The Reduced US Child Tax Credit: Paltry and Shameful

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The site VERIFYthis.com, whose mission is to “provide trustworthy, transparent information to prove or disprove” stories or claims, gives us the bad news for American families regarding the Child Tax Credit: “The American Rescue Plan only expanded the child tax credit for the 2021 tax year. That means the credit has returned to its pre-pandemic […]

America’s Continuing Low Democracy Score and the Urgency to Improve It

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Americans should know about the Democracy Index if we do not know about it already. In the latest report published by the Economist Intelligence Unit (The EIU), the US is described as a “flawed democracy” – for the fifth straight year, and lower than the 2020 score. The Economist Intelligence Unit (The EIU) is a […]

Child Tax Credit Enhancements: New to the US but Not to Our Sister Nations

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The Biden-Harris Administration should be congratulated for changing and expanding the rules about the Child Tax Credit (CTC): eligible parents will now receive actual payments to support their children, as opposed to claiming a one-time credit on their taxes during tax season. This change has come about as part of the COVID-19 relief bill, which […]

Rounding Out Women’s History Month: Current Women Leaders around the World

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How aware are we Americans that many of our sister nations – other advanced democracies – have had the advantage of a woman leader, whether President, Prime Minister or other Head of State, while we have not? Since the 1980s, the following countries have all had female Heads of State: Iceland, Norway, Yugoslavia, Lithuania, East […]