ThinkProgress Logo

Economy

How Federal Budget Cuts Could Devastate Low-Income Children

By Annie-Rose Strasser on Mar 13, 2012 at 6:45 pm

Families that depend on government assistance face countless threats, but a new study from the Urban Institute shows just how devastating budget cuts could be to America’s poorest families.

According to the report, as of 2009, low-income children received 70 percent of government funding for children — a respectable portion of overall federal spending dedicated to the needs of those under 18. But while the straight numbers look good for poor kids, those children’s future prospects are frightening.

The Urban Institute “estimate[s] that low-income children receive 99 percent of housing expenditures, 98 percent of expenditures on nutrition, 97 percent of health expenditures, and 94 percent of expenditures on social services.” So, of course, cutting the budgets for these areas would disproportionately affect children:

If these services sound familiar, it’s because many are the same programs that Republicans have aimed to cut in their most recent budget proposals — specifically, housing, nutrition, and health.

Millions of children have been kept out of extreme poverty by programs like food stamps, and the overall poverty rates would have been twice as high in 2010 without the social safety net. Surely, the opposite effect would occur with any cuts to welfare, social security, medicaid, or the other programs that keep these kids afloat.

Climate Progress

Clean Energy Investments Hit Record Highs in 2011, U.S. Clean Tech VC Funding Jumps 30%

By Joe Romm on Mar 13, 2012 at 5:55 pm

Investments drive steady decline in cost of wind and solar power

Last year saw record levels of investment in solar, biofuels, and wind energy. Those 3 markets rose 31% to $246 billion, according to the Clean Energy Trends 2012 report (here) issued today by the research and advisory firm Clean Edge, Inc.

The report is filled with some great charts. For instance, if you thought clean tech VC investment in this country was petering out, it turns out reports of that death appeared to be exaggerated:

U.S.-based venture capital investments in clean tech increased 30 percent from $5.1 billion in 2010 to $6.6 billion in 2011, according to data provided by Cleantech Group. Clean Edge analysis found that clean-tech’s percentage of total U.S. venture capital investments accounted for a record 23.2 percent of total U.S. venture activity last year.

As you can see, clean tech venture investments in US companies are near an all time high — and almost a quarter of all venture investment. I can tell you that back in the mid-1990s, when I was helping to oversee the DOE’s billion-dollar Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, we could only dream of VC investments some day matching our spending. Now it exceeds what we spend on R&D by a factor of 10.

The point is that increases in global and U.S. clean energy investment by the private sector — driven by government policy at the state and national level — drive private sector clean-tech VC investment.

And investment in key clean energy technologies is soaring:

Read more

Justice

McConnell: I’m Filibustering Seventeen Judges Because Reid Made Republicans ‘Look Bad’

By Ian Millhiser on Mar 13, 2012 at 5:46 pm

In an exchange that seems designed to prove why fewer Americans approve of Congress than approve of communism or the BP oil spill, Senate Leaders Harry Reid (D-NV) and Mitch McConnell (R-KY) engaged in a long debate this morning over why Reid is currently trying to break seventeen filibusters of President Obama’s judicial nominees. The exchange culminated with McConnell admitting that, even though all these judges will be confirmed eventually, he is blocking them now because he is upset that Reid’s making him look bad:

REID: I’ve got a great idea. My friend the Republican Leader said these judges are all going to get approved anyway, so I’ve got an idea. Let’s go to this IPO bill immediately after finishing the highway bill, with the agreement that we’ll dispose of these judges immediately after that. . . .

McCONNELL: It is highly unlikely any of these district judges are not going to be confirmed. We’ve done a number of them this year. We’ve done seven this year. District judges are almost never defeated. This is just a very transparent attempt to try to slam dunk the minority and make them look like they are obstructing things they aren’t obstructing. We object to that. We don’t think that meets the standard of civility that should be expected in the Senate. And, so, any effort to make the minority look bad or attempt to slam dunk them that is sort of manufactured as this is is gonna, of course, be greeted with resistance.

Watch it:

Let’s explain what’s going on here. Both Reid and McConnell agree that there is nothing objectionable about these judges — in McConnell’s words, “it is highly unlikely any of these district judges are not going to be confirmed.” Additionally, both men agree that the Senate should vote on the “IPO bill” that Reid refers to, a bill dealing with investments in small businesses that recently passed the House. Initially, Reid wanted to vote on the seventeen judges awaiting confirmation before moving on to the IPO bill, but he even concedes this point — saying that he is willing to “go to this IPO bill” first as McConnell prefers.

And then McConnell says this deal is unacceptable because Reid “ma[de] the minority look bad.”

If this is truly McConnell’s reason for blocking these judges, then he just made an absolutely shocking admission. Thanks to excessive judicial vacancies, America’s courts are increasingly unable to function. In some courts, judges are so overburdened they have to rush major felony cases through as if they involved minor traffic violations. In one court, felony caseloads nearly doubled in just two years. Every court that is unable to handle its caseload means wrongly fired workers waiting months or years for justice and businesses that must delay making new hires until they are sure they won’t be hit with an unwarranted legal judgment. And yet McConnell says he is willing to punish all of these workers and businesses because he is upset that Reid has made him look bad. America can ill afford this kind of tantrum.

Health

Texas Democrats Look To Secure Alternative Federal Funding For Planned Parenthood In The State

By Guest Blogger on Mar 13, 2012 at 5:40 pm

Texans protest against the Planned Parenthood cuts outside of the state Capitol.

Democratic lawmakers are trying to find alternative ways to keep Planned Parenthood clinics in Texas afloat just one day before the state officially bans the organization from receiving funding through the joint state-federal Women’s Health Program. Tomorrow, a new rule goes into effect stopping any clinic affiliated with an abortion provider from receiving WHP funds, and federal officials have said they will cut off funding to the state program if Texas bans Planned Parenthood from WHP. If the program stops, 130,000 women will lose their access to affordable health care.

U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee and state Rep. Garnet Coleman have been meeting with the Department of Health and Human Services about creating a women’s health “look-alike program” that would keep money flowing to Planned Parenthood, which treats nearly 44 percent of the program’s patients:

The Medicaid Women’s Health Program is due to end in Texas on March 31, the result of the state’s decision to exclude clinics affiliated with abortion providers, even those that do not provide abortions. Federal regulations say a state can’t exclude qualified providers from the program.

Coleman and Lee said the alternative might involve the federal government allocating money to local entities, such as counties, hospital districts or federally qualified health clinics. They noted that school districts have been allowed to apply for federal grants independently rather than through the state.

Ninety percent of the Women’s Health Program’s total operating costs are covered by federal funds, but last week, Republican Gov. Rick Perry announced the state would continue funding the Women’s Health Program without including Planned Parenthood and without federal funds. His administration has not explained how he plans to carve $30 million out of the state’s budget to do so. Although HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius maintains that federal funding for the Women’s Health Program will be phased out gradually over the course of several months, she also inferred that the option of providing direct federal funding for Planned Parenthood was on the table.

While the rule goes into effect Wednesday, Planned Parenthood clinics in Texas will accept WHP patients to the end of March. Last week, Texans protested against the Republicans’ decision to take away health care for hundreds of thousands of women just so they can take funding away from Planned Parenthood.

– Fatima Najiy

Related Posts

Economy

Allen West Says Future Republican President Should Get Credit For Today’s Stock Market Gains

By Alex Seitz-Wald on Mar 13, 2012 at 5:35 pm

As the improving economy has robbed conservatives of the chief talking points against President Obama, some have resorted to creative explanations for the upswing that avoids giving any credit to the current occupant of the Oval Office. Tea Party darling Rep. Allen West (R-FL) employed this tactic recently, wondering if “someone [is] playing around” with positive unemployment data, and he did so again today, this time to explain away the bullish stock market.

The Nasdaq topped 3,000 today for the first time since 2000 and the Dow finished strong, up 217 points at 13,177 — its highest level since the end of 2007.

But on Fox News this afternoon, West said the markets were only up because traders think Republicans will win big in November. Host Neil Cavuto seemed taken aback by the suggestion and pressed West for clarification, but the Congressman stood by his claim:

CAVUTO: What do you think about that? That the markets say you’re wrong, that the pick up is alive and well.

WEST: Well, I would think maybe the markets are maybe looking five to six months down the road, when we have a change in leadership in this country –

CAVUTO: Wait a minute, you think that this is built on a Republican either capturing the White House or Republicans capturing the Senate? … That might or might not be a stretch, but it is out there as a factor. You think that’s a genuine factor? You think that the markets are getting bubbly in anticipation of a Republican taking the White House?

WEST: Oh, absolutely. Well, I think that there is a hope that may be out there, is that we can get a person that has practical viable solutions for job creation here in the Unite States of America [in the presidency].

Watch it:

NEWS FLASH

BP Buys Congressional Influence To Serve Its Own Interest | BP lobbied Congress on the Deepwater Horizon disaster to torpedo bills that would hurt the company’s self interest, even as it faced penalties for causing the spill itself. The Huffington Post writes the story “underscores how even the most embattled company often sees Congress as a worthy investment. BP spent $8.43 million in 2011 on efforts to influence legislation. While that total fell far short of the nearly $16 million it spent on lobbying in 2009 — much of it on working to defeat cap and trade legislation — it represented a $1 million uptick from 2010 levels. It was also about .0324 percent of the company’s $26 billion in profits from last year: a small price to pay to ensure the preferred legislative outcomes for the firestorm it ignited.” Now, the company’s lobbying appears to have paid off as BP is now one of the most active drillers in the Gulf.

Security

Republicans Won’t Sign On To Letter Calling On Obama To Protect Syrian Nationals In The U.S.

By Guest Blogger on Mar 13, 2012 at 5:25 pm

By Marshall Fitz

Syrians Protest Assad In Front of the White House (Photo credit: glynlowe.com)

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s vicious reaction to the democratic uprising in Syria has triggered a severe humanitarian crisis. Nearly everyone agrees that the escalating violence and the brutality of the Assad regime require an international response. The question, as always, is what type and level of response can the international community agree on that will achieve the goal of stemming the violence.

The United States, consistent with the president’s foreign policy principles, has worked with countries in the region to build pressure on Assad to end the violence. The Administration has also condemned the regime’s actions and urged the United Nations to impose harsh sanctions. To date, however, Russia and China, which have close economic ties to Syria, have blocked the full weight of the United Nations and the international diplomatic community from bearing down on Assad. And efforts to broker a ceasefire have failed as well.

Within the United States, the crisis has engendered disparate reactions by elected officials, signaling clear fault lines between Republicans and Democrats over the issue. House and Senate Democrats have focused on supporting the Obama administration’s efforts to squeeze the Assad regime using the weapons in our diplomatic arsenal.

But beyond what America does abroad, Democrats have called on the administration to protect Syrian nationals in the U.S. from being forced back into Assad’s reign of terror. Democratic Sens. Dick Durbin (IL), Patrick Leahy (VT), Dianne Feinstein (CA), Robert Menendez (NJ), Ben Cardin (MD), and Bob Casey (PA) wrote to the President requesting that the administration “take all necessary steps to ensure that Syrian nationals present in the United States are not forced to return to Syria, including the designation of Syria for temporary protected status (TPS).” TPS allows the government to designate that people from certain countries facing conflict or disaster can apply for, as its name implies, a temporary legal status within the United States. This status allows residents who otherwise cannot return to their home country the freedom to know that they will not have to violate U.S. immigration laws to stay out of harm’s way.

What is inexplicable, however, is that not one Republican in Congress has agreed to sign onto the letter, or has come out in favor of granting TPS to Syrians in the U.S. So while they push for armed intervention abroad, they refuse to stand up for preventing unnecessary and unacceptable “collateral damage” at home. Joining their Democratic counterparts and the numerous other groups who have called for the protection of Syrian nationals presently in the United States should be a no-brainer.

We can debate whether or not military intervention is an appropriate strategy for our nation’s leaders. But whether to send foreign nationals directly back in to a violent conflict should not be up for debate at all. Requiring Syrian nationals to return to Assad’s murderous ambit from the United States is to throw their fates to the wind. It is not only unwise but immoral.
Granting those Syrian nationals TPS is the only sensible option. TPS would ensure that they are not forced into a Hobson’s choice between a return to terror or a violation of U.S. immigration laws. Republicans should halt their call to arms for long enough to embrace a policy that keeps innocent civilians out of harm’s way.

NEWS FLASH

U.S. Embassy In Iraq Condemns Killings Of Gays And ‘Emos’ | Responding to reports that gay men and “emos” — men who dress in tight T-shirts and skinny jeans — are being hunted and killed in Iraq, the U.S. embassy has issued a statement condemning the attacks. Embassy spokesman Michael McClellan wrote, “Along with the Embassy, the U.S. Department of State strongly condemns the recent violence and killings in Iraq by groups who appear to be targeting individuals based on their sexual orientation, gender identity, or personal expression. These acts of intolerance should have no place in any society.

Climate Progress

North Dakota’s Bakken Shale Boom Is Visible From Space

By Brad Johnson on Mar 13, 2012 at 4:41 pm

The boom in shale oil and gas exploration in North Dakota during the Bush and Obama presidencies has transformed the state, satellite imagery shows. This composite image from the National Geophysical Data Center combines nighttime satellite imagery from 1992, 2000, and 2010. Places that had lots of light in all three years show up bright white. The red area in North Dakota — home of the shale boom changing America’s energy politics and physical landscape — shows the bright lights of drilling in 2010 where it was was dark in 2000 and 1992:

Multiyear composite (1992, 2000, 2010) of nighttime satellite images of the Midwestern United States, showing recent Bakken shale boom. Image courtesy NGDC.

The SkyTruth blog explains why shale gas fracking in North Dakota is so bright at night:

So why is this area all lit up at night? Well, the rigs and other facilities are highly illuminated because drilling is a 24/7 proposition – time is money so there is no “down time.” But there is another reason too: operators in this oil field are flaring off large quantities of natural gas. That’s right, burning it off as a hazardous nuisance. Meanwhile some folks on the campaign trail and on Capitol Hill complain loudly that environmental rules and government policies are limiting industry’s access to more public lands throughout America so they can drill for – you got it – natural gas. Despite the fact that industry is already sitting on thousands of approved drilling permits that remain idle, and millions of acres of leases they aren’t developing.

NEWS FLASH

Omaha Passes LGBT Non-Discrimination Protections | Today, after weeks of debate, the Omaha City Council passed an ordinance that will protect LGBT individuals from discrimination in employment and public accommodations with a 4-3 vote. Mayor Jim Suttle has promised to sign the changes into law. A poll found last year that 90 percent of U.S. voters believe that such employment protections already exist at the federal level, but as GLAAD points out in a new Delta Sky Magazine ad, individuals can be fired for their sexual orientation in 29 states and gender identity in 34 states. Last night, Equal Omaha ran this advertisement to promote support for the bill:

(Kudos to blogger AKSARBENT for consistent in-depth coverage of the effort to pass this bill.)

Older

Switch to Mobile
ThinkProgress Signup Overlay Skip and Continue to ThinkProgress Skip and Continue to ThinkProgress

Sign Up