Springfield Republican Op-Ed: Sequester drags American economy down
Earlier this year, automatic, across-the board spending cuts went into effect across the country.
As our economy slowly recovers from high unemployment and the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression, middle class families are struggling to keep their heads above water.
MetroWest Daily News Op-Ed: Stop the heartless, senseless sequester
Across-the-board federal spending cuts are dragging down our economy in MetroWest and across Massachusetts. The sequester threatens countless vital investments in our future – from critical medical research to Head Start for our kids. We’ve worked hard to recover from the Great Recession, but the sequester is making it harder than it should be for families to get back on their feet.
Here in Framingham, we are seeing firsthand how damaging and senseless the sequester is to Massachusetts. The Framingham Heart Study – a generations-long study of the causes of heart disease – will lose 40 percent of its funding.
Taunton Daily Gazette Op-Ed: General Dynamic’s WIN-T program a good example of a good investment
Massachusetts helps keep our country safe. The incredible national defense work happening every day strengthens our national security – and we need to support that work.
Since taking office, I’ve made it a priority to visit our state’s military bases to hear about how these critical efforts impact our service members and our national defense. The work that goes on at bases and by defense contractors throughout the Commonwealth is a great example of how investments in research and development can help ensure our nation’s military is ready and able to meet current and emerging needs while also supporting our state’s economy.
Four Questions for Fed Chair Candidates
The decisions made by the next chair of the Federal Reserve will have a powerful impact on the economic well-being of every person in America.
While the largest financial institutions and corporations in this country have been bailed out and are now back to making enormous profits and rewarding their executives with outsized compensation packages, recovery hasn’t gone so well for the rest of America. Middle class families have continued to lose ground economically, the number of Americans living in poverty is near an all-time high, and the gap between the very rich and everyone else is growing wider.
Standard-Times Op-Ed: Tide begins turning fishermen's way
For the past two years, I have made many visits to Massachusetts fishing communities in New Bedford, Gloucester and the South Shore to hear about the challenges facing the industry. I’ve listened to boat owners and fishermen who face devastating catch allocation cuts, and I’ve spoken with net makers and icemen whose businesses depend on a strong fishing fleet to make ends meet. The message I’ve heard has been clear: The federal government needs to act quickly to provide disaster assistance for our fishermen, and we need long-term policy changes and better science to preserve this critical lifeline that has been part of the commonwealth’s economy and traditions for generations.
Politico Op-Ed: Profits on student loans ruin long-term prospects
On July 1, the rate on subsidized student loans doubled to 6.8 percent, but there is still time to undo this added financial burden on America’s working families.
It’s time to adopt Paycheck Fairness Act
Last weekend, I was looking for a picture I wanted to show my daughter, and pulled out a box of old photographs from a shelf in the basement. The pictures of my mother and my aunts were wonderful-old hairstyles, dresses with big petticoats and hats-and-gloves for going out. As we sifted through the pictures, I thought about how life had changed for women over the last fifty years. Women doctors and scientists, women union leaders and small business owners. I also thought about how life had not changed. Across the board, women still earn less than men.
FHFA’s Senseless Arm’s-Length Policy on Short Sales
As our nation struggles to emerge from the worst recession in decades, the last thing a government agency should do is make it more difficult for Americans to stay in their homes. Unfortunately, that is exactly what the Federal Housing Finance Authority (FHFA) has been doing.
Sen. Warren and Rep. Tierney: Banking on our students
In June, high school seniors across Massachusetts will pull on their graduation robes and take pictures with proud parents, celebrating the end of high school and looking forward to a new beginning in college. But on July 1, they will get an unpleasant graduation gift from the federal government: the interest rate on new subsidized student loans will double from 3.4 to 6.8 percent.
These students and their families have worked hard, saved what they could, and borrowed what they need to pay for higher education. Rather than reward their efforts, the government plans to add to their burden. Students are already drowning in debt. With $1 trillion in outstanding student loans and many borrowers struggling to stay afloat, we cannot afford to let this happen.
Avoiding Wall St. shuffle's perils
Transition is afoot in Washington, and if the right people go back and forth, the country will develop smarter, stronger rules. But if the wrong people make the shuffle, then Washington will be rigged even more for Wall Street — and every middle-class family will pay the consequences.