James Baratta

2 weeks ago | prospect.org | James Baratta |Whitney Wimbish

You shouldn’t have to be a master investor in your spare time to afford a decent retirement. Policymakers have understood this for decades; that’s why the (ERISA) established minimum standards for private-sector retirement plans, requiring employers to clearly communicate plan information and subjecting them to a fiduciary duty, so advisers operate exclusively in the best interest of their beneficiaries.

3 weeks ago | prospect.org | James Baratta

In railroading, danger is omnipresent. Freight train crews, typically consisting of a conductor and an engineer, bear the awesome responsibility of keeping a critical piece of the supply chain moving. They regularly handle the complex decision-making required to transport goods across some of the most unforgiving regions in the U.S. Help is seldom close by, and disaster can strike at a moment’s notice.

1 month ago | prospect.org | James Baratta

House Republicans passed their colossal domestic-policy package early Thursday morning, clinching a vote of 215 to 214 while most of America slept. The GOP mega-bill, which diverts hundreds of billions of dollars in federal funding from social safety net programs, is now bound for the Senate floor.

1 month ago | prospect.org | James Baratta

Under the guise of strengthening Medicaid, Republicans on the House Energy and Commerce Committee ended a 26-hour markup session last week with a party-line vote to gut the program. The sweeping cuts, which would slash federal funding for Medicaid by at least $625 billion over the next decade, comprise a significant portion of the reconciliation package Republicans are trying to pass before the upcoming Memorial Day recess.

1 month ago | portside.org | James Baratta

Trump Would Torch Magna Carta Published May 15, 2025 Under the Constitution and federal law, individuals may challenge the legality of their detention in a court of law by filing a writ of habeas corpus. It is perhaps the most important protection preventing state actors from arbitrarily tossing people in jail indefinitely. At its core, habeas corpus provides a structural ballast in the preservation of liberal democratic values, and extends to both citizens and noncitizens.