By Rachel Goldfarb, originally published on Next New Deal
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Social Security Marks 79th Birthday with Declining Service (WaPo)
Joe Davidson says that the Social Security Administration continues to aim for providing "the best possible service for the American public," but budget and staffing cuts have hampered that goal.
- Roosevelt Take: Campus Network member Brian Lamberta calls for eliminating the cap on Social Security taxes to ensure the program's sustainability through Millennials' retirements and beyond.
Starbucks to Revise Policies to End Irregular Schedules for Its 130,000 Baristas (NYT)
In response to an article in The New York Times about a single mother's struggle with erratic scheduling, Starbucks plans to revise its scheduling practices to improve worker stability, writes Jodi Kantor.
Why the Minimum Wage Issue is a Win-Win for Obama (MSNBC)
Timothy Noah explains that if Congress won't pass a minimum wage increase, then Democrats have an easy wedge issue for the 2014 elections, which is especially important as they fight to hold the Senate.
Education Alone Is Not the Answer to Income Inequality and Slow Recovery (TAP)
Many economists are emphasizing education as a way to spread the economic recovery beyond the 1 percent, but Robert Kuttner argues for a job-creating solution instead: infrastructure investment.
It's Time to Pay Prisoners the Minimum Wage (TNR)
Josh Kovensky argues that using prison labor as a cost-cutting measure is ineffective and creates unexpected costs, particularly relating to the dependents of prisoners.
When Your Employer Doesn’t Consider You an Employee (AJAM)
The recently proposed Payroll Fraud Prevention Act would help balance power in the workplace by ensuring workers know their rights as employees or contractors, writes Malcolm Harris.
Why it’s No Easy Task to Determine What the GSEs Should Charge for Their Guarantee (MetroTrends Blog)
Laurie Goodman, Ellen Seidman, Jim Parrott, and Jun Zhu lay out the difficulties in determining what fees Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac should charge for guaranteeing mortgage-backed securities.