Today is Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) awareness day!

The minimum wage will increase in eight states and several localities across the country. In these states, the minimum wage is indexed to inflation, a campaign priority of Barack Obama back in 2008 that never got past the formative stage. This can actually have a pretty decent impact, if a small one in macroeconomic terms, and a significant increase in the minimum wage would be even better.

A building and loan association, like the Bailey Brothers’ in It’s a Wonderful Life, uses the savings of its members to provide mortgages to the depositors. Members essentially pool their money to give each other the opportunity to buy cars and homes. But Mr. Potter scoffs at such “charity.” The GOP does the same with Social Security, Medicare and other programs that pool the nation’s wealth to help the middle class.

One-trick ponies and one-foot bike riders; a story of right-wing economists.

If economics were a science, professors would sic their grad students on a paper by Casey Mulligan explaining that the minimum wage hike in 2009 cost 800,000 jobs.

“Business Friendly Climate” is one of the buzz phrases we see and hear a bit more frequently these days. I guess it is a phrase that may have always been around to some extent but is not just limited to the business press. But what exactly does “Business Friendly Climate” actually mean?

For what it’s worth, I’m fairly certain that McDonalds goes through a hiring exercise of this nature most every spring; they just consolidated it all to one day this year and apparently received the hoped for public relations splash.

Not that this post will penetrate the bubble around economists such as New York Times Economix blog contributor and economist Casey Mulligan, but let’s play with some numbers here.

We’re seeing more and more discussion of the fact that Republican candidates nationwide have basically dropped off the map, relying on advertising and the national mood over retail campaigning and public appearances.

The DSCC has secured an ad buy in Connecticut, where they thought they wouldn’t have to pay attention to the race between Attorney General Richard Blumenthal (D) and WWE executive Linda McMahon (R). This $250,000 ad buy – with more likely to come – starves other candidates of potential resources. West Virginia, where the DSCC just dropped some money, also fits into this category.

But Democrats may have just caught a break in Connecticut. McMahon, appearing at a news conference that she abruptly shut down, made comments about the minimum wage that are a gift for her opponents to paint her as out of touch.