Half of U.S. workers don't have access to a retirement savings plan through their employers. For these 71 million people, 401(k)s and pensions--the centerpiece of most Americans' retirements--aren't working.

Heritage's David John and the Brookings Institution's Mark Iwry offer a simple and effective way to help these workers save: the "automatic IRA."

In this short article, John and Iwry describe how the automatic IRA would work and why it is so direly needed. As more and more policymakers are coming to agree, this is the next big step to improve retirement security.

Read The Other 71 Million by Mark Iwry and David John

A blossoming Sino-Russian romance is undercutting U.S. global interests on an unprecedented scale. Indeed, Russia and China seem to have their eyes on restraining European and Japanese power, too. Start with the United Nations, where Russia and China are hampering U.S.- and European Union-led efforts to address Iran's nuclear program. It's been weeks since the Security Council got official notice that Iran had violated its nonproliferation promises - yet the U.N. body has yet to manage to even condemn Tehran's actions, much less impose economic sanctions

Recent gains in spending are weighing down the federal budget and presenting a challenge to the House Members writing the FY 2007 budget resolution. Unless lawmakers confront runaway spending, within a decade just balancing the budget will require a $7,000-per-household tax increase. To avoid that end, a responsible budget resolution should freeze discretionary spending through 2011, get moving on entitlement reform, and extend the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts. Without a serious resolution, the House will be in a poor position to negotiate with the free-spending Senate, which has already passed a budget resolution that bursts the President’s spending limits.