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Who does inflation hurt most? From 2021 to 2022, the ground shifted. 
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January 26, 2023

When inflation began ravaging Americans’ pocketbooks and wallets in early 2021, it was middle-income Americans who mostly bore the brunt. That’s because inflation then was in part driven by gas costs and a shortage of used cars, which led to higher prices. Americans with low incomes, while hurt, were affected slightly less. Last year, that changed, according to a new report by the New York Fed. 

America’s inequality problem in one statistic
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January 20, 2023

If you work for a big corporation, there’s a very good chance your boss has already raked in more cash than you will all year. If the typical CEO of a large U.S. corporation clocked in at 9 am on January 2, by 3:37 pm that afternoon he’d made $58,260 — the average annual salary for all U.S. occupations. In less than seven hours on the first workday of the year, that CEO made as much as the average U.S. worker will make all year long.

Why new consumer protection agency rule must include EBT account holders
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January 19, 2023

It began, in part and strangely enough, with a banana. Entrepreneur Jimmy Chen hoped to develop software that would make it easier for people with low incomes to apply for SNAP benefits. While conducting research and interviews and studying how poor people shop, he noticed people buying one very cheap item – often a banana – so that they could find out their Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) balance, which was printed on their receipt.  

A stronger IRS helps make our tax system fairer for families
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January 18, 2023

As tax filing season begins, you may be wondering about recent efforts to strip the IRS of billions of dollars of funding. Last week, House Republicans voted to rescind the $80 billion in new IRS funding included in the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022. While this cut will not ultimately be enacted (the Democratically-controlled Senate will not pass the bill and President Biden has indicated he would veto it), it brings attention to the critical need for more – not reduced – IRS funding.

COVID-19 Watch: Tracking Hardship, January 13, 2023
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January 13, 2023

The XBB.1.5 edition. New COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations, and deaths are on the rise in many parts of the country. Hospitalizations in particular are at the highest level they’ve been in almost 11 months. Some of this increase was anticipated due to the aftermath of the holidays – a time when many family members and friends gather indoors. But the increase in caseloads is also due to the rapid emergence of XBB.1.5, which is more transmissible than any other omicron subvariant we’ve seen so far. 

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