President Donald Trump’s hardline enforcement policies are preventing thousands of undocumented immigrants and green card holders from participating in everyday activities out of fear they’ll be deported.
A recent study by the Urban Institute found that in 2018 roughly 1 in 6 adults in immigrant families reported they or a family member had avoided activities in which they could be asked about citizenship status. These activities included anything that could result in po...
politics
Three million working-class people will lose food stamps under new Trump regulatory assault
Three million poor people could be booted from the food stamps system under a Trump administration regulatory proposal issued Tuesday.
The Department of Agriculture (USDA) is aware the proposal will shrink grocery budgets for that massive share of people. It just cares more about making a conservative millionaire in Minnesota happy.
That was the message on a brief press call Monday evening, as USDA Acting Deputy Undersecretary Brandon Lipps described the agency’s propos...
A U.S. senator just laid out his blueprint for theocratic segregationism
The frustrating thing about Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO), is that he so often walks right up to the edge of an excellent idea, presenting a compelling case that he’s identified a problem that demands a solution — and then suddenly offers a completely ridiculous solution or nothing at all.
Such was the case at the “National Conservatism” conference, which took place in Washington, DC last week. Railing against the impact of globalization on many American workers, H...
The most important lesson Democrats must learn from Obama’s presidency
Imagine, for a moment, what 2009 would have looked like if the Senate’s Democratic supermajority showed up for its first day of work and immediately nuked the filibuster.
In such a world, the White House didn’t have to beg Republican senators for the votes it needed to enact President Barack Obama’s stimulus package. Though Democrats eventually achieved a 60-vote supermajority in the 111th Congress, it was only after Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter switched parties...
Rand Paul blocks funding for 9/11 victims over hypocritical budget concerns
Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) blocked an attempt by Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) on Wednesday to fast-track a bill that would extend compensation for victims of the September 11th attacks.
Paul expressed concerns that Gillibrand’s attempt to pass the measure using unanimous consent — meaning a bill is approved so long as no senator objects — did not take into consideration the need to offset that funding elsewhere.
In short, he argued, funding shouldn’t be d...
Biden’s health care plan reveals the divide among Democrats
Presidential candidate Joe Biden released his health care plan on Monday, formally entering the Democratic debate about how to solve the country’s health care crisis, in which 26% of Americans struggle to afford services even with insurance and out-of-pocket medical costs outpace wage growth.
The Biden plan, expands upon the Affordable Care Act (ACA) by adding a government-run public option to compete alongside private insurers and making existing subsidies for private plans m...
The Trump administration’s incompetence just blocked a major victory by the religious right
A federal appeals court struck down Trump administration regulations on Friday that allow virtually any employer to exempt itself from federal rules requiring employer health plans to cover birth control.
This decision is only limited cause for celebration among public health advocates. Judge Patty Shwartz, the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit judge who wrote the opinion, is an Obama appointee. The two judges who joined her opinion in Pennsylvania v. Presiden...
Alaska’s legislature fails to stop a major attack on its judicial independence
Alaska’s legislature has until Friday at midnight to override the governor’s attack on the state’s judicial system. No vote has yet been scheduled, and one-third of the legislators are in Wasilla, 800 miles away from the state capital.
Using a line-item veto, Gov. Mike Dunleavy (R) recently slashed the budget of the state’s Supreme Court, due to its repeated protection of abortion rights. Dunleavy cut the budget of the Alaska Supreme Court and the court of appeals by 5%, as part of ...
Here’s what unions think about Medicare for All
History tells us that the support of organized labor is critical to any major health care reform in the United States.
Unions represent 1 in 10 U.S. workers, making it one of the largest institutions nationwide. So what does that mean for “Medicare for All,” a policy that moves everyone into one public plan with no premiums or deductibles?
Everyone agrees universal health care coverage is the goal, but not everyone agrees Medicare for All is the only or best way t...