Medicare and Medicaid Are Not Safe From the Debt Deal Cuts

by Amara Nwosu on August 5 2011, 10:46AM

Both programs are enormously important to health coverage for people of color.

Topics: Health

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The U.S. Doesn’t Have a Debt Problem. It Has a Crisis of Values.

by Imara Jones on August 3 2011, 10:15AM

The debt deal is an extension of the grand bargain Washington’s leaders made with Wall Street nearly four years ago: to save the wealthy at the expense of everyone else. The U.S. doesn’t have a debt problem; it has a values problem.

Topics: Debt Deal, Economy

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Debt Deal Casualties May Include College Aid for Poor Students

by Shani O. Hilton on August 1 2011, 1:30PM

Tea party Republicans were willing to let the debt ceiling deadline pass in order to block Pell Grant funding, which one member has called “welfare of the 21st century.” The student aid program may be among the most vulnerable in the coming round of cuts.

Topics: Debt Deal, Politics, Schools & Youth

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The Tea Party Says, Yes, We Can! (Then Actually Changes Stuff)

by Kai Wright on August 1 2011, 11:21AM

The most consequential change to our political landscape in 2008 may not have been Obama’s election, but rather the right’s response to it.

Topics: Debt Deal, Kai Wright, Politics

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Who’s Gonna Care for the Aging Boomers? Poor, Immigrant Women

by Shani O. Hilton on July 13 2011, 10:39AM

As the GOP pushes Medicare and Medicaid cuts, advocates urge Congress to make the programs work for three million home-care givers making poverty-wages—and the ballooning number of people who depend upon them.

Topics: Economy, Health

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Is Anyone Fighting For Your Town’s Library? [Reader Forum]

by Channing Kennedy on June 5 2011, 2:19PM

As cash-strapped city governments across the country talk library closures, we ask what’s at stake for your community.

Topics: Budget

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Why Aren’t We Paying More Attention to the People’s Budget?

by Shani O. Hilton on May 5 2011, 12:30PM

Observers say a plan crafted by the Congressional People’s Caucus offers a good alternative to those offered by Obama and the GOP.

Topics: Budget

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A Closer Look at What Got Chopped in This Year’s Budget

by Shani O. Hilton on April 22 2011, 4:59PM

Among the worst examples of things that will do nothing to cut the deficit: a fund for the upkeep public housing.

Topics: Budget

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Six Public Goods That Have Shaped My Life—Or, Why Taxes Are Cool

by Kai Wright on April 15 2011, 9:47AM

My mom’s retirement, the subway, books in Washington and more. Chime in with your own examples of why we should all be happy to contribute to the collective good.

Topics: Budget, Kai Wright

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CBC Drops Its Own Budget: $5.7 Trillion Deficit Cut Without Gutting Programs

by Shani O. Hilton on April 14 2011, 1:04PM

It’s been a tradition every year since 1981, but this year’s budget battle gives the proposal new significance.

Topics: Politics

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Obama’s Government Spending Pitch: The Great Society Is Patriotic

by Kai Wright on April 14 2011, 10:43AM

Obama says America’s safety net makes it great. But that’s only been true since the 1960s, and the GOP is at the endgame in a decades-long effort to undue it.

Topics: Budget, Kai Wright

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The Long Racial History of the Tea Party’s Deficit Trojan Horse

by Dorian Warren on April 13 2011, 10:30AM

The American right has been railing against the size of federal government for centuries. We’d do well to remember why.

Topics: Budget, History, Politics

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Stopgap Budget Deal Cuts More Community Development, Transit

by Shani O. Hilton on April 11 2011, 12:44PM

Expect another $38.5 billion in cuts, the details of which are to be announced later this week.

Topics: Politics

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Is Michele Bachmann Shutting Down the Government (To Run It)?

by Channing Kennedy on April 8 2011, 3:49PM

Her tea party caucus is showing just how much heft it plans to throw around in the 2012 elections.

Topics: Budget, Politics

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$327 Million for Women’s Health Will Shut Down Government, Say Dems

by Shani O. Hilton on April 8 2011, 3:27PM

None of that money goes to fund abortion, but it does fund reproductive health for poor women of color.

Topics: Budget, Planned Parenthood, Politics

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Obama Can Save Government by Reviving His 2008 Mastery of Values

by Kai Wright on April 7 2011, 11:54AM

The president once argued the budget was a values-based document. Now, he’s all about process over purpose.

Topics: Budget, Kai Wright, Politics

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Breaking Down the GOP Budget Plan to Cut Medicaid and Medicare

by Mary Agnes Carey on April 6 2011, 10:41AM

Both African Americans and Latinos depend heavily upon the programs for access to health care.

Topics: Budget, Health

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As Budget Battle Climaxes, Civil Rights Groups Tally Potential Damage

by Shani O. Hilton on April 5 2011, 3:28PM

Marian Wright Edelman: “This is the most dangerous time for black children since slavery.”

Topics: Budget, Politics

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Another Budget Deadline Approaches, Poor People Still Screwed

by Shani O. Hilton on April 4 2011, 1:33PM

Congress has until Friday to decide whether to scapegoat struggling families by a lot, or just a little.

Topics: Budget, Economy, Politics

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What Now? The Next Stage in the Public Sector Unions Fight

by Lindsay Beyerstein on March 11 2011, 1:50PM

Wisconsin has killed collective bargaining, but there and in other states, the battle is still building.

Topics: Economy, Wisconsin

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