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New year, same shutdown
Dec 31, 2018

New year, same shutdown

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Hundreds of thousands of federal workers and contractors are going into the new year without pay as the government shutdown stretches into 2019. But a new year also means a new Congress. We'll talk about how lawmakers plan on tackling the spending bill and what to expect from Capitol Hill in the coming months. As of tomorrow morning, wages are set to increase in over 20 states, yet the federal minimum wage remains unchanged since 2009. More on what that means for the economy. Then, we'll talk to Elizabeth White, author of "55, Unemployed and Faking Normal," about how people 55 and older are coping without retirement savings.  

Segments From this episode

In Houston, a growing debate about flooding and sand mining

Dec 31, 2018
In business-friendly Texas, lawmakers could crack down on sand mines amid flooding concerns.
Excavators dig massive pits at the River Aggregates sand mine near Houston, Texas.
Travis Bubenik for Marketplace

Confronting a crisis: The hard truths about American retirement

Dec 31, 2018
“We are not primarily here because of too many trips to Starbucks,” author Elizabeth White says.
Elizabeth White and her forthcoming book "55, Underemployed, and Faking Normal."
Courtesy of Elizabeth White

Government shutdown continues as Democrats set new congressional agenda

Dec 31, 2018
The impasse over border wall funding is likely the first of many spending battles facing the new divided Congress.
A stop sign is seen near the White House during a government shutdown in Washington, D.C., in December.
Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP/Getty Images

Minimum wage hikes have varying effects across nation

Dec 31, 2018
Twenty states are raising their minimum wages as we usher in 2019.
Workers celebrate outside the Ronald Reagan State Building in downtown Los Angeles on April 4, 2016, after California Gov. Jerry Brown signed a bill that will raise the state's minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2022.
FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP/Getty Images

EPA decision could make it harder to impose environmental rules

Dec 31, 2018
Coal mining companies and power plants that burn coal are trying to sort out the implications of a deregulatory move by the Trump administration late Friday. The EPA is proposing to re-think rules cutting the air pollutant mercury – it’s a toxin which can impact the brain development of babies. For now, the agency says […]

Hundreds of thousands of federal workers and contractors are going into the new year without pay as the government shutdown stretches into 2019. But a new year also means a new Congress. We’ll talk about how lawmakers plan on tackling the spending bill and what to expect from Capitol Hill in the coming months. As of tomorrow morning, wages are set to increase in over 20 states, yet the federal minimum wage remains unchanged since 2009. More on what that means for the economy. Then, we’ll talk to Elizabeth White, author of “55, Unemployed and Faking Normal,” about how people 55 and older are coping without retirement savings.