Poverty News Round-up

by Leigh Graham · 2009-10-20 13:25:00 UTC
Topics: show more

Too many interesting tabs open in my browser to select just one story today.  Here's the latest on poverty news and activism happening around the US:

  • Thank you feds!  For stepping in and telling Indiana that allowing private employers to use welfare data to screen potential employees is "inappropriate" and "not allowed." Ya think?

  • If port cities Oakland and Long Beach, CA, have such similar demographic profiles, including lots of poverty, why is crime so much worse in Oakland?  It's unclear, but fortunately there's a new police chief in town to try and reverse the city's terrifying trends.

  • We've come a long way from the days of "No Irish Need Apply" - AG Andrew Cuomo in NY has charged EMC Construction with exploiting its workers, including using a three-tiered wage system for Irish ($25/hour), Black ($18/hour) and Latin@ ($15/hour) workers.  Nothing encourages worker solidarity like abusive wage gaps!

  • Mayor Bloomberg is creating jobs in NYC, but are they good jobs? The short answer: No.

  • What the state gives, the market taketh away.  Bloomberg builds or preserves 72k low-income housing units, 200k disappear due to vague and mysterious "market forces."  Don't look under your beds at night, kiddies!

  • And finally, let this be a lesson to other states: Indiana is pulling the plug on privatizing its welfare system, after thousands of eligible recipients lost benefits.  One old measure they're bringing back in?  Face-to-face interactions between recipients and case workers.  Good to see we haven't quite eliminated jobs as we insist TANF recipients go find some.

(Photo of A.M. Walzer Co. US Inlay Puzzle Map by Marxchivist)

Leigh Graham
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