safety net
Domestic poverty and who it serves
Matthew Desmond unties the knot of being poor in the US—and shows the rest of us that we hold the strings.
SNAP under siege
Federal debt default has been averted. The price is more restrictions on a critical program that feeds hungry Americans.
Was the New Deal Christian?
There are some advantages to teaching online. Often instructors complain that the online format robs them of give-and-take moments with students. But given the current size of many history survey sections—50, 90, 300, even 500 people—how realistic is it to expect those real-time opportunities for conversation? Online threaded discussions are often more substantive, inclusive, and productive than the traditional classroom format.
Safety net successes
Sen. Rubio would replace the EITC with wage supplements. He’s offered few details, but at least he agrees $18,000 is not enough to support a family.
Who Congress works for
The sequester cuts are a supreme case of Washington dysfunction. Yet Congress is actually quite capable of getting some things done.
A sense of entitlement?
Politicians in Washington invariably use the term “entitlements” to refer to programs like Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. On the face of it, it’s a neutral term: citizens are entitled to certain benefits if they fit a certain category of need, hence the benefits might reasonably be called “entitlements.”
Yet the word carries ideological freight—an implication that people are lazy or self-indulgent to expect these things.
Health care up close: What else the Affordable Care Act does
Most people know only about the ACA's consumer-focused elements. Faith-based care providers are preparing for the law's other provisions as well.