Policy

Rivlin, SEIU’s Stern, Picked for Debt Commission

President Obama announced today that it had chosen SEIU’s Stern to serve on his deficit commission, formally dubbed the “National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform.” Stern, will serve on […]

President Obama announced today that it had chosen SEIU’s Stern to serve on his deficit commission, formally dubbed the “National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform.” Stern, will serve on the 18-member commission that also includes Alice Rivlin, the former Federal Reserve Vice Chair and senior fellow in the Economic Studies Program at the Brookings Institution, Honeywell International Inc. Chief Executive David Cote, and former Young & Rubicam Chief Executive Ann Fudge.

The commission “will make recommendations to Congress by December 1, 2010 to put the budget in primary balance so that all operations and programs for the federal government are paid for (achieving deficits of about 3 percent of GDP) by 2015 and to meaningfully improve the long-term fiscal outlook,” according to a White House statement.

The move to appoint Stern came something as a surprise, considering SEIU’s initial opposition to the debt commission when it was being considered in the Senate, but the labor leader has been involved at a number of White House summit meetings. His appointment has also sparked the expected response from conservative groups.

  • Inside a framed peaked-roof house, four people are working. One is laying two-by-fours on the floor to frame a wall; one is using a table saw, and two are standing at the far wall looking at something out of camera view. Out the large doorway (which has no door yet) can be seen a house across the street, and piles of lumber.

    Is DOGE Coming After NeighborWorks?

    April 23, 2025

    Though it hasn't taken any action yet, DOGE has officially assigned a team to NeighborWorks America. The congressionally chartered nonprofit provides resources and training to a network of hundreds of local organizations that develop affordable housing and support homeowners and communities.

  • About 10 people in cool-weather clothing stand in front of large glass domes holding green signs with white/black lettering reading "Vote Yes on Prop 1A."

    How Social Housing Won in Seattle, Despite a Flood of Big Tech Money

    April 21, 2025

    Voters chose to provide a new social housing development authority with the funding it needs to succeed—despite opposition from the mayor and tech corporations.

  • View from behind of three officers in black shirts that read "Police/Ice" taking a handcuffed man in jeans and a white T-shirt toward a partially visible truck. Two of the officers are men, one a pony-tailed woman.

    ICE Is Coming to Your Building—Are You Ready?

    April 15, 2025

    If you have residents or clients who might be targeted by ICE (you do), it’s crucial to know what to do, and what not to do, when immigration officials show up.