Long-term increases like this are unusual. So is the fact that this increased governmental generosity began with a measure approved by Congress when Republicans held majorities in both chambers.
The Leonard P. Zakim Bunker Hill Bridge was part of Boston’s Big Dig, which was infamous for its cost overruns.
AP Photo/Steven Senne
Congress is inching closer to passing as much as $4.5 trillion in new infrastructure and social spending, which would be an attractive target for fraudsters.
U.S. envoy resigned over “inhumane” treatment of Haitian migrants.
AP Photo/Felix Marquez
In 1950, the top 0.01% of earners paid almost 70% of their income in taxes. By 2018, the super-rich paid proportionately less than the average for all other Americans.
North Korea’s testing of two long-range cruise missiles was a provocative act – but a predictable one, too.
Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP
President Biden outlined a six-point strategy to confront the pandemic. But two public health scholars believe it would work better with help from states.
Solar panels on the roof of the Casa Dominguez low-income housing development in East Rancho Dominguez, Calif.
Lawrence K. Ho/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
A decade ago, solar power was a tiny sliver of the US energy supply. Today it’s expanding rapidly – and the Biden administration wants to make it much, much bigger.
Interstate 980 cuts off West Oakland, Calif., at top, from other Oakland neighborhoods.
Jane Tyska/Digital First Media/East Bay Times via Getty Images
Two urban policy experts explain why taking down highways that have isolated low-income and minority neighborhoods for decades is an important part of the pending infrastructure bill.
The Supreme Court lifted the CDC’s eviction ban.
AP Photo/Elise Amendola
Gina Solomon, University of California, San Francisco
What kind of evidence does it require to get a widely used chemical banned? A professor of medicine and former state regulator explains how the case for chlorpyrifos as a threat to public health developed.
Starting in October 2021, SNAP benefits will be 25% higher than before the pandemic due to a lasting policy change.
Pat Greenhouse/The Boston Globe via Getty Images
An economist explains what it would cost to give SNAP benefits to all Americans in households earning up to about $100,000 per year – and why it would be worth it.
Organic vegetables at the Center for Urban Agriculture at Fairview Gardens, Goleta, Calif.
Citizen of the Planet/Education Images/Universal Images Group via Getty Images
Four out of five Americans regularly buy some kind of organic food. An expert on the industry says more federal support could greatly expand organic farming and its environmental benefits.
The Tongass National Forest in Alaska, a focus of political battles over old-growth logging and road-building in forests for decades, has received new protection from the Biden administration.
Biden directed regulators to find ways to limit bank mergers.
AP Photo/Andrew Harnik
A handful of banks now dominate the US financial sector. This consolidation has resulted in higher costs for consumers and small businesses and put the economy at greater risk of a financial crisis.
Tens of millions of American families are getting a monthly allowance from Uncle Sam.
Thomas Barwick/DigitalVision via Getty Images
While noncompetes may make sense for well-paid executives who possess trade secrets, they make less sense for low-paid workers – yet many are subject to the agreements.
Militiamen join Afghan security forces during a gathering in Kabul last month. Together, they are trying to stem the tide of the latest Taliban gains.
Rahmat Gul/AP
In Afghanistan, it does not pay to be on the losing side. There is a danger that a spreading perception the Taliban are poised to take over could trigger a wave of government and army defections.
Lead in pipes can contaminate the water supply, resulting in poisoning.
AP Photo/Julio Cortez