Category: Class

The Martin Luther King Jr. memorial on the National Mall was set to be dedicated this coming Sunday, but that dedication has been postponed due to Hurricane Irene. While I do not have any strong feelings one way or another about the monument itself, the way in which it was set to be dedicated has… Continue reading Hurricane Irene spares the nation from corporate MLK dedication

The claim that half of Americans do not pay income taxes has been bandied about by Republican presidential candidates lately. The three front runners — Michelle Bachmann, Rick Perry, and Mitt Romney — have all thrown out the statistic in stump speeches in the past few weeks. It seems odd that Republicans would complain about… Continue reading Income tax claims are confused

The Heritage Foundation released a report today about poverty that managed to get some traction in the media. There is nothing terribly new in the report; it is basically a statistically-rich rehashing of the idea that poor people are not really poor. The Heritage Foundation provides a long list of what are mainly cheap, consumer… Continue reading Study misses what poverty is about

A study published earlier this week debunked one of the primary explanations for why obesity disproportionately affects poor people. According to the Los Angeles Times, researchers found that better access to supermarkets did not positively affect the diets of poor people. The findings contradict the argument that food deserts — geographical areas that are devoid… Continue reading The silver lining of the food desert study

The federal government and state governments across the country have been forced to confront sudden budget deficits in the wake of the 2008 recession. For state governments, the overriding cause of the deficits was a more than 30% reduction in state revenues following the economic downturn. For the federal budget deficit, the causes are more… Continue reading Deficit reduction debate is really about which class pays