Yearly Archives: 2012
- CHN: With Obstruction at an All-Time High, Senate Contemplates Rule Change
As the start of the new Congress approaches, Senate Democrats are considering changes to Senate filibuster rule. Read More »
Posted in Budget and Appropriations Comments Off - CHN: The House Goes Home for Christmas
The House Goes Home for Christmas: Its Top Priorities: Slash Health Care, Nutrition, and Federal Pay, Raise Taxes on Working Families, Preserve Pentagon Spending, and No Fingerprints on Tax Increases Even for the Very Rich Read More »
Posted in Budget and Appropriations, Child Nutrition, Economy, Food and Nutrition, Health, Medicaid, Medicare, Military Spending, SNAP, Social Security, Tax Policy Comments Off - CHN: Farm Bill Programs (Mostly) Will Expire September 30; SNAP is Protected: Congressional Leaders Opting to Delay a Fight Over the Farm Bill until after the Elections
Senate Agriculture Committee Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) explained in a recent conference call with reporters that producing a five-year farm bill during the lame-duck session might be difficult but it would not be impossible. Read More »
Posted in Budget and Appropriations, Food and Nutrition, SNAP Comments Off - CHN: Congress Passes 6-Month Spending Bill for Fiscal Year 2013; Fiscal Cliff Looms
On September 22 by a vote of 62-30 the Senate passed HJ Res 117, a stopgap Continuing Resolution (CR), funding annually appropriated programs for the first six months of Fiscal Year (FY) 2013 from October 1, 2012 through March 27, 2013. Read More »
Posted in Budget and Appropriations, Economy, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Comments Off - CHN: Medicaid Expansion Favorable for States, Yet Some Still Refuse to Cooperate
On June 28, the Supreme Court made an historic decision: they upheld the individual mandate in the Affordable Care Act. This news came with a bitter pill for low-income advocates, however – that states now have the option to refuse to expand Medicaid to cover people with incomes up to 133 percent of the poverty line, choosing to forego federal funds provided to them for this purpose. Read More »
Posted in Health, Health Care Reform, Medicaid Comments Off - CHN: Congress Leaves Without Passing Farm Bill
Article from the August 7, 2012 edition of the CHN Human Needs Report: Congress left for the August recess without coming to agreement on a Farm Bill. The current 5-year bill is set to expire on September 30th. That leaves the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly known as food stamps) funding and other farm Read More »
Posted in Child Nutrition, Food and Nutrition, SNAP Comments Off - CHN: The House Says Yes to Extra Tax Breaks for the Wealthiest; the Senate Says No; House Also Votes for Fast Track Procedures to Slash Taxes by Trillions
Article from the August 7, 2012 edition of the CHN Human Needs Report: If the Bush-era tax cuts on income over $250,000 are allowed to expire, married couples with income in the $1 – 2 million income range will still receive about $8,800 in income tax cuts in 2013. But they won’t receive more than Read More »
Posted in Tax Policy Comments Off - CHN: Congressional Leaders and Administration Agree on 6-Month Spending Outline; But Automatic Spending Cuts and Tax Increases Still Loom
Article from the August 7, 2012 edition of the CHN Human Needs Report: As the October 1 start of the new fiscal year draws near, Congress has set forth a path to avert what has become an annual question: “Will they (Congress) allow the government to shut down?” Democrats and the Administration have endorsed the Read More »
Posted in Budget and Appropriations, Military Spending, Tax Policy Comments Off - CHN: The Usefulness of Cliffs: The Clock Keeps Ticking on Expiring Tax Cuts and Looming Spending Reductions
If Congress does nothing, a lot will happen at the beginning of 2013. The Bush-era tax cuts and subsequent improvements will expire, with everyone paying higher income taxes. Close to $110 billion in spending cuts will be triggered, split evenly across the Pentagon and domestic and international programs. Simply allowing all of this to take Read More »
Posted in Budget and Appropriations, Tax Policy Comments Off - CHN: House Committee Passes Farm Bill with Deep Cut to SNAP
On July 11 the House Agriculture Committee voted 35-11 to pass its five-year bill to reauthorize agriculture and nutrition programs (H.R. 6083). The bill contains a $16.5 billion cut to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly known as food stamps). The cut to SNAP would result in two to three million people being denied Read More »
Posted in Food and Nutrition, SNAP Comments Off
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