The Official Head Of The Democratic Party Joins GOP Effort To Protect Payday Lenders

Payday lenders fearing modest federal regulations will cut into their vast profit margins have a new, high-profile ally in Washington: The chairwoman of the Democratic Party. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) is co-sponsoring legislation to delay and permanently muffle pending Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) rules to rein in small-dollar lenders that are currently able to levy triple-digit annual interest rates on the nation’s poorest, the Huffington Post reports....
http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2016/03/01/3755213/wasserman-schultz-payday-loans/

Sanders Exposes More Inequality: Low-Income Americans Die Earlier and Lose Out on Social Security

A new federal study commissioned by Bernie Sanders uncovers more insidious inequality....

http://www.alternet.org/economy/wealthiest-americans-live-longer-collecting-more-social-security

Louisiana’s Budget Crisis Spells Doomsday For Justice In New Orleans

Thanks to years of tax breaks for the wealthy and corporate kickbacks under former Gov. Bobby Jindal’s leadership, Louisiana is on the brink of economic collapse. If the state can’t find billions of dollars in revenue by Wednesday night, many basic services will be slashed into oblivion — including hospitals, universities, and resources to combat child abuse.

 For a criminal justice system that’s already under-resourced and underfunded, the Doomsday scenario will also decimate indigent defense in the state. Public defenders are bracing for a 63 percent cut to their funding — meaning the 42 judicial districts will be given a paltry $12 million or so to operate. Offices across the state have already shut their doors, leaving Louisiana’s poor without constitutionally-mandated legal representation.

 In Louisiana’s largest city, an overburdened defense system is expected to get much worse...
http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2016/03/09/3757685/new-orleans-public-defense-crisis/

The SNAP Gap: Benefits Aren't Enough To Keep Many Recipients Fed

Nearly one-third of households on SNAP, formerly known as food stamps, still have to visit a food pantry to keep themselves fed, according to data highlighted this week by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.....
http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2016/03/03/468955099/the-snap-gap-benefits-arent-enough-to-keep-many-recipients-fed?sc=tw

RWW News: David Barton Again Falsely Claims The Average Welfare Family Receives $61,000 A Year

https://youtu.be/vMvG9N2JB6M

What Right-Wing Media Doesn’t Understand About Rage and the White Working Class

Especially clueless National Review story gets origins of working-class anger wrong, and misunderstands Trumpism...
http://www.alternet.org/media/what-right-wing-media-doesnt-understand-about-rage-and-white-working-class

Why the Rise of Trump, Cruz and Sanders Is the Logical Result of the 1% Not Paying Taxes

You reap what you sow.
http://www.alternet.org/election-2016/why-rise-trump-cruz-and-sanders-logical-result-americas-wealthiest-not-paying-their

Mother Teresa to be made a saint, though not everyone will celebrate (+video) - CSMonitor.com

“Mother Teresa was not a friend of the poor. She was a friend of poverty. She said that suffering was a gift from God,” wrote Christopher Hitchens, perhaps her best-known detractor. “She spent her life opposing the only known cure for poverty, which is the empowerment of women and the emancipation of them from a livestock version of compulsory reproduction.”
http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Global-News/2016/0315/Mother-Teresa-to-be-made-a-saint-though-not-everyone-will-celebrate-video

Homes for the homeless

LA rejects builder's tiny house idea.
Interview:
https://youtu.be/m-5PMzGKX8g

Sanders: Welfare reform more than doubled 'extreme poverty'

"Since (welfare reform) was signed into law, the number of families living in extreme poverty has more than doubled."
http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2016/mar/02/bernie-s/sanders-welfare-reform-more-doubled-extreme-povert/

Mandatory Self-Reliance Classes for Welfare Recipients? Utah Bill Is Red State Cruelty at Its Worst

The bill would require recipients of government assistance to complete a two-hour self-reliance course within 90 days...
http://www.alternet.org/tea-party-and-right/mandatory-self-reliance-classes-welfare-recipients-utah-bill-red-state-cruelty

Real Time with Bill Maher: Mark Ruffalo - The Whole Nation is Flint (HBO)

Waterdefense.org founder and "Spotlight" actor Mark Ruffalo calls California's reputation as an environmentally progressive state into question on the February 26, 2016 episode of Real Time...
Interview:
https://youtu.be/gWcuYn4gQZ4

The Latest Food Stamp Fraudsters Don't Look Like Welfare Queens | ThinkProgress

The alleged fake purchases and sham donations allowed the Jeffs to draw down actual money from SNAP, which prosecutors say they laundered through other companies owned by their church...
http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2016/02/24/3753325/polygamist-food-stamp-fraud/

Rhode Island Proves We Can Save On Health Costs Without Harming Low-Income People

Rhode Island is proving that it’s possible to save money on health costs without harming the impoverished people who rely on the social safety net. On Friday, state officials announced they have saved millions of dollars by reducing Medicaid spending growth — all without cutting health care benefits or eligibility for the state’s low-income population...
http://thinkprogress.org/health/2016/02/26/3754132/rhode-island-medicaid-reform/

Congresswoman Asks Why Drug Tests Are Only Being Considered For Food Stamp Recipients, Not Farmers | ThinkProgress

“If we’re going to look at drug testing for SNAP, we should take the entire Department of Agriculture and all those programs that provide federal subsidy to folks, and they ought to be drug tested as well,” she said.
http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2016/02/25/3753599/delauro-drug-test-snap/

Drug Testing Welfare Recipients Is A Popular New Policy That Cost States Millions. Here Are The Results. | ThinkProgress

Proponents of these programs argue that they’re implemented not just to save money, but to help people who may be struggling with substance abuse. But the data tells a different story...
http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2016/02/19/3747139/states-drug-testing-welfare-recipients/

New York Conservatives Want To Reach Into Poor People's Grocery Carts And Tell Them What To Buy | ThinkProgress

The two lawmakers have introduced a bill to ban food stamps cards from being used to buy a laundry list of foods, arguing both that poor people are too fat and that they’re currently allowed to enjoy foods that are too tasty...
http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2016/02/20/3751602/food-stamps-junk-food-new-york/

Teachers Take Stands In Detroit, Chicago (Tom Ashbrook, On Point)

We know big urban school districts have struggled for a long time to do their jobs, but lately some look at the edge of meltdown. In Detroit, teachers resorting to “sickouts’ to protest schools just falling to pieces. In Chicago, the state of Illinois threatening to take over in a last ditch maneuver that has not worked in Detroit. There are issues with unions, but also with equity and the way we do or do not educate some of our most disadvantaged kids. Now the Supreme Court is in the mix. This hour On Point, Detroit, Chicago, and urban education in meltdown mode. — Tom Ashbrook
Interview:
https://onpoint.wbur.org/2016/01/26/detroit-schools-teachers-unions-chicago-education

Ta-Nehisi Coates Is Voting for Bernie Sanders Despite the Senator's Opposition to Reparations

The acclaimed writer Ta-Nehisi Coates, author of "Between the World and Me," has written some of the most discussed articles on the presidential race looking at Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders and his position on reparations. Coates wrote the articles after Sanders appeared at the Black and Brown Forum in Iowa and said he did not support reparations for slavery because it is too "divisive" an issue. While his critique of Sanders generated headlines, today Coates talks on Democracy Now! about why he still plans to vote for the Vermont senator...
Interview:
https://youtu.be/mSJmxN-L300

What Working Class New Hampshire Voters Think Of The GOP Candidates' Poverty Plans | ThinkProgress

"Whoever agrees with a $15 minimum wage, they will be my candidate."
http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2016/02/08/3746940/republicans-new-hampshire-wages/