About 25 mothers detained at the Karnes Family Detention Camp near San Antonio, Texas have started a Holy Week hunger strike. These are among the hundreds of mothers and children held at the Karnes site because they were part of the surge fleeing violence in El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras…
Archives: Voices
Head Smacker: Tax Cuts for Low-Income People are Better for The Economy, but Congressional Budgets Cut Them
Most members of Congress will tell you that they want to grow the economy, create jobs, and strengthen and expand the middle class. But the budget outlines just passed by the House and Senate make choices that would undermine these goals. New research confirms that tax cuts for lower- and…
Fact of the Week: Unemployment Rate for African Americans is Higher than Prerecession Levels in 28 States
For many, 2014 was a good year to get a job. By December 2014, the unemployment rate had fallen to 5.6 percent, the lowest it had been since June 2008. Nearly 250,000 jobs were being added every month. The gains in job growth were especially important for African Americans, who…
Outcomes
Many of you have information we need. The Congressional budget resolutions just passed have targeted vital human needs programs. Please share in the comment space below examples of the ways lives are changed for the better by any federal program you choose to talk about. We want to hear your…
How to Slam the Brakes on Economic Growth and the Door on Opportunity
This op-ed was originally published in The Hill on March 27. This week, every senator and representative will receive a letter signed by more than 1,300 organizations from every state. Under the heading Strengthening America’s Values and Economy (SAVE) for All, the groups urge Congress to pass a budget that protects…
Do These Budgets Reflect Our Priorities?
“The federal budget is about our national priorities and our values. It is about who we are as a nation and what we stand for. It is about how we analyze and assess the problems that we face and how we go forward in resolving those problems. That is the task the Senate…
Thousands Tell Congress to Pass a Budget That Invests in Shared Prosperity
This week, the House and Senate will be voting on budget proposals introduced last week by their respective Budget Committees (for much more information on what’s in these proposals, as well as the Congressional Progressive Caucus’ alternative proposal, see our latest Human Needs Report). Today, as Members of Congress prepare to…
Human Needs Report: FY2016 Congressional Budget Resolutions Edition
CHN just released our latest edition of the Human Needs Report, our regular newsletter on national policy issues affecting low-income and vulnerable populations. This special edition looks at the several different budget proposals released this week for Fiscal Year 2016 and beyond. See below for the full analysis and links to each section…
The 8 Head Smacker Budget
Yesterday, the House Budget Committee released its FY 2016 budget proposal. There were just too many Head Smackers in it to narrow it down to one, so CHN’s Deborah Weinstein came up with eight. Below are slides that she put together highlighting the most Head Smacking parts of it. We’ll have…
5 Things to Look For in the Budgets Next Week, and What You Can Do About Them
Next week, the House and Senate Budget Committees will release and start to debate their proposed FY 2016 budgets. Lots of people are talking about what will be in them. Here are five things we think all human needs advocates need to look out for and be wary of in…
Fact of the Week: More than 100 Big U.S. Corporations Used Offshore Tax Havens to Avoid $280 Billion in Taxes
A report out in February from Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT), the Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, shows that many U.S. corporations are effectively dodging billions in U.S. taxes. Looking at companies that are part of the Business Roundtable, a coalition of CEOs from 201 of the biggest companies…
The Law and Health Care for Millions: Rallying Outside the Supreme Court
Dr. Alice Chen is executive director of Doctors for America. She and Ron Pollack, who directs Families USA, were among the key leaders organizing a rally in front of the Supreme Court while oral arguments were going on that might determine the fate of the Affordable Care Act. Alice’s smile…