Human Needs Report

The Human Needs Report is the Coalition on Human Needs' newsletter on national policy issues affecting low-income and vulnerable populations. It is published every other week while Congress is in session.

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Articles from January 14, 2005

• Bruising Budget Battle Looms; Entitlements at Stake
  Advocates for low- and moderate-income Americans are bracing for what could be the most important budget season in Washington in years. All the pieces are in place to make this year’s battle over the federal budget particularly bruising: An enormous $400 billion federal deficit, conservative Republican members who view last November’s election as a mandate for cutting, and the invoice for three straight years of massive tax breaks for the rich and corporations finally coming due. (More >)
  
• Social Security: A Human Needs Issue
  On November 4 President Bush declared that he had “political capital” to spend on diverting a portion of Social Security benefits into private accounts. The Coalition on Human Needs held a briefing on January 7 to explore the likely impact of privatization proposals on Social Security’s antipoverty role - for retirees, widows and widowers, minorities, children, and people with disabilities. The briefing also looked at disincentives for public employment in the current Social Security system.ocial Security Story paragraph one goes here. (More >)
  
• 109th Session of Congress Convenes
  The 109th Congress convened earlier this month to swear in new members and make committee assignments. To find out new committee membership, visit the websites of the House or Senate or go to www.congress.org and choose "U.S. Congress" on the left side of the screen. That will link you to a page where you can search committee membership as well as members in the leadership.