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 […]
social safety net
The Band-Aid Approach: The Inadequacy of Charitable Giving for Tackling Social Problems
The United States consistently ranks among the most “generous” countries in the world – we citizens routinely rank very high in the categories of helping someone we don’t know, donating money to charity, or volunteering our time to an organization. A Marketwatch article from December 2019 cites results from the World Giving Index, an instrument […]
Now We Get to Work!
It’s Friday the 13th, but for many of us, that feels like a very positive date on the calendar! Despite what Donald Trump and his supporters might say and wish, they have been defeated at the polls, and it is time for him to prepare to move out of the White House (the People’s House). […]
Refuting the Homogeneity Argument: The Evidence is In
Often when the issue of European social safety net practices is broached among Americans the argument eventually turns to the question of our racial and ethnic diversity and our large size versus other countries’ relative homogeneity and small size. The argument asserts that the US cannot (and should not) implement European social practices because our […]
Defining Our Terms: Essential for the 2020 Race
Terminology matters. As the 2020 presidential election cycle heats up, there is a great deal of banter in the air, among politicians, pundits, journalists, citizens, etc., about terms such as “socialism,” “Democratic Socialism,” “the radical left,” “welfare state,” capitalism and others. I am not an expert in economics or political science, but I offer the […]
Elizabeth Warren and Capitalism: She’s in Favor
As the 2020 presidential election already heats up (too soon, for some of us!), it is important that we are clear on where candidates stand on the important issues. We also need to beware of strident propaganda that distorts the truth, raises irrational fears, and blurs the picture. Here we will focus on Massachusetts Senator […]