Posts filed as “Politics”
New York City Marathon Canceled
City officials just announced the first ever cancellation of the City Marathon. Pressure had been mounting for days to postpone the event, which attracts tens of thousands of runners from around the world. Opponents pointed out that not only was the 26 mile event a logistical nightmare in the best of circumstances, handing out food and ...Read more.No Mitt Romney, Private Charity Is Not Enough
Will the era of a thousand points of light end with Mitt Romney’s photo op of a thousand cans of soup? Ever since President George H.W. Bush proclaimed a need for “a thousand points of light,” Americans have been enthralled by the idea that private charity is all that is needed to help those in ...Read more.On Early Retirement
This week, AARP released a Social Security calculator, designed to demonstrate to the bevy of 50 and 60 somethings out there on the verge of retirement, that it is better to wait till age 66 to file for benefits, instead of taking a reduced monthly stipend at age 62. This, of course, assumes there is ...Read more.You’ve Come A Long Way, Baby
Whatever happened between former IMF head Dominique Strauss-Kahn and the immigrant housekeeper he is (still) charged with sexually assaulting earlier this year is likely destined to remain a murky bit of business. He’s got a record as a sexual harasser, she’s admitted to faking rape previously. Stir in the fact that there are plenty of ...Read more.They’re All Wrong
Private schools encouraging use of tutors by students....Read more.Let It Snow
I’ll say this for New Jersey blowhard governor Chris Christie: When he performed his Christmas week disappearing act just in time for yet another snowpocalypse, he at least had the brains to leave a Democratic machine politician in charge of things, the sort of guy who knows one of the first rules of northeastern politics is ...Read more.This One’s for George
As many of my friends know, I have a definite thing for the Armageddon types. I suspect I am one of those people who needs to know how much worse things can be before I appreciate what I have in the here and now (Yeah, my health insurance bites! But hey, in five years, things ...Read more.I’m Shocked! Gambling at Rick’s Casino!
The news that shouldn’t be news study of the week comes courtesy of Rutgers University and the journal Politics and Policy. Researchers took a look at the academics offered spots on a number of op-ed pages including the The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal. The results: men wrote more than 80% of the ...Read more.Quick! The Retired Will Work Cheap Too
I decided to not write about Sue Shellenbarger’s most recent Tuesday column when I first read it. I was sure I was overreacting, my fury was so great. So I waited till today and, guess what? It’s even worse than I thought: Lots of employers would like to be able to hire cheap, temporary teams of ...Read more.From Publishers Weekly ….
A review of The Maternal is Political: The Maternal Is Political: Women Writers at the Intersection of Motherhood and Social Change Edited by Shari MacDonald Strong, foreword by Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner. Seal, $15.95 paper (280p) ISBN 978-1-58005-243-6 In a raw and emotional literary anthology, 30 women express their frustrations about motherhood, their disappointment with unsupportive work ...Read more.About Helaine Olen
I am the voice of The Bills, a column about the intersection of money and life, at Slate. At Inc., I contribute to the Spread the Wealth personal finance column. My work on politics, economics, workplace culture and women’s issues has been published in numerous other print and on-line publications, including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, The Atlantic, Salon, Pacific Standard, and The Los Angeles Times, where I wrote and edited the popular “Money Makeover” feature.
I'm the author of the critically acclaimed book Pound Foolish: Exposing the Dark Side of the Personal Finance Industry, and The Index Card: Why Personal Finance Doesn’t Have to be so Complicated, which I co-wrote with Harold Pollack.
What else? I’m a passionate bibliophile, a fan of 1970s pop music and a lover of rummage sales. I live in New York City.
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