Weekly Round Up: June 8 - 12, 2009

Economy

Family and Medical Leave for All Workers

Our nation’s labor policies haven’t kept pace with changes in families and the labor market. Heather Boushey made the case for paid family and medical leave in a new report and "Ask the Expert" video. Boushey's proposed program, Social Security Cares, would allow workers to access Social Security benefits for income when they experience certain life events.

And a Michigan educator explained how the recession and declines in the auto-industry are increasing homelessness among children while the Center joined world leaders on Thursday in Geneva, Switzerland to discuss the urgent need to strengthen labor and welfare institutions to better protect workers around the world.
 

National Security

An Important First Step in Closing Guantánamo

Ken Gude wrote about how the United States made an important first step toward closing the Guantánamo Bay prison with the transfer of Ahmed Ghailani to a New York City court, while Rudy Teixeira argued that conservatives’ advantage on national security may now be a disadvantage, according to recent polling on President Barack Obama’s national security policies. Some of these policies were discussed at this week’s event panel on militants in Pakistan.
 

Energy and the Environment

Why Farmers Should Support Action on Global Warming

Agriculture, energy, and global warming are inextricably linked, which is why America’s farmers must be a part of the solution to global warming. Jake Caldwell and Alexandra Kougentakis gave eight reasons why farmers should support action on global climate change.

John Podesta explained the link between cultural change and climate change in a speech at the Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities in Essen, Germany, and keeping cool and staying green aren’t mutually exclusive according to this week’s Easy Being Green.