On the surface, not much seems to be of relevance in the ‘Stop Online Piracy Act’ (SOPA, H.R. 3261) because nonprofits aren’t really in the business of selling digitized content, much less pirated content. Nevertheless, nonprofit organizations and consumer protection groups are decrying the bill and calling for an internet ‘blackout’ on 18 January as […]
#PublicPolicy: Net Neutrality Remains Hot, Unspoken, Political Issue
You might recall a great line from a little ditty from the 1780s. It is from a song we like to call The Constitution: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the […]
#Aging: Will the Social Security Earnings Penalty Affect Me?
AARP published a useful Q&A as part of a series on tax-issue for those approaching retirement age. This particular article helps the reader identify which payments are classified as “Special Payments” under the current tax code and how they must be reported to the IRS. Here’s a definition of “Special Payments” from AARP: Special payments […]
Over 1 Million Households Pay More Than 50% of Their Income For Rent
Senior Housing News reports that the supply of affordable rental housing appears to be dropping at a rapid pace during the past 2 years according to new research released this week from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The study, Worst Case Housing Needs 2009: A Report to Congress, measures the scale […]
‘Lame Duck’ Seems A Misnomer – Or A Political Attack (On Net Neutrality)
Lame-duck Congresses refer to those sessions that follow a November election through the winter holidays. Some number of Congress people have just lost their seats, but the newly elected replacements do not get to move in until they are sworn in in January. Thus the ‘duck’ is too ‘lame’ to fly, though it is alive […]
Harsh Op-Ed On ‘Charitable Scrooges’
Debates about social media as catalyst, about political responses to economic crises, about open internets, about the care of our health… can help us sharpen our own positions and/or encourage us to take on ideas that we had avoided. This particular blog outlet tends to focus on the nexus of nonprofits, politics, and communications technologies, […]
Nonprofits Prepare For Changing Political Landscape
Image via Wikipedia Yes, the elections were a whole week ago. The new Congress will not be seated until January 2011, anyway. But some voices in the nonprofit world are still responding to the former and preparing for the latter. We would encourage our readers in the mission-based community to continue to do the same. […]
Foreclosure Assistance To Banks Almost Slips Past Obama Administration
President Obama enacted a ‘pocket veto’ earlier today, blocking a bill coming from Congress (HR3808) that would have sped up the status of numerous foreclosure proceedings. The pitch for the bill was that it would ease interstate commerce by allowing states to expedite each others’ foreclosure confirmations, and thus help clear out the backlog of […]