Gathering with friends and family. Packed roads and airports. Turkey with all the trimmings. Thanksgiving is upon us once again. In this time of bounty, we are mindful of course of the millions who can’t afford a big feast or a warm home in which to host it. And we’ll…
Archives: Voices
Congress: Don’t Leave ANY Working Families Behind
There’s been a lot of terrible anti-refugee and anti-immigrant sentiments from some pretty high-up sources lately – governors, members of Congress, even Presidential candidates. There’s been harmful anti-refugee legislation – like the House bill to stall and disrupt refugee screening for resettlement in the U.S., and anti-immigration legislation, like a…
Correction: House Vote to Block Syrian Refugees WAS Veto-Proof
Earlier today, I made a mistake in saying that the House vote in favor of H.R. 4038 (the anti-Syrian/Iraqi refugee resettlement bill) would not have been enough to override a Presidential veto. Sorry to report that if the same votes were cast to override, it would have been enough to…
Score 1 for Fear: House Votes to Disrupt Syrian/Iraqi Refugee Screenings
Some follow-up from yesterday’s post about Tamam (age 5) and the other refugees escaping from Syrian violence: the House of Representatives voted for H.R. 4038, the legislation that would stall and disrupt refugee screening for resettlement in the U.S. The vote was 289-137, with 242 Republicans and 47 Democrats voting…
Afraid of Her Pillow
This is Tamam, a five year old Syrian refugee. She cries every night, associating her pillow with the night air raids she lived through in her hometown of Homs. She escaped Syria two years ago and is in Azraq, Jordan now. This photo was taken by Magnus Wennman, who photographed…
Human Needs Report: Appropriations, Tax Credits, and Congress’s To-Do List
CHN just released our latest edition of the Human Needs Report, our regular newsletter on national policy issues affecting low-income and vulnerable populations. This edition includes articles on the ongoing appropriations process, low-income tax credits, and what’s left on Congress’s to-do list. See below for the full analysis and links to each…
Let Congress Know They Must #InvestInKids
Join CHN, MomsRising, First Focus, and other advocates across the nation on Thursday, November 19 from 1-2 pm ET for an #InvestInKids twitterstorm. Use the hashtag to share with Congress why it is vital to invest in programs that support our nation’s children. Even though Congress has already passed a…
An Annoying Poll
CQ News recently cited a poll about the budget deal enacted by Congress, in which 61 percent agree “lawmakers should have stuck to lower spending levels,” and 39 percent agree that “the deal is a positive move forward.” We at the Coalition on Human Needs supported the deal, which will…
Resources from around the Coalition: Hunger and Poverty, Child Care, Housing Recovery and More
Hunger and Poverty. Child Care. Housing Recovery. This week we continue our series, Resources from around the Coalition, where we highlight great work that CHN’s member organizations are putting out. Bread for the World recently issued individual state fact sheets highlighting hunger and poverty across the nation. Their fact sheets…
Scandal
This post was originally published in The Sojourner’s Truth on November 5, 2015. … Poverty in the world is a scandal. In a world where there is so much wealth, so many resources to feed everyone, it is unfathomable that there are so many hungry children, that there are so…
Congress Must Act Now to Save Pro-Work Tax Provisions
This post was originally published on The Hill’s Congress Blog on November 4, 2015. Spending time with family and friends, laughing around the table, and volunteering to serve the people who are hungry at my church — all of these moments bring me a sense of joy. Just as I…
Fact of the Week: 100 CEOs Have As Much in Retirement Assets As 41 Percent of American Families
A new report from the Center for Effective Government and the Institute for Policy Studies found that the 100 largest CEO retirement funds are worth a combined $4.9 billion – an amount equal to the entire retirement account savings of 41 percent of American families. A Tale of Two Retirements…