Building on previous work, this paper documents the changes in income inequality that have occurred over the past 20 years, right up until the late 1990s. In particular, we are interested in whether or not the path of inequality in the most recent economic cycle differed from that observed in the 1980s. The robustness of the results is investigated using innovative statistical techniques, in an attempt to identify whether or not the observed changes represent real increases or decreases in inequality or whether they can be attributed simply to sampling variation between years. Finally, some preliminary results are presented which attempt to identify some of the reasons underlying the observed trends in income inequality, with a particular focus on the role of the labour market.
Lobbyists and their political action committees (PACs) have contributed at least 103.1milliontomembersofCongresssince1998.ThisreportisthefirstcomprehensiveefforttomatchnamesoflobbyistswithFederalElectionCommissioncampaigncontributiondata.Theresultprovidesdetailsaboutthebiggestlobbyistcontributorsandcongressionalrecipientsofcampaignlargesseandfurnishesacontributiontotalnearlydoublethepreviousestimate.ThereportdetailstheamountsgiventomembersofCongresssince1998bythe50biggestlobbyistmoney−givers.Twenty−sevenpercentoflobbyistshavecontributedanamounttolawmakerslargeenoughtoberecognizedbytheFederalElectionCommission(200 or more), and a select 6.1 percent of lobbyists have contributed at least 10,000−−totaling83.4percentofalllobbyistcontributions.Manyofthetoprecipientsofcongressionalcampaignmoneyareonappropriationscommitteesthatdoleoutfederalmoney.Thereportalsorecordstheriseofcontributionsbylobbyistsfrom17.8 million in the 2000 election cycle to 33.9millioninthe2004cycle−−a90.3percentincrease.Inthe2006election,lobbyistsandtheirPACsarealreadyontracktogiveabout10percentmorethaninthepreviouscycle,notaccountingfortheexpectedincreaseincontributionsasElectionDaydrawsnearer.Profilingthe10lobbyistswhohavegiventhemosttomembersofCongresssince1998,thereportalsoprovidesbehind−the−scenesglimpsesofsomeofthemostegregiouspolicy−makingfiascosinrecentyears.OneprimeexampleisKennethKies,whoservedasthechiefofstaffoftheCongressionalJointCommitteeonTaxationfrom1995to1998andwho,alongwithhiswifeKathleen,isthestudy′sfifth−highestlobbyist−contributortoCongresswith292,866 since 1998
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In 2019-2020 the Andover Public Library received book challenges on three books in the children’s collection featuring transgender main characters, George by Alex Gino, Lily and Dunkin by Donna Gephart and I am Jazz by Jessica Herthel and Jazz Jennings. The Library Board rejected the challenges and the books remain in the children’s collections. This presentation will share the story of the challenges and all that transpired, including media attention and a protest. It will demonstrate how the director and the library board rejected the book challenges. This specific example demonstrates some of the best practices for facing book challenges on LGBTQ content
All social situations are ‘ordered’ in some way, comprising a constantly changing set of relationships that establish the structure within which human action occurs. In many circumstances this order is hidden, even ephemeral; we are barely aware of its presence. But this is not the case in prisons. Social order in prison is in many ways highly visible: it is established and managed by the omnipresent rules that govern prison life. In large part these rules are oriented toward reproducing the extant regime. They lay down apparently strict criteria for what constitutes order and what is to be done if it is breached. But what is meant by order in prison? Most socia