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<p>&nbsp;&nbsp; This summer we’ve seen wild swings in the stock market, a last-minute debt deal, and even a rocking east coast earthquake. But one thing we haven’t seen – from Memorial Day to Labor Day – is any improvement in the economy.</p>

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<p>&nbsp;&nbsp; In the cut-throat property services industry, building contracts turn over quickly.&nbsp; A janitor like Maria Trujillo might find out at the end of her shift in the hospital where she works that the contractor that employs her has been replaced—something that’s happened to her three times in six years.</p>

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<p>&nbsp;&nbsp; Two years ago this week, 4.5 million of America’s workers enjoyed a modest pay increase, as the federal minimum wage rose from $6.55 to $7.25 an hour. The increase was the final of a three-step boost enacted in 2007. Of those getting a bump in pay, more than three-quarters were adults, nearly two-thirds were women, and nearly half a million were single parents with children under 18.</p>

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<p>&nbsp;&nbsp; In America, anybody who works for a living should be able to afford to retire.</p>
<p>&nbsp;&nbsp; That’s why shunting newly hired and/or existing civil servants into defined contribution or 401(k)-style plans to save taxpayers money, as a new report by the Kellogg School of Management and the Simon School of Business suggests doing, is a bad idea.</p>

<p><strong>New America Media</strong></p>
<p><strong>SAN FRANCISCO</strong> — Maria Tupas worked for an elderly woman in Hercules, Calif. who told her she would have to be on duty 24/7.</p>
<p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Maria Fernandez, provided in-home care for a disabled woman in the Bay Area, but said she was never given any breaks and never allowed to step out of the house.</p>

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<p>&nbsp;&nbsp; In California, local governments are required to study how new development impacts the surrounding environment, and rightly so. Before buildings are put up, the public deserves to know if there will be more traffic impacts, if it will harm wildlife or if there’s a possibility that nearby creeks or beaches will be polluted as a result.</p>

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<p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The growth of cross-border solidarity today is taking place at a time when U.S. penetration of Mexico is growing – economically, politically, and even militarily. While the relationship between the U.S. and Mexico has its own special characteristics, it is also part of a global system of production, distribution and consumption. It is not just a bilateral relationship.</p>