passed — but was widely ignored. When notified of her paltry salary, Ginsburg asked how much a man with similar experience was paid. more »
US Economic Outlook and Monetary Policy by Federal Reserve Vice Chair Richard H. Clarida
The unemployment rate, at 3.5 percent, is at a half-century low, and wages are rising broadly in line with productivity growth and underlying inflation. There is no evidence to date that a strong labor market is putting excessive cost-push pressure on price inflation. But despite this favorable baseline outlook, the U.S. economy confronts some evident risks in this the 11th year of economic expansion. Business fixed investment has slowed notably since last year, exports are contracting on a year-over-year basis, and indicators of manufacturing activity are weakening. Global growth estimates continue to be marked down, and global disinflationary pressures cloud the outlook for U.S. inflation. more »
VA Health Care, Revoked Licenses, Patient Neglect and More: VA Health Care Actions Needed to Ensure Provider Qualifications and Competence
VA requires that its medical centers review doctors’ qualifications and practice history before deciding whether to hire or retain them. However, we’ve found that some VA medical centers inadvertently overlooked information that would disqualify a doctor from being hired — such as having a revoked license. If medical centers are concerned about or have disciplined a doctor, they are required to report to state licensing boards or a national database as appropriate. But some medical centers didn’t make these reports. This testimony is based on reports with 11 recommendations, including that VA better oversee how its medical centers review doctors. more »
Poll: Democrats Say They Are Hearing Enough From Presidential Candidates About Medicare-for-All and Expanding Coverage, But Want Them to Talk More about Health Costs and Women’s Health Care
The poll finds the public narrowly divided on whether the Supreme Court should overturn the entire ACA, with 43% favoring such a decision and 48% opposing it. This reflects partisan views of the law itself, with most Republicans (75%) wanting it overturned, most Democrats (69%) wanting to keep it, and independents falling in between (51% want to keep it, 40% want it overturned). At the same time, most (63%) do not want to see the Supreme Court overturn the law’s protections for people with pre-existing condition protections. This includes most Democrats (71%) and independents (73%). Among Republicans, 47% say they want the court to overturn those protections and 42% say they do not. more »