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HavenWorks.com/poverty - POVERTY News |
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# Poverty Weblog |
 Poverty
POVERTY News:
 Brazil
-  Poverty
-  Homes-  Tourist
-  Environment
-  Construction
-  Politics
"Brazil builds walls around Rio de Janeiro slums." ... "The government of Rio de Janeiro is building concrete walls to prevent sprawling slums from spreading farther into the picturesque hills of this world-famous tourist destination, an official said on Saturday." ... "Officials say the wall is to protect the remaining native forest but critics fear the move could be seen as discriminatory and become a blemish symbolizing Brazil's deep divisions between rich and poor." ... "By year-end the Rio de Janeiro state government wants to build almost 7 miles (11 km) of walls to contain 19 communities." -By Raymond Colitt with contributions by Bill Trott -Reuters
 Barack
Obama - Homeless
-  People
- Poverty
-  Families
-  Jobs
-  Law
- Politics
- Los
Angeles -  California
-  Tennessee
-  Wash
-  Fla
"U.S. cities deal with a surge in shanty towns." ... "Like a dozen or so other cities across the nation, Fresno [California] is dealing with an unhappy déjà vu: the arrival of modern-day Hoovervilles, illegal encampments of homeless people that are reminiscent, on a far smaller scale, of Depression-era shantytowns. At his news conference on Tuesday night, [Democratic] President Obama was asked directly about the tent cities and responded by saying that it was "not acceptable for children and families to be without a roof over their heads in a country as wealthy as ours."" ... "While encampments and street living have always been a part of the landscape in big cities like Los Angeles [California] and New York, these new tent cities have taken root — or grown from smaller enclaves of the homeless as more people lose jobs and housing — in such disparate places as Nashville [Tennessee's capital], Olympia, Wash. [Washington's capital], and St. Petersburg, Fla. [Florida.]" ... "The problem in Fresno is different in that it is both chronic and largely outside the national limelight. Homelessness here has long been fed by the ups and downs in seasonal and subsistence jobs in agriculture, but now the recession has cast a wider net and drawn in hundreds of the newly homeless — from hitchhikers to truck drivers to electricians." ... ""These are able-bodied folks that did day labor, at minimum wage or better, who were previously able to house themselves based on their income," said Michael Stoops, the executive director of the National Coalition for the Homeless, an advocacy group based in Washington." (1, 2) -By Jesse Mckinley -IHT.com 
Barack
Obama -  Government
-  Economics
- Legislation
- Poor
- Unemployed
- Consumer
- Construction
- Politics
"GOP [Republicans] may vote no, but economists back Obama stimulus." ... "Economists think the stimulus plan that the House of Representatives will vote on Wednesday, while far from perfect, will help stimulate the moribund U.S. [United States] economy." ... "There's no panacea for what ails the economy. A stimulus plan will work only in combination with other actions, such as more aid to the banking system to spark lending and boost consumer confidence, and the implementation of any plan will be as important as what's in it." ... "However, most leading economists who are experienced in public policy generally favor the stimulus plan that the House is considering because through it the government will step up spending at a time when private-sector spending has fallen off sharply." ... "The House legislation would erect four pillars of economic stimulus. It would provide income support to the poor and recently unemployed, distribute aid to state governments, seek relatively quick employment gains through public works spending and aim to spark consumer and business spending through targeted tax cuts." ... "Private-sector economists who support the stimulus plan say that it could be made better, and, yes, bigger." ... ""I would make the package bigger . . . increase the package to over $1 trillion," [Moody's chief economist Mark] Zandi said." -By Kevin G. Hall -McClatchyDC.com 
 John
Boehner
- Government
- Economic
- Legislation
- Politics
-  History
- Poor
- Family
-  Women's
-  Medical
- Abortion
-  AL.
- FL
-  MS
-  SC
- CA
-  LA
-  MN
-  RI
-  MO
-  Ohio
-  Wisconsin
"Republicans Irate Over Expansion of Republican-Approved Program." ... "[T]he family-planning program that [California Democratic Representative and House Speaker Nancy] Pelosi supports expanding in the stimulus bill was created in 1972 under the leadership of Republican president Richard Nixon." ... "What's being proposed is an expansion in the number of states that can use Medicaid money, with a federal match, to help low-income women prevent unwanted pregnancies. Of the 26 states that already have Medicaid waivers for family planning, eight are led by Republican governors (AL [Alabama], FL [Florida], MS [Mississippi], SC [South Carolina], CA [California], LA [Louisiana], MN [Minnesota] and RI [Rhode Island] -- a ninth, MO [Missouri], had a GOP [GOP=Grand Old Party=Republican] governor until this past November). If this policy is truly a taxpayer gift to "the abortion industry," as [Ohio Republican Representative] John Boehner and House Republicans claim, where are the GOP governors promising to end the program in their states?" ... "Additionally, the process of obtaining a waiver for Medicaid family-planning coverage is extremely cumbersome. A letter written by Wisconsin health regulators in 2007 noted that some states have had to wait for as long as two years before their request was approved. The Congressional Budget Office has estimated that eliminating the waiver requirement would save states $400 million over 10 years." -By Elana Schor -TPMDC .TalkingPointsMemo
 US
-  Israel
- Palestine
-  Syria
-  Egypt
-  Military
-  Intelligence
-  Terrorism
- Politics
- Poor
- Families
-  Food
- Health
- Human
Rights
"An Unnecessary War." [by former Democratic President Jimmy Carter] ... "I know from personal involvement that the devastating invasion of Gaza [Palestine area] by Israel could easily have been avoided." ... "After visiting Sderot last April and seeing the serious psychological damage caused by the rockets that had fallen in that area, my wife, Rosalynn, and I declared their launching from Gaza to be inexcusable and an act of terrorism. Although casualties were rare (three deaths in seven years), the town was traumatized by the unpredictable explosions. About 3,000 residents had moved to other communities, and the streets, playgrounds and shopping centers were almost empty. Mayor Eli Moyal assembled a group of citizens in his office to meet us and complained that the government of Israel was not stopping the rockets, either through diplomacy or military action." ... "Knowing that we would soon be seeing Hamas leaders from Gaza and also in Damascus [Syria's capital], we promised to assess prospects for a cease-fire. From Egyptian intelligence chief Omar Suleiman, who was negotiating between the Israelis and Hamas, we learned that there was a fundamental difference between the two sides. Hamas wanted a comprehensive cease-fire in both the West Bank [Palestine area] and Gaza, and the Israelis refused to discuss anything other than Gaza." ... "We knew that the 1.5 million inhabitants of Gaza were being starved, as the U.N. [United Nations] special rapporteur on the right to food had found that acute malnutrition in Gaza was on the same scale as in the poorest nations in the southern Sahara, with more than half of all Palestinian families eating only one meal a day." ... "Palestinian leaders from Gaza were noncommittal on all issues, claiming that rockets were the only way to respond to their imprisonment and to dramatize their humanitarian plight. The top Hamas leaders in Damascus, however, agreed to consider a cease-fire in Gaza only, provided Israel would not attack Gaza and would permit normal humanitarian supplies to be delivered to Palestinian citizens." ... "After extended discussions with those from Gaza, these Hamas leaders also agreed to accept any peace agreement that might be negotiated between the Israelis and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, who also heads the PLO, provided it was approved by a majority vote of Palestinians in a referendum or by an elected unity government. " -By Jimmy Carter -WashingtonPost
Homeless
- Families
- Poverty
- Crisis
- Politics
- Law
-  Police
- Florida
"Homeless turn foreclosures into shelters." ... "For Max Rameau, a vacant, boarded-up home is more than just a symbol of the national housing crisis. It's an opportunity to house the homeless." ... "Rameau, a homeless advocate, runs a controversial program in Miami [Florida] that helps families squat in homes vacated because of bank foreclosures. Using Internet listings and a team of volunteers, Rameau and his Take Back the Land foundation matches homeless families with empty homes." ... "Rameau, 39, says his efforts are creative solutions for two of America's biggest problems: rising numbers of vacant homes and a growing homeless population. He has moved in six families since January. The authorities so far haven't stopped him." ... ""It's morally indefensible to have vacant homes sitting there, potentially for years, while you have human beings on the street," Rameau says." ... "Kelly Penton, a city of Miami spokeswoman, says police don't have the manpower to scour neighborhoods looking for squatters. Police only act on a complaint by a property owner, which so far hasn't happened, she says." ... ""People need to obey the law, obviously," Penton says. "But it has to be something that's reported to the city."" ... "With 44% of the nation's 744,000 homeless unsheltered, it's not surprising that people want to take over homes, says Michael Stoops, executive director of the National Coalition for the Homeless." -By Rick Jervis -USATODAY
Poverty
- Emergency
- People
- Health
- Wisconsin
"From canned goods to fresh, food banks adapt." ... "Vanessa Rosales comes to the St. Vincent DePaul Food Pantry here [in Madison, Wisconsin's capital] rather than others for one reason: She can choose what food she brings home, rather than being handed a bag filled with random groceries." ... "The pantry, which looks like a small grocery store, is indicative of broad changes going on at the nation's food banks and food pantries." ... "No longer simply the domain of canned corn and peanut butter, food banks are preparing ready-to-eat meals, opening their own farms and partnering with institutions as varied as local supermarkets and state prisons to help gather and process food. They are also handling much more fresh produce, which requires overhauling the way they store and distribute food." ... "Pantries, which distribute the food donated to food banks, are also acting as social service clearinghouses. Many are handing out information about screenings for breast and cervical cancer and sending volunteers out to sign up people for food stamps." ... "And as demand continues to rise, food banks are trying to feed more people with less food." ... ""I keep hearing that demand is up and up and up," said Ross Fraser, a spokesman for Feeding America, which provides more than two billion pounds of food annually to food banks around the country. "I heard one person saying they're feeding schoolteachers. The needle is moving higher up the socioeconomic class, and people making more money are needing emergency food assistance."" (1, 2) -By Katie Zezima -IHT.com
Children
- Food
- Poverty
- Health
-  Safety
- Government
- Language
- Politics
- Economics
-  Accounting
"50 percent more US children went hungry in 2007." ... "Some 691,000 children went hungry in America sometime in 2007, while close to one in eight Americans struggled to feed themselves adequately even before this year's sharp economic downtown, the Agriculture Department reported Monday." ... "The department's annual report on food security showed that during 2007 the number of children who suffered a substantial disruption in the amount of food they typically eat was more than 50 percent above the 430,000 in 2006 and the largest figure since 716,000 in 1998." ... "Overall, the 36.2 million adults and children who struggled with hunger during the year was up slightly from 35.5 million in 2006. That was 12.2 percent of Americans who didn't have the money or assistance to get enough food to maintain active, healthy lives." ... "Almost a third of those, 11.9 million adults and children, went hungry at some point. That figure has grown by more than 40 percent since 2000. The government says these people suffered a substantial disruption in their food supply at some point and classifies them as having "very low food security." Until the government rewrote its definitions two years ago, this group was described as having "food insecurity with hunger."" -By Michael J. Sniffen -AP via -Yahoo PDF: USDA.gov Report: "Household Food Security in the United States, 2007." 
 John
McCain - Poor
- Families
-  Seniors
- Federal
- Health
- Politics
-  Arizona
- 2008
Election
"McCain Plans Federal Health Cuts: Medicare, Medicaid Spending Would Be Reduced to Offset Proposed Tax Credit." ... "[Republican Presidential Candidate] John McCain would pay for his health plan with major reductions to Medicare and Medicaid, a top aide said, in a move that independent analysts estimate could result in cuts of $1.3 trillion over 10 years to the government programs." ... "The Republican presidential nominee has said little about the proposed cuts, but they are needed to keep his health-care plan "budget neutral," as he has promised. The McCain campaign hasn't given a specific figure for the cuts, but didn't dispute the analysts' estimate." ... "In the months since Sen. McCain introduced his health plan, statements made by his campaign have implied that the new tax credits he is proposing to help Americans buy health insurance would be paid for with other tax increases." ... "But Douglas Holtz-Eakin, Sen. McCain's senior policy adviser, said Sunday that the campaign has always planned to fund the tax credits, in part, with savings from Medicare and Medicaid. Those government health-care programs serve seniors, poor families and the disabled." ... "In April, when [Arizona Senator] Sen. McCain gave a major speech about his health plan, Mr. Holtz-Eakin, the senior policy adviser, said the tax provisions alone were budget neutral -- meaning that health benefits would have to be subject to both income and payroll taxes." -By Laura Meckler -WSJ.com
Barack
Obama -  Sarah
Palin -  Giuliani
- Religion
- Politics
- People
- Workers
- Poverty
- Justice
-  Illinois
- 2008
Election
"What a Community Organizer Does." ... "This morning, I received a press release from a group called Catholic Democrats about the work--the mission, the witness--that [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate Barack] Obama performed after he got out of college. Here's the first paragraph:" "Catholic Democrats is expressing surprise and shock that Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin's acceptance speech tonight mocked her opponent's work in the 1980s for the Catholic Campaign for Human Development. She belittled Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama's experience as a community organizer in Catholic parishes on the South Side of Chicago, work he undertook instead of pursuing a lucrative career on Wall Street. In her acceptance speech, Ms. Palin said, "I guess a small-town mayor is sort of like a community organizer, except that you have actual responsibilities." Community organizing is at the heart of Catholic Social Teaching to end poverty and promote social justice."... "So here is what [Republican Rudy] Giuliani and [2008 Election Republican Vice Presidential Candidate Sarah] Palin didn't know: Obama was working for a group of churches that were concerned about their parishioners, many of whom had been laid off when the steel mills closed on the south side of Chicago. They hired Obama to help those stunned people recover and get the services they needed--job training, help with housing and so forth--from the local government. It was, dare I say it, the Lord's work--the sort of mission Jesus preached (as opposed to the war in Iraq, which Palin described as a "task from God.")" -By Joe Klein -Time-Blog.com
 Education
- Consumer
- Poor
- People
-  Oregon
- Calif
- Federal
"Student Loans Start to Bypass 2-Year Colleges." ... "Some of the nation’s biggest banks have closed their doors to students at community colleges, for-profit universities and other less competitive institutions, even as they continue to extend federally backed loans to students at the nation’s top universities." ... "Citibank has been among the most aggressive in paring the list of colleges it serves. JPMorgan Chase, PNC and SunTrust say they have not dropped whole categories, but are cutting colleges as well. Some less-selective four-year colleges, like Eastern Oregon University [Oregon] and William Jessup University in Rocklin, Calif. [California], say they have been summarily dropped by some lenders." ... "The practice suggests that if the credit crisis and the ensuing turmoil in the student loan business persist, some of the nation’s neediest students will be hurt the most. The difficulty borrowing may deter them from attending school or prompt them to take a semester off. When they get student loans, they will wind up with less attractive terms and may run a greater risk of default if they have to switch lenders in the middle of their college years." ... "Tuition and loan amounts can be quite small at community colleges. But these institutions, which are a stepping stone to other educational programs or to better jobs, often draw students from the lower rungs of the economic ladder. More than 6.2 million of the nation’s 14.8 million undergraduates — over 40 percent — attend community colleges. According to the most recent data from the College Board, about a third of their graduates took out loans, a majority of them federally guaranteed." ... "“If we put too many hurdles in their way to get a loan, they’ll take a third job or use a credit card,” said Jacqueline K. Bradley, assistant dean for financial aid at Mendocino College in California. “That almost guarantees that they won’t be as successful in their college career.”" (1, 2) -By Jonathan D. Glater -NYTimes
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Barack
Obama
- Christian
- American
- Race
- Politics
- History
- 2008
Election - Israel
- Military
- Terrorism
- Economy
- Health-Care
- 
Climate
- Housing
- Poor
- People
- Scholarships
- Family-
"A
More Perfect Union." ... [Partial text of Barack
Obama's speech "A More Perfect Union". Read full
text of speech or 
Watch
speech.] "[Barack Obama:] I have already condemned, in unequivocal
terms, the statements of Reverend Wright that have caused such controversy.
For some, nagging questions remain. Did I know him to be an occasionally
fierce critic of American domestic and foreign policy? Of course. Did I
ever hear him make remarks that could be considered controversial while
I sat in church? Yes. Did I strongly disagree with many of his political
views? Absolutely - just as I'm sure many of you have heard remarks from
your pastors, priests, or rabbis with which you strongly disagreed." ...
"But the remarks that have caused this recent firestorm weren't simply
controversial. They weren't simply a religious leader's effort to speak
out against perceived injustice. Instead, they expressed a profoundly distorted
view of this country - a view that sees white racism as endemic, and that
elevates what is wrong with America above all that we know is right with
America; a view that sees the conflicts in the Middle East as rooted primarily
in the actions of stalwart allies like Israel, instead of emanating from
the perverse and hateful ideologies of radical Islam." ... "As such, Reverend
Wright's comments were not only wrong but divisive, divisive at a time
when we need unity; racially charged at a time when we need to come together
to solve a set of monumental problems - two wars, a terrorist threat, a
falling economy, a chronic health care crisis and potentially devastating
climate change; problems that are neither black or white or Latino or Asian,
but rather problems that confront us all." ... "Given my background, my
politics, and my professed values and ideals, there will no doubt be those
for whom my statements of condemnation are not enough. Why associate myself
with Reverend Wright in the first place, they may ask? Why not join another
church? And I confess that if all that I knew of Reverend Wright were the
snippets of those sermons that have run in an endless loop on the television
and You Tube, or if Trinity United Church of Christ conformed to the caricatures
being peddled by some commentators, there is no doubt that I would react
in much the same way[.]" ... "But the truth is, that isn't all that I know
of the man. The man I met more than twenty years ago is a man who helped
introduce me to my Christian faith, a man who spoke to me about our obligations
to love one another; to care for the sick and lift up the poor. He is a
man who served his country as a U.S. Marine; who has studied and lectured
at some of the finest universities and seminaries in the country, and who
for over thirty years led a church that serves the community by doing God's
work here on Earth - by housing the homeless, ministering to the needy,
providing day care services and scholarships and prison ministries, and
reaching out to those suffering from HIV/AIDS." ... "In my first book,
Dreams From My Father, I described the experience of my first service at
Trinity:" ... ""People began to shout, to rise from their seats and clap
and cry out, a forceful wind carrying the reverend's voice up into the
rafters....And in that single note - hope! - I heard something else; at
the foot of that cross, inside the thousands of churches across the city,
I imagined the stories of ordinary black people merging with the stories
of David and Goliath, Moses and Pharaoh, the Christians in the lion's den,
Ezekiel's field of dry bones. Those stories - of survival, and freedom,
and hope - became our story, my story; the blood that had spilled was our
blood, the tears our tears; until this black church, on this bright day,
seemed once more a vessel carrying the story of a people into future generations
and into a larger world. Our trials and triumphs became at once unique
and universal, black and more than black; in chronicling our journey, the
stories and songs gave us a means to reclaim memories that we didn't need
to feel shame about...memories that all people might study and cherish
- and with which we could start to rebuild."" ... "That has been my experience
at Trinity. Like other predominantly black churches across the country,
Trinity embodies the black community in its entirety - the doctor and the
welfare mom, the model student and the former gang-banger. Like other black
churches, Trinity's services are full of raucous laughter and sometimes
bawdy humor. They are full of dancing, clapping, screaming and shouting
that may seem jarring to the untrained ear. The church contains in full
the kindness and cruelty, the fierce intelligence and the shocking ignorance,
the struggles and successes, the love and yes, the bitterness and bias
that make up the black experience in America." ... "And this helps explain,
perhaps, my relationship with Reverend Wright. As imperfect as he may be,
he has been like family to me. He strengthened my faith, officiated my
wedding, and baptized my children. Not once in my conversations with him
have I heard him talk about any ethnic group in derogatory terms, or treat
whites with whom he interacted with anything but courtesy and respect.
He contains within him the contradictions - the good and the bad - of the
community that he has served diligently for so many years." -By
BarackObama.com
-read full
text of Barack Obama's speech "A More Perfect Union" via
HavenWorks.com
Barack
Obama
- Religious
- Justice
- Homeless
- Poor
- Health
- Illinois
- Politics
- 2008
Election - "On
My Faith and My Church." [By Barack Obama, 2008
Election Democratic Presidential Candidate:] ... "The pastor of my
church, [Reverend] Rev. Jeremiah Wright, who recently preached his last
sermon and is in the process of retiring, has touched off a firestorm over
the last few days. He's drawn attention as the result of some inflammatory
and appalling remarks he made about our country, our politics, and my political
opponents." ... "Let me say at the outset that I vehemently disagree and
strongly condemn the statements that have been the subject of this controversy.
I categorically denounce any statement that disparages our great country
or serves to divide us from our allies. I also believe that words that
degrade individuals have no place in our public dialogue, whether it's
on the campaign stump or in the pulpit. In sum, I reject outright the statements
by Rev. Wright that are at issue." ... "Because these particular statements
by Rev. Wright are so contrary to my own life and beliefs, a number of
people have legitimately raised questions about the nature of my relationship
with Rev. Wright and my membership in the church. Let me therefore provide
some context." ... "As I have written about in my books, I first joined
Trinity United Church of Christ nearly twenty years ago. I knew Rev. Wright
as someone who served this nation with honor as a United States Marine,
as a respected biblical scholar, and as someone who taught or lectured
at seminaries across the country, from Union Theological Seminary to the
University of Chicago [Chicago, Illinois]. He also led a diverse congregation
that was and still is a pillar of the South Side and the entire city of
Chicago. It's a congregation that does not merely preach social justice
but acts it out each day, through ministries ranging from housing the homeless
to reaching out to those with HIV/AIDS." ... "Most importantly, Rev. Wright
preached the gospel of Jesus, a gospel on which I base my life. In other
words, he has never been my political advisor; he's been my pastor. And
the sermons I heard him preach always related to our obligation to love
God and one another, to work on behalf of the poor, and to seek justice
at every turn." ... "The statements that Rev. Wright made that are the
cause of this controversy were not statements I personally heard him preach
while I sat in the pews of Trinity or heard him utter in private conversation.
When these statements first came to my attention, it was at the beginning
of my presidential campaign. I made it clear at the time that I strongly
condemned his comments. But because Rev. Wright was on the verge of retirement,
and because of my strong links to the Trinity faith community, where I
married my wife and where my daughters were baptized, I did not think it
appropriate to leave the church." ... "Let me repeat what I've said earlier.
All of the statements that have been the subject of controversy are ones
that I vehemently condemn. They in no way reflect my attitudes and directly
contradict my profound love for this country." -By
Barack Obama -HuffingtonPost.com
People
- Poverty- Economy
- "Some
homeless turn to foreclosed homes." ... "The nation's
foreclosure crisis has led to a painful irony for homeless people: On any
given night they are outnumbered in some cities by vacant houses. Some
street people are taking advantage of the opportunity by becoming squatters."
... "Foreclosed homes often have an advantage over boarded-up and dilapidated
houses that have been abandoned because of rundown conditions: Sometimes
the heat, lights and water are still working." ... ""That's what you call
convenient," said James Bertan, 41, an ex-convict and self-described "bando,"
or someone who lives in abandoned houses."
-AP via -USATODAY
Poor
- Children
- Health
- 
Energy
- Money
- Politics
- Government
- Debt
- "President's
Spending Plan Would Rival 2004 Deficit." ... "The
more than $3 trillion federal budget for 2009 that [Republican President]
Bush will unveil is his final opportunity to shape the priorities of the
government before leaving office a year from now." ... "But even in the
unlikely event that he were to get his way, the budget deficit would jump
sharply, from $163 billion in 2007 to about $400 billion in 2008 and 2009
-- partly the result of the new economic stimulus plan. Such deficits would
rival the record deficit of $412 billion of 2004 [under the Republican
controlled Congress], though administration allies argue that shortfalls
of that size now represent a smaller share of the overall economy and are
thus more manageable." ... "Alice M. Rivlin, who served [Democratic] President
Bill Clinton as budget director, pointed out that [Republican President]
Bush "inherited a very large surplus," but his "legacy from a fiscal point
of view is having blown an opportunity to ameliorate the long-run budget
deficits."" ... "Among the reductions are more than $1 billion to programs
run by the Administration for Children and Families, including a $280 million
hit to the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, a block grant program
that helps the poor pay heating and air-conditioning bills." ... "The budget
plan argues for a $500 million reduction in the Social Services Block Grant
program, which helps states protect children from neglect and abuse, and
pay for day care, adoption, health services, foster care and other services
for children and families." ... "The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
would lose more than $430 million, including $27 million from its efforts
to detect and control infectious diseases, and $28 million from chronic
disease prevention and health promotion. A $301 million program that trains
4,700 pediatricians and pediatric specialists at children's teaching hospitals
also would be eliminated, at a time when pediatric specialties, such as
rheumatology and pulmonology, face critical shortages." (1, 2)
-By Michael Abramowitz and Jonathan Weisman with contributions
by Maria Glod, Spencer Hsu, Christopher Lee, Josh White and Robin Wright
-WashingtonPost
John
Edwards
- 
Hillary
Clinton
- Barack
Obama
- New
Orleans - Louisiana
- Poverty
- Homeless
- People
- Health
Care - US
- 
Iraq
- Military
- Money
- 2008
Election - "Democrat
Edwards exits presidential race: Clinton, Obama praise
ex-rival, who refrains from endorsing one or other." ... "[2008 Election
Democratic Presidential Candidate] Democrat John Edwards bowed out of the
race for the White House on Wednesday, saying it was time to step aside
“so that history can blaze its path” in a campaign now left to [2008 Election
Democratic Presidential Candidate] Hillary Rodham Clinton and [2008 Election
Democratic Presidential Candidate] Barack Obama." ... ""It is time for
me to step aside," said Edwards, ending his second campaign in a hurricane-ravaged
section of New Orleans [Louisiana] where he began it more than a year ago.
“With our convictions and a little backbone we will take back the White
House in November.”" ... "Edwards said Clinton and Obama had both pledged
that “they will make ending poverty central to their campaign for the presidency.”"
... "“This is the cause of my life and I now have their commitment to engage
in this cause,” he said before a small group of supporters. He was joined
by his wife Elizabeth and his three children, Cate, Emma Claire and Jack."
... "Edwards said that on his way to make his campaign-ending statement,
he drove by a highway underpass where several homeless people live. He
stopped to talk, he said, and as he was leaving, one of them asked him
never to forget them and their plight." ... "“Well I say to her and I say
to all those who are struggling in this country, we will never forget you.
We will fight for you. We will stand up for you,” he said, pledging to
continue his campaign-long effort to end what he frequently said was “two
Americas,” one for the powerful, the other for the rest." ... "Edwards
burst out of the starting gate with a flurry of progressive policy ideas
— he was the first to offer a plan for universal health care, the first
to call on Congress to pull funding for the [Iraq] war, and he led the
charge that lobbyists have too much power in Washington and need to be
reigned in." (1, 2)
-AP via -MSNBC
John
Edwards
- Hillary
Clinton
- Barack
Obama
- 2008
Election - Economics
- Workers
- Energy
- Poverty
- Racial
- Politics
- "Edwards
Excels in Ferocious Democratic Debate." ... "[2008
Election Democratic Presidential Candidate John] Edwards tweaked both his
opponents for making the debate about political squabbling instead of public
policy. Returning to his populist economic platform -- especially salient
as Americans ponder a recession -- he reminded voters that he was the only
candidate to outline a comprehensive plan to end poverty, and the first
to introduce a national economic stimulus proposal. His plan came out weeks
before [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate Hillary] Clinton
and [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate Barack] Obama. The
program drove the "party's policy agenda," as Paul Krugman explained, by
advocating "aid to unemployed workers, aid to cash-strapped state and local
governments," and alternative energy, (most of which Clinton later adopted
in her plan). And while the debate moderators kept pushing trite racial
questions, even asking Obama if Bill Clinton was the "first black president,"
Edwards outlined a vision of racial and economic equality, where "every
American is of equal value."" -By Ari Melber
-TheNation.com
John
Edwards
- Justice
- Health-Care
- Environment
- Economic
- Poverty
- People
- Political
- History
- 2008
Election - "Martin
L. King, III [eldest son of Martin Luther King] letter to The Honorable
John E. Edwards. [PDF]" ... "Dear Senator Edwards:"
[2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate John Edwards] ... "It
was good meeting with you yesterday and discussing my father’s legacy.
On the day when the nation will honor my father, I wanted to follow up
with a personal note." ... "There has been, and will continue to be, a
lot of back and forth in the political arena over my father’s legacy.
It is a commentary on the breadth and depth of his impact that so many
people want to claim his legacy. I am concerned that we do not blur
the lines and obscure the truth about what he stood for: speaking up for
justice for those who have no voice." ... "I appreciate that on the major
issues of health care, the environment, and the economy, you have framed
the issues for what they are - a struggle for justice. And, you have
almost single-handedly made poverty an issue in this [2008] election."
... "You know as well as anyone that the 37 million people living in poverty
have no voice in our system. They don’t have lobbyists in Washington
and they don’t get to go to lunch with members of Congress. Speaking
up for them is not politically convenient. But, it is the right thing
to do." ... "I am disturbed by how little attention the topic of economic
justice has received during this campaign. I want to challenge all
candidates to follow your lead, and speak up loudly and forcefully on the
issue of economic justice in America." ... "From our conversation yesterday,
I know this is personal for you. I know you know what it means to
come from nothing. I know you know what it means to get the opportunities
you need to build a better life. And, I know you know that injustice is
alive and well in America, because millions of people will never get the
same opportunities you had." ... "I believe that now, more than ever, we
need a leader who wakes up every morning with the knowledge of that injustice
in the forefront of their minds, and who knows that when we commit ourselves
to a cause as a nation, we can make major strides in our own lifetimes.
My father was not driven by an illusory vision of a perfect society.
He was driven by the certain knowledge that when people of good faith and
strong principles commit to making things better, we can change hearts,
we can change minds, and we can change lives." ... "So, I urge you: keep
going. Ignore the pundits, who think this is a horserace, not a fight
for justice. My dad was a fighter. As a friend and a
believer in my father’s words that injustice anywhere is a threat to justice
everywhere, I say to you: keep going. Keep fighting. My father
would be proud." -By Martin L. King, III
via -JohnEdwards.com
Food
- Oil
- Money
- Poverty
- 
-
- 
- 
- 
- 
-
- 
- 
- 
- 
- 
- 
- 
- 
- "A
New, Global Oil Quandary: Costly Fuel Means Costly Calories."
... "Rising prices for cooking oil are forcing residents of Asia’s largest
slum, in Mumbai, India, to ration every drop. Bakeries in the United States
are fretting over higher shortening costs. And here in Malaysia, brand-new
factories built to convert vegetable oil into diesel sit idle, their owners
unable to afford the raw material." ... "This is the other oil shock. From
India to Indiana, shortages and soaring prices for palm oil, soybean oil
and many other types of vegetable oils are the latest, most striking example
of a developing global problem: costly food." ... "The food price index
of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, based on
export prices for 60 internationally traded foodstuffs, climbed 37 percent
last year. That was on top of a 14 percent increase in 2006, and the trend
has accelerated this winter." ... "In some poor countries, desperation
is taking hold. Just in the last week, protests have erupted in Pakistan
over wheat shortages, and in Indonesia over soybean shortages. Egypt has
banned rice exports to keep food at home, and China has put price controls
on cooking oil, grain, meat, milk and eggs." ... "According to the F.A.O.,
food riots have erupted in recent months in Guinea, Mauritania, Mexico,
Morocco, Senegal, Uzbekistan and Yemen." ... "A startling change is unfolding
in the world’s food markets. Soaring fuel prices have altered the equation
for growing food and transporting it across the globe. Huge demand for
biofuels has created tension between using land to produce fuel and using
it for food." ... "Cooking oil may seem a trifling expense in the West.
But in the developing world, cooking oil is an important source of calories
and represents one of the biggest cash outlays for poor families, which
grow much of their own food but have to buy oil in which to cook it." (1,
2,
3)
-By Keith Bradsher with contributions by Andrew Martin,
Anand Giridharadas, and Michael Rubenstein
-NYTimes
John
Edwards
- 
New
Hampshire - 2008
Election - Healthcare
- Jobs
- Poverty
- US
- Global
- Climate
- Environment
- "Edwards:
Two down, 48 to go." ... "[2008 Election Democratic
Presidential Candidate and former North Carolina Senator] Former Sen. John
Edwards painted himself as the candidate of the voiceless Tuesday night
after tracking a distant third in the New Hampshire Democratic primary."
... ""We have had too much of voices not being heard," he said to an enthusiastic
crowd of supporters. " … That's what this battle is about. It's not about
me. It's about the cause of giving voice to all those whose voices are
not being heard in this democracy."" ... "Edwards pledged to continue his
fight to expand healthcare coverage, to fight global warming, protect the
environment, end poverty and create new jobs." ... ""We know what needs
to be done," he said. "The only question is whether we have the backbone
and the will and the determination to get there.""
-CNN
John
Edwards
- Military
- Homeless
- Poverty
- Accounting
- Language
- 2008
Election - Politics
- "Edwards
on Veterans: It Checks Out." ... "Several readers
have asked us to check this surprising statistic, often used by [2008 Election
Democratid Presidential Candidate John] Edwards. The language may be overly
dramatic, but the figure is an official one, from the Department of Veterans
Affairs. The department believes that one-third of the adult homeless population
of the United States "have served their country in the Armed Services."
A posting on the department Web site says that about 195,000 veterans are
"homeless on any given night" and perhaps twice as many experience homelessness
at some point during the course of a year."
-WashingtonPost
John
Edwards
- 
Music
- Des-Moines
- 
Iowa
- Farm
- History
- Working
- Poverty
- Race
- 2008
Election - "Edwards
Wins the Mellencamp Primary." ... "So it is that
[singer John] Mellencamp will come to Iowa Wednesday to close the [2008
Election Democratic Presidential Candidate John] Edwards campaign off with
a "This Is Our Country" rally at the not-exactly-Hollywood Val Air Ballroom
in West Des Moines [Iowa]. (In case anyone is missing the point here, they
will be distributing the tickets from the United Steelworkers Local 310
hall.)" ... "Where [Oprah] Winfrey brought a big name but little in the
way of a track record on the issues that are fundamental to the rural and
small-town Iowans who will play a disproportional role in Thursday's caucuses,
Mellencamp is more than just another celebrity taking a lap around the
policy arena." ... "For a quarter century, the singer has been in the thick
of the fight on behalf of the rural families he immortalized in the video
for "Rain on the Scarecrow," his epic song about the farm crisis that buffeted
Iowa and neighboring states in the 1980s and never really ended." ... "Mellencamp
has not merely sung about withering small towns and farm foreclosures.
As a organizer of Farm Aid, he has brought some of the biggest stars in
the world to benefit concerts in Iowa and surrounding states, and he has
helped to distribute the money raised at those events to organizations
across Iowa." ... "Farm Aid is nonpartisan. It's not endorsing in this
race. But Mellencamp is. The singer, who this year will be inducted into
the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame but whose music remains vital enough to
have earned a 2008 Grammy nomination for Best Rock Vocal Performance, was
lobbied for support by other campaigns, especially Clinton's. But he has
a long relationship with Edwards. He has an even longer relationship with
the issues that Edwards is talking about. Indeed, his credibility is grounded
in the recognition that Mellencamp has repeatedly taken career-risking
anti-war, anti-racist and anti-poverty stances that other celebrities of
his stature tend to avoid." ... "What matters, of course, is the fact of
that credibility -- and the fact that it is so closely tied to the farm
and rural issues that have meaning even in the more urbanized regions of
Iowa. That is why, if there is an endorsement that is going to have meaning
with the people who drive down country roads to attend caucuses on what
looks to be a very cold and unforgiving Thursday night, it is likely to
be that of the guy who proudly sings that, "I was born in a small town...""
-By John Nichols -TheNation.com
Families
- Poverty- Agriculture
- 
Christmas-Holidays
- 
Thanksgiving
- Gasoline
- Households
- Money
- People
- "Food
Bank Shelves Going Bare At Holidays: High Living
Costs Hurting Donations, While Increasing Demand By Needy Families." ...
"The reports from across the country are dismaying: Food pantries are running
short and cannot meet the needs of all those seeking help." ... "In the
Department of Agriculture's most recent study of hunger
in America, released in November, more than 35.5 million Americans,
including 12.6 million children, were found to have "low" or "very low
food security" (defined as households where hunger was prevalent, where
there was not enough money to buy adequate food supplies, where food purchased
did not last, or where family members had to cut down or skip meals - sometimes
not eating for a day or longer)." ... "That's roughly 1 in 9 households.
And the numbers are rising from last year." ... "Everywhere, people are
feeling the crunch of rising gasoline and grocery prices, as well as utility
bills, rent and mortgage payments." ... "Those factors also are cutting
into people's ability to donate to food banks for others in need." ...
"At Thanksgiving, the [America's
Second Harvest] organization estimated that food banks nationally
were short a total of 15 million pounds of food, or roughly 11.7 million
meals. " -AP
via -CBSNews
John
Edwards
- Des-Moines
- Iowa
- Health-Care
- Poverty
- 2008
Election - "Iowa's
first lady to back Edwards for president." ... "Iowa’s
first lady [Mari Culver, wife of Iowa's governor Chet Culver], who had
said she would stay neutral in the presidential race, has changed her mind
and plans to endorse [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate]
Democrat John Edwards Monday." ... "“I decided to join in the fray,” Mari
Culver said in an interview today." ... "She said she agrees with his plans
to fight poverty and to reform health care, and she thinks he offers Democrats
the best chance to take back the White House." ... "“I think John is a
winner. He’s electable,” she said. “He’s been tested. He’s been on the
national ticket before. The national polls show him beating all Republicans
in the general elections. He inspires me. I think he inspires other Iowans,
and I think he can really rally Americans in the fall." ... "Mari Culver
said she will endorse Edwards at a rally in Des Moines [Iowa's capital]
at
noon Monday, and she plans to appear at other events.” -By
Tony Leys -DesMoinesRegister
Rudy
Giuliani
- Police
- Politics
- Trips
- Apartments
- 
New
York
- Indigent
- Lawyers
- US
- 
Qatar
- Terrorism
- 2008
Election - "Giuliani
Defends Girlfriend's Expenses." ... "Former New York
Mayor [and 2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate] Rudy Giuliani
on Sunday defended the expenses incurred by his security detail as he was
beginning an extramarital affair with current wife Judith Nathan, saying
police made the decision after she had received threats." ... "Giuliani
in recent weeks has faced a barrage of questions about New York police
security costs for his trysts with Nathan and about his business clients,
which have included the Persian Gulf country of Qatar. The Gulf state is
a U.S. ally, but allegations have been made that some prominent Qatari
officials sheltered suspected Sept. 11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed.
" ... "Records first reported by Politico.com last month showed repeated
trips between 1999 and 2002 to Long Island, where Nathan had a condominium.
Giuliani's first trip was from Aug. 31 to Sept. 1, 1999 - months before
he acknowledged the breakdown of his second marriage in the spring of 2000."
... "Security costs for those trips were charged to agencies like the New
York City Loft Board, which regulates loft apartments and was billed $34,000.
The Office for People with Disabilities was charged $10,000, while the
Assigned Counsel Administrative Office, which provides lawyers for indigent
defendants, was charged roughly $400,000. " -By Libby
Quaid -AP
via -CBSNews
Secret
- Rudolph
W Giuliani
- California
- Money
- Election
- Law
- Politics
- 2008
Election - New
York
- 
Jet
- Poor
- Countries
- "Publicity-shy
Giuliani backer in spotlight: Backer of plan many
Democrats think could sink their chances at presidency." ... "Paul E. Singer
is the founding partner of one of the oldest hedge funds around. And while
he has become a major donor to Republican and conservative causes in recent
years, he has largely managed to stay out of the limelight, even avoiding
having his picture appear in newspapers." ... "But this year Mr. Singer
became one of the biggest supporters of [2008 Election Republican Presidential
Candidate] Rudolph W. Giuliani’s presidential campaign, making his jet
available to Mr. Giuliani, while Mr. Singer and workers at his companies
have donated $200,000 to the campaign. And he became the largest individual
backer of a California ballot initiative that many Democrats believe could
sink their chances of winning the presidency." ... "Suddenly, the normally
low-profile Mr. Singer, a New Yorker, found himself singled out by Democrats
intent on beating back the California effort before it gained any steam."
... "Howard Dean, the chairman of the Democratic Party, questioned “Paul
Singer’s involvement in this dirty trick aimed at stealing the White House.”
A group of Democrats filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission
charging that Mr. Singer had been acting on behalf of Mr. Giuliani in his
efforts to change the California law — which Mr. Singer and the campaign
deny. And the Democratic National Committee drew attention to the part
of Mr. Singer’s business that involves buying the debt of poor countries
at a discount and then seeking repayment in full — prompting an article
in The Times of London labeling his firm, Elliott Associates, a “vulture
fund.”" (1, 2)
-By Michael Cooper and Leslie Wayne
-NYTimes via -MSNBC
Children
- Food
- Poverty
- Homeless
- "Over
35.5 million found hungry in 2006." ... "More than
35.5 million people in this country went hungry in 2006 as they struggled
to find jobs that can support them, a figure that was virtually unchanged
from the previous year, the Agriculture Department said Wednesday." ...
"Single mothers and their children were among the most likely to suffer,
according to the study." ... "The 35.5 million people represented more
than 1 in 10, or 12.1 percent, who said they did not have enough money
or resources to get food for at least some period during the year, according
to the department's annual hunger survey. That is compared with 35.1 million
people who made similar claims in 2005." ... "The survey was based on Census
Bureau data and does not include the homeless. About three-quarters of
a million people were homeless on a given day in 2005, according to federal
estimates." ... "Of the 35.5 million people reporting periods of hunger
last year, 12.6 million were children." -By Hope Yen
-AP via -SeattlePI
Alberto
Gonzales - 
Bradley
Schlozman
- 
Michael
Mukasey
- Poor
- Race
- Politics
- People
- Election
- Civil
Rights - Enforcement
- "Justice
Department returns to enforcing voter laws." ...
"The Justice Department's Civil Rights Division is reversing course and
has begun taking steps to enforce a 1993 law that's intended to make it
easier for poor minorities to register to vote." ... "The division, which
has come under attack for allegedly pursuing policies aimed at suppressing
the votes of Democratic-leaning minorities, has demanded that 18 states
provide evidence that they're complying with the National Voter Registration
Act." ... "If it is fully pursued, this new action will represent the first
significant return to traditional enforcement of voting-rights laws since
a scandal erupted earlier this year over the alleged politicization of
the Justice Department." ... "McClatchy Newspapers disclosed last spring
that the Civil Rights Division had failed to enforce a variety of voting-rights
laws intended to protect the ability of minorities, especially African-Americans,
to vote. The controversy led to the resignations of Attorney General Alberto
Gonzales and seven other officials, including Bradley Schlozman, the former
acting civil rights chief." ... "Now attorney general nominee Michael Mukasey,
whose confirmation was debated by the Senate Thursday night, has pledged
to insulate the agency's law enforcement decisions from partisan politics."
... "Some election watchdog groups are skeptical, saying that the enforcement
push might be a cosmetic response to widespread criticism and congressional
scrutiny of the division." -By
Greg
Gordon -McClatchyDC.com
Children
- Health
- Legislation
- Money
- Working
- Poor
- "The
Swift-Boating of Graeme Frost." ... "If you listen
closely to the two-minute radio
address that 12-year-old Graeme Frost delivered last week for the Democrats,
you can hear the lingering effects of the 2004 car crash that put him into
a coma for a week and left one of his vocal cords paralyzed. "Most kids
my age probably haven't heard of CHIP, the Children's Health Insurance
Program," he says in a voice that sounds weak and stressed. "But I know
all about it, because if it weren't for CHIP, I might not be here today.""
... "Graeme, whose sister suffered worse brain injuries when their family
SUV hit a patch of black ice, was making an appeal for [Republican] President
Bush to reconsider
his veto of legislation that would have expanded the program designed
to provide health coverage to children of the working poor — those who
are too rich to qualify for Medicaid but unable to afford private insurance."
... "Since then, Frost and his family have been introduced firsthand to
something else that most kids his age haven't: the reality of how brutal
partisan politics can be in the Internet age." ... "Typical of the tone
was what Mark Steyn wrote on National Review Online: "Bad things happen
to good people, and they cause financial problems and tough choices. But,
if this is the face of the 'needy' in America, then no one is not needy."
Nameless commenters to conservative blogs were even harsher. "Let 'em twist
in the wind and be eaten by ravens," wrote one one on Redstate.com, who
was quoted in the Baltimore Sun. "Then maybe the bunch of socialist patsies
will think twice."" -By Karen Tumulty
-TIME.com
US- Global
- Poverty
- Health
- 
Science
- Government
- Politics
- "Bush
Aide Blocked Report: Global Health Draft In 2006
Rejected for Not Being Political." ... "A surgeon general's report in 2006
that called on Americans to help tackle global health problems has been
kept from the public by a [Republican President] Bush political appointee
without any background or expertise in medicine or public health, chiefly
because the report did not promote the administration's policy accomplishments,
according to current and former public health officials." ... "The report
described the link between poverty and poor health, urged the U.S. government
to help combat widespread diseases as a key aim of its foreign policy,
and called on corporations to help improve health conditions in the countries
where they operate. A copy of the report [PDF
DRAFT of US Surgeon General's "Call to Action on Global Health"] was
obtained by The Washington Post." ... "Three people directly involved in
its preparation said its publication was blocked by William R. Steiger,
a specialist in education and a scholar of Latin American history whose
family has long ties to President Bush and Vice President Cheney. Since
2001, Steiger has run the Office of Global Health Affairs in the Department
of Health and Human Services." ... "Richard H. Carmona, who commissioned
the "Call to Action on Global Health" while serving as surgeon general
from 2002 to 2006, recently cited its suppression as an example of the
Bush administration's frequent efforts during his tenure to give scientific
documents a political twist." ... "Steiger, 37, is a godson of former president
George H.W. Bush and the son of a moderate Republican who represented Wisconsin
in the House and hired a young Dick Cheney as an intern. The elder Bush
appointed Steiger's mother to the Federal Trade Commission in 1989." (1,
2)
-By Christopher Lee and Marc Kaufman with contributions
by Madonna Lebling -WashingtonPost
Human
- Global
- Climate
- Science
- Politics
- Poor
- Gay
- Law
- "Southern
Baptists weigh global warming resolution." ... "Southern
Baptists weighed a resolution on global warming Wednesday that questions
the prevailing scientific belief that humans are largely to blame for the
phenomenon and also warns that increased regulation of greenhouse gases
will hurt the poor." ... "The global warming debate has split evangelicals,
with some not only pressing the issue but arguing humans bear most of the
responsibility for the problem because of greenhouse gas emissions. Other
evangelicals say talking about the issue at all diminishes their influence
over more traditional culture war issues such as abortion, gay marriage
and judicial appointments." ... "The resolution stands in contrast to a
statement last year signed by 86 evangelical leaders that said human-induced
climate change is real, and that the consequences of warming temperatures
will cause millions of people to die, most of them "our poorest global
neighbors."" -By Eric Gorski
-AP via -Chron
China
- Sports
- Business
- Child
- Poverty
- Human
Rights - Law
- Politics
- "Ahead
of Olympics, China faces charges of child labor:
The negative publicity comes at a sensitive moment for Beijing as it seeks
to burnish its international image." ... "When a British-based labor consortium
charged this week that factory workers as young as 12 are toiling to produce
gear and souvenirs licensed by Beijing [China's capital] for its 2008 Olympics,
China's reaction was swift." ... "Beijing officials announced they would
deal "seriously" with factories that violate China's "very strict" labor
codes. But the negative publicity – along with other reports that the problem
goes beyond production of Olympic-related memorabilia – comes at a sensitive
moment for Beijing as it seeks to burnish its international image ahead
of the games." ... "Some observers say that the latest reports represent
a weak point in China's otherwise strong record of enforcing child labor
laws – especially at a time when child labor is on the decline worldwide."
... "Playfair Alliance, which targets sporting goods and athletic merchandise,
reported this week that child labor in China is not limited to a few factories
making Olympic souvenirs but may be a growing, potentially widespread problem
spurred by increasing labor shortages and rural poverty." (1, 2,
3)
-By Kathleen E. McLaughlin
-CSMonitor
Poverty
- 2008
Election - Music
- 
Entertainer
- Food
- Health
- Education
- 
Water
- "ONE
Vote to launch anti-poverty campaign." ... "The anti-poverty
campaign of U2 [music entertainer] frontman Bono is promoting a $30 million
effort to pressure [2008 election] Republican and Democratic presidential
candidates to make the oft-forgotten issue a priority." ... "Dubbed ONE
Vote '08, the bipartisan political push aims to get [Republican] President
Bush's successor to commit to taking concrete steps in the first 100 days
to combat hunger and disease while improving access to education and water
across the globe." -AP
via -USATODAY
"ONE
Vote '08"
Hans
von Spakovsky - Government
- US
Attorneys - Civil
Rights - Poor
- Race
- Law
- Politics
- 
Georgia
- Arizona
- "Efforts
to stop `voter fraud' may have curbed legitimate voting."
... "During four years as a Justice Department civil rights lawyer, Hans
von Spakovsky went so far in a crusade against voter fraud as to warn of
its dangers under a pseudonym in a law journal article." ... "Writing as
"Publius," von Spakovsky contended that every voter should be required
to produce a photo-identification card and that there was "no evidence"
that such restrictions burden minority voters disproportionately." ...
"Now, amid a scandal over politicization of the Justice Department, Congress
is beginning to examine allegations that von Spakovsky was a key player
in a Republican campaign to hang onto power in Washington by suppressing
the votes of minority voters." ... ""Mr. von Spakovsky was central to the
administration's pursuit of strategies that had the effect of suppressing
the minority vote," charged Joseph Rich, a former Justice Department voting
rights chief who worked under him." ... "He and other former career department
lawyers say that von Spakovsky steered the agency toward voting rights
policies not seen before, pushing to curb minor instances of election fraud
by imposing sweeping restrictions that would make it harder, not easier,
for Democratic-leaning poor and minority voters to cast ballots." ... "In
interviews, current and former federal officials and civil rights leaders
told McClatchy Newspapers that von Spakovsky:" ... "-Sped approval of tougher
voter ID laws in Georgia and Arizona in 2005, joining decisions to override
career lawyers who believed that Georgia's law would restrict voting by
poor blacks and who felt that more analysis was needed on the Arizona law's
impact on Native Americans and Latinos." ... "Congressional committees
investigating the firing last year of nine U.S. attorneys are looking into
allegations that prosecutors nationwide were urged to pursue voter fraud
to build a basis for tougher ID laws." -By Greg Gordon
-McClatchy via
-RealCities
Food
- Poverty
- Government- Money
- School
- Children
- Health
- Politics
- Religious
- 
Oregon
- "Oregon
Gov. Will Live On Food Stamp Diet: For One Week,
As He Battles Proposed Cuts In Federal Program." ... "This is Hunger Awareness
Week in Oregon, and for the next seven days, [Oregon Democratic Governor
Ted] Kulongoski and [his wife, Mary] Oberst will be cutting way back –
down to the budget one would live on if relying on food stamps – a diet
they hope others will also follow for a few days to better understand the
plight of those who have no choice." ... "It won't be easy, but the less
than bountiful fare is for a cause, reports CBS News correspondent Stephan
Kaufman, as Kulongoski begins lobbying Congress against cuts in the
food stamp program proposed by the Bush administration." ... "The Oregon
governor is also a strong advocate of school breakfast and lunch programs.
"When the federal government cuts back on them," says Kulongoski, "you're
actually depriving children of opportunity to basically have a healthy
life and at the same time, to be able to learn while they're in school.""
... "Oregon's first couple are the most-high profile people so far to take
part in a "food stamp challenge," a growing trend sponsored by religious
groups, community activists and food pantries across the country. The goal
is to walk the proverbial mile in the steps of those who rely on food stamps
to feed a family, to kindle both awareness, and, hopefully, empathy." (1,
2)
-AP via -CBSNews
Fuel
- Food
- Poor
- People
- 
Auto
- Environment
- Economy
- US
- 
Venezuela
- Mexico
- "Ethanol
policy divides Latin America: US efforts to promote
ethanol have raised food prices in the region." ... "Venezuelan President
Hugo Chávez calls the boom in ethanol the equivalent of starving
the poor "to feed automobiles."" ... "Ethanol, which is derived from crops
such as corn or sugar, is seen by some as a green alternative, a rising
star on the path toward reducing independence on foreign petroleum. But
it's not just Mr. Chávez who is questioning whether the benefits
outweigh the unintended consequences." ... "Now poultry industry executives,
who have seen the price of feedstock has gone up; Mexican consumers, facing
a 60 percent jump in the cost of tortillas; and even environmentalists,
who look at the amount of fertilizer that will be needed to grow extra
crops, are wondering aloud whether ethanol will help or hurt Latin American
economies." ... ""I think people worry that rich Americans are trying to
fuel cars at the expense of hungry people in poorer countries," says Janet
Larsen, director of research at the Earth Policy Institute in Washington.
"This increased push for ethanol production could be an incredible foreign
policy blunder."" (1, 2)
-By Sara Miller Llana and Daniel Cancels
-CSMonitor
Homeless
- People
- Food
- Poverty
- Religious
- Politics
- FL
- 
TX
- 
NV
- 
NC
- "Cities
set limits on serving food to homeless people." ...
"Cities are cracking down on charities that feed the homeless, adopting
rules that restrict food giveaways to certain locations, require charities
to get permits or limit the number of free meals they can provide." ...
"Orlando [FL], Dallas [TX], Las Vegas [NV] and Wilmington, N.C., began
enforcing such laws last year. Some are being challenged." ... "Last November,
a federal judge blocked the Las Vegas law banning food giveaways to the
poor in city parks. In Dallas, two ministries are suing, arguing that the
law violates religious freedom." -By Emily Bazar
-USATODAY
Homeless
- People
- Food
- Poverty
- Religious
- Politics
- Texas
- "The
'Lord's table' illegal in Dallas." ... "[Don] Hart,
who owns five Good Feet arch-support stores in Texas, is founder and pastor
of BIGHEART Ministries. He and his volunteers host a combination church
service-food giveaway every Saturday morning at the corner of Ervay and
Corsicana Streets." ... "They're breaking the law." ... ""I'm not stopping.
If they were to take me to jail, there will be people who will come take
my place," Hart says. "We're out here having these people pray for salvation,
for healing, for jobs. And we give them a wonderful meal."" ... "Hart's
group and Rip Parker's Ministry are suing the city in federal court over
an ordinance that limits how charities and individuals feed the homeless."
... "The law restricts food giveaways to specific locations. The city has
designated about nine spots, says Karen Rayzer, director of environmental
and health services. Hart's intersection is not on the list." ... "Will
Edwards, director of Rip Parker's Ministry, says he has gotten warnings.
The ministry feeds homeless people every day, mostly in places other than
the designated locations." ... "Edwards and Hart say the law infringes
on their religious freedom. "We're a Christian-based organization. We follow
our direction from Christ and the Bible," Edwards says. "It specifically
tells us to go out amongst the poor, the wretched, the sick, the homeless
and minister to them."" ... "Jason Norwood, a lawyer for the ministries
in the lawsuit, says the law violates other constitutional principles such
as freedom of association and equal protection. "To what extent can a government
prohibit private acts of charity, especially those that are religiously
motivated, between one citizen and another?" he asks." -By
Emily Bazar -USATODAY
Griffin
- 
Rove
- Schlozman
- US
Attorneys - Poor
- People
- Civil
Righs - Law
- Enforcement
- Politics
- 
Ark
- Florida
- 
Colorado
- Wisconsin
- Minnesota
- Iowa
- Arkansas
- 
Michigan
- Nevada
- 
New
Mexico - Georgia
- 2004
Election - 2008
Election - "New
U.S. attorneys seem to have partisan records." ...
"Under [Republican] President Bush, the Justice Department has backed laws
that narrow minority voting rights and pressed U.S. attorneys to investigate
voter fraud - policies that critics say have been intended to suppress
Democratic votes." ... "Since 2005, McClatchy Newspapers has found, Bush
has appointed at least three U.S. attorneys who had worked in the Justice
Department's civil rights division when it was rolling back longstanding
voting-rights policies aimed at protecting predominantly poor, minority
voters." ... "Another newly installed U.S. attorney, Tim Griffin in Little
Rock, Ark. [Arkansas], was accused of participating in efforts to suppress
Democratic votes in Florida during the 2004 presidential election while
he was a research director for the Republican National Committee. He's
denied any wrongdoing." ... "Taken together, critics say, the replacement
of the U.S. attorneys, the voter-fraud campaign and the changes in Justice
Department voting rights policies suggest that the Bush administration
may have been using its law enforcement powers for partisan political purposes."
... "Last April, while the Justice Department and the White House were
planning the [US Attorneys] firings, [Republican President Bush's deputy
chief of staff Karl] Rove gave a speech in Washington to the Republican
National Lawyers Association. He ticked off 11 states that he said could
be pivotal in the 2008 elections. Bush has appointed new U.S. attorneys
in nine of them since 2005: Florida, Colorado, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa,
Arkansas, Michigan, Nevada and New Mexico. U.S. attorneys in the latter
four were among those fired." ... "Several former voting rights lawyers,
who asked to remain anonymous for fear of antagonizing the administration,
said the division's political appointees reversed the recommendations of
career lawyers in key cases and transferred or drove out most of the unit's
veteran attorneys." ... "Bradley Schlozman, who was the civil rights division's
deputy chief, agreed in 2005 to reverse the career staff's recommendations
to challenge a Georgia law that would have required voters to pay $20 for
photo IDs and in some cases travel as far as 30 miles to obtain the ID
card." ... "A federal judge threw out the Georgia law, calling it an unconstitutional,
Jim Crow-era poll tax." -By Greg Gordon, Margaret
Talev and Marisa Taylor with contributions by Tish Wells and Ron Hutcheson
-McClatchy via
-RealCities
People
- Family
- Women
- Poverty
- Economy
- History
- Worker
- Accounting
- "U.S.
economy leaving record numbers in severe poverty."
... "The percentage of poor Americans who are living in severe poverty
has reached a 32-year high, millions of working Americans are falling closer
to the poverty line and the gulf between the nation's "haves" and "have-nots"
continues to widen." ... "A McClatchy Newspapers analysis of 2005 census
figures, the latest available, found that nearly 16 million Americans are
living in deep or severe poverty. A family of four with two children and
an annual income of less than $9,903 - half the federal poverty line -
was considered severely poor in 2005. So were individuals who made less
than $5,080 a year." ... "The McClatchy analysis found that the number
of severely poor Americans grew by 26 percent from 2000 to 2005. That's
56 percent faster than the overall poverty population grew in the same
period. McClatchy's review also found statistically significant increases
in the percentage of the population in severe poverty in 65 of 215 large
U.S. counties, and similar increases in 28 states. The review also suggested
that the rise in severely poor residents isn't confined to large urban
counties but extends to suburban and rural areas." ... "The plight of the
severely poor is a distressing sidebar to an unusual economic expansion.
Worker productivity has increased dramatically since the brief recession
of 2001, but wages and job growth have lagged behind. At the same time,
the share of national income going to corporate profits has dwarfed the
amount going to wages and salaries. That helps explain why the median household
income of working-age families, adjusted for inflation, has fallen for
five straight years." ... "These and other factors have helped push 43
percent of the nation's 37 million poor people into deep poverty - the
highest rate since at least 1975." ... "The share of poor Americans in
deep poverty has climbed slowly but steadily over the last three decades.
But since 2000, the number of severely poor has grown "more than any other
segment of the population," according to a recent study in the American
Journal of Preventive Medicine." ... "About one in three severely poor
people are under age 17, and nearly two out of three are female. Female-headed
families with children account for a large share of the severely poor."
-By Tony Pugh with contributions by Barbara Barrett
-McClatchy
via -RealCities
Global
- Children
- Food
- Health
- Poverty
- Politics
- "18,000
children die every day of hunger, U.N. says." ...
"Some 18,000 children die every day because of hunger and malnutrition
and 850 million people go to bed every night with empty stomachs, a "terrible
indictment of the world in 2007," the head of the U.N. food agency said."
... "James Morris called for students and young people, faith-based groups,
the business community and governments to join forces in a global movement
to alleviate and eliminate hunger — especially among children." ... ""The
little girl in Malawi who's fed, and goes to school: 50% less likely to
be HIV-positive, 50% less likely to give birth to a low birth weight baby,"
he said in an interview Friday. "Everything about her life changes for
the better and it's the most important, significant, humanitarian, political,
or economic investment the world can make in its future.""
-AP via -USATODAY
Poverty
- Legislation
- Politics- 
Book
- "A
Loss Of Faith: Former White House Insider Tells Lesley
Stahl Staffers Called Evangelicals "Nuts" And "Goofy"." ... "David Kuo
is an evangelical Christian and card-carrying member of the religious right,
who got a job in the White House in the president’s Office of Faith-Based
and Community Initiatives. He thought it was a dream-come-true: a chance
to work for a president whose vision about compassionate conservatism would
be matched with sweeping legislation to help the poor." ... "But Kuo says
the so-called compassion agenda has fallen short of its promise and he
blames President Bush for that in his new book." ... "As correspondent
Lesley Stahl reports, he also says the White House was a place that
cynically used religion for political ends and that White House aides ridiculed
the very Christian leaders who helped bring Mr. Bush to office." ... "Kuo
speaks as an insider. Even before he became the number two guy in the White
House faith-based office, he had a long resume in the world of Christian
conservatives." ... ""This message that has been sent out to Christians
for a long time now: that Jesus came primarily for a political agenda,
and recently primarily a right-wing political agenda - as if this culture
war is a war for God. And it’s not a war for God, it’s a war for politics.
And that’s a huge difference," says Kuo." ... ""God and politics had become
very much fused together into a sort of a single entity. Where, in a way,
politics was the fourth part of the trinity. God the father, God the son,
God the holy spirit, God the politician," says Kuo." ... ""You’re calling
for a fast. That’s your expression," Stahl remarks." ... ""Yes. I think
that Christians, particularly evangelical Christians need to take a step
back. To have a fast from politics," he replies. "People are being manipulated.
Good well-meaning people are being told, ‘Send your money to this Christian
advocacy group or that.’ And that’s the answer. It’s just not the answer.
It’s not the answer."" (1, 2,
3)
-CBSNews
People
- Poverty
- History
- Hurricane
Katrina - New
Orleans - Louisiana
- "Bush's
Poverty Talk Is Now All but Silent: Aiding Poor Was
Brief Priority After Katrina." ... "Poverty forced its way to the top of
President Bush's agenda in the confusing days after Hurricane Katrina battered
the Gulf Coast and flooded New Orleans [Louisiana]. Confronted with one
of the most pressing political crises of his presidency, Bush, who in the
past had faced withering criticism for speaking little about the poor,
said the nation has a solemn duty to help them." ... ""All of us saw on
television, there's . . . some deep, persistent poverty in this region,"
he said in a prime-time speech from New Orleans's Jackson Square, 17 days
after the Aug. 29 hurricane. "That poverty has roots in a history of racial
discrimination, which cut off generations from the opportunity of America.
We have a duty to confront this poverty with bold action."" ... "As it
happened, poverty's turn in the presidential limelight was brief. Bush
has talked little about the issue since the immediate crisis passed, while
pursuing policies that his liberal critics say will hurt the poor. He has
publicly mentioned domestic poverty six times since giving back-to-back
speeches on the issue in September. Domestic poverty did not come up in
his State of the Union address in January, and his most recent budget included
no new initiatives directed at the poor." ... "The number of Americans
living in poverty has risen each year Bush has been president, increasing
to 37 million in 2004 from 31.6 million in 2000. Overall, 12.7 percent
of the nation's population lives in poverty, which for a family of four
means an income less than $20,000 a year." -By Michael
A. Fletcher -WashingtonPost
Colombia
- Military
- Drugs
- Employment
- Economy
- Poverty
- History
- "Victorious
Colombian Uribe faces high expectations." ... "Colombia's
President Alvaro Uribe on Sunday scored a landslide re-election victory
that handed him a solid mandate for four more years as Washington's closest
ally in Latin America." ... "One of Colombia's most popular presidents,
Uribe won 62 percent of the ballots as conflict-weary voters rewarded him
for his campaign to curb warring left-wing rebels and militia and the cocaine
trade that fuels a long-running insurgency." ... "But even as the first
incumbent president to be re-elected in Colombia's modern history, Uribe
must sustain his security crackdown on FARC rebels and control disbanded
right-wing militia while tackling social issues such as unemployment and
poverty." ... "While Colombia's economy has grown solidly under Uribe's
guidance and foreign investment has expanded, half of the country's 41
million people still live in poverty." (1, 2)
-By Patrick Markey -Reuters
US
- Memorial
Day - Military
- Homeless
- Poverty
- Health
- Government
- Money
- Politics
- Iraq
- Calif.
- "Number
of Homeless Vets Called a 'Disgrace': A Third of
Homeless Men in the U.S. Have Served in the Military." ... "One of every
three homeless males in the United States is a veteran, and each night
as many as 200,000 men and women veterans go to sleep with no place to
call home, according to the Department of Veterans Affairs." ... "With
Memorial Day approaching, Democratic members of the House Veterans Affairs
Committee held a forum on homeless veterans." ... "Rep. Bob Filner, D-Calif.,
who chaired the forum, was blunt. "It's a disgrace that we let any of our
vets get in this position. If we spend a billion dollars every 2½
days in Iraq, we can spend a lot more for those who have served us but
will be out on the streets tonight."" ... "According to recent statistics,
the VA provided health care services to more than 100,000 homeless veterans
in 2004, and the agency spent more than $1 billion to assist tens of thousands
of homeless and at-risk veterans." (1, 2)
-By Dean Norland -ABCNEWS.com
US_Debt
- Government
- Money
- "GOP
Reaches Deal on Tax Cuts: $70 Billion Measure Would
Extend Breaks." ... "But with the budget deficit still expected to exceed
$300 billion this year, despite a strong economy, opponents say the government
cannot afford to add $70 billion more [in Republican tax cuts] over the
next five years." ... "Even though the dividend and capital gains tax cuts
are not set to expire until 2008, Republicans say extending them now through
2010 is vital to preserve economic stability and maintain a robust investment
climate that has pushed the Dow Jones industrial average to near-record
heights." ... "Critics maintain that those tax cuts have overwhelmingly
benefited the wealthy, while budget cuts target programs for the poor to
close a deficit created largely by tax cuts totaling nearly $2 trillion
since Bush took office." (1, 2)
-By Jonathan Weisman and Paul Blustein
-WashingtonPost
|
Income,
in 2005
dollars $10,000-20,000
$20,000-30,000 $30,000-40,000 $40,000-50,000 $50,000-75,000 $75,000-100,000 $100,000-200,000 $200,000-500,000 $500,000-1 million More than $1 million |
Average
tax
saving $2 9 16 46 110 403 1,388 4,499 5,562 41,977 |
Working
- Money
- "More
working Americans go without health-care coverage."
... "The percentage of working-age Americans with moderate to middle incomes
who lacked health insurance for at least part of the year rose to 41% in
2005, a dramatic increase from the 28% in 2001 without coverage, a study
released on Wednesday found." ... "Moreover, more than half of the uninsured
adults said they were having problems paying their medical bills or had
incurred debt to cover their expenses, according to a report by the Commonwealth
Fund, a private health care policy foundation."
-AP via -USATODAY
Health
- Drugs
- Seniors
- Technology
- Government
- "Health
Care Spending for U.S. May Double to $4 Trillion by 2015."
... "U.S. spending for health care may double to $4 trillion by 2015, propelled
by an aging population using more drugs, hospital care and technology,
according to a government forecast." ... "If medical spending rises that
much, it will consume about 20 cents of every dollar in goods and services
produced in the U.S, up from 16 cents last year, said authors of the outlook."
... "The health-care spending outlook was compiled by researchers at the
U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. The Medicare and Medicaid
programs are the largest purchasers of health care in the U.S., paying
for treatments for 90 million older, poor and disabled people, or about
three in 10 Americans." -Bloomberg
Environment
- Animals
- Terrorism
- Civil
Righs - Law
- Politics
-
Indiana
- "F.B.I.
Watched Activist Groups, New Files Show." ... "Counterterrorism
agents at the Federal Bureau of Investigation have conducted numerous surveillance
and intelligence-gathering operations that involved, at least indirectly,
groups active in causes as diverse as the environment, animal cruelty and
poverty relief, newly disclosed agency records show." ... "But the documents,
coming after the Bush administration's confirmation that President Bush
had authorized some spying without warrants in fighting terrorism, prompted
charges from civil rights advocates that the government had improperly
blurred the line between terrorism and acts of civil disobedience and lawful
protest." ... "One F.B.I. document indicates that agents in Indianapolis
[Indiana] planned to conduct surveillance as part of a "Vegan Community
Project." Another document talks of the Catholic Workers group's "semi-communistic
ideology." A third indicates the bureau's interest in determining the location
of a protest over llama fur planned by People for the Ethical Treatment
of Animals." (1, 2)
-By Eric Lichtblau -NYTimes
World
- Education
- Parents
- People
- UN
- "World's
first working $100 laptop: Tech evangelist Nicholas
Negroponte wants to outfit the world's children to improve education."
... "Nick Negroponte would like to sell you a $100 laptop, especially if
you're head of state in a large developing country." ... "That's why he
is at the World Summit on the Information Society, the giant UN-sponsored
gathering that starts Wednesday in Tunis. Negroponte plans to show for
the first time a working prototype of his new device, intended for hundreds
of millions of mostly-poor students worldwide." ... "At the Media Lab at
MIT, which Negroponte founded 20 years ago, researchers are working not
only on the engineering to make such an inexpensive product possible, but
on computer interfaces to enable kids to learn without teachers, and on
a curriculum to teach them every sort of subject." -By
David Kirkpatrick -Fortunevia
-CNN /Money
People
- Government
- Food- Politics
- "Religious
groups push to protect food stamp program." ... "Religious
leaders across the country are urgently working to save $844 million in
food stamps as the House of Representatives considers cuts to the program
this week. A House bill, if passed, would take food stamps from about 300,000
people." ... "Religious advocates for the poor see the proposed cuts as
a moral issue and say that helping the poor is a teaching of all major
world religions." ... ""Cutting food stamps and other programs for low-income
people is just wrong," said the Rev. David Beckmann, president of Bread
for the World, a lobbying group for the hungry supported by more than 45
denominations and church agencies. "It is the Bible turned upside down.
The House is saying it is showing fiscal concern but at the same time is
planning about $70 billion in tax cuts, and almost all are for the wealthy.""
-By Helen T. Gray -KnightRidder
via -MercuryNews
France
- Economic
- Religious-
"Youths'
poverty, despair fuel violent unrest in France: Islamic
underclass vents frustration." ... ""Islamic leaders and social commentators
acknowledge that most of the looters and arsonists are Muslims of Arabic
or black African heritage. But they insist that root causes of the violence
are economic, not religious -- even though the rioters often use slogans
of radical fundamentalism." ... "France has the largest Islamic population
in Western Europe, about 5 million, many of whom dwell in communities beset
by high unemployment, savage crime, blighted housing, and bad schools."
... "Unemployment in Islamic communities is estimated to be at 30 percent,
more than three times the national average. Islamic leaders and social
analysts say that racial and religious discrimination are rampant. Jobs
available to even French-born Muslims, they say, tend to be menial positions."
-By Colin Nickerson with contributions by Petra Krischok
-Boston/Globe
World
- People
- Economic
- Political
- UN
- "U.N.
links poverty, violence against women." ... "The
world will never eliminate poverty until it confronts social, economic
and physical discrimination against women, the United Nations said Wednesday."
... ""Gender apartheid" could scuttle the global body's goal of halving
extreme poverty by 2015, the U.N. Population Fund's annual State of World
Population report said." ... ""We cannot make poverty history until we
stop violence against women and girls," the fund's executive director,
Thoraya Ahmed Obaid, said at the report's launch in London. "We cannot
make poverty history until women enjoy their full social, cultural, economic
and political rights."" -By Jill Lawless
-AP via -SeattlePI.NWsource
Hurricane
Katrina - New
Orleans - Louisiana
- Disaster
- "President
Discusses Hurricane Relief in Address to the Nation."
[Below are selected portions of US President George W. Bush's speech from
New Orleans, Louisiana]: ... "The Department of Homeland Security is registering
evacuees who are now in shelters and churches, or private homes, whether
in the Gulf region or far away. I have signed an order providing immediate
assistance to people from the disaster area. As of today, more than 500,000
evacuee families have gotten emergency help to pay for food, clothing,
and other essentials. Evacuees who have not yet registered should contact
FEMA or the Red Cross. We need to know who you are, because many of you
will be eligible for broader assistance in the future. Many families were
separated during the evacuation, and we are working to help you reunite.
Please call this number: 1-877-568-3317 -- that's 1-877-568-3317 -- and
we will work to bring your family back together, and pay for your travel
to reach them."
Lesotho
- "Lesotho
c.bank sees oil price slashing GDP growth." ... "High
oil prices will cut Lesotho's economic growth this year to just 0.9 percent
from an earlier forecast of 3.5 percent, a fresh blow for the tiny country
hit by food shortages and AIDS, the Central Bank said." ... "The bank said
the oil price surge could push inflation above the current 3.4 percent,
further hitting living standards in a country where most people are below
the international poverty standard of $1 per day and where more than 30
percent of the adult population is infected with HIV/AIDS." -By
Ntsau Lekhetho -Reuters
Hurricane
Katrina - Disaster
-
-
-
- "Kanye
West criticizes Bush on TV benefit show." ... "Hip-hop
star Kanye West added his voice to those from the U.S. African-American
community who see race as a reason for the poor emergency response to the
disaster in New Orleans." ... ""(U.S. President) George Bush doesn't care
about black people," he declared Friday night on a benefit concert broadcast
on NBC -- before the camera cut away from him." ... "West also said America
is set up "to help the poor, the black people, the less well-off as slow
as possible."" -With contributions by Graham Richardson
-CTV.ca
Economy
- Elderly
- "U.S.
poverty rate rises 4th straight year." ... "Overall,
37 million people were living in poverty, 1.1 million people more than
in 2003." ... "Asians were the only ethnic group to show a decline in poverty,
from 11.8 percent in 2003 to 9.8 percent last year. The poverty rate among
the elderly declined as well, from 10.2 percent in 2003 to 9.8 percent
last year." ... "The last decline in the overall poverty rate was in 2000,
when 31.1 million people, or 11.3 percent of the population, lived under
the threshold. Since then, the poverty rate has increased steadily, reaching
11.7 percent in 2001, when the economy slipped into recession, and 12.5
percent in 2003." -AP
via -IHT.com
Economic
- People
- Politics
- "Despite
more jobs, US poverty rate rises: Percentage of Americans
in poverty grew for the fourth straight year, the US Census Bureau reported
Tuesday." ... "Despite a year in which the US economy added jobs, the percentage
of Americans living in poverty grew from 12.5 to 12.7 percent last year
-the fourth straight year it's risen." ... "Political pundits on both sides
of the aisle rushed to put their stamp on the news, with Democrats blaming
the trend on failed economic policies and Republicans pointing out that
some regions and groups improved." ... "While the overall poverty numbers
went up, for instance, the Midwest was the only region that experienced
an increase. Rates for child poverty and the uninsured were unchanged -
after experiencing a rise the year before - and most measures of income
gap showed no change." -By Sara B. Miller and Amanda
Paulson
-CSMonitor
- Bangladesh
-
- 
-Religion
Niger
-
- -
"Inside
and beyond Niger: Addressing Africa's short- and
long-term needs." ... "Here [in Niger] drought, locusts and endemic poverty
helped spawn a vicious famine." ... "The Niger crisis wasn't a surprise.
A U.N. World Food Program warning, and plea, issued nine months ago fell
largely on deaf ears. The same happened with two aid initiatives earlier
this year. Only recently, with the media focusing on the crisis, have donations
started to pour in -- though the amount received was for long still far
below what is needed." ... "The United Nations estimates that more than
3.8 million people, about one-third of Niger's population, desperately
need food. Among the suffering are 800,000 children, 160,000 of whom suffer
from malnutrition. Even without the famine, more than 60 percent of Nigeriens
live on less than $1 a day." -With contributions by
Greg Botelho, Anderson Cooper and Jeff Koinange
-CNN
-
-
-
-
- WalMart
- "Welfare
reform opens Medicaid to millions." ... "The expansion
of Medicaid to cover the working poor has fundamentally broadened the nation's
safety net and changed the lives of low-wage workers in the USA. It also
has put enormous strain on federal and state finances and made taxpayers
the health insurance provider for millions of workers at Wal-Mart, McDonald's
and other low-wage employers." ... "Medicaid and the related Children's
Health Insurance Program covered an average of 46.8 million Americans a
day in 2004, up more than 13 million from when welfare reform passed in
1997. The program covered 61 million people at some time during 2004, nearly
20 million more than in 1997." -By Dennis Cauchon
-USATODAY
-
-
- New
York
-
- "Cracking
down on employers who ignore wage laws: State officials
crack down on a wider array of businesses - especially those in service
sector." ... "Across the country, a growing number of states, advocacy
groups - and even individual workers - are fighting back against wage abuses
in the workplace." ... "From New York to California, several state attorneys
general are targeting violations of state and federal minimum-wage and
overtime laws. One reason: State authorities believe the infractions are
growing as the economy becomes more service-oriented - and are showing
up in new industries." ... "The minimum wage was set by the federal government
back in 1968 as way to guarantee a floor that the country's most vulnerable
workers could earn. It's been updated several times, most recently in 1997,
when it was set at $5.15 an hour. Seventeen states have set their own,
higher, minimum wage." ... "Currently, 30 million Americans are in low-wage
jobs that pay less than the poverty rate for a family of four." -By
Alexandra Marks -CSMonitor
Brazil
- "Landless
Peasants Head to Brazil's Capital." ... "More than
12,000 landless peasants arrived in Brazil's capital Monday after a 17-day
march to demand agrarian reform, saying the president has failed to keep
his promises to provide jobs and land to the country's poor." ... "The
march, the largest ever sponsored by the Landless Rural Workers Movement,
was also intended to protest the economic policies of President Luiz Inacio
Lula da Silva's government." -AP
via -Guardian.co.uk
- 
-
-
-
-
-
-
- Food
- Millennium
Ecosystem Assessment
- "Study
highlights global decline." ... "The most comprehensive
survey ever into the state of the planet concludes that human activities
threaten the Earth's ability to sustain future generations." ... "The report
says the way society obtains its resources has caused irreversible changes
that are degrading the natural processes that support life on Earth." ...
"This will compromise efforts to address hunger, poverty and improve healthcare."
... "The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment was drawn up by 1,300 researchers
from 95 nations over a period of four years." ... "It reports that humans
have changed most ecosystems beyond recognition in a dramatically short
space of time." ... "The way society has sourced its food, fresh water,
timber, fibre and fuel over the past 50 years has seriously degraded the
environment, the assessment (MA) concludes." -By Jonathan
Amos -BBC
/News
- Kyrgyzstan
- "Analysis:
Why Kyrgyzstan matters." ... "The outside world has
been watching events unfolding in Kyrgyzstan with a mixture of excitement
and fear." ... "Excitement because this could be the beginning of another
"velvet revolution" in a former Soviet country." ... "Fear because in such
a poor and volatile region as Central Asia, it may not be as non-violent
or democratic as those in Ukraine or Georgia." ... "Whatever happens, the
outcome will be significant because Kyrgyzstan is close to Afghanistan
- an area with a history of inter-ethnic conflicts lying on one of the
world's major drug trafficking routes." ... "Kyrgyzstan does not border
on Afghanistan, but it is close enough to have a direct impact on the country's
affairs." -By Leonid Ragozin-BBC
/News
-
-
Lesotho
- "Prince
Harry: Lesotho 'Needs Help'." ... "Britain's Prince
Harry, on a two-month working trip to Lesotho, said Wednesday the tiny
African kingdom needed help as it battles poverty, AIDS and a punishing
drought." ... ""It's not a place that everybody really knows about," Harry
told reporters at an orphanage about 62 miles south of the capital Maseru,
one of a series of charity projects Harry has taken on since arriving in
the landlocked country on February 13." -By By Joseph
Oesi -Reuters
-
- "Four
Killed and 148 Wounded in a Suicide Bombing in Riyadh."
... "A suicide bomber detonated a Chevrolet Blazer loaded with explosives
in central Riyadh on Wednesday, shattering the facade of a police building,
killing at least four people and wounding 148." ... "Saudi officials and
foreign embassies had been bracing for such an attack since April 12, when
a shoot-out in a poor Riyadh neighborhood led to a chain of bloody skirmishes
across the central part of the kingdom. In the last 10 days, six police
officers were shot dead, and security officials said that they had captured
five booby-trapped cars and arrested eight militants." ... "Wednesday's
bombing and the clashes preceding it represent a qualitative shift in the
ongoing war between the security services and Islamic militants believed
to be either directly connected to Osama bin Laden and Al Qaeda or inspired
by the terrorist group, Saudi officials and other analysts said. It was
a shift, they said, toward attacks by groups that are less organized, on
targets that are less easily protected." (1, 2)
-By Neil MacFarquhar -NYTimes
via -Google-News
-
-
-
Poverty
- Business
- Politics
- 2004
Election - "Wages
up for the well-off, but not for others: 'Rich-poor
gap' relates to long-term forces, but could hurt Bush as it reaches record
level prior to election." ... "Most US workers saw their earnings fall
or stagnate last year, with those at the bottom of the income scale hit
hardest." ... "The trend, coming alongside a slack job market, explains
why many Americans feel left out of the economic recovery - and why President
Bush faces a tough sell with his campaign-trail message that there is "good
strong growth." Democratic rivals point to "two Americas," one for the
rich, one for the poor." ... "Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina speaks
of "two Americas," while the leading contender, John Kerry, promises "a
prosperity where we will reduce the poverty of millions instead of constantly
reducing taxes for millionaires."" -By David R. Francis
-CSMonitor
-
- 
- Civil
Liberties - "Airport
color-coding called 'illusory security': Privacy
groups outraged at anti-terror move." ... "Travelers would be classified
into one of three groups: green for good to go, yellow for investigate
further and red for stop from flying." ... "The Transportation Security
Administration, part of the Department of Homeland Security, confirmed
a Washington Post report Monday that the data-mining plan will start this
summer after a testing period within the next few months. While the government
says the plan will improve screening for potential terrorists, organizations
such as the American Civil Liberties Union denounced it as "dragnet profiling"
that would discriminate against minorities and the poor." ... "The plan,
called Computer Assisted Passenger Prescreening System, or CAPPS II, would
require all airline travelers to provide full names, home addresses, phone
numbers and dates of birth when they book flights." -By
Carolyn Said with contributions by Charlie Goodyear and Steve Rubenstein
-SFGate.com
-
- "Labor
Dept. offers ways not to pay overtime: While touting
the benefits of new overtime rules for poor workers, the Labor Department
offers pointers on how to avoid paying the extra wages." ... "The Labor
Department is giving employers tips on how to avoid paying overtime to
some of the 1.3 million low-income workers who would become eligible under
new rules expected to be finalized early this year." ... "Among the options
for employers: cut workers' hourly wages and add the overtime to equal
the original salary, or raise salaries to the new $22,100 annual threshold,
making them ineligible." -By Leigh Strope
-AP via-Miami/Herald
-
- "A
new push to clean up the world's slums: A recent
United Nations report puts the number of urban poor at 1 billion." ...
"Growing numbers of rural poor are migrating to cities around the developing
world, giving aid experts a new cause for anxiety -beyond just the deplorable
conditions of the burgeoning slums." ... "The concern goes like this: living
in such close quarters with the urban rich exacerbates the disparities
between the "haves" and the "have-nots," fueling a global explosion in
crime, street violence, and extremism. The urbanization of poverty, say
development experts, could become as much a world-security issue as the
hunt for Osama bin Laden or weapons of mass destruction." -By
Gretchen Peters -CSMonitor
- "22
States Limiting Doctors' Latitude in Medicaid Drugs."
... "In one of the most successful efforts to rein in the fast-rising cost
of Medicaid, the government health plan for the poor, states are limiting
which drugs doctors can prescribe for Medicaid patients." ... "Two years
ago, only three states had authorized the use of lists of preferred drugs
for such patients; since then, 19 other states have done so, though not
all their programs are up and running, according to the National Conference
of State Legislatures." ... "Preferred drug lists steer doctors away from
some of the most expensive drugs and toward different, less expensive ones
that the state deems equally effective, a practice that many private insurance
companies and employee health plans have adopted and that is being considered
by Congress as part of a government-subsidized drug benefit for 40 million
Medicare recipients." (1, 2)
-By Richard Pérez-Peña
-NYTimes via -Google-News
-
-
- "California
should rethink executions, says former Illinois gov.."
... "California should consider halting executions while it takes "an in-depth
look" at whether it administers the death penalty fairly, former Illinois
Gov. George Ryan told state lawmakers Tuesday." ... "Repeated failures
in Illinois' system prompted Ryan to commute the sentences of all his state's
167 condemned inmates before he left office this year." ... "The public
seems to favor the death penalty, "but they want a system that's fair,
just and accurate," Ryan told the Senate Select Committee on the California
Correctional System. "If you're poor and minority, you haven't got a prayer.""
-By Don Thompson -AP
via -SFGate.com
Saudi
Arabia - "Do
We Still Need the Saudis?" ... "Hundreds of Saudis
fought alongside the Taliban against the U.S. in Afghanistan last year.
More than one-third of the 350 hard-core fighters being held by the U.S.
in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, are Saudi nationals. Billions of dollars from
wealthy Saudis have funded anti-American and anti-Israel terrorist groups
and helped establish radical schools worldwide that foment Islamic militancy,
including the madrasahs in Pakistan that produced the Taliban." ... "But
Saudi Arabia controls 30% of the world's known oil reserves. And so for
years, in the interest of maintaining the world's supply of crude, Washington
has ignored evidence that the ruling Sauds are allowing the country's powerful
religious leaders to propagate anti-Western hate." ... "Isolating Riyadh,
though, carries risks. Western diplomats warn that the al-Saud clan, which
has ruled the kingdom for the past century, is the only Western-leaning
institution left in a fundamentalist state that is growing younger, poorer
and more radical." (1, 2,
3,
4)
-By Romesh Ratnesar -with Massimo Calabresi, Mark
Thompson, Scott MacLeod, and J.F.O. McAllister
-TIME.com
China
- "Chinese
Workers' Rights Stop at Courtroom Door." ... "Capitalist-style
economic policies introduced two decades ago have lifted millions of Chinese
out of poverty. But the Communist Party's reluctance to pursue political
reform with the same speed has left workers with few protections against
deteriorating and sometimes deadly job conditions. Without elections, they
cannot throw out local officials who allow businesses to ignore labor laws.
Without the right to organize, they risk arrest if they form independent
unions or go on strike." -By Philip P. Pan-WashingtonPost
![''DYNAMIC DUO: [US singer] Bono (left) and Paul O'Neill don traditional outfits given by villagers in Tamsale, Ghana.'' -from CSMonitor - AP - Saurabh Das](../images/fair-use/thumbnails/news/csmonitor/fair-use-thumbnail-20020530-U2-singer-Bono+US-Treasury-Secretary-Paul-ONeill-in-traditional-Ghana-robes=from-CSMonitor-AP.jpg){kind=small}
Center on Poverty, Work and Opportunity - http://law.unc.edu/Centers/details.aspx?ID=425 The National Poverty Center at the University of Michigan - http://www.npc.umich.edu The Institute for Research on Poverty at the University of Wisconsin-Madison - http://www.irp.wisc.edu The Kentucky Center for Poverty Research at the University of Kentucky - http://www.ukcpr.org The Joint Center for Poverty Research of Northwestern University and the University of Chicago - http://www.jcpr.org The RUPRI Rural Poverty Research Center at the University of Missouri - http://www.rprconline.org
