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Failed Two Party System — No Comments
29
Apr 13

Seniors still Suffering from Meals on Wheels Sequester Cuts

There’s no good reason that government dysfunction should be allowed to create unnecessary flight delays, but there’s also no good reason that people McCormick and the many others who are needlessly suffering right now should be forced to endure cuts to programs like Meals on Wheels. But that’s exactly what’s happening, and it’s happening because they don’t have power and their government doesn’t care about them. The only thing that can stop this is for the public to elect leaders who want to repeal the sequester.

Unfortunately, other than some progressive Democrats in the House and Senate, no politicians are supporting repeal—not even the president. Now that Congress has put the lie to the central premise of sequestration—that everybody would be screwed equally, creating the political will to replace it with a different form of austerity—that should change. It’s time for Democrats to embrace repeal. The hostage taking must end.

via Daily Kos: Seniors still suffering from Meals on Wheels sequester cuts, but at least the DC shuttle is on time.

Economy — No Comments
30
Mar 13

Since 2007 Poverty has Increased 30%

Poverty30 60% of Jobs Since Recession Med-Wage

Economy — No Comments
06
Mar 13

50 Million Americans are Food Insecure

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Income — No Comments
19
Jan 13

$240 billion amassed by 100 richest people enough to end extreme poverty four times over: Oxfam

The vast fortunes made by the world’s richest 100 billionaires is driving up inequality and hindering the world’s ability to tackle poverty, according to Oxfam.

The charity said the accumulation of wealth and income on an unprecedented scale, often at the expense of secure jobs and decent wages for the poorest, undermined the ability of people who survive on aid or low wages to improve their situation and escape poverty.

Oxfam said the world’s poorest could be lifted out of poverty several times over should the richest 100 billionaires give away the money they made last year.

via $240 billion amassed by 100 richest people enough to end extreme poverty four times over: Oxfam | The Raw Story.

Health — No Comments
31
Oct 12

Study Links Poverty to Mental Well-Being

Another reason why poverty can be hazardous to your health. That could be easily remedied if only the poor were paid a living wage. I wonder if Obama has seen this study. Probably not. Poverty under this President(a word he does not utter) has risen to record levels:

This morning’s Study of The Day is actually a poll, in which The Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index conducted with a 31 percent living in poverty suffer from depression, as opposed to 15 percent of those not living in povertyrandom phone-interview sample of U.S. adults and looked at the prevalence of chronic illnesses.

They found a variety of chronic health problems disproportionately affecting the poor, with the incidence of depression showing the strongest disparity: 31 percent of Americans under the U.S. Census Bureau’s poverty threshold in 2011 had been diagnosed with the disorder, as opposed to 15.8 percent of those not in poverty:

The increased rates of asthma, diabetes, high blood pressure, and heart attacks likely come along with the heightened levels of obesity among this group, and with the fact that this demographic is much more likely to be smokers.

Economy — No Comments
05
Sep 12

Record 17.9 million U.S. households Didn’t Have Enough Food

You won’t hear about this outrage at the Democratic convention:

Record numbers of U.S. households struggled at times to feed their families last year, according to a report Wednesday from the U.S. Department of Agriculture on the state of hunger in America.

A lack of resources forced others to cut back on meals and disrupt their usual eating patterns, it says.

A record 17.9 million U.S. households – 700,000 more than in 2010 – didn’t have enough food at all times last year to sustain active, healthy lives for all family members, according to the USDA.

This “food insecurity” affected a record 14.9 percent of U.S. households and more than 50 million people, about one in six U.S. residents.

Moreover, more than one in three “food insecure” households – 6.8 million – had “very low food security,” meaning that one or more family members cut back on eating last year because of a lack of either money or other access to food, according to the report. That’s an increase of 400,000 households over 2010.

Economy — No Comments
02
Sep 12

Some Below Poverty Line Don’t Qualify For Medicaid

Sandra Pico is poor, but not poor enough.

She makes about $15,000 a year, supporting her daughter and unemployed husband. She thought she’d be able to get health insurance after the Supreme Court upheld President Barack Obama’s health care law.

Then she heard that her own governor won’t agree to the federal plan to extend Medicaid coverage to people like her in two years. So she expects to remain uninsured, struggling to pay for her blood pressure medicine.

“You fall through the cracks and there’s nothing you can do about it,” said the 52-year-old home health aide. “It makes me feel like garbage, like the American dream, my dream in my homeland is not being accomplished.”

Many working parents like Pico are below the federal poverty line but don’t qualify for Medicaid, a decades-old state-federal insurance program. That’s especially true in states where conservative governors say they’ll reject the Medicaid expansion under Obama’s health law.

In South Carolina, a yearly income of $16,900 is too much for Medicaid for a family of three. In Florida, $11,000 a year is too much. In Mississippi, $8,200 a year is too much. In Louisiana and Texas, earning more than just $5,000 a year makes you ineligible for Medicaid.

via Some Below Poverty Line Don’t Qualify For Medicaid : NPR.

Economy — No Comments
01
Sep 12

Media’s Poverty Coverage Draws Persistent Criticism

Nobody, it would seem, is ever happy with the media’s coverage of poverty in America.

It’s a persistent critique of the press: why isn’t there more reporting on the poor? Every year seems to bring another study about the problem. There’s the study, for instance, that showed that the three main evening news shows devoted more time to Michael Jackson’s trials than to poverty. Or you can do a Google News search for “poverty.” 121,000 results appear. Do a search of “Kardashian” and 189,000 results turn up.

via Media’s Poverty Coverage Draws Persistent Criticism.

Economy — No Comments
01
Sep 12

Poverty: The New Growth Industry in America

Recent trends in poverty rates should have the country furious at its leaders. When we get the data for 2011 next month, we are likely to see yet another uptick in poverty rates, reversing almost 50 years of economic progress. The percentage of people in extreme poverty, with incomes less than half of the poverty level, is likely to again hit an all-time high since the data has been collected.

The situation is made even worse by the fact that so many of those in poverty are children. In 2010, 27 percent of all children in the country were reported as living below the poverty level. For African-American children, the share in poverty is approaching 40 percent.

via Dean Baker: Poverty: The New Growth Industry in America.

Government — No Comments
16
Aug 12

Anti-Medicaid states: Earning $11,000 is too much

Sandra Pico is poor, but not poor enough.

She makes about $15,000 a year, supporting her daughter and unemployed husband. She thought she’d be able to get health insurance after the Supreme Court upheld President Barack Obama’s health care law.

Then she heard that her own governor won’t agree to the federal plan to extend Medicaid coverage to people like her in two years. So she expects to remain uninsured, struggling to pay for her blood pressure medicine.

“You fall through the cracks and there’s nothing you can do about it,” said the 52-year-old home health aide. “It makes me feel like garbage, like the American dream, my dream in my homeland is not being accomplished.”

Many working parents like Pico are below the federal poverty line but don’t qualify for Medicaid, a decades-old state-federal insurance program. That’s especially true in states where conservative governors say they’ll reject the Medicaid expansion under Obama’s health law.

In South Carolina, a yearly income of $16,900 is too much for Medicaid for a family of three. In Florida, $11,000 a year is too much. In Mississippi, $8,200 a year is too much. In Louisiana and Texas, earning more than just $5,000 a year makes you ineligible for Medicaid.

via Anti-Medicaid states: Earning $11,000 is too much – Yahoo! News.

Failed Two Party System — No Comments
31
May 12

Report: US Has One Of The Highest Child Poverty Rates In The Developed World

This is an absolute outrage. And blame falls directly on the doorstep of our two-party system. Are you still planning to vote for Democrat or Republican given this information?

According to a new report from the Office of Research at the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the U.S. has one of the highest rates of child poverty in the developed world. Of the 35 wealthy countries studied by UNICEF, only Romania has a child poverty rate higher than the 23 percent rate in the U.S.

Economy — No Comments
12
Mar 12

Homeless as Wi-Fi Transmitters Creates a Stir in Austin

http://tpt.to/a2mWXgR