CNNMoney

Health-care reform is probably the toughest nut to crack in Washington. And in 2009, odds are that Congress will still be too busy digesting the effect of the current financial crisis to make any big moves.

Len Nichols, a health economist at the New America Foundation, says both McCain and Obama are more likely in their first year to seek a "kumbaya" moment of bipartisan compromise on something like coverage for children.

So when you're deciding between Obama and McCain, you're not really voting for an actual plan here.… more

..."They kind of create money out of thin air," said Maya MacGuineas, president of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget.

Here's what she means: Washington is charging the cost of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan to its national credit card. So far, the government has spent between $700 billion and $800 billion since 2001. Simply deciding to spend less money the government doesn't have will not free up real money to pay down the current deficit or help pay for new endeavors.

"We'll be… more

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- A national movement to mandate paid sick leave for all workers has gotten a lift from a proposition passed by San Francisco voters this month.

Under Proposition F, all businesses with 10 or fewer workers must provide up to 40 hours of paid sick leave a year to employees, while larger companies must guarantee up to 72 hours.

Workers get one hour of sick leave for 30 hours worked, beginning 90 days after the employee starts at the… more

State university tuition has leaped 40 percent in the past five years, hitting the three out of four American college students who attend public universities.

Tuition has risen 126 percent (after inflation) since 1984 and is eating up an ever-growing chunk of family incomes. In 1984, the tuition and fees at a public, four-year college was just 4.8 percent of the median family income; today it's 9.5 percent.

The heart of the problem is that states must juggle the cost of funding… more